This week, the Last Word on Sports NFL department will be selecting starting lineups consisting of the best players from each division. In this article, the AFC North offense is the focus.
2016 AFC North All-Division Team: The Offense
Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger
As discussed in our previous series, not only is Roethlisberger the best quarterback in the AFC North, he is also the best player in the AFC North. Last year Roethlisberger missed four games due to injury (and left three early), but was on pace to throw for 5,200 yards, which would have lead the league, with 28 touchdowns while completing 68 percent of his passes. Joe Flacco has never thrown for 4,000 yards in one season and has never completed over 64 percent of his passes. Andy Dalton had a real solid season last year, but since being drafted his Bengals are 3-7 against the Steelers when he starts. The Bengals have typically had the better defense over recent years, so the big difference maker would have to be Roethlisberger.
Running Back: Le’Veon Bell
The only knock on Bell is that he has never finished an entire season without some type of surgery. Still, when on the field, there is no running back in the league as dynamic and versatile. Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard combined may have a skill set similar to what Bell brings to the table. The Ravens are having open competition with about five running backs right now, and the Browns have a similar combination to Hill and Bernard with Duke Johnson and Isaiah Crowell. The better questions here are whether or not Bell is the best running back in the NFL, and whether or not his teammate DeAngelo Williams is the second best running back in the division (he probably is).
Wide Receiver: Antonio Brown
At this point there doesn’t seem to be much debate about whether or not Brown is the best receiver in the NFL. He will probably be the top fantasy football option and he has analysts wondering if he can haul in 2,000 receiving yards in 2016.
Wide Receiver: A.J. Green
One and two in this division at wide receiver are as obvious as it gets. Green is one of the biggest game changers in the NFL, and in 2016 with no Marvin Jones, Mohamed Sanu, and possible games without Tyler Eifert, it has all the makings of career highs across the board for the stud wideout.
Slot Receiver: Steve Smith
It was hard to go with a 37-year old coming off of an Achilles injury but who is truly going to ever doubt Steve Smith? There is also the fact that in 2016 this division is losing Sanu, Jones, Martavis Bryant, and has yet to get Josh Gordon back. Markus Wheaton probably would have the biggest gripe with this, but in seven games last season the future Hall of Famer had two more catches for 70 less yards than Wheaton. Call it a lifetime achievement award, but Smith truly may be the next best receiver in the division in 2016.
Tight End: Tyler Eifert
Gary Barnidge will have a major gripe here, especially with the news of Eifert having surgery this off-season. Still, if you line these two up and ask who is the better overall tight end, you just cannot take Barnidge over Eifert. With Barnidge, we are talking about a guy with 34 catches in his first six seasons, and could barely beat average tight ends for a starting job. Somehow on a struggling Browns team with no other options, he emerged with 79 catches for over 1,000 yards in 2015. Eifert did not match those stats, but did catch four more touchdowns. He is the better blocker, and when healthy, he has been a more reliable player from his rookie season in 2013 where he caught 39 balls. Eifert changed the way teams defended the Bengals in 2015, and no one can argue that he did not have a big influence in the progression that Dalton made this year.
Left Tackle: Joe Thomas
Thomas is as good of a tackle as you are going to find in the league. He is an eight-time All-Pro performer and a nine-time Pro Bowler. There really should not be an argument for yet another potential Hall of Famer on this offense.
Left Guard: David DeCastro
DeCastro usually plays on the right side, but in the name of seniority, stepped to the left side for this series. DeCastro is emerging as not just one of the best guards in the division, but now one of the best in the league. Last season, in only his fourth in the league, he was named to the All-Pro team, which may just be the first of many.
Center: Maurkice Pouncey
With the departure of Alex Mack to the Atlanta Falcons, there is no doubt when healthy Pouncey is the best center in the divison. You can even argue that Pouncey would still be the best center in the division, being a two-time All-Pro performer, but at the same time Pouncey has an issue staying on the field consistently. He has missed 35 games in six seasons, but when healthy he can be argued with the best in the NFL. Based on how conservative the Steelers were with his timetable to return last season, all indications point to him playing elite football in 2016.
Right Guard: Marshal Yanda
While Pouncey lacks consistency, that is what drives Yanda into being arguably the best guard in the NFL since 2010. Yanda has been an All-Pro performer four of the past five seasons, and is now a back to back first-team All-Pro heading into 2016. He has only missed two games since 2010, when he really emerged in the league. The Bengals have two talented guards, which makes it a loaded position for this division. However, it is too hard to knock the current two first-team All-Pro guards, as they both deservedly were awarded for their 2015 seasons, and neither shows signs of stopping in 2016.
Right Tackle: Andrew Whitworth
While Whitworth is technically a left tackle, he is the currently the best and most consistent tackle aside from Joe Thomas. Whitworth has only missed 12 games in his 10-year, 148-start career, and has played at a high level for almost all of them. Last year he was named to the All-Pro team, something very common for AFC North linemen. To see him playing at such a high level so late in his career, he deserves to be named to the team. Marcus Gilbert is the best right tackle in the AFC North, and is underrated overall, but with such a highly rated group of linemen, it was too hard to squeeze him in.
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