Ahead of the 2019 NFL regular season, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will be breaking down every division in the league by position. This article contains a position-by-position breakdown of every offense in the AFC North. The breakdown will contain “the best” at each unit followed by “the rest” in descending order.
2019 AFC North Breakdown by Position: The Defense
2019 AFC North Breakdown by Position: The Offense
Quarterback
The Best: Pittsburgh Steelers
The Rest: Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals
Ben Roethlisberger came out at age 37 and threw for over 5,000 yards and 34 touchdowns. He is the undisputed best quarterback in this division because of his resume. Baker Mayfield has only played well for eight games, while Big Ben has been doing this for 10 years. He is a Super Bowl champion and a six-time Pro Bowler and one of the best to ever do it. Ben’s production hasn’t slowed down at age 37, he led the league in passing yards in 2018. Until his production declines, he’s still the best signal-caller in the AFC North.
The Browns could easily be the top team here by next year if Mayfield elevates his game next season. His numbers should significantly increase with a year under his belt and the off-season additions the Browns made. Mayfield was exceptional last season as a rookie. He came into a bad situation with Hue Jackson as head coach and was thrown into the fire in Week Four. Once Freddie Kitchens was promoted to offensive coordinator when Jackson was fired, the offense transformed.
The last eight games of the season with Kitchens calling the plays the offense was electric. The Browns were 5-3 and Mayfield averaged 286 passing yards per game. Mayfield is primed for a breakout season with the addition of Odell Beckham Jr and Kareem Hunt which made the Browns skill position talent unbelievable. Mayfield is surrounded by talent on both sides of the ball with a great play-caller at the helm, he should put up monster numbers.
Lamar Jackson is a puzzle at this point in his career. He has made some electrifying plays that no other quarterback in the NFL can make. Then at times he will miss throws or reads that every starting quarterback in the NFL would make. Jackson only completed 58 percent of his passes in 2018 and he just is not as efficient as a passer. He has the arm talent to make every throw but he has to become more consistent and develop mentally. Jackson averaged 171 yards passing and 99 yards rushing per game in his rookie year. He only played seven games last season but now he is the unquestioned starter.
Andy Dalton is not a bad quarterback. He is not exceedingly inaccurate or careless with the football. Dalton doesn’t miss many easy throws and is consistent in that regard. He only had 2,500 yards passing and 21 touchdowns. Consistently he puts up average numbers and shrinks when the lights are bright. Dalton is entering his ninth season and has never made it past the wildcard round. He doesn’t do enough to elevate his team above in the playoffs. Football is not about stats and regular-season. The postseason is where it all counts, and he doesn’t show up and elevate.
Running Back
The Best: Cleveland Browns
The Rest: Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens
Nick Chubb emerged as a potential bell-cow franchise back later in his 2018 campaign. The first six games he didn’t even top three carries once. Against the Oakland Raiders in week four, he was only given three carries and finished with 105 yards on the game. Once Jackson left, Kitchens was able to effectively work him into the backfield rotation. Once given a sizeable workload, he took off. He was top-five in the league in yards per carry with 5.2 which demonstrates his efficiency. Chubb makes the most of his carries and is a powerful runner.
The Browns made the controversial move to sign superstar running back Kareem Hunt who will be suspended for the first eight games of the season. In 2017, Hunt led the league in rushing yards and was top five in virtually every running back metric. Chubb should get a heavy workload for the first eight games but it will be interesting to see how Kitchens incorporates Hunt.
The Bengals have a very deep running back group. Joe Mixon had a great year and can hurt defenses in a multitude of ways. He is one of the most dynamic backs in the league. Mixon finished with 1,168 yards rushing and eight touchdowns. Giovanni Bernard was the only other back on the roster that had more than 100 yards rushing in 2019. Rodney Anderson is an underrated prospect and lost all of his draft buzz after an injury in college. If he is fully healthy he could push Bernard for reps. Trayveon Williams is a rookie running back from Texas who really excels in pass protection. The backfield as a whole should see more rotation and showcase the talent they have.
James Conner performed very well last season as the lead back. He averaged 4.5 yards per carry and had 12 touchdowns on the season. The Steelers made an effort to get him involved in the passing game and it worked. He ended up with 55 receptions for 497 yards and one touchdown. The Steelers could become more of a ball-control, power run team. Benny Snell, who was taken this year in the draft, is a punishing runner. If the Steelers decided to impose their will and run it down every team’s throat with that offensive line, they would be hard to stop. Conner is a good candidate for a breakout season statistically, primed for success.
The Ravens have an interesting backfield with a lot of talent. Mark Ingram has aged like a fine wine as a player. He didn’t break 1,000 yards rushing until his sixth season. Ingram has been one of the best backs in the league since 2016. He is primed for another great season on a great rushing attack in Baltimore. Gus Edwards was a surprise impact player for the Ravens in 2018 and as a rookie undrafted free agent. He was very efficient with his carries and finished with 5.2 yards per carry.
Kenneth Dixon will also push for carries. He had 5.6 yards per carry last season and is a smart runner. Justice Hill the rookie is the most intriguing of the bunch. He is an absolutely electrifying runner in the open field. Hill is the most elusive back on the entire team. The role for Hill should be as a change of pace back from the rest of the bruisers on the team.
Wide Receiver
The Best: Cleveland Browns
The Rest: Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens
The Browns blockbuster trade during the off-season was able to propel them to the best receiving core in the division. The Browns added one of the most talented receivers of this generation. In Odell Beckham’s first three seasons with the New York Giants, he put up monster numbers and torched every corner in his path. He had over 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns in each season. Jarvis Landry is the ultimate consistent slot receiver. He has eclipsed 80 receptions in every season of his career and broke 100 receptions twice. His hands are among the best hands in the league and is the go-to reliable receiver.
After the two established pros, the rest of the receiving core is unproven. Rashard Higgins and Antonio Callaway will be battling for that other outside receiver spot. Callaway has already shown that he can be an effective deep threat and had the longest reception of the season for the Browns in 2018. The question with Callaway is: Will he manage to develop the rest of the game and become a great receiver? Higgins will be starting for at least the first four games due to Callaway’s suspension. Higgins has slowly improved since being taken in the fifth round in 2016. He finally earned a role in the offense in 2018 and finished the season with 572 yards and four touchdowns. He is primed to finally be an impact player after developing his game for the past three seasons.
Smith-Schuster is one of the best young receivers in the game and is in a great situation: a very pass-heavy team, on which he is the only star receiver. He finished 2018 with 111 receptions, 1,426 yards, and seven touchdowns. His targets are going to increase by a ton, making him a great fantasy option. Donte Moncrief isn’t a great receiver but he can still take the top off of the defense and has great speed. James Washington and Diontae Johnson are young receivers that will receive an opportunity because of the lack of depth at receiver. Many evaluators loved Johnson and there is a chance he could come in and become the second receiver fairly quickly. Ryan Switzer could also rotate in the slot and possibly see a few targets.
Willie Snead is the best receiver of the group by a wide margin. He should be Lamar Jackson’s go-to reliable receiver in the clutch moments. Snead had a great rise from undrafted free agent to the consistent target of Drew Brees. Now that he has moved on from the Saints, he will have the opportunity to put up great numbers as the number one target. In the only two seasons that Snead received over 100 targets, he had over 65 receptions and 850 yards in both seasons.
Seth Roberts is starting opposite of Snead and he has never surpassed 500 receiving yards and has been in the league for four years. Chris Moore has no production in his career and never put up any numbers. Marquise Brown has great potential because of his blazing speed. He can absolutely take the top off any defense. But he may not be able to take NFL hits because of his body frame at 5’9″ and 166 pounds. Miles Boykin is a big-bodied receiver that can make contested catches and win jump balls.
With the injury to A.J. Green, the Bengals receiving core is tight. He was the best receiver and the whole offense will take a hit. Tyler Boyd operated well out of the slot and finished the season with 1,028 yards, 76 receptions, 13.5 yards per catch, and seven touchdowns. Boyd was a bright spot on a pretty dismal offense is 2018. If John Ross can put together those flashes on tape into a consistent football player, he will be a problem. He will give defensive coordinators headaches figuring out how to stop his speed. Undrafted free agent Damion Willis will start in place of Green until he returns. Stanley Johnson was a steal as a UDFA and could become a key part of this offense because of the lack of receiving threats.
Tight End
The Best: Cleveland Browns
The Rest: Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals
David Njoku has proven to be one of the league’s most promising young tight ends. Njoku only received 60 targets his rookie year and wasn’t incorporated into the offense heavily. In his sophomore season, his role increased and he received 88 targets. He finished with 639 yards and four touchdowns on the season. His catch rate increased by 10 percent from 2017 to 2018. Demetrius Harris is a five-year NFL backup tight end and knows his way around the game. He offers reliability and a veteran presence in the locker room.
Vance McDonald was very productive last season as a receiver. He became a reliable underneath threat for Big Ben. McDonald only received 72 targets so he wasn’t heavily involved in the offense. Despite the lack of targets he still managed to finish with 50 receptions for 610 yards. Xavier Grimble is the backup and only has 236 receiving yards during his first three seasons. Grimble offers value blocking not for his receiving.
Nick Boyle and Mark Andrews both played all 16 games right now. He led the tight ends in every statistical category. Andrews finished the season with 552 yards receiving, three touchdowns, and a 68 percent catch rate. Nick Boyle is solid as a blocker but doesn’t offer as much in the receiving game as Andrews. Hayden Hurst will be worked into the offense most likely sometime this season. He was a first-round pick so he should become an impact player for this offense soon.
Tyler Eifert was very productive in 2015 and was even selected to a Pro Bowll. That was only his second season in the league and he looked like the next great tight end. Injuries have really derailed his career from that point. Since the 2015 season, he hasn’t started more than two games in any of those seasons due to injuries. After all of the injuries it’s hard to tell if he will ever return to his previous form. C.J. Uzomah stepped up in the absence of Eifert. He posted 439 yards on 43 catches and 3 touchdowns.
Offensive Line
The Best: Pittsburgh Steelers
The Rest: Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals
Alejandro Villanueva has been consistently great for the Steelers. The Steelers extended him to a four-year deal to keep consistent protection for Big Ben’s blindside. Losing Marcus Gilbert was a huge blow, Matt Feller won’t be able to replicate his success. David DeCastro is among the best guards in the NFL and elevates this line as a whole. Maurkice Pouncey is an elite center and a leader on the team. Ramon Foster is a veteran and an above-average guard. If this line plays as a unit, they will easily be a top three to five group.
The Ravens offensive line is an overall great unit. Ronnie Stanely may very well be the franchise left tackle. He plays like a veteran despite his young age and has been very impressive. Orlando Brown at the other tackle spot has improved a lot since being drafted. He has actually looked reliable in pass blocking and could be a key part of Ravens future. Marshall Yanda has consistently been an elite guard throughout his tenure in the NFL.
Matt Skura will be a serviceable center and adds a veteran leader at a key part of the offensive line. Skura won’t be a consistent problem and shouldn’t struggle a lot. After the departure of Jermaine Elumenor, it is unclear who will start left guard. It may be unproven rookie out of Oklahoma, Ben Powers.
The offensive line is easily the weakest unit on this Browns offense. The Browns lost their best offensive lineman in the Giants trade where they acquired Olivier Vernon. Joel Bitonio is the only other standout on the line. He has already shown to be a great guard and is just entering the prime of his career. J.C Tretter is a reliable center and a seven-year veteran who adds experience. He is an average center and won’t be a liability on the line. The other three starting spots are question marks at this point.
Eric Kush is starting at the other guard spot. He is a journeyman backup with 12 starts in six seasons. Kush came into a starting spot with the Bears in 2018 after an injury. He was serviceable in his time as a relief guard with the Bears. Greg Robinson is the starting left tackle. The Rams selected Robinson number two overall and gave up on him after only three seasons. The Lions signed him in 2017 hoping to unlock some of that potential. Now Robinson is starting at left tackle on a contending team in the AFC. Chris Hubbard is a five-year veteran that started all 16 games last year at right tackle. He was a weakness on the line last year and progression isn’t likely for him so far into his career.
The Bengals current offensive line is in complete shambles. The Bengals had a good unit before losing their three best linemen. Billy Price and Jonah Williams were drafted to fill these holes but Williams is out for the season with injury and Price lost the center job. Cordy Glenn was acquired to play left tackle and has high expectations. Glenn has to make strides in his development to become the franchise left tackle.
Michael Jordan is being thrust into a starting role as a late-round rookie because of the lack of depth on the line. Trey Hopkins won the center job over Price, now will have to perform well to keep it. John Miller is a reliable veteran guard from the Bills. He adds stability and a veteran presence to the line. Bobby Hart has been a revolving door of a right tackle and its hard to see that changing.
2019 AFC North Breakdown by Position: The Defense
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