The AFC North is one of the most intriguing divisions in the whole league. Two teams have young and up and coming Quarterbacks, and two teams are not entirely sure as to what their future holds. Fantasy wise, this is a much deeper division than the previously analyzed AFC East. Every team on this list has at least a few players that could end up having very productive years in 2019.
Baltimore Ravens:
QB: Lamar Jackson
RB: Mark Ingram II, Gus Edwards, Kenneth Dixon
WR: Marquise Brown, Willie Snead IV, Miles Boykin, Chris Moore
TE: Mark Andrews
D/ST: Position Rank = 3
The Ravens game plan is almost the opposite of what fantasy owners wish for. They rely on their stingy defense with a heavy dose of the run game on offense. They tend to play in low scoring games, often relying on their star kicker Justin Tucker to knock in 4+ Field Goals to snatch the victory. Coming off an underrated rookie season, Lamar Jackson looks to improve on his play this upcoming season. Jackson could be a sleeper late round selection at QB due to the high frequency at which he runs the ball. The front office made some good off season acquisitions in running back Mark Ingram II from New Orleans, as well as their first round pick Marquise Brown. These two, especially Brown, should help accelerate the progression of Jackson. Mark Andrews is a steady tight end as well. The fantasy concerns here are the lack of possessions mixed with the heavy run attack. You would think the heavy run scheme would sky rocket the value of their RBs, but Head Coach John Harbaugh and Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman tend to lean on a backfield by committee. Ingram II should see a bunch of goal line work, but Jackson’s ability to run himself as well as Dixon’s 3rd down ability make to tough to know exactly how it will play out. Ingram II should be the first Raven off of fantasy boards, with Brown a few rounds after.
Pittsburgh Steelers:
QB: Ben Roethlisberger
RB: James Connor, Jaylen Samuels
WR: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Donte Moncrief, James Washington
TE: Vance McDonald
D/ST: Position Rank = 8
Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell are finally in the rear-view mirror of the Steelers. Confident in their young stars James Connor and JuJu Smith-Schuster, their workload should reflect that. Barring injury, Connor and Smith-Schuster will both be in the Top 10 in their respective Fantasy Position Ranks by the end of the year. Big Ben is used to having a second strong receiver, so expect Moncrief or Washington to play a significant role in the offense as well. Big Ben is coming off of a very strong year in which he led the league in passing yards in the midst of constant Antonio Brown drama. Obviously Brown is still one of the league’s best at wide out, but there finally should be some clarity in the locker room this year. You can find where I ranked Big Ben in my Top 15 QB Rankings for 2019. Vance McDonald is a mid tier option at TE. He has never really been consistently targeted throughout the duration of a full season, and his stats reflect it. Depending on league size, you could end up just snagging McDonald from the waiver wire.
Cleveland Browns:
QB: Baker Mayfield
RB: Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, Duke Johnson Jr.
WR: Odell Beckham Jr.,Jarvis Landry, Anthony Callaway
TE: David Njoku
D/ST: Position Rank = 25
For the first time in what seems like an eternity, the Cleveland Browns have the highest odds of winning the AFC North. With an exciting and accurate young QB in Baker Mayfield, plenty of weapons in the skill positions, and a young defense a realistic aspiration for the Browns this year is the playoffs. First things first, their defense still needs some work as they ranked 25th in the D/ST in 2018. They used the 2019 draft to stock up on young defenders, taking 6 defenders with their 7 picks. The first off of fantasy boards will obviously be Odell Beckham Jr. who will finally have his chance to shine on a new team. Expect him to be selected within the first 20 picks of the draft. Nick Chubb comes in as their second best fantasy player. Chubb was great once he was finally given the starting duty in week 7. From week 7 on he only went under 8.5 fantasy points once, which was in the last game of the year. He even exploded for games of 34.4 and 26.3 in weeks 10 and 12 respectively. Jarvis Landry is another receiver to target in the middle rounds of the draft. Landry has a super high floor, having topped 80 catches and 4 TD grabs in each of his first five seasons in the league. He has never had over 9 TDs, but don’t expect that to change as his good friend and new running mate Beckham Jr. will certainly play a large role in the offense. David Njoku is also a special young talent. He has made some remarkable highlight catches in his short tenure so far in the league, the only thing to worry about with him is the lack of involvement with so many other play makers. Kareem Hunt is suspended for the first 8 games, so there is no reason to reach early on him. Even when he is eligible, the only foreseeable way of him capturing the starting role over Chubb would be injury.
Cincinnati Bengals:
QB: Andy Dalton
RB: Joe Mixon, Giovanni Bernard
WR: A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, John Ross
TE: Tyler Eifert, C.J. Uzomah
D/ST: Position Rank = 29
Lastly, the oh so average Cincinnati Bengals. Could this be the year we see Marvin Lewis fired after years of mediocrity and no playoff success? He still is the winningest coach in Bengals history to give him credit. Three straight years of 7 or less wins and their franchise centerpiece Andy Dalton doesn’t seem to be aging with the TB12 regiment. In terms of Fantasy Football, the Bengals still have a few viable options. Their best fantasy player is certainly Joe Mixon, a do-it-all running back who tries to emulate Le’Veon Bell maybe even too much with jersey number 26 and sleeve on the left arm. Mixon had a big improvement last year, totaling over 1400 yards and 9 total TDs. Definitely a strong RB2 if not a low caliber RB1. Look for his numbers to increase slightly or remain similar to last years production. Besides Mixon, the Bengals have three interesting WRs. A.J. Green has been a stud his whole career, but injuries seem to be catching up with him. Green has missed over 6 games in two of his last three campaigns, and has yet to catch 10 TDs since 2015. Green still has value, but definitely not worthy of a pick in the first couple rounds. Tyler Boyd finally got a chance to show the NFL his skillset last year. In the 14 games he started, he went for over 1000 yards receiving and 7 TDs. His future is bright, and it may not be too long from now that Boyd emerges as the #1 WR on the Bengals regardless of A.J. Green’s health. The last WR in the mix is the speedster out of Washington John Ross. Ross barely played in his 2017 rookie season, but last year he had 7 TDs on only 21 catches in the ten games he started. Obviously this rate is unattainable, but Ross absolutely has the ability to change the game with his electrifying quickness and speed. Taking a middle-late round risk on Ross is not a bad option at all, as the Bengals will be losing in the majority of their games, forcing Dalton to air it out in the second half. Their TE corps is nothing to write home about. Tyler Eifert hasn’t been healthy since 2015 and C.J. Uzomah hasn’t showed enough to be on your fantasy squad.
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