2024 AFC North Division Overview

welcome back to the Phantom Sports show my name is Jonah and in this video I'm continuing my series of overviewing every single division in the NFL this is the third part where I'm going over the AFC North so leave a comment let me know which team I should do next but let's get into the [Music] video the first team in alphabetical order of this division is the Baltimore Ravens this is a really good team they have the reigning MVP at quarterback Lamar Jackson last year they went 13 and4 they were the AFC one seed they won this division they had a top five offense and the best defense scoring wise this team is just really good and part of that comes from their quarterback Lamar Jackson in the past there were some questions about Lamar but he has cleared that up really quickly last year he's the running MVP like I mentioned earlier he was able to stay healthy all of last year Lamar is great and he's proven everything except the ability to win championships and that's what he's chasing this year Lamar Jackson absolutely fantastic at quarterback at running back the Ravens acquired an absolute Powerhouse this off season Derk Henry a lot of people say he's old he's washed he's lost his step and while that might be true it doesn't mean that he's bad I brought this up in my running backs video he might have lost a step but that doesn't mean he's not a top three running back that's where I think that's where I would Place him around around the three spot of running backs in the league at wide receiver as long as the Ravens have had Lamar Jackson they have never really had a true Superstar at wide receiver and that trend is still true in 2024 I think Z flowers is very good he should earn a ton of targets and yards but behind flowers is just Rashad baitman and Nelson aalor I don't think those guys are too great at all it's Z flower's time in that wide receiver room the number one weapon for Lamar Jackson is at tight end Mark Andrews Andrews is Elite and he missed seven games last year but in the 10 games that he did play was extremely good he will be a great player in this great offense the Ravens offensive line isn't too great but they have some Stars one of them is Tyler Linder bomb he's an elite Young Center he didn't allow a single sack last year and he could get even better this year Ronnie Stanley is also great at tackle but other than those two guys the Ravens offensive line is just not that great but as long as they can keep Lamar healthy and I don't even think Derrik Henry needs too great of a of an offensive line to run behind they should be fine on defense this team is absolutely loaded starting with the dline is a star just in M of BU he led all interior defensive lineman in sacks last year he's an absolute beast on the pass rush Michael Pierce at defensive tackle is getting up there in age at age 32 but he's still a very above average run stopper and he can still produce in 2024 in the linebacker room is the star of this defense and that's saying something I already talked about Justin mod of week but roquan Smith is absolutely the best player player on this defense he's a fantastic tackler he can stop the run and he can cover anything you want from a linebacker and he makes this Ravens defense that much better alongside him in the linebacker room is an edge rusher Oda o he's an outside linebacker he's very young and very good rushing the passer and Trenton Simpson going into his second year he looked really good as a rookie last year and Kyle vanoi also had a solid year last year he can contribute to this defense in the secondary the defense does not get any worse the two outside corners are Humphrey and Brandon Stevens they're very good outside corners and at the safety position Kyle Hamilton is the best player in this whole secondary and he's just 23 years old and Marcus Williams is definitely not as good as Kyle Hamilton but he's he he's a fine starting player this Ravens team really didn't take any steps back at all and they're hungry this year after making it to the afc's title game last year I'm predicting they will finish with a 13 and4 record the AFC North title and the AFC two seed moving on to the second team in alphabetical order it's the Cincinnati Bengals they're a pretty good team on paper but it all depends on the health of franchise quarterback Joe burrow he's had two season ending injuries in his career and even after he was injured last year the Bengals still finished with a 9-8 record so this is a good team Joe burrow only improves them they had a top half offense but that will get even better like I mentioned with burrow coming back but they had a bottom two defense so that really needs to improve so at quarterback Joe burrow has really proven it all he's been great in the the regular season he's been great in the playoffs but he needs to stay on the field and I think that he should get better at starting the season strong last year at the beginning of the Season he was struggling and in a tough division like AFC North you can't really afford to be dropping any games at the start of the Season burrow needs to have a better start to his Seasons running back position is interesting to me on the Bengals because I'm not really too much of a fan of the starting running back Zack Moss but I really love what I've seen out of Chase Brown the brother of Sydney Brown who is the second-year safety on the Philadelphia Eagles Moss is fine but he's never really going to carry the workload and efficiency of a true rb1 Brown has a ton of potential though he's going into his second year he is crazy fast he can receive and I think he has much more potential than Zach Moss I think that he ends the season with more touches and yards than Moss although Moss will start the season better just because he's the more proven guy the wide receiver position is great for The Bangles everyone knows Jamar Chase and T Higgins but behind them they don't really have any real weapons they have Germaine Burton the rookie but I don't really think that he is going to contribute too much it's mainly just going to be the Chason Higgins show at wide receiver the lack of death is not really a concern to me teams have been good in the past with way fewer weapons than the Bengals have right now teams would be lucky to have Chase and Higgins on that team and the Bengals can't take them for granted if they're able to keep both of these wide receivers long term they're going to be great for the future but they did add a guy who can contribute on offense Mike giki this off season he was a backup last year but he is only 3 years removed from a 110 Target season he can handle the volume of a top player and I think he'll be Joe Burrow's third target in 2024 the Bengals offensive line is much better than the line that allowed Joe burrow to be under pressure basically every other play in Super Bowl 56 the highlight of the line is the new Bengal Trent Brown at tackle but every player on this line is at least average at their position a huge step up from that line 3 years ago I would even say that Orlando Brown Alex Kappa and Ted Carris are all above average linemen in the NFL they should be able to protect Joe burrow and if they can't that's not going to be good for the Bengals the Bengals defense overall looks pretty good and I truly believe that last year's ranking may have been a fluke since they had Playmakers and stars in all levels of the defense and one of those stars is Trey Hendrickson he had 18 sacks that's right 18 sacks last year any defense with a guy who could put up those numbers of sacks put that opposing quarterback in danger like that the defense is going to be fine opposite Hendrickson is Sam hubard the longtime Bengal who's not really as good as Hendrickson but he can definitely contribute he's solid the defensive line is still impressive at the defensive tackle position with BJ Hill and Sheldon rankins they're two pretty good defensive tackles they can pass rush as well the position group would be even better if they still had DJ reer but he's signed with the Lions this off season but the defensive line is still very good the Bengals have an above average Duo of linebackers Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt they can both tackle very well Logan Wilson specifically gets some of the most turnovers at the linebacker position of anyone in the NFL that is an extremely valuable skill to have last year he forced three fumbles and intercepted opposing quarterbacks four times that ability to turn the ball over is really important to a defense that was pretty bad in allowed points last year moving on to the secondary Cincinnati's Corner Room doesn't look too great but it can definitely surprise some people Mike Hilton is a highlight for me but cam Taylor brick can improve year three like he did in year 2 and while DJ Turner didn't have a great year coverage wise he has Elite Speed and I think he can get better as a sophomore at safety the Bengals made a huge addition with Gino Stone he led the entire league in picks last year and they got Von Bell after a season in Carolina last year he was on the Bengals two years ago and for their Super Bowl run they also have Jordan battle who was absolutely fantastic this year this safety room is loaded and the highlight of the secondary so after a year outside of the top s seeds in the AFC obviously missing the Playoffs I think this Bengals team has reloaded and is ready to make a Super Bowl push in 2024 I have them with a record of 11- six good enough for second in the AFC North and the afc's six seed Joe burrow I believe will be headed back to the postseason the third team in this division alphabetically is the Cleveland Browns they were great and a seemingly sustainable team with a fantastic defense last year they were even really good with Joe flacko and he led them to the playoffs they were 11 and six last year they had a top 10 offense and a top 15 defense scoring wise they had a top one defense in yards allowed wise and I think that they can be that good once again but at quarterback Deshawn Watson did not look great whatsoever last year he a man they spent the future to get and only producing eight TDS in six games I would really try to to see the upside in Deshawn Watson but I really can't this looks like a pretty bad signing right now a l last year the Browns were better off with Joe flacko cuz he wasn't afraid to trust his weapons the Browns are really really good on offense the Browns defense is amazing allowing the fewest yards of any team and what they need is a flamethrower quarterback like Joe flacko I don't really think that's what deshun Watson is he only had eight touchdowns in six games DeShaun Watson was producing a much worse offense than the Browns had with 38-year-old Joe flacko it's not a good look for deshun Watson and definitely not a recipe for success for the Browns the running back position is tough to see on the Browns because the second best running back in my rankings that I posted Nick chub he's injured and he will miss at least four games he's on the pup list but Jerome Ford is definitely encouraging for the backfield at least he's encouraging to me he can do great work in on the ground and through the air he had a ton of catches last year and even when Nick chub comes back I think Ford will be the primary receiving back because he does that really well and that's not really Nick chub's style of play the Browns look pretty good at wide receiver overall especially because they have Amari Cooper he was really efficient last year and he produced 1250 receiving yards with four different quarterbacks throwing him the ball now he has the number one quarterback yet back who's arguably not even the best quarterback that was throwing Amari Cooper the ball last year but I'm not talking about that right now they added Jerry Judy from the Broncos who was always super talented but was in a bad situation with the Broncos now he could get even better with the Browns Deshawn Watson's weapons are due for a big year this year another one of those weapons is one of my favorite tight ends to watch in the NFL he's so explosive it's David and joku he can command targets get open and even succeed in the Red Zone he's going to be deadly for opposing defenses last year because they're already worried about Cooper chub when he comes back and Judy and joku is just the icing on the cake of the Browns offense so the browns offensive line has always been pretty good in the last couple years Jack Conlin Joe bonio and Wyatt teller are all returning and they're all great players they're some of the best at their position in the NFL and J wills and Ethan poses will definitely be at least average they're surrounded by really good players on the offensive line this line should be very good protecting desan Watson and being able to block for chub and Jerome Ford so overall the offense looks really really good with stars at every position on the team quarterback is the only concern like I mentioned before but on defense the Browns take another step up partially because they have miles Garrett he might be the best defensive player in the NFL he was the reigning def defensive player of the year so obviously he was last year I think TJ wat got sned but I'll get that to that later there really isn't too much to say about miles Garrett he's probably the best defensive player in the league right now and opposite him is z Darius Smith who's older but he's also a great defensive and these Edge rushers look really really good the Browns defensive tackles look fine but not nearly as good as defense ends Shelby Harris and dvin Tomlinson can contribute in the defense and can only add to a deadly pass rush at linebacker the Browns have even more great players with Jeremiah auu coroa he's the best linebacker in this room he's very young he's very good they also have Jordan Hicks and Devin Busch they can contribute Hicks especially is a great tackler and while Devon Busch didn't have too great of a season last year I think he still has the potential cuz he's pretty young the Browns have a pretty good cornerback positional group with Denzel Ward as the primary outside corner and while he's dealt with some concussions I think he's one of the best corners in the NFL he's just that good and behind him in the depth chart are Greg Nome and Martin Emerson they're both really good and really young this has this this cornerback room has a bright future ahead of them and at starting safety the Browns have two really solid players as well Grant delpit and Juan Thornhill the secondary is very good and with one of the best pass rushes in front of it they won't have to cover for more time than they're able to this defense is just so good and in my opinion they are top five defense in all of football and a lot of that is due to like I mentioned earlier miles Garrett so the Browns have a couple question marks on the roster but they should just be able to plug any quarterback into the system and succeed I'm predicting that they go 10 and seven finish third in the AFC North but actually miss the playoffs on tiebreakers in the strong AFC the final team in this division alphabetically is the Pittsburgh Steelers this team never really looks flashy at all but they get the job done they have been 500 or above for the last how many years now so last year they went 10 seven making the playoffs they had a bottom five offense which is impressive because they were able to make the playoffs with that and they had a top 10 defense so that always helps quarterback on the Steelers is really interesting to me because the starter right now is Russell Wilson he's the top of the depth chart and I thought he was really really good last year before he got benched people wrote him off after the year before because of his bad offensive play calling he just looked really bad the year before last year he had a big bounceback year he was really good under the radar and the Steelers though they also have Justin Fields he's 10 years younger than Russell Wilson he has much more potential Russell Wilson's at the tail end of his career people love Justin Fields because he's an amazing Runner and that's absolutely true Justin Fields is one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the entire NFL but what I've seen from Fields passing wise he does not look good at all I 100% believe that Russell Wilson gives the Steelers the best chance to make the playoffs and a Justin Fields Le team will not succeed if the team is going to make the playoffs it will be on the back of Russell Wilson at running back the Steelers have a really good Duo of Naji Harris and Jaylen Warren Naji is a very powerful Runner he can be very good I really think he's underrated but I covered that in my running backs Video jayen Warren I think he has all the potential in the world he's extremely efficient with over five yards per carry and he can contribute in the receiving game these running backs complement each other really well and I think they can both produce really great seasons in this off a wide receiver they have George Pickins who's great uh but other than him the room looks really bad Pickins obviously is fantastic but who's the number two wide receiver van Jefferson or Calvin Austin or is it the rookie Roman Wilson none of these guys really interest me at all so George Pickins really might have 10 targets a game because there's no really competition other than at tight end it's Pat Fri moth he's their second best weapon and their probably their second most proven player as well he took a massive step back last year production wise but I think he can absolutely return to form I saw what he can do in 22 in 2022 he had a really great season and I think he will bounce back in 2024 the Steelers o line doesn't look too great overall but they do have Isaac sealo who is a very good player I watched him on the Eagles for a while uh and but the two guys that I'm really watching out for are Zack Frasier and brck Jones in the starting lineup they were high draft picks in the last two drafts and also I bet that that their first round pick from this year Troy fanu will get some action by the end of the year whether injuries or just promoting him to the starting lineup because I think he has a lot of potential the Steelers offense doesn't look too different from last year but I'm expecting an improvement they lost their wide receiver too but they gained two improvements at quarterback Russell Wilson and Justin Fields I think they'll take a step up the defense is absolutely the highlight of this team the d looks very good as long as Cameron Hayward is there he's a great run stuffer he can contribute on the pass rush as well and Keanu Benton is entering his second year he had a really productive rookie season under the radar and I think he can take another step forward this defensive line looks really good especially when you take into account The Edge rushers on this team maybe the best duo of edge rushers in the NFL TJ watt is probably the scariest Edge rusher in the NFL of there with Miles Garrett and opposite him is Alex heith who's also amazing opposing quarterbacks are absolutely terrified of these two guys the inside linebackers on this team are really good as well with the new addition Patrick Queen he's only 25 years old and Al Landon Roberts is a underrated middle linebacker all levels of this defense are really good like the middle linebackers including the secondary though Joey Porter Jr and they just added Dante Jackson to play outside corner they're both really good uh Porter though he was a bit shaky last year but he absolutely has that potential he was a very early second round pick basically a first round pick last last year he can definitely take a step up with a better room around him Dante Jackson is proven he's pretty good as a corner uh he's extremely quick but the best player on this secondary is in the safety room it's Minka Fitzpatrick he's probably a top three safety in the NFL and he absolutely adds some star power to probably the worst part of this defense the secondary is fine but it is nothing compared to the edge rushers the defensive line and the linebackers and Desa at the other safety he's very solid as well but not nearly as good as Maka Fitzpatrick so overall the Steelers are a very good team the defense is their biggest strength but since they're in the toughest division in the NFL it's tough to see a path to the playoffs for them I think they finish with a 9-8 record one game back from last year fourth in their division uh and they will miss the playoffs by a game so thank you so much for watching up next will be my video on the NFC North coming out soon make sure to subscribe leave a like and comment which division you would like to see after that but for now my name is Jonah with the Phantom sport show signing on