The AFC North is quickly establishing itself as one of the best divisions in football. They fielded three of the AFC’s seven playoff teams last year and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if they did it again. It also came away as one of the best drafting divisions in the 2021 Draft. Here are my grades for each of the four teams.
Baltimore Ravens
1.27 – WR Rashod Bateman, Minnesota
1.31 – EDGE Odafe Oweh, Penn State
3.94 – IOL Ben Cleveland, Georgia
3.104 – CB Brandon Stephens, SMU
4.131 – WR Tylan Wallace, Oklahoma State
5.160 – CB Shaun Wade, Ohio State
5.171 – EDGE Daelin Hayes, Notre Dame
5.184 – FB Ben Mason, Michigan
The Ravens have made a name for themselves as a team who draft well, and they continued that tradition in 2021. Their first round could hardly have gone any better. Rashod Bateman provides them with the WR1 they desperately need and should be an immediate impact starter. Odafe Oweh is a little raw, but has an incredible combination of traits to work with. No team has been better at developing edge talent in recent years than the Ravens and he should become a quality starter within a year or two.
The later rounds were something of a mixed bag. Ben Cleveland should add more quality along their interior offensive line and hopefully serve as the long-term replacement to Marshal Yanda. Tylan Wallace at No. 131 looks like exceptional value too and he will give Lamar Jackson another weapon to work with. Shaun Wade is the ultimate wild card but well worth a flyer in the fifth round, so long as you don’t intend to play him on the boundary. I wasn’t a fan of the Brandon Stephens pick in the third round, but when that is the biggest negative with your draft class it isn’t a bad one.
Grade: A
Cincinnati Bengals
1.5 – WR Ja’Marr Chase, LSU
2.46 – OT Jackson Carman, Clemson
3.69 – EDGE Joseph Ossai, Texas
4.111 – EDGE Cameron Sample, Tulane
4.122 – IDL Tyler Shelvin, LSU
4.139 – OT D’Ante Smith, East Carolina
5.149 – K Evan McPherson, Florida
6.190 – IOL Trey Hill, Georgia
6.202 – RB Chris Evans, Michigan
7.235 – EDGE Wyatt Hubert, Kansas State
The post-draft analysis of the Bengals’ decisions were always going to be focused on the Chase vs. Sewell narrative. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the coming years. In reality, both players would have been great picks and were the clear No. 1 prospects at their respective positions. Re-uniting Burrow with his college teammate is a no-brainer and Chase should be able to fill in as the team’s WR1 from the get-go. They addressed the offensive line in the second round anyway and Jackson Carman provides value with his guard/tackle versatility.
The rest of the draft resulted in fewer headlines but there were some genuinely excellent picks in the later rounds. Getting Joseph Ossai and Cameron Sample in the third and fourth round respectively was great business. Tyler Shelvin has had off-field issues, but if he stays in check he could become a quality run stuffing nose tackle in the NFL. The selection of Michigan running back Chris Evans in the sixth round may be one of the most underrated picks of the entire draft. Evans is another player who has had off-field issues in the past, but he has all of the traits you look for in a running back.
Grade: B+
Cleveland Browns
1.26 – CB Greg Newsome II, Northwestern
2.52 – LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame
3.91 – WR Anthony Schwartz, Auburn
4.110 – OT James Hudson, Cincinnati
4.132 – IDL Tommy Togiai, Ohio State
5.153 – LB Tony Fields II, West Virginia
5.169 – S Richard LeCounte, Georgia
6.211 – RB Demetric Felton, UCLA
There might not have been a team who drafted as well as the Cleveland Browns did this year. They kicked things off with Greg Newsome, who will be a great fit in the zone-heavy defense. Getting Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in the second round may have been the steal of the draft. He would have been a great pick with their first pick, so to get him this late on was a fantastic move. It didn’t stop there though and they continued to add talent all the way down.
Tommy Togiai in the fourth round looks like tremendous value and helps to add some depth along the interior of their defensive line. James Hudson will be a solid developmental option at offensive tackle and he has all of the tools you want in an NFL prospect. Demetric Felton lacks ideal size to play running back in the NFL, but his versatility makes him well worth a flyer in the sixth round. Right now the Browns look like they might just have one of the best rosters in the entire NFL. It will be interesting to see whether they can live up to this billing next season.
Grade: A+
Pittsburgh Steelers
1.24 – RB Najee Harris, Alabama
2.55 – TE Pat Freiermuth, Penn State
3.87 – IOL Kendrick Green, Illinois
4.128 – OT Dan Moore Jr., Texas A&M
4.140 – LB Buddy Johnson, Texas A&M
5.156 – IDL Isaiahh Loudermilk, Wisconsin
6.216 – EDGE Quincy Roche, Miami
7.245 – S Tre Norwood, Oklahoma
7.254 – P Pressley Harvin III, Georgia Tech
Whilst the rest of the AFC North made headlines for their stellar moves in the draft, the Steelers were the opposite. Despite having obvious holes along their offensive line and ranking 32nd in adjusted line yards last season they decided to take a running back in the first round. This leaves them with Chukwuma Okorafor and Zach Banner as their starting tackles entering 2021. Najee Harris is an excellent player, but he won’t move the needle enough to justify being taken at No. 24 overall.
Their moves on day two were better, and both Freiermuth and Green should contribute from day one. Quincy Roche in the sixth round was also good value. That was about it though and the rest of their moves on day three look poor. All of them were selected at least 35 spots ahead of their position on the The Athletic’s Consensus Board and two of them were over 100 spots ahead. Consensus rankings are not the be all and end all, but it certainly looks like the Steelers failed to maximise value in the later rounds.
Grade: C-
