The AFC North sent three teams to the NFL playoffs in 2014—the Bengals, Ravens and Steelers—which illustrates the depth and competitiveness of the division. The Ravens, in fact, beat the Steelers on Wild Card weekend 30-17, helped in large part to the untimely knee injury to star Steeler running back, Le’Veon Bell. All three of these teams once again have playoff aspirations going into the 2015 season, with each team being able to stake a claim as the class of the North. The one team that does not have a say in that discussion would be the Cleveland Browns; they are mired in a quarterback quandary and early returns are suggesting they struck out with their two first round picks in last years draft. They will without doubt be picked by the majority of pundits to finish last in the division during pre-season projections, but as the saying goes “that’s why they play the games.” Fortunes can turn quickly in the NFL, sometimes very unpredictably, and the Browns will be banking on that as they head into a new NFL season.

Some information on the stats being used to evaluate the quarterbacks, specifically the DYAR, DVOA and EY. DYAR refers to Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement, or the value of a quarterback’s performance compared to a replacement level player and adjusted for situation and the defense. DVOA is Defense-adjusted Value Over Average or the value, per play, over an average QB in the same game situations. And finally EY is Effective Yards, or when compared to their actual yards, if the QB’s EY is higher than their actual yards then said QB played better than standard stats would normally indicate. The inverse is true if the players EY is lower than their actual yards.

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens

2015 1st and 2nd round picks: 26th and 58th

Projected starting QB: Joe Flacco, age 30 (8th in DYAR, 8th in DVOA, 3,825 yards, 4,324 EY, 27 TD’s, 12 ints)

Flacco is coming off of his best season by advanced metrics after a disastrous 2013 that saw him plunge below the Case Keenum’s and Josh Freeman’s of the world. It was the only time since he became the starter in 2008 that he was in the top 10 in DYAR or DVOA; prior he had been something of meddling player who, frankly, people wondered how far he could take the Baltimore franchise before he went off and won the Super Bowl in 2012 (as well as Super Bowl MVP), earning himself a nine figure contract in the process. Needless to say he drastically failed to live up to that figure in 2013, but led the Ravens to the playoffs in 2014 and twice had them up two touchdowns on the road to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in the divisional round. He was fantastic in that game, going 28-44 for 292 yards and 4 touchdowns; unfortunately he also threw two interceptions, that last of which sealed the game for the Pats. Given his contract, the Ravens and Flacco are going to be married for some time and fans are very hopeful that the 2014 version of Flacco is the one they see going forward.

One way to help Flacco be the quarterback he was in 2014 would be to give him more offensive weapons to throw the ball to. He lost one of his most dangerous munitions to the 49ers in receiver Torrey Smith and right now the receiver depth chart looks like this: Steve Smith Sr, Kamar Aiken, and Marlon Brown. To be fair, Aiken and Brown showed some ability last season, but the Ravens could definitely use an upgrade at the receiver position. A player who would seem to fit in exactly where Torrey Smith vacated is receiver Breshad Perriman out of Central Florida. Smith was the deep threat that Flacco loved to target on go routes, which not only produced a lot of touchdowns, 10, but also a whopping 11 pass interference penalties for 229 yards. Perriman is 6’3 215 pounds and reportedly ran a 4.22 40 at his pro day. While he only caught 50 passes for UCF last year, they went for 1,044 yards, a colossal 21 yards a reception. He could step right into the Torrey Smith roll as Flacco’s deep threat and open up the rest of the field for Flacco’s other receiving options.

Cincinnati Bengals

2015 1st and 2nd round picks: 21st and 52nd

Projected starting QB: Andy Dalton, Age 27 (22nd in DYAR, 25th in DVOA, 3,284 yds, 2,882 EY, 19 TD’s, 17 Ints)

It is a popular belief in NFL circles that the Bengals are being held back by mediocre quarterback play; that is subject for debate, there are reasons why the Bengals have struggled as a playoff team the last couple of years that don’t have to do with Andy Dalton (health, for one), but he was, for his part, below mediocre last season. His DVOA percentage came in at -3.7%, which means against another average quarterback with the same team, Dalton was almost 4% worse. He was slightly better in 2013, but saw a similar poor percentage in 2012, his second year in the NFL. He’s putting up these poor numbers with the 10th ranked running offense and the 11th ranked offensive line by DVOA. He has one of the best arsenal’s of offensive talent around him as well (receiver AJ Green, running backs Jeremy Hill and Giovanni Bernard to name a few) and while they have made the playoffs every year Dalton has been the starter, they’ve also never won a playoff game while never scoring more than 13 points in any of those games. Despite all of that, Dalton signed a six year extension before last season, but it was really just a three year deal with little guaranteed money. If Dalton can’t deliver a playoff win in 2015, the Bengals will likely be looking for someone else to steer their ship.

The Bengals were 28th against the run in 2014, had the 27th ranked defensive line by Football Outsiders and only had 26 sacks which came out to 5.5% of all drop backs. In short, they need help on the D-Line, specifically getting after the quarterback. Unfortunately, at 21 the top-level talent on the line is likely to be gone, which may force them to look to later rounds to fill this need. Should a player like Bud Dupree out of Kentucky, or Randy Gregory from Nebraska be up for grabs when they are on the clock, the Bengals should sprint to the podium with the pick. If there is no outside pass rusher the Bengals like at #21, they could jump on an interior defensive lineman like Malcolm Brown (Texas) or Arik Armstead (Oregon). Outside of an interior threat, depth in the secondary would be a priority, specifically at safety. One player that is intriguing for them is Shaq Thompson out of Washington. He played outside linebacker in college, which would fill a need for the Bengals, but he projects as a safety in the NFL. He could provide depth at two positions, which would bring value in the later rounds.

Cleveland Browns

2015 1st and 2nd round picks: #12, #19 and #43

Projected starting QB: Josh McCown age 35 (43rd in DYAR, 44th in DVOA, 1,971 yards, 833 EY, 11 TD’s, 14 ints)

This is how bad the Browns situation is going into the 2014 season: Josh McCown, was arguably the worst quarterback in the NFL last year, led the worst offense, 32nd in DVOA, and the Browns pursued him in free agency and signed him to a three year, 14 million dollar deal, with 6.25 million guaranteed. Johnny Manziel, whom the Browns traded up to draft in the first round last year, was abysmal in his two starts last year, failing to throw a touchdown pass and accruing an effective yards total of -9. To further complicate that situation, during the offseason he entered a rehab facility to deal with a substance abuse issue, presumably alcohol, and teammates have been quoted that he needs to earn the trust back in the locker room. No matter who the starting quarterback is for the Browns in 2014, McCown or Manziel, this position is going to be a major weakness for them, and despite a solid roster and a good coach in Mike Pettine, being this poor at the most important position in football is going to sabotage their season. Look for them to have a top 10 pick next season.

Fortunately, the Browns have the ability to add some high quality talent via the draft, with three picks in the top 43 thanks to their trade with the Bills last year. Given those assets, they could put together a nice package, perhaps #12 and next years first, to move up and draft Marcus Mariota at #2. That would drastically change their QB situation and breathe some life into the entire organization and its fan base. It would be a tough pill to swallow, they just traded up for Manziel last year, but what’s done is done. If they can acquire Mariota, then draft him a receiver at #19– Breshad Perriman (UCF), Nelson Agholor (USC) or Jaelen Strong (ASU)—are among the receiver candidates at that spot, that would be the start to a solid foundation to build on offensively, especially with the addition of Dwayne Bowe in the offseason. Trade or not, the Browns are likely to make a move at receiver in the first round with the aforementioned players since they whiffed on the position last season. They lost TE Jordan Cameron to the Dolphins to free agency, TE will be a target for them later in the draft. A player generating buzz at that position is Maxx Williams from Minnesota; he would be a solid pick at #43 for the Browns and look to be a starter right away.

Pittsburgh Steelers

2015 1st and 2nd round picks: 22nd and 56th

Projected starting QB: Ben Roethlisberger, age 33 (1st in DYAR, 4th in DVOA, 4,761 yds, 5,483 EY, 32 TDs, 9 Ints)

A career year for Big Ben in 2014, where he finished as the top ranked QB in the NFL by Football Outsiders (FO); it was by far his best statistical year in his 11th season. He had mostly hovered around the top 10 in DYAR and DVOA prior to his monster year; only in 2010 did he reach the top 5 in either if those two categories (2nd in DVOA). He was aided by a dynamic and young group of receivers: Antonio Brown (#1 in DYAR by FO), Markus Wheaton and Martavious Bryant, and FO 5th ranked running back Le’veon Bell. Further, he had the 6th ranked offensive line by FO, which was also rated 6th in pass blocking, giving up only 28 sacks or 4.8% of drop backs. The offensive unit was ranked 2nd in the NFL in efficiency behind only the Green Bay Packers, and was the top rated passing team. To add a nice little bow on all of that, here are the ages of Brown, Wheaton, Bryant and Bell: 26, 24, 23, and 23. The core of this team at the skill positions is likely to be set for as long as Ben is the quarterback of this team, which is bad news for the rest of the division, great news for the Steel City.

Given the Steelers offensive firepower, drafting on that side of the ball is not a priority in 2015, which is good because the defense, ranked 30th by FO last year, needs a ton of work. They have needs at every line of defense, so it would be wise to take the best defensive player on the board pretty much every time they are on the clock. Due to the loss of safety Troy Polamalu, they need an aggressive, in the box player to fill his shoes. Landon Collins, who has a good chance of being around at 22 and led Alabama in tackles last season, fits that mold perfectly. Marcus Peters out of Washington is a good option at corner for them; he’s a big physical player who could step in for the loss of corner Ike Taylor to retirement. However, in my opinion the best way to improve a secondary would be to add a pass rush; if any of the top pass rushers are available—Bud Dupree, Randy Gregory, Shane Ray– the Steelers should definitely jump one of them, as well as the Malcolm Browns and Jordan Phillips’ of the world at defensive tackle.