Wednesday, April 29, 2020

2020 Draft with the AFC North

The Cleveland Browns scored points on my card with the quality of their draft, but did their draft exceed the other teams in the division?

The defending champion Baltimore Ravens did very well by not even moving up in the first three rounds.
Their linebackers were the weakest position on defense and with the addition of first-rounder Patrick Queen of LSU and third-round selection Malik Harrison of Ohio State, the Ravens have immediately upgraded their defense.
Also, drafting what might be the best running back in the draft in Ohio State's J.K. Dobbins bulks up an already dangerous rushing game is a major addition and two receivers could both make the team in third-rounder Devin Duvernay of Texas and James Proche, a sixth-rounder from SMU.
Another excellent draft for Baltimore.

Cincinnati's Bengals finished with the league's worst record and did very well in picking first in each round.
LSU quarterback Joe Burrow will be the franchise's base at quarterback and second-round wide receiver Tee Higgins of Clemson gives Burrow a receiver to grow alongside Burrow.
Cincinnati rebuilt their linebacking corps as well with two excellent picks in third-rounder Logan Wilson of Wyoming and Akeem Davis-Gaither, the first pick of the fourth round from Appalachian State.
Wilson is a tackling machine and Davis-Gaither is a well-rounded linebacker that should be a three-down linebacker in time.

Pittsburgh didn't own their first-round pick, but they may have landed a first-round level talent in the second round with Notre Dame wide receiver Chase Claypool, who gives the Steelers the big play ability to get downfield and can return kicks as he matures as a player.
Third round linebacker Alex Highsmith of Charlotte is the type of player that is a Steeler fit into their version of the 3-4 that was higher rated by the Steelers than other teams.
Pittsburgh may have gotten the steal of the draft in Maryland running back Anthony McFarland in the fourth round.
McFarland has questions about staying healthy and some teams questioned his attitude, but if he is moving on all cylinders, McFarland could be another in the line of middle-round Pittsburgh backs that prove to be strong contributors.

All four of the teams in the division did well in the draft and none of the four has a glaring pick that makes you wonder what they were thinking.
Considering that all four teams have improved via the draft, I don't think anything has changed to shuffle the order of power in the division, but all four may have the potential to reach the expanded playoffs in the next season.

I like Baltimore's draft best as they added quality players to their core without giving anything up to do so.
Cleveland finishes second as they addressed their two largest problem areas and didn't have to move up to do so either.
I'll put Cincinnati a strong third with four excellent picks and coming away with their quarterback for the next decade.
Pittsburgh finished fourth, mainly because of their lack of a first-rounder, but still came away with a possible replacement for Antonio Brown and maybe even their running back of the future as well, so
the Steelers did quite well.

This post is going up later than I expected due to the Maryland Department of Labor occupying over 15 hours over two days to place my wife's claim for the week due to Covid-19.
Thanks, guys.




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