Part 2.. AFC North

  (by Steven Kolb)

    Baltimore Ravens

  One of the bigger questions affecting the Ravens this upcoming season is the quarterbacking situation. Kyle Boller will once again take the reigns at QB for Baltimore and because of his lack of success thus far in NFL draft him as a low number two QB. Expect Joe Flacco to begin the season behind Boller but because of Boller’s struggles he will at some point be called on to start, monitor how Flacco performs in training camp. With the unsettled issue at QB and the retirement of Jonathan Ogden, look for Willis Mcgahee’s numbers to take a little hit this season as teams will stack the line against the Ravens. Still consider Mcgahee as a low end number 1 back and hope his TD numbers can rise, watch Ray Rice early this year to see if he takes carries from Mcgahee. Derrick Mason experienced a rebirth last season after a down year the season before. While Mason will continue to rack up catches for the Ravens this season, don’t expect 103 catches again. After a breakout second season in the NFL big things were expected from Mark Clayton in his third season. Clayton was limited to 531 yards with no Td’s last season as he was hampered by a nagging ankle injury which hurt him all year. Clayton is worth a late pick though as a potential sleeper on the fact that he has shown he can produce in the NFL.  Keep an eye on Demetrius Williams this season, he offers the Ravens a solid deep threat at WR and if Clayton struggles he could slide right in opposite Mason. Todd Heaps 2007 season was basically a washout as he was hampered by a hamstring injury that forced him to be put on injured reserve. If healthy Heap is a number 1 TE, but monitor his training camp to see how he responds. At this point in his career Matt Stover is a bye week filler at kicker for your team, he did not hit a FG pver 50 yards last season.

     Cincinnati Bengals

   The Bengals offer fantasy owners a pool of talent from which to choose from on offense this season. The big question though is the status of Chad Johnson, which appears more and more likely he will stay a Bengal and play this season. If Johnson does indeed play, Carson Palmer has the potential to get back to the 30 TD plateau. Expect Palmer to throw for over 4,000 yards this season while he cuts down on high INT total of 20 last season. With Johnson the Bengals have potentially two of the most dangerous Wr’s in the game lined up opposite one another. Both Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmandzadeh had over 1000 yards recieving last year with 8 and 12 td’s apiece. With Johnson back both WR will duplicate those numbers with Johnson catching double digit touchdowns. With Chris Henry being cut watch for rookies Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell, one of them could emerge to pick up the slack left by Henry. One of the other big questions for the Bengals this year is if Rudi Johnson’s 2007 season was just a fluke. Johnson battled injuries but when he came back he wasn’t the runner he was in the past. Like with Palmer i really see the Bengals all coming together this season and rallying, so look for Rudi to get to 1000 yards this year. If Rudi struggles look for Kenny Watson who filled in solidly last season. The TE position has been a spot that has rarely produced much fantasy value for the Bengals. Reggie Kelly will open the season as the starter but really only value him as a bye week filler. Because of the explosiveness of the Bengals offense Shayne Graham makes a great kicker for your team as he can rack up points.

    Cleveland Browns

   The 2007 season was a breakout out season for the Cleveland Browns offense. Derek Anderson took his opportunity at QB and ran with it as he threw for 29 TD’s and 3787 yards. Expect Anderson to pick up right were he left off this season because of the surplus of talent around hm. On the topic of breakout seasons Braylon Edwards in his third season showed the potential many people had tagged him with as he had 1289 yards and 16 Td’s. Edwards began to build a rapport with Anderson as the season wore on as they connected for 5 td’s in the seasons final month. While 16 tds again is a stretch expect Edwards to eclipse double digit touchdowns as he remains a number 1 WR. The addition of Donte Stallworth makes him an immediate sleeper at WR. Stallworth will have a ton of opportunities in this offense alongside Edwards, draft Stallworth as a low second WR. Joe Juevicius also offers some minimal fantasy value this year, as he has the potential to grab 5-6 tds. After exceeding expectations in his first year with the Browns, the question is can Jamal Lewis do it again? Lewis proved with all the wear he has he was able to do it last year so why doubt him this year. Lewis will crack the 1000 yards mark and he will be in on all goal line situations for the Browns, View him as a top tier number 2 RB. Kellen Winslow will remain a number 1 TE this year and he offers enough value where you can draft him basically as a second WR. Veteran Phil Dawson will continue to be a number 1 kicker as long as the Browns offense continues to produce as it did last season.

     Pittsburgh Steelers

    First and foremost did anyone expect Ben Roethlisberger to throw for 32 Td’s last season because i didn’t. While duplicating that will be tough, look for Big Ben to hedge around 25 Td passes this season. Probably one of the bigger issues for the Steelers and fanasy owners is Willie Parkers status as the starter with the drafting of Rashard Mendenhall. After being a first round pick last season in fantasy leagues Parker could fall to as low as the third round. But even that can be a steal, I honestley expect Parker to get plenty of carries to warrant him being a high number 2 RB.  Parker has fully healed from a broken leg so don’t hesitate to draft him on that fact. Mendenhall has enough talent to warrant him being selected later in the draft as you may want to hold onto him to see what type of role he will play early in the year. Injuries have taken their toll on Hines Ward the last three years as his number of total games played has gone down each season. Ward did have 7 TD’s last season and should be viewed as a number 2 WR. If Ward can stay healthy this year he could potentially be a low number 1 WR. In his first full season as a starter Santonio Holmes showed glimpses of promise recording 942 recieing yards and 8 TD’s in 13 games played. He is entering that magical third season and I expect an even better year for him this season as he will surpass the 1000 yard mark and could potentially reach double digit Td’s. While Nate Washington will start the season as the Steelers number 3 WR look for Limas Sweed to take over at some point. The tall athletic Sweed will give the Steelers a big red zone threat and a legitimate down-field threat. Look for TE Heath Miller to build on his career high numbers last season. Expect his catches and recieving yards to go up while he should repeat his 7 TD catches of last year. Kicker Jeff Reed offers a reliable option at kicker and is a great play given the right matchup.