Offensive Star

Lamar Jackson (QB)

27 years old

Louisville

Defensive Star

Justin Madubuike (DT)

26 years old

Texas A&M

Under the orders of John Harbaugh, he has instilled his signature brand of football that has kept them at the top of the division and the conference. Last year, they finished top of the division with a 13-4 record which gave them the top spot in the AFC.; the Kansas City Chiefs clipped their wings, beating them in the Conference final.

ATTACK. Lamar Jackson bounced back from a couple of injury laden seasons and showed just what he can do with a healthy 17 game slate. He’s a dual threat QB who has 5,258 yards on the ground in his six seasons, and ran for 1,399 yards last season (more than any QB in NFL history). In his second MVP season he threw for 3,678 yards and completed 67.2% of his passes with 24 TDs and 5 rushing TDs while only throwing 7 INTs.

DEFENSE. The Ravens lockdown defensive unit won a historic triple crown in the NFL last season: first they allowed the least amount of points per game at 16.5, then they led the league with 61 sacks and forced 31 turnovers. They had a couple seen a few important players leave during the offseason including Jadeveon Clowney, Patrick Queen and Geno Stone. That means they will rely on Roquan Smith and Justin Madubuike as their pillars on the defensive end. Madubuike is coming off the best season of his career, finishing the season with 13 sacks, 56 tackles and 33 hits on the QB.

Offensive Star

Joe Burrow (QB)

27 years old

LSU

Defensive Star

Trey Hendrickson (DE)

29 years old

FAU

Head coach Zac Taylor is looking for a big rebound from his team after they finished last in the division with a record of 9-8. What makes things even worse is their record against AFC North opponents. They won just one game out of six, and that came against the Cleveland Browns on the last game of the season. This year is going to be a trial by fire for the Bengals, who will be led by QB Joe Burrow.

ATTACK. Joe Burrow is back under center in Cincinnati after suffering a season ending injury last season. He tore ligaments in his wrist in a Week 11 game against the Ravens, and was sidelined for the rest of the season. Last season was a nightmare from the start. He dealt with a calf injury since Week 2, and that kept him from looking like the best version of himself all year. This year he’s coming in to the season at 100% and looking to carry himself and the Bengals back to the Super Bowl.

DEFENSE. Getting pressure on the quarterbacks is a trademark for defensive units in the AFC North. The division produced four of the top 10 players in sacks last season. Trey Hendrickson is one of the best of the bunch, ending the season with 17.5 sacks which was good enough for second in the league, only being T.J. Watt. He had 43 tackles, 28 of which were solo tackles and forced three fumbles. His presence on the D line is just as important as Burrow’s on the other side of the ball.

Offensive Star

Amari Cooper (WR)

30 years old

Alabama

Defensive Star

Myles Garrett (DE)

28 years old

Texas A&M

Kevin Stefanski was a miracle worker for the Cleveland Browns who returned to relevancy and the playoffs last year. He won Coach of the Year after the Browns after Cleveland finished second in the AFC North despite suffering injuries to their starting running back and quarterback. After their 11-6 season, they will hope to enter the season healthy and look to take the division now that QB1 Deshaun Watson is back under center.

ATTACK. The Browns found their biggest weapon in their offensive arsenal with Amari Cooper, who was the top target for each and every one of the QBs that played for Cleveland last year. In his second year in Cleveland he had a career high 1,250 yard receiving, to go along with his 5 TDs. He and Watson are going to have a chance to develop their relationship even more, and that could be trouble for the rest of the teams in the division.

DEFENSE. Last season’s Defensive Player of the Year turned the Browns defense into one of the top units in the league. Garrett was dominant all season, registering 14 sacks, 42 tackles and forcing four fumbles. He was the anchor of a defense that allowed the fewest yards per game (270.2) all season. Last season he was named to his eighth Pro Bowl and third All Pro team, and Cleveland’s defense is expected to be even stronger.

Offensive Star

Russell Wilson (QB)

35 years old

Wisconsin

Defensive Star

T.J. Watt (OLB)

29 years old

Wisconsin

The Steelers are a team that invests in the long term vision of their coaches. They have only had three since 1969, Chuck Noll was in the Steel City for 23 seasons, Bill Cowher for 15 and Mike Tomlin has been in Pittsburgh since 2007. In what’s been almost two decades, Tomlin’s teams have never had a losing record at the end of the season, but that’s not enough for a very demanding fan base who hasn’t seen a Super Bowl since 2009.

ATTACK. This is going out on a limb, because Russell Wilson is coming off a disastrous spell in Denver and will be fighting for the starting job in Pittsburgh with a younger, more versatile Justin Fields. Wilson has experience, he has a Super Bowl in his trophy case and showed that he can still sling it from time to time, but the question is, will he even be the starter Week 1?

DEFENSE. Trent Jordan Watt is and has been the reference for the Pittsburgh Steelers defense over the last few years. The Steelers franchise is used to having super stars on their defensive unit and Watt has taken the torch and carried the Steelers sometimes almost single handily. Last year he led the league in sacks with 19, and had 68 tackles (48 solo tackles). Unfortunately for him and the Steelers he was forced to miss the final game of the season and the Wild Card game against the Buffalo Bills due to a knee injury he suffered in Week 17.