The 2020 NFL Draft has come and gone, and now it’s time to get in to the picks. I dig in to the selections and analyze if the team made the right picks, addressed their needs, ignored their needs, reached for a player, etc. I also talk about any moves that have been made since free agency. I get in to all that and much more in this series. Let’s continue with the AFC North.
Baltimore Ravens
Selections:
Round 1: LB Patrick Queen
Round 2: RB J.K. Dobbins
Round 3: DT Justin Madubuike, WR Devin Duvernay, LB Malik Harrison, G Tyre Phillips
Round 4: G Ben Bredeson
Round 5: DT Broderick Washington
Round 6: WR James Proche
Round 7: S Geno Stone
Analysis: Another year, another fantastic Ravens draft. I don’t get it. Every year they have a great draft and things just seem to work out perfectly for them. Having Patrick Queen fall to the 28th pick is unbelievable. Linebacker was without a doubt their top need entering the draft, I mean they were severely thin there before the draft, and Queen fills that C.J. Moseley void left last year. Queen, along with third-rounder Malik Harrison will likely be the starters.
In the second round, the Ravens added to their already dangerous offense with the fifth running back off the board, who could’ve easily been the first, in J.K. Dobbins out of Ohio State. He’s a great all around back, and joins a very crowded running back room with Mark Ingram, Gus Edwards, and Justice Hill. I look forward to seeing how the Ravens utilize all these backs with Lamar Jackson.
I also love that they drafted two more receivers. Duvernay is a super speeder (4.39 40-time) outside receiver like Hollywood Brown, but is bigger and tougher with a running back with the ball in his hands. Proche was primarily an outside receiver, but his build and run after catch ability looks more like a slot receiver.
Just to quickly hit on the rest of the picks. Love the two guard selections, Marshal Yanda retired and are looking for a new starter. Yanda himself was a third-rounder, so Phillips or Bredeson could be the next franchise starter. Also love selecting two defensive tackles, they really need some young depth there behind Brandon Williams and Derek Wolfe. Don’t sleep on Geno Stone, he’s a heat-seeking missile and will make an impact on special teams, and eventually on defense.
Conclusion: Out of all 32 teams, I think the Ravens are among the top five most improved after the draft. They addressed all of their positions of need and got great value at their selections. I see no weak spots on this team. They’ve got young guys to fill the holes and established young talent and veterans everywhere else. It’s Super Bowl or bust in Baltimore.
Cincinnati Bengals
Selections:
Round 1: QB Joe Burrow
Round 2: WR Tee Higgins
Round 3: LB Logan Wilson
Round 4: LB Akeem Davis-Gaither
Round 5: DE Khalid Kareem
Round 6: OT Hakeem Adeniji
Round 7: LB Markus Bailey
Analysis: I mean, this was the most obvious pick of the draft, and the most important one arguably in Bengals franchise history. Joe Burrow has everything you need in a quarterback prospect: arm talent, smart decision-making, a championship mentality, and swagger. Andy Dalton was a fine quarterback in Cincinnati, but was never one for making huge plays and lifting up the talent around him, the prime meridian of quarterbacks. I’m really excited to see Burrow with the offensive talent, that has a new young weapon.
Atop the second round, the Bengals selected Tee Higgins out of Clemson. Love this pick adding to A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, and oft-injured John Ross. Green is on the franchise tag after missing all of 2019 with a foot injury. He’s almost 32 years old and has been hurt, which allowed Boyd to step up and earn a contract extension, but Boyd isn’t a true No. 1, more like a very good No. 2, and Ross just cannot stay on the field. Higgins could eventually be the Green replacement in due time, but for now, he’ll be starting alongside Boyd and Green, which could spell the end of Ross.
Love that they went for three linebackers in this draft. That has been a pitiful position in Cincy forever, and they let their best linebacker in Nick Vigil walk to the Chargers. Wilson is a prototypical middle linebacker who’ll lead the defense and is a tackling machine. Davis-Gaither is a very small linebacker at 220 lbs, who could be more of a safety hybrid, but finally adds speed at linebacker in Cincy. They’ll all have a chance to compete for starting roles alongside Germaine Pratt and Josh Bynes.
Conclusion: It’s a new era in Cincinnati. Burrow is the new starter, and Bengals fans are ecstatic. He brings a certain type of swagger that draws people in, and this offense looks exciting. Love the receiving group, but they need an upgrade at tight end. Tyler Eifert is gone, and C.J. Uzomah is a fine player, but not a front line starter. 2019 second-rounder Drew Sample barely played last year, maybe he’ll make the leap. The offensive line is still not great. They need Jonah Williams to come back and be the left tackle they needed when they drafted him in the first round last year. Trey Hopkins is a fine center, but everywhere else is suspect. How Bobby Hart still has a job as the worst tackle in football is beyond me.
The defense has quickly become very good. They finally have some nice young linebackers to build around, in addition to one of the most underrated defensive lines, led by Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap. The addition of D.J. Reader to upgrade over Andrew Billings is huge, pairing him with young pass rushers Sam Hubbard and Carl Lawson. The secondary is completely rebuilt, with only William Jackson, Jessie Bates, and Shawn Williams returning as starters. The additions of Trae Waynes, Vonn Bell, Mackensie Alexander, and LeShaun Sims really upgrade this unit, and shockingly enough, did not take a defensive back for the first time since 2005.
Do I expect the Bengals to be contenders this year? No. Do I think they’ll be fun to watch this year? Absolutely. I think they’ll be like the Cardinals last year with Kyler Murray, but with better weapons. I expect an 8-8 record, which is encouraging at the least for the beginning of the next era in Cincinnati.
Cleveland Browns
Selections:
Round 1: OT Jedrick Wills
Round 2: S Grant Delpit
Round 3: DT Jordan Elliott, LB Jacob Phillips
Round 4: TE Harrison Bryant
Round 5: C Nick Harris
Round 6: WR Donovan Peoples-Jones
Analysis: The Browns went into this draft with one thing in mind: protect Baker Mayfield. This was such a good offensive tackle draft, so it was a perfect time for them to get their new franchise left tackle. With the 10th pick, they were primed to get any of the big four tackles, and they came away with the second one selected, who could’ve easily been the first one selected. Jedrick Wills was considered the most well rounded tackle, with a very high ceiling. Wills was the starting right tackle at Alabama, protecting the blind-side of the left-hander Tua. He projects to be the starting left tackle, the blind side for the right-handed Mayfield.
In the second round, the Browns added to their already loaded secondary, with one of the top free safeties in Grant Delpit out of LSU. The starting safeties from last season are gone, and they signed a bunch of DBs in free agency (Karl Joseph, Andrew Sendejo, Kevin Johnson) so they’ll have a different looking secondary. They’ve invested in that secondary in both free agency and the draft in recent years, like Denzel Ward in 2018 and Greedy Williams last year, and now Delpit this year. I really like where this secondary is going, and if they all stay healthy, which Ward and Williams weren’t, this should be a lock-down unit.
The next two picks were solid depth guys on defense. This is an already very deep defensive line, so Elliott will likely have to work his way up the depth chart led by Sheldon Richardson, Larry Ogunjobi, and Andrew Billings. Phillips on the other hand is a bit closer to the top of the depth chart. After parting with Joe Schobert and Christian Kirksey, they signed B.J. Goodson in free agency. Last year they drafted Mack Wilson (who I love) and Sione Takitaki, and really emerged as the future. Phillips has a real chance to be an impact player for this defense.
Finally just want to hit on the Harrison Bryant pick. I’m a bit surprised they went tight end. This wasn’t a strong class for this position, so a fourth-round selection is pretty good given Bryant’s potential, but they just paid Austin Hooper huge money and they still have David Njoku on his first-round rookie contract. I really think they’ll ultimately trade Njoku, who’s flashed but cannot stay healthy.
Conclusion: Another really strong draft for the Browns. I really don’t see a single hole on this roster. They literally have everything they need to to succeed. They were very disappointing in 2019 after all the hype they received, and deservedly so since adding Odell Beckham. This offense is absolutely loaded with Nick Chubb, who will be a rushing leader in his career, paired with Kareem Hunt, a former rushing champion. Their elite receivers and stacked tight end group along with an improved offensive line. That defense is legit, front to back, they literally have zero excuse. If the Browns do not make the playoffs, and they have to sell again, these past couple seasons are the biggest tease of one of the most passionate and long-suffering fan bases in sports.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Selections:
Round 2: WR Chase Claypool
Round 3: LB Alex Highsmith
Round 4: RB Anthony McFarland Jr., G Kevin Dotson
Round 6: S Antoine Brooks
Round 7: DT Carlos Davis
Analysis: After trading their first-round pick to the Dolphins for All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, so they waited til the second day of the draft to take a position I wasn’t even considering for them, but it makes sense, and I think they nailed it with the type of player they got. Chase Claypool lit up the combine, running a 4.42 40-time at 6′-4″ 238 lbs with incredible wingspan and vertical and broad jump. His measurables compare similarly to Calvin Johnson as the big red zone threat who has the ability to stretch the field. That’s exactly what the Steelers needed in their wide receivers room. JuJu Smith-Schuster is a great receiver, but he struggled last year without Antonio Brown on the other side of him. Then-rookie Diontae Johnson exploded and overtook James Washington on the depth chart, who had a solid season himself. All three of those guys are not super tall (JuJu 6′-1″, Washington 5′-11″, Johnson 5′-10″) and Claypool really adds much needed size to that group and a redzone weapon for Ben Roethlisberger.
Don’t really have too much else to say about the other picks. They just look like depth picks to me, with their respective positions pretty much set atop the depth chart.
Conclusion: Really not too many changes to this Steelers roster this offseason. This offense can’t get worse from a year ago as long as Roethlisberger is good to go and they don’t have to go to Mason Rudolph or Duck Hodges. Hopefully JuJu and James Conner come back healthy again, and the addition of Eric Ebron and Claypool in the redzone will make them a much more fun team to watch.
However, what they lost in free agency I was hoping they would’ve addressed in the draft, but they really didn’t. Longtime guard Ramon Foster retired, and they signed Stefen Wisniewski, but I was hoping they’d go offensive line earlier than Dotson in the fourth, but I guess Claypool was too good to pass up. That position is still a concern for me. The other major loss was Javon Hargrave at nose tackle, and they have no clear option there. Carlos Davis was a seventh round pick, so it’s unlikely he’ll get a starting job, and again, I wish they addressed this much earlier as nose tackle is very important in Pittsburgh’s 3-4 defense.
The AFC North is a really tough division again. The Ravens are the new powerhouse, but the Steelers aren’t willing to give it up so quickly and are ready to prove 2019 was just one bad luck of a year in Pittsburgh. The Bengals are a brand new team and could surprise. The Browns have done everything possible to make their team the best it can be, but is it enough? Tune in to the 2020 season…if it happens…please let it happen.
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