This whole week, I will be reviewing the biggest player or players drafted by every team by division. Let's get started with the North divisions! AFC North now, NFC North should be up later.

AFC North

Cleveland Browns
Beau Bell, LB, UNLV
I like the pick, and in my opinion, I don't know how this guy got skipped over to the 4th round, because I had him going in the late first-early second about two weeks ago, but definitely a steal by Cleveland, and he should immediately help out that defense that had some glaring holes last year.
Grade: C+

Cincinnati Bengals
Keith Rivers, LB, USC
By far the best linebacker in the draft, and this guy will be a force that no RB will wanna go up against in 2008. Best move Cincy could have made at their position.
Jerome Simpson, WR, Coastal Carolina
Coming from a small school, it's hard to know what to expect out of thi guy, but I se big progression in his rookie year. Chad Johnson and TJ (SOMETHIN-ZADABER) look like they will be the starting wideouts, but Chad may make room for Simpson by whining and moaning.
Grade: B-

Pittsburgh Steelers
Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Illinois
Wow, I wasn't expecting this, but I couldn't be happier. This was probably the smartest late-first round pick, and this guy is a beast. Second only to Darren McFadden, and not by much. Definitely a ROTY pre-season candidate.
Limas Sweed, WR, Texas
This may be the taller wideout Ben had asked for. 6-foot-5, and quite a physical player. His speed and agility, despite being that tall, are terrific, and I expect a good season outta this guy. Watch out for the Steelers.
Grade: A-

Baltimore Ravens
Joe Flacco, QB, Delaware
My favorite QB in this class, Joe Flacco, ended up a 1st-rounder to the Ravens. I'm feeling that he's a Week 1 starter over Boller and Smith. This guy has great leadership ability, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he started the first game.
Ray Rice, RB, Rutgers
This guy is small and quick, and I would compare him to Maurice Jones-Drew out of Jacksonville, and I think he could have a similar rookie season impact. With McGahee and Rice, the Ravens have been building all off-season, and could make a real run at the AFC North division title.
Grade: A

Thanks for reading! Check back in later or tomorrow for the NFC North report!

-Mike Greenspire

What if Matt Ryan were to slip past Atlanta at #3, and Kansas City ay #5? It seems that the majority of opinions say that Baltimore would #### him at #8.

What would this mean for the rest of the AFC North? The Bengals have Carson Palmer, the Browns Derek Anderson, and the Steelers Ben Roethlisberger. If all 4 teams were to have terrific QBs and great talent surrounding them, who could possibly win the division?

Take a look at each teams’ starting offense if the Ravens were to take Ryan.

Baltimore:
QB: Matt Ryan
RB: Willis McGahee
WR: Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton
TE: Todd Heap

Cincinnati:
QB: Carson Palmer
RB: Rudi Johnson
WR: Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmandzadeh
TE: Ben Utecht

Cleveland:
QB: Derek Anderson
RB: Jamal Lewis
WR: Braylon Edwards, Donte’ Stallworth
TE: Kellen Winslow

Pittsburgh:
QB: Ben Roethlisberger
RB: Willie Parker
WR: Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes
TE: Heath Miller

There is not distinct winner with these 4 lineups, so just to make things more fun and entertaining in the AFC North in 2008, I hope to hear these words coming from Goodell’s mouth by the end of the day:

“With the 8th pick of the 2008 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens select, Boston College QB, Matt Ryan.”

-Mike Greenspire

Uh-oh. Steeler fans have been blindsided by a very rare move called "The Good Cleveland Move". It is very seldom seen, but has struck 4 times just today and yesterday. This is really scary. I mean, APOCALYPSE scary.

The Cleveland Browns re-signed QB Derek Anderson just 10 hours after the RFA period started. This guys is incredible.

That was scare #1

The Browns also extended Jamal Lewis's contract, keeping him as a Brown for a while. That's one more thign for the Steelers defense to worry about.

That's scare #2

The Cleveland Browns, contrary to what I, and other FOX Sports NFL Writers reported, have landed DT Shaun Rogers from the Detroit Lions.

That was scare #3

This is by far the scariest move yet. If you have children, please cover thier eyes and ears. The Cleveland Browns... SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY... acquired Donte Stallworth from the Patriots.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

-Mike Greensp...

There's someone over there. HEY! Who are you? What is that on your face? It's... no it can't be!

IT'S A COMPETITIVE CLEVELAND BROWN! AND HE'S WEARING THE DAWG MASK! SOMEONE SAVE ME!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

>>Mike Greenspire

I’m sure we’ve all heard Carson Palmer’s remarks about the Cincinnati Bengals’ coaching staff this week. In case you didn’t, Palmer claimed that he was unhappy with the coaches in Cincy.

Of course, this must feel like a stab in the back for Head Coach Marvin Lewis, who apparently seemed to have good chemistry with the Bengals’ QB.

I’m not so sure that that is what Carson Palmer was intending on. I think that he wants a new offensive coordinator on the Bengals’ staff, not a new head coach.

So, on Wednesday, the Bengals fired defensive coordinator, Chuck Bresnahan, and linebackers’ coach, Ricky Hunley from the staff. This is the third time that Marvin Lewis has been searching for a new defensive coordinator as Bengals’ head coach. After a while, you have to wonder if it is Lewis’s poor defensive coordinator searching that is making these guys look bad. I think that Lewis is a real players’ coach, but he has a hard time finding the right DC for the team.

Bengals.com reports that lead man in the DC search is former Jets and Lions DC, Donnie Henderson.

Why?

He was with the Jets when they finished third in the division with a very poor record, and was with the Lions in 2006, when they went 3-13 and placed last in the NFC North.

What are they thinking? For some reason, they believe that this guy (Henderson) can do much better than Bresnahan, who has been the defensive coordinator for the past three seasons. In that time, Bresnahan led the Bengals defense to place 28th, 30th, and 27th in official NFL rankings.

One thing’s for sure: Someone’s going to have to take the fall for this move if the Bengals can’t be division contenders next season, and my guess is that it would be Lewis.

Thanks for reading! Please keep checking!

BTW- Make sure you pick up some Edy’s Bengals Blitz Ice Cream at your local Cincinnati retailer!

PS- I like the fact that it’s called “Bengals Blitz” because they just fired the guy in charge of blitzing. LOL

-Mike Greenspire

Tonight, when the 9-5 Pittsburgh Steelers will head to St. Louis to take on the 3-11 Rams on NFL Network. I wish they would reach an agreement with the cable companies already, I want to watch! Ugh.

Anyways, the Tennessee Titans are right in the playoff mix, and will be after tonight, as long as the Steelers lose.

Here are the official NFL Standings concerning the teams still in the playoff mix.

AFC North

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5)

2. Cleveland Browns (9-5)

Wild Card

1. Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4)

2. Cleveland Browns (9-5)

3. Tennessee Titans (8-6)

The Titans have a 5-5 conference record and the Steelers have a 7-4 conference, which is what the NFL system goes by when the final two teams fighting for a playoff spot finish with the same record.

If the Steelers win, they will have an overall of 10-5, with the Titans at 8-6. If the Titans win out, and the Steelers lose in Week 17, the Steelers still get the spot, due to conference record.

The Browns however, are also 7-4 in the AFC, but in the AFC North standings, that doesn’t matter because the Steelers own the current tie-breaker over Cleveland, having beat them in the last meeting. (Last 8 meetings, actually)

If the Browns win out, and the Steelers lose out, Cleveland gets the division, but the Steelers might yet have a playoff spot. If the Titans lose once more, the Steelers and Browns are both automatically in the playoffs, while the Titans have to watch from home.

So, what I’m trying to say is:

If you are a Titans fan, you want the Steelers to lose if you hope to have a playoff chance.

Thanks for reading this quick little rant.

Also, if the Browns win their final two games, and the Steelers lose once, the Browns are division champs. That would mark the 4th different AFC North team to win the division in 4 years.

2004: Pittsburgh Steelers (15-1)

2005: Cincinnati Bengals (11-5)

2006: Baltimore Ravens (13-3)

2007: Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5) or Cleveland Browns (9-5)

Wow! What if that happened? Most interesting division in football!!!

GO STEELERS!!!

Thanks for coming back!

-Mike Greenspire