With the AFC East taken care of, it is time to move on to the AFC North. I was a little surprised there weren’t any Jets fans giving me hell for picking the Bills ahead of them. But, perhaps its early or, perhaps they know I’m right.

This week I suspect I will get a little flack from a very loyal, alway proud fan base. Why you say! Just look at who I’ve crowned the AFC North champs.
2008 AFC North Final Standings:

1) Cleveland Browns

2) Pittsburgh Steelers

3) Cincinnati Bengals

4) Baltimore Ravens

Thoughts:

With the exception of one team, this division has been fairly quiet so far this year in free agency.

I love what the Browns have done so far. Outside of upgrading an already potent receiving corp with the signing of Donte Stallworth they added more depth on the offensive line with the signing of G Rex Hadnot. They improved upon a defense - that really needed improvement - by adding DT Corey Williams from the Packers to shore up the d-line.

I hate to count the Steelers out, but I just think its the Browns time to step it up. I think this is the year the Browns take down the Steelers at least once. That should be good enough for them to claim the title.

Until I see Cinci do something beside waive goodbye to their defensive players they will stay in third. Oh wait, they did get LB Darryl Blackstock from Arizona (who?).

As far a Baltimore goes; new coach, old QB and old defense; might as well just rebuild.

Fantasy Notes:

Derek Anderson and the rest of the Brown offensive studs won’t come cheap this year and for good reason. Donte Stallworth will be the third option and could become a decent spot starter (sounds familiar doesn’t it?).

Mewelde Moore is an intriguing pick-up for the Steelers. Are they telling us something about Willie Parker? Hmmm.  As a Vikings fan I will miss the him him but ya can’t have all the good running backs. Mewelde is pretty versatile and should be utilized on special teams and in the passing game.

My eyes will be focused on seeing what Cinci does with the running game. Which is pretty much a mute point if they can’t stop anyone on defense.

I think it is pretty safe to say that the air has been let out of McNair. Not to much to get excited about fantasy-wise here quite yet. Stay tuned.

Alright, another day, another division. This whole blogging thing is really starting to come back to me now. See you in a few days when I will be tackling what I think is the best division in professional football.

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