After the excitement of the start of free agency, we’re firmly entrenched in the “DeadZone” of the NFL offseason calendar. But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve made it to Draft Month! The NFL Draft will take place at the end of April. Between now and then, we’re previewing the needs for the teams from each division. But there’s a twist. We’re looking at this strictly from a fantasy football perspective. What does each team need to do to maximize their roster’s fantasy returns? What puzzle pieces do teams need to find so that fantasy managers can wring every last drop of fantasy scoring out of them? We’ll start our league tour looking at needs in the 2023 AFC North.

2023 Pre-Draft Fantasy Needs Series

• AFC North
• NFC North
• AFC East
• NFC East
• AFC South
• NFC South
• AFC West
• NFC West

Note: All 2022 fantasy point totals and rankings are PPR, unless otherwise noted.

2023 AFC North Draft Needs: Cincinnati Bengals

The times, they have a-changed.

For the second straight season, the Cincinnati Bengals are your reigning, defending, undisputed champions of the AFC North. Joe Burrow and company came a last-second field goal away from a return trip to the Super Bowl. The results were similar in fantasy. Burrow once again led the division’s quarterbacks in fantasy scoring, finishing as QB4 overall. Ja’Marr Chase overcame a mid-season hip injury to finish as WR11, but was WR4 in fantasy points per game. Joe Mixon finished as a top-10 running back, and Tee Higgins was a top-20 wide receiver. “Who-Dey?” indeed.

Alas, the more it stays the same, the less it changes. After the offensive line was arguably the only weak point on the Bengals’ Super Bowl team a year ago, the team spent considerable resources overhauling that line. The re-tooled line would only rank 28th in PFF’s year-end rankings. Injuries wouldn’t help the Bengals’ efforts, but the fact is that the line again let Cincinnati down in the playoffs. After surrendering 4.75 sacks per playoff game in the 2021 tournament, the Bengals allowed 3.33 sacks of Burrow per playoff game this past season. That included five sacks in the AFC Championship Game against Kansas City. The Bengals’ final offensive play of the season saw Burrow sacked with 44 seconds remaining. Cincy punted, Patrick Mahomes did Patrick Mahomes things, and the Bengals went home.

Bengals’ Bottom Line

While the team has again taken steps to remedy the o-line situation (hello, Orlando Brown, Jr.), it remains an area of need. But not the only one. Fantasy managers and Bengals’ coach Zac Taylor will still hold their collective breath every time Burrow is taken down. But they know he’ll continue to produce if healthy. Questions surrounding his running back, however, make that situation a little murkier.

Joe Mixon finished as RB10 last season, but anyone paying attention knows he was less-than-stellar. Mixon averaged just 3.9 yards per carry. If you take away his historic four-touchdown performance Week 9, Mixon averaged less than 14.5 fantasy points per game. That was a far cry from the 18 points per game he gave you in 2021. And he needed career-high receiving usage to accomplish even that. Additionally, Mixon continued a troubling pattern of off-field issues. Furthermore, he is scheduled to have the fifth-highest cap hit among running backs this season. Cincinnati has looming contract extension decisions with Burrow and star wideouts Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. With the loss of Samaje Perine in free agency, the Bengals have a need at running back, even if Mixon is not cut or suspended.

With Hayden Hurst signing on with the Panthers, there is also a clear need at tight end. Cincinnati did bring in former Viking Irv Smith, Jr., but he is far from a sure-thing with his injury history. Tight end is an exceptionally deep position in this year’s draft. If one of the top prospects is there when the Bengals pick at 29, Cincinnati could decide to take him. Even if they wanted to wait until the second round, one or more of the top-six tight ends could still be in play.

Bengals’ 2023 Draft Picks

• Round 1, pick 29
• Round 2, pick 29
• Round 3, pick 29
• Round 4, pick 29
• Round 5, pick 29
• Round 6, pick 29
• Round 7, pick 29

2023 AFC North Draft Needs: Baltimore Ravens

While the Ravens were able to return to the playoffs in 2022 after a disappointing last-place finish the year prior, their season still felt like a real disappointment, both on-field and in fantasy. The Ravens were flying high in first place when quarterback Lamar Jackson was injured in a 10-9 win over Denver. Despite speculation (and skepticism), Jackson would not play again. In his absence, Baltimore would lose three of their last four regular season games, one to each division opponent. A Week 18 loss at Cincinnati cost the Ravens the chance to host the following week’s Wild Card Round playoff game rematch with the Bengals. Baltimore would lose that game, mercifully ending their season.

Jackson’s injury wasn’t the only hardship for the Ravens and their fantasy managers. Rashod Bateman, the team’s presumptive WR1, missed most of the season with a Lisfranc injury. 2021 overall TE1 Mark Andrews battled injuries of his own and found the going much tougher without Jackson and Bateman on the field. And while the Ravens were still the league’s number two rushing attack, injury struggles in the backfield meant the load was split between three main backs. Kenyan Drake, J.K. Dobbins, and Gus Edwards were a top-10 fantasy back if you combine their stats. Unfortunately, only Drake was able to play more than nine games, rendering them all fantasy disappointments.

Ravens’ Bottom Line

If the Ravens have any hope to win the 2023 AFC North, they need to resolve the ongoing Lamar Jackson soap opera. Several years of contract negotiations, complicated by the Deshaun Watson saga and Jackson’s lack of outside representation, have been fruitless. Jackson appears to want out, and the Ravens appear to have no backup plan outside of backup Tyler Huntley. Smart money puts Jackson back with the Ravens on the franchise tag, but until we have clarity on this situation, it’s difficult to decipher the Ravens’ plans. Obviously, the Ravens’ chances are better with him, as are the Ravens’ fantasy prospects. Bateman, Andrews, and new addition Nelson Agholor would all be downgraded on a Tyler Huntley-led team. (News flash, Agholor won’t be high on my lists anyway…) Huntley himself would be a QB2-level prospect.

Regardless, Agholor doesn’t move the needle. Wide receiver is a major area of need for this team. The Ravens have been widely attached to the position in mock drafts across the industry. Jordan Addison, Zay Flowers, or Quentin Johnston could possibly still be in-play at 23 overall. By the time their next pick rolls around in round three, you’re probably hoping for a Michael Wilson, Rashee Rice, or maybe Jalin Hyatt. Either way, with Jackson at QB, I’d expect both Bateman and an early-round wideout to out-score Devin Duvernay‘s team-leading 110.1 fantasy points from 2022.

Running back has also been posited as a need for Baltimore, but in my opinion that’s much more of a luxury or depth play. Dobbins looked much better after having his knee cleaned up, and both he and Edwards will be another year removed from the injuries that cost them all of 2021. The best outcome for fantasy managers would be Dobbins returning to pre-injury form at a draft discount and retaking control of the carries.

Ravens’ 2023 Draft Picks

• Round 1, pick 23
• Round 3, pick 23
• Round 4, pick 22
• Round 5, pick 23
• Round 6, pick 22

2023 AFC North Draft Needs: Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh shocked everyone in 2022 by winning six of their last seven games to finish 9-8. That extended the team’s run of no losing seasons under head coach Mike Tomlin. Along the way, rookie Kenny Pickett wrested the starting quarterback job from Mitchell Trubisky. While Pickett struggled in his first six games (two touchdowns against eight interceptions,) he looked much better over his last four full games played. In those games, Pickett had four scores against just a lone pick. (Pickens was forced from the team’s Week 14 game under concussion protocols after a single incomplete pass attempt.) The team traded away perennially-hyped wideout Chase Claypool. 2022 second round pick George Pickens became a highlight reel darling. And Pat Freiermuth proved his rookie coming-out party was no fluke, finishing as fantasy’s TE7 overall.

While Freiermuth was as solid as any tight end outside of Missouri, it was a bit of a mixed-bag for any other Steelers’ fantasy managers. Najee Harris finished as RB14, but that was far below his ADP of RB5. Pickens (WR39) had plenty of highlight-worthy catches, but scored the fewest points per game (9.8) of any top-40 fantasy wide receiver. And Diontae Johnson (WR28) finished sixth among wideouts in targets, but did not score a touchdown. 95 players in the league saw at least 65 targets. Among them, only Johnson and Saquon Barkley failed to score a receiving touchdown. Johnson had 86 receptions to Barkley’s 57.

Steelers’ Bottom Line

The Steelers’ core offensive skill players are all fairly young. Pickett is 24. Top three running backs Harris, Jaylen Warren, and Anthony McFarland, Jr. are all 25 or younger. Their top four wideouts (Johnson, Pickens, Calvin Austin III, and Gunner Olszewski) are all 26 or younger. Freiermuth is 24, while his backup Zach Gentry is just 26. The point is, there’s not a ton of pressing need at the offensive skill positions for Pittsburgh.

Rather, the needs are primarily on the offensive line and defensively. The Steelers’ offensive line ranked dead-center of PFF’s final offensive line rankings for 2022, finishing at 16. Starting tackles Dan Moore, Jr. and Chukwuma Okorafor ranked 57th and 60th, respectively, out of 81 qualifying tackles according to PFF. And Okorafor will have one of the larger cap hits on the team. Paired with new guard Isaac Seumalo, an improvement at tackle could do wonders for Pickett’s continued development and Harris’s woeful inefficiency. Harris scored most of his points as a result of volume in his phenomenal rookie fantasy season. But that volume fell off last season, especially in the pass game. A better o-line could boost his efficiency enough to raise him to a top-10 fantasy back again.

While Pittsburgh could stand to add an EDGE across from All-World pass rusher T.J. Watt, it wouldn’t be enough to really elevate this to more than a bye week matchup DST. One other area they may look to boost would be at receiver. That said, 2022 draftee Austin (he of the 4.32s 40 time) missed all of last season. Getting him back is almost like drafting a wideout this season. At any rate, I don’t think they add a fantasy-relevant receiver in this year’s draft.

Steelers’ 2023 Draft Picks

• Round 1, pick 17
• Round 2, picks 1 & 18
• Round 3, pick 17
• Round 4, pick 18
• Round 7, picks 17 & 24

2023 AFC North Draft Needs: Cleveland Browns

Despite Jacoby Brissett‘s best efforts, the Cleveland Browns’ 2022 season was all but over by the time Deshaun Watson was reinstated from his 11-game suspension. Predictably, Watson looked rusty upon his return. He certainly didn’t perform anywhere near the level of his 2018-20 seasons. He did, however, improve a bit by season’s end and give the Browns hope that they didn’t torpedo the franchise with his guaranteed contract. And as admirably as Brissett performed, Watson did outscore him by almost four fantasy points on a per-game basis. If Watson can return to a semblance of his former self, it bodes well for the rest of the Browns’ fantasy prospects in 2023.

Outside of the Watson/Brissett combo at quarterback, Browns’ fantasy managers had to be pleased for the most part in 2022. Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper were each top-10 options at their respective positions. Donovan Peoples-Jones had the best season of his young career. And David Njoku finally looked like the tight end the Browns thought they’d drafted 29th overall in 2017. A full offseason with Watson should help the offensive output improve. But the Browns didn’t rest on their laurels, making a trade to bring in disgruntled former Jet wide receiver Elijah Moore. They also signed tight end Jordan Akins in free agency, reuniting him with Watson, and brought in receiver Marquise Goodwin, a former Olympic sprinter.

Browns’ Bottom Line

All things considered, then, Cleveland doesn’t have many needs at the offensive skill positions heading into the draft. That’s a good thing, as they’ll be throwing darts all weekend with no picks in the first two rounds. They might look to add a wide receiver, but their top three look fairly set. Peoples-Jones is 24 and Moore is just 23. And the team just drafted David Bell and Michael Woods II in 2022 (although Woods will miss the season with an Achilles injury.) The situation is much the same in the backfield, even with D’Ernest Johnson heading to Jacksonville in free agency and the as-yet-unsigned Kareem Hunt no longer on the roster. The Browns still have a running back from each of their past two drafts in Jerome Ford and Demetric Felton, Jr.

Like the Steelers, then, Cleveland figures to concentrate on their defense in the draft. The most likely exception to this would be if somehow a top-10 tackle prospect happened to be available when the Browns finally pick midway through round three. Both Jedrick Wills, Jr. and Jack Conklin have had trouble staying on the field during their respective tenures in Cleveland.

Browns’ 2023 Draft Picks

• Round 3, picks 11 & 35
• Round 4, picks 9 & 24
• Round 5, picks 6 & 8
• Round 6, pick 13
• Round 7, pick 12

It’s Always Fantasy Season

There is no offseason in fantasy! Draft previews, free agency analysis, and Dynasty strategy are just some of what you’ll find when you check Belly Up Fantasy Sports for more fantasy football analysis and entertaining insight. With the MLB season in full-swing, there’s a ton of fantasy baseball content, too. As always, more great NFL coverage is available on the main Belly Up site, as well as fun, informative content on the Belly Up Podcast Network. Got something to say? Leave a comment below, follow me on Twitter @SttChaseFFB, and catch me on the Belly Up Fantasy Live podcast each week.