AFC North Draft Grades

Here is the second installment of my draft grades. Today we look at the AFC North...

Baltimore Ravens

1(17) CJ Mosley (LB, Alabama)

2(48) Timmy Jernigan (DT, Florida State)

3(79) Terrance Brooks (FS, Florida State)

3(99) Crockett Gilmore  (TE, Colorado State)

4(134) Brent Urban (DE, Virginia)

4(138) Lorenzo Taliaferro (RB,  Coastal Carolina)

5(175) John Urschel (OG, Penn State)

6(194) Keith Wenning (QB, Ball State)

7(218) Michael Campanaro (WR, Wake Forest)

Best Pick: Timmy Jernigan

Timmy Jernigan was a top 10 pick in just about every mock draft prior to the National Championship. So what happened? Jernigan came off the field dehydrated  at the end of the game in crucial moments. Now, Jernigan was outstanding all game long, but the time when he missed had to play a factor. He was #6 on Scouts.Inc’s board until the National Championship and then dropped drastically. He tested ok, but Aaron Donald blew him away in testing off the field as well and passed him on all those draft boards. Add a failed drug test in at the combine and Jernigan fell to round 2. Now, the failed drug test was a diluted sample and not the typical failure (a dilution Jernigan’s agent said was from overhydrating). This is possible, but it’s always hard to believe guys nowadays so I will let you be the judge. Even with all of that, I had Jernigan rated as the 5^th best player in this draft. On the field, Jernigan is as good as anyone and a drug test combined with one series don’t change that for me. The Ravens got amazing value here.

Summary: The Ravens had one of the three best drafts. For me, three are head and shoulders above the rest. Baltimore is the first of these revealed so far. I’d lean towards this draft being the best of all. The Ravens picked up three starters on defense to add to an already solid unit. Three guys that will have a major impact for this team were added here. Safety was a huge need for them and they got a great fit in Terrance Brooks. Add in one of the best 7^th round picks in Michael Campanaro along with several other strong picks and they had a fantastic draft.

Grade: A

Undrafted Free Agents

 Xavius Boyd (LB, Western Kentucky)

Levi Brown (DT, Temple)

Jeremy Brown (WR, Tenn-Martin)

Jace Davis (WR, Northern Colorado)

Parker Graham (OT, Oklahoma State)

Derrick Hopkins (DT, Virginia Tech)

James Hurst (OT, North Carolina)

Tramain Jacobs (DB, Texas A & M)

Richie Leone (P, Houston)

Jamie Meder (DT, Ashland)

Dexter Moody (DB, Albany State)

Deji Olatoye (DB, North Carolina A & T)

Zachary Orr (LB, North Texas)

AJ Pataiali'i (DT, Utah State)

Avery Patterson (DB, Oregon)

Sammy Seamster (DB, Middle Tennessee State)

Brett Van Sloten (OT, Iowa)

Before breaking his leg in the bowl game, Hurst was predicted by many to be a 1st rounder. He is one of the most decorated offensive lineman in NCAA and I was shocked he wasn't drafted. His signing along with Derrick Hopkins help to make this a great group of undrafted free agents. They will have a ton of competition to make the Ravens roster because it is such a strong group, they have the veterans and they had a great draft. However, I am sure that's a problem the Ravens love to have.

Cincinnati Bengals

1(24) Darqueze Dennard (CB, Michigan State)

2(55) Jeremy Hill (RB, LSU)

3(88) Will Clarke (DE, West Virginia)

4(111) Russell Bodine (OG, North Carolina)

5(164) AJ McCarron (QB, Alabama)

6(212) Marquis Flowers (LB, Arizona)

7(239) James Wright (WR, LSU)

7(252) Lavelle Westbrooks (DB, Georgia Southern)

Best Pick: Russell Bodine

Bodine is a really solid blocker who is very strong. I was pretty shocked that he was available in round 4. This is a guy that will be starting for the Bengals by the end of this season at either center or guard. It was a huge coup to get this guy in round 4. He was quite good for the Tar Heels last season.

Summary: I am not a fan of AJ McCarron and personally wouldn’t have picked him, but if you are going to pick him, Round 5 is not a bad spot for that. James Wright is probably the only LSU fan in the draft I wasn’t a huge fan of either. However, other than those two, this team did quite nice. Solid draft picks at every position. Good value throughout the draft especially with Russell Bodine and 7^th round pick Lavelle Westbrooks. Unfortunately, for Jeremy Hill this probably is not the best locker room for him with his off the field issues. The Bengals have had success with players with checkered past, but not the locker room I’d want to go into if I was him.

Grade: B

Undrafted Free Agents

Jimmy Bennett (OT, UCONN)

James Davidson (DL, UTEP)

Curtis Feight (OL, West Virginia)

Dan France (OL, Michigan State)

Ryan Hewitt (FB, Stanford)

Trey Hopkins (OG, Texas)

Isiah Lewis (S, Michigan State)

Colin Lockett (WR, San Diego State)

Alex Neutz (WR, Buffalo)

Nikita Whitlock (DL, Wake Forest)

James Wilder Jr. (RB, Florida State)

It is absolutely crazy to me that Texas did not have a player drafted for the first time in my lifetime. One of the reasons is that a guy like Hopkins gets drafted most years, but this draft was so very deep. He is a good signing for Cincy. James Wilder is a high upside signing as he was one of the top RBs in HS. Coming into FSU he was the next great RB, but he was outshined by Freeman his entire tenure with the Noles. It was a poor decision for Wilder to go pro, but he can be quite successful. Wilder showed flashes of brillance at FSU, but he was never the absolute dominant force that most of us were expecting. I'd love for him to be that guy in the pros and realize his potential, but he may never reach his high ceiling. Nikita Whitlock makes this team.

Cleveland Browns

1(8) Justin Gilbert (CB, Oklahoma State)

1(22) Johnny Manziel (QB, Texas A & M)

2(35) Joel Bitonio (OT, Nevada)

3(71) Christian Kirksey (LB,  Iowa)

3(94) Terrance West (RB, Towson)

4(127) Pierre Desir (CB, Lindenwood)

Best Pick: Justin Gilbert

Several people did not like this pick. I love this pick. You trade down and pick up a 1^st rounder for next year on a team that needs a push if they want to contend. In addition to this you get the top player on your board who happens to be the best corner in the draft. Drafting Gilbert gives the Browns the best corner tandem in the league. Even as a Gator Hater, I recognize that Joe Haden is the best there is and he just shuts everyone down. Now, teams will have a harder time staying away from Haden because Gilbert is fantastic in coverage. It just got a lot harder to pass against the Browns and it wasn’t exactly easy before. This will be a lesson to teams, pick the best player available!

Summary: The Browns did very well in my opinion other than the Manziel pick. I have never been a Johnny Football fan and his money sign walking across the stage surely did not change that pick. I would have continued to build my team outside of the QB and give Hoyer a shot at this thing. Johnny needs an O-line and some WR to succeed and Cleveland doesn’t have the best guys there. Few guys go from college to pros and have less weapons in addition to worse protection, but that’s what just happened to Johnny Manziel with the impending Gordon suspension. Getting a weapon and putting the a QB next year in a better position would have been my move, but I see why the Browns did this. Kelvin Benjamin would have been my choice followed by a trade up for Hundley from UCLA next year. Who knows though maybe it will work out. The rest of the picks were quite good though and every pick could end up starting which stopped the Manziel pick from derailing the draft. I would have liked to see more picks though since it was the deepest draft of my lifetime.

Grade: C+

Undrafted Free Agents

Ray Agnew (FB, Southern Illinois)

Greg Blair (LB, Cincinnati)

Carlo Calabrese (LB, Notre Dame)

Isiah Crowell (RB, Alabama State)

Anthony Dima (OL, UMASS)

Jason Hendricks (S, Pittsburgh)

Blake Jackson (WR, Oklahoma State)

Chandler Jones (WR, San Jose State)

Jonathan Krause (WR, Vanderbilt)

Corey Robinson (QB, Troy)

Connor Shaw (QB, South Carolina)

Kenny Shaw (WR, Florida State)

Willie Snead (WR, Ball State)

Kenny Shaw was my favorite Seminole since he went over the middle against Oklahoma a few years back and put his body on the line for the Noles. He was a fearless receiver and a strong punt returner. The guy had really good hands and you could always count on #81 to deliver. With the lack of quality receivers in Cleveland this was a must to sign Shaw.

The other Shaw, Connor, was a great signing as well. Shaw was the one QB who beat Missouri in the regular season. You know those Missouri defenders Kony Ealy and Michael Sam everyone has been obsessing over? Connor Shaw came in injured against their team and led a 14 point comeback, but nobody talked about whether he would be drafted. No disrespect to Missouri, or to the other QBs in this draft, but I'd rather have Shaw than a few guys picked before him.

Pittsburgh Steelers

1(15) Ryan Shazier (LB, Ohio State)

2(46) Stephon Tuitt (DT, Notre Dame)

3(97) Dri Archer (RB, Kent State)

4(118) Martavis Bryant  (WR, Clemson)

5(157) Shaquille Richardson (DB, Arizona)

5(173) Wesley Johnson (C, Vanderbilt)

6(192) Jordan Zumwalt (LB, UCLA)

6(215) Dan McCullers (DT, Tennessee)

7(230) Rob Blanchflower (TE, Massachusetts)

Best Pick: Stephon Tuitt

The Steelers struck gold with their second round selection of Stephon Tuitt. For me, Tuitt was a 1^st round talent and most analysts agreed. To get him In the middle of the second round had to be exciting for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Expect Tuitt to be a fixture on the Steelers defense for years to come. Other teams will not be happy that they passed on such a talent.

Summary: The Steelers didn’t reach for anything and did quite well in the draft. I absolutely love what the Steelers did in round 2-5 and was impressed with the quality they picked up throughout. If I was a fan of the Steelers I would have loved their draft. To me, these guys were just off the top 3 teams. They had the 4^th or 5^th best draft and picked up several quality players.

Grade: A-

Undrafted Free Agents

Devon Carrington (S, Stanford)

Chris Elkins (OG, Youngstown State)

Ethan Hemer (DE, Wisconsin)

Kaycee Ike (OT, UAB)

Howard Jones (LB, Shephard)

Brendon Kay (QB, Cincinnati)

Josh Mauro (DE, Stanford)

Roy Philon (DT, Louisville)

Will Simmons (OG, Eastern Carolina)

Eric Waters (TE, Missouri)

Eric Waters is one of those super athletic tight ends. He could not only make the team, but contribute a great deal if he gets better with his hands. The guy has the tools, but his hands are not reliable. The Missouri tight end is certainly one to watch. Roy Philon is another one to watch. I could see Philon making the team as he certainly has the talent to do so. Brendon Kay is very unlikely to stick. Some of the other guys like Devon Carrington have a lot better chance. Solid group the Steelers signed.

-Noland