Ranking AFC North teams by quarterback situation: Steelers fall to bottom
By Lucas Schuh
Good, young quarterbacks have flooded the AFC North in recent years.
Top-tier quarterback talent has not always been prevalent in the AFC North. For quite a while, Ben Roethlisberger was the only high-end player at the position with everybody else being mediocre at best. With an influx of young talent over the past few years, though, times have changed under center in the division.
Joe Flacco was once the man taking snaps for the Baltimore Ravens. He spent the majority of his career in the land of crab cakes but never played better than solid outside of his 2012 playoff run that led to a Super Bowl win and a massive contract for the quarterback. However, his otherwise mediocre play made way for the Ravens to select Lamar Jackson in the 2018 draft. In his second season, he won NFL MVP.
Baltimore wasn’t the only team in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Cleveland Browns have long been searching for any kind of consistent answer at quarterback. Two years ago, armed with the first overall pick, they deemed Baker Mayfield as the worthy candidate to take up the mantle under center. He enjoyed a phenomenal rookie campaign but fell off in his second season.
For as young as Jackson and Mayfield are, though, they aren’t the youngest in the AFC North. The Cincinnati Bengals cut ties with Andy Dalton this offseason to make way for their own No. 1 overall pick, Joe Burrow. Coming off of one of the best college seasons ever by a quarterback, optimism is high for what the LSU product can bring to the table.
The tables have turned in the division as Pittsburgh is now the one team with an uncertain long-term future. Roethlisberger, if healthy, can still be relied on for now. But as an aging player, things might be changing.
Taking all of this into account, we’re ranking the four AFC North teams by their quarterback situation, looking at the starter, the backups and the future of position to determine who is in the best situation and who isn’t.