Predicting the best NFL player on each AFC team in 5 years
By Zach Cohen
NFL Predictions: Best AFC North Players in 5 Years
Cincinnati Bengals: Joe Burrow
It can be risky to choose a player with only one year of experience, yet I struggle to find a better player than Burrow on Cincinnati. He didn’t look like a rookie during the 10 games before his ACL injury. Barring an unsuccessful recovery, Burrow should continue to be the star player the Bengals envisioned when they took him No. 1 in last year’s draft.
He won’t be the only former first-overall pick on this list, so I feel inclined to point out recent history has not been kind to former top picks. The longest-tenured first pick is currently Myles Garrett, who was selected in 2017. Speaking of Garrett…
Cleveland Browns: Myles Garrett
He’s only played four seasons, but Garrett is already one of the league’s best edge rushers. Great edge rushers typically tend to stay great for a while, and considering Garrett’s only 25, I imagine he’ll be around a bit longer — much to the chagrin of the AFC North.
For as good as Baker Mayfield or Jedrick Wills may be in five years, it’s hard to see either of them garnering consideration for the best at their position. Garrett was already a First-Team All-Pro. How much longer until he wins Defensive Player of the Year? I bet he’ll snag that award by 2024.
Baltimore Ravens: Ronnie Stanley
Before you throw a fit about Lamar Jackson not being here, I think Jackson can be a very good quarterback in five years. All the hate he gets is pretty unwarranted considering he’s still one of the league’s best young quarterbacks. It’s just that star offensive tackles tend to have more longevity in stardom. In simpler terms, I’d bet on Stanley being a top-five tackle in five years, but I wouldn’t bet on Jackson being a top-five quarterback.
In the most basic terms I can possibly imagine, I expect Stanley to have a higher Madden rating than Jackson in five years. It’s this type of hard-hitting analysis that sports media sorely needs. And yes, I did give a second of thought to Justin Tucker.
Pittsburgh Steelers: T.J. Watt
The same thing I just said about Garrett can be applied to Watt. Both entered the league in 2017 and have totaled more than 40 sacks since then. (Watt has seven more than Garrett.) Aside from leading the league in sacks last season, Watt also may have a clearer path to being the Steelers’ best player.
Then again, it seems foolish to judge a team’s pool of talent in five years based on their current roster. I can’t stress that last line enough. For as good as Watt is now, we know very little about what this upcoming season will be like — let alone five seasons from now. Either way, the name of the game is picking current players who have the best shot at being their team’s best player, so I’ll easily stick with Watt.