Cincinnati Bengals
Strength: Joe Burrow is a stud. Last year he threw for 5716 yards and 39 TDs. In the playoffs his hot play continued and he led his team to the superbowl. He is surrounded by a strong supporting cast with great WRs and a highly rated RB. Burrow is the prototypical franchise QB that organizations strive to draft.
Weakness: Staying on the offensive side of the ball I have to point to Jackson Carman who is projecting as the current LG. He is rated the 67th of 83 Guards in the NFL by Pro Football Focus. He has a pass blocking rating of 45.9. That is not what I want protecting my franchise QB.
Cleveland Browns
Strength: Myles Garrett is the type of player that offensive coordinators have nightmares about. He is the #1 rated Edge rusher on Pro Football Focus. He recorded 18 sacks last season and forced 1 fumble. He is a force on the defensive line that coordinators have to scheme for in order to give their QBs time to pass.
Weakness: Jordan Elliott, the projected starting DT on the defensive line is 102nd of 109 rated DT on PFF. He recorded 18 solo tackles last year which ranks him 88th of 109 for his position. He also only recorded 1 sack last year, which ranks him 79th. The former 3rd round pick out of Missouri will need to pick his output if he wants to remain in the starting lineup.
Baltimore Ravens
Strength: Their starting TE, Mark Andrews turned a lot of heads last year. He ended the year with gaudy stats. He led the TE stats in the NFL for targets, receptions, yards and TDs. With leading the league in every TE stat it should come as no surprise that PFF has him rated as the highest rated TD. It is really hard to argue with that rating after collecting 107 receptions, 1.361 yards and 9 TDs in 2021.
Weakness: Their LBs give me reason to be concerned. Malik Harrison missed significant time last year, so I am going to give him a pass. Patrick Queen on the other hand, has underperformed for where he was drafted. The former LSU Tiger was a 1st round selection who has underperformed to date. PFF has him rated 72nd of 87 LBs. He has not proven to be effective as a run defender or in coverage, which are arguably the most important for a LB.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Strength: Cameron Heyward is ranked as the 2nd rated player at his position. The former #1 pick out of Ohio State has a 90.0 run defense rating and a 83.8 pass rush grade. I honestly feel bad for Heyward and TJ Watt. They are some of the best players in the NFL and I am afraid their skills will not be realized on this team. On the plus side, with Trubisky as your starting QB, we should get to see a lot of this defense.
Weakness: The starting LT for the Steelers is projected to be the 4th round selection out of Texas A&M, Dan Moore Jr. This is a huge concern for me, especially when Mitch Trubisky is expected to be your starting QB. He will need as much help as possible and the blind side position is going to be critical for his success. I expect the Steeler faithful are going to see very quickly that a LT either in free agency or the draft will be high on their list next off season.