With the regular season coming to an end and for most teams their entire season coming to an end, it’s time to start looking ahead to the draft. By now we know the strengths of each team, along with the weaknesses of each team. With the draft coming up, each team will try and fix its weaknesses to give them the best shot at taking the division crown next year. Let’s take a look at the biggest need of each of the AFC South teams: Bengals, Browns, Ravens and Steelers.
Baltimore Ravens: Offensive Line
The Baltimore Ravens could not run the ball this year to save their lives. Ray Rice looked like he was 36 instead of 26. Part of that has to be on Rice, but a big part of that is on the offensive line. They couldn’t open up holes for Rice or Bernard Pierce all year. On top of that, they gave up 48 sacks on the year which was the fourth worst in the NFL. Rice and Pierce are both good running backs and with the emergence of Marlon Brown, Flacco has some weapons to throw the ball to if he can get the time. The Ravens defense was good this year and if they can protect Flacco and open some holes up in the running game, they could be a playoff team again next year. Some players that they could target are Cedric Ogbuehi from Texas A&M, Taylor Lewan from Michigan and Cameron Erving from Florida State.
Cincinnati Bengals: Cornerback
When Leon Hall went down with another achilles injury the Bengals cornerback depth took a big hit. Add to that the fact that Terence Newman is 35 years old and Adam Jones is 30. Both of them are getting older and their skill will surely start to go down as well. That only leaves the Bengals with Dre Kirkpatrick and Brandon Ghee in their defensive backfield. Neither of them is reliable however and some talent and youth needs to be infused into the Bengals secondary. The Bengals defense is still ranked fifth in the league and it could only be better with more youth and talent on the back end. Some possible players the Bengals will look at in the draft are Bradley Roby from Ohio State, Kyle Fuller from Virginia Tech and Justin Gilbert from Oklahoma State.
Cleveland Browns: Quarterback
The Cleveland Browns defense has been very good the past few seasons, but the offense hasn’t been good since Derek Anderson went to the Pro Bowl in 2007. The Browns have a pair of extremely talented receivers in Josh Gordon and tight end Jordan Cameron. The Browns also have a good offensive line, starting with one of the best left tackles in the NFL Joe Thomas. If the Browns can get a quarterback to come in and play well, they should have a chance in every game. They pick fourth in the draft and should have a few options to take when they come on the clock. The most likely options for the Browns are Blake Bortles of Central Florida, Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M and Derek Carr of Fresno State.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Offensive Tackle
Pittsburgh has had some problems finding quality tackles to protect Ben Roethlisberger. They drafted Mike Adams in 2012, but he has failed to live up to what they thought he would be. Pittsburgh always has one of the top defenses in the NFL. If the offense can protect Roethlisberger and score some points then they will be one of the best teams in the NFL again. Roethlisberger is one of the best in the NFL at avoiding the rush, but he has taken so many hits already in his career and if they don’t protect him better, he may not last much longer. A new tackle would also help open up holes for the run game, which could better protect Roethlisberger. Some of the top players for Pittsburgh to look at are Cedric Ogbuehi from Texas A&M, Greg Robinson from Auburn and Cameron Erving from Florida State.