AFC North Divisional Podcast Recap for 2026 (Fantasy Football)
We start off the 2026 divisional breakdowns with the AFC North. The Ballers dive straight into all the off-season changes, from free agent signings to rookie additions to coaching changes. They take a look at last year’s production, forecast how they think each team will pan out, and share who they think will win the division in 2026.
A reminder that we are up to three shows a week now – tune into The Fantasy Footballers Podcast on all of your devices!
To take an even deeper dive into fantasy players in the AFC North, make sure to check out the full array of the UDK’s tools available to make your fantasy team a champion!
Let’s Get Divisional – AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
- Player Additions: WR Michael Pittman, RB Rico Dowdle
- Player Subtractions: RB Kenneth Gainwell, TE Jonnu Smith, WR Calvin Austin III
- Rookies: WR Germie Bernard (Round 2), QB Drew Allar (Round 3), WR Kaden Wetjen (Round 4)
2025 Offensive Ranks
PPG
YPG
Pass Att
Pass Yards
Rush Att
Rush Yards
17
26
17
22
28
26
In 2025, the Steelers won their division while having the 3rd most points for (PF) in their own division. The hot start of 4-1 was great, but they found themselves going .500 the rest of the way to another winning season. However, after 19 winning seasons, Mike Tomlin is gone, and Mike McCarthy is in.
42 year old Aaron Rodgers announced that 2026 will be his final season and he’s taking his final ride with a familiar face, reuniting with his old head coach, Mike McCarthy.
Jason went back and watched the tape on Aaron Rodgers and concluded, “[Rodgers] looked like he had to check everything down. When I watched his clean pocket 20-plus air yard throws, it was really bad.” And I couldn’t agree more. Rodgers has had just ONE top-5 weekly finish since 2022. What does that mean for the pass catchers?
Regardless if you think Michael Pittman Jr. is good or not, he’s one of five receivers with 110+ targets in each of the last five seasons. Andy, Mike, and Jason all have Michael Pittman leading the team in targets, but have DK Metcalf higher in their rankings, mainly due to touchdowns. In PPR leagues, Pittman may be a safer bet on a weekly basis.
I believe the backfield is the most intriguing part of the roster. Kenneth Gainwell, who led the Steelers in receptions in 2025, is now a Buccaneer. It seems the backfield battle is between Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle. Dowdle isn’t the only player reuniting with Mike McCarthy. The last time the two of them were together was in 2024, when Dowdle had a breakout season. Consensus ADP has Warren as the first Steeler coming off the board in fantasy drafts right now. Warren profiles more as the pass catcher and security blanket for Rodgers, but his inefficiency around the goal line may have him giving up those valuable touches to Dowdle, who, despite a small sample size, was extremely effective.
Coach McCarthy talks to the media about Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle:
Watch More ➡️ https://t.co/F81JDJDpdC pic.twitter.com/fU5Kl7pct2
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) March 31, 2026
If you squint hard enough, you can see Pat Freiermuth soaking up some short area targets and having some value in the right matchups, but you’ll probably want to turn that squint into fully closing your eyes pretty quickly.
Overall, it’s not pretty for the Steelers in 2026 (sorry Steelers fans), but there is value to be found on every team, and I personally like Jaylen Warren.
2026 Vegas Projected Win Total: 8.5
Baltimore Ravens (8-9)
- Player Additions: TE Durham Smythe
- Player Subtractions: TE Isaiah Likely, TE Charlie Kolar, FB Patrick Ricard
- Rookies: WR Ja’Kobi Lane (Round 3), WR Elijah Sarratt (Round 4), TE Matthew Hibner (Round 4), RB Adam Randall (Round 5), QB Diego Pavia (UDFA)
2025 Offensive Ranks
PPG
YPG
Pass Att
Pass Yards
Rush Att
Rush Yards
10
15
32
28
3
2
Tomlin wasn’t the only head coach with a long tenure. John Harbaugh walked away from Baltimore after 18 seasons. Now it’s Jesse Minter’s time to show what he can do as a first-time head coach at any level. In fantasy, it’s not a death sentence to have a defensive head coach, but it’s certainly preferred to have an offensive minded one. However, Declan Doyle, Baltimore’s new offensive coordinator and play-caller, is coming over from the Ben Johnson system in Chicago, so we should still be excited to see what they can dial up for the Ravens offense.
It’s no secret that Lamar Jackson’s legs are a cheat code. He’s a very good passer, too, but his rushing ability put him over the top. That’s why when he suffered a hamstring injury in Week 4, the wheels fell off. Lamar went from averaging 27.6 FPPG before injury to 13.5 FPPG once he returned. The Ballers aren’t worried about Lamar, and he is firmly going off the board as the QB2 or QB3 right now in fantasy drafts, so it seems any injury concerns were left in 2025.
Much like fine wine, it just seems like Derrick Henry is getting better with age. However, only the 1972 Miami Dolphins and Father Time are undefeated. King Henry is coming off a career season in which he had 27 carries in the 5-yard line. There isn’t anyone challenging him on the depth chart for touches, so the only concern in 2026 is age and the departure of center Tyler Linderbaum.
If you rostered Zay Flowers last season, you know that his WR7 finish in 2025 deserves an asterisk. Hopefully, no one was playing fantasy football in Week 18 (if so, put a rule change up to vote), but that’s when Flowers padded his stats with 2 TDs and 138 yards receiving. Half of the time he was “MEH” (between 8 and 12.5 fpts).
Zay Flowers finished as a Top-24 WR in just 35% of his games in 2025
For context, Parker Washington finished at 37% 👀
Current 2026 ADP ➡️ WR21 🤷♂️
Are you drafting him at that price? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/uBFLuSJQfa
— Fantasy Footballers (@TheFFBallers) June 8, 2026
Here’s what the Ballers had to say about Zay Flowers:
- Mike: “A player going where Zay Flowers is going, knowing I’m getting at least 25% of the targets; he’s really interesting.”
- Andy: “If I can get Zay Flowers in the fifth round, that’s just too good an opportunity.”
- Jason: “I’m fine drafting a guy there that you know is going to be a leader. You know Zay Flowers is the leader of a good offense.”
It was a rough start in 2025 for Mark Andrews, who had just one reception in each of the first two games. The Ballers mainly look at him as a late-round dart throw at the onesie position because he still holds double-digit TD upside, but it’s worth noting that in games without a receiving TD last season, he averaged 4.2 FPPG. Yuck.
2026 Vegas Projected Win Total: 11.5
Cincinnati Bengals (6-11)
- Player Additions: NONE
- Player Subtractions: TE Noah Fant, QB Jake Browning
- Rookies: WR Colbie Young (Round 4)
2025 Offensive Ranks
PPG
YPG
Pass Att
Pass Yards
Rush Att
Rush Yards
12
16
2
7
29
29
After being the first team in NFL history to lose back-to-back games despite scoring 37+ points in each of them, the writing was on the wall that the Bengals needed to make a splash on the defensive side of the ball, and that’s exactly what they did. Even with the upgrades on defense, the Bengals are a pretty straightforward team to project.
Jason: “All four guys (Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Chase Brown) are good. And the best part of getting pieces of this team is that it’s consolidated. No one else is really going to take away from those four players”
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Despite finishing the season as the QB29 last season due to missed games, Burrow finished the season red hot. Through the final six weeks of 2025, Burrow was on pace for 4500+ passing yards and 43 passing TDs. Since 2023, Burrow in Week 1 has been atrocious. Although there have been some difficult matchups, for a quarterback you’re investing in so much with an early pick, you’ve got to start him through all the matchups. Here’s to hoping a home game versus Tampa Bay can help turn around those bad starts.
Year
2023
2024
2025
2026
Week 1 Opponent
@CLE
NE
@CLE
TB
Week 1 Finish
QB31
QB29
QB28
?
There aren’t many questions about Ja’Marr Chase in 2026, but if you remember 2025, there were plenty. The start of the season was rough, and everyone was panicking (and I was buying). It’s old news because he led the league in targets, finished as the WR4, and is now going off the board as the WR1, right where Mike and Jason have him ranked.
We haven’t seen a full season out of Tee Higgins since 2022, but he’s a TD machine when healthy. Higgins has 21 receiving TDs over the last two years; only Chase, Amon-Ra, and Davante Adams have more. Right now, the Bengals are only one of two teams with two of their WRs going in the top 20 in ADP (with the other being Dallas – Lamb/Pickens).
Editor’s Note: For a breakdown of the Bengals passing game, check out Chris Cash’s recent article, Target Practice: The 2026 Cincinnati Bengals.
One of my concerns for rostering Chase Brown was, “are they going to add another running back?” The concerns were squashed when they didn’t add anyone through free agency or the draft. With the backfield all to himself, Brown feels like an extremely safe pick. From Week 6 on, Brown was the RB7, averaging 17.3 FPPG and 100 total yards per game.
The best part about the tight end room for the Bengals is their nicknames. They’ve got “Sticky” Gesicki (Mike Gesicki) and “Stool” Sample (Drew Sample). Speaking of stool, let’s talk about our final team in the AFC North…
2026 Vegas Projected Win Total: 9.5
Cleveland Browns (5-12)
- Player Additions: NONE
- Player Subtractions: RB Jerome Ford
- Rookies: WR KC Concepcion (Round 1), WR Denzel Boston (Round 2), TE Joe Royer (Round 5), QB Taylen Green (Round 6)
2025 Offensive Ranks
PPG
YPG
Pass Att
Pass Yards
Rush Att
Rush Yards
31
30
15
31
26
27
Why not start here: The Cleveland Browns have NOT won the AFC North since 1989! At what point do we start bringing back the paper bag mask?
The Browns are favored in just two games this season. While we like Todd Monken as an offensive coordinator, we don’t know what to expect from him as a head coach. History tells us that there have been eight first-time head coaches over the last 25 years who were 55+. They averaged 6.4 wins in year one, and only Mike Zimmer and Bruce Arians lasted more than three years.
“If you have two quarterbacks, you actually have none.” –John Madden/Mike Wright
One thing is for sure, the Browns do have two quarterbacks. In 2024, Deshaun Watson was dead last in EPA per play. In 2025, Shedeur Sanders was dead last in EPA per play (Pro Bowler btw).
The Ballers shared their concerns about Harold Fannin Jr:
Jason: “I hate these middle-round tight ends, but I love Fannin so much.”
Andy: “I want Harold Fannin to not be a sophomore flop.”
Me too, Andy, me too. However, there are concerns from the QB play to the increase in competition to the new head coach and offensive coordinator. The small glimmer of hope with the Browns is that good players on bad teams will have their ADP depressed because managers see bad teams and think bad players (or at least a bad pick).
While Fannin is the main Browns passing catching target for us in fantasy drafts, late round dart throws on either of the rookie WRs, KC Concepcion or Denzel Boston, are perfectly fine.
Quinshon Judkins was trying to overcome a bad offense in 2025 and may see that same dilemma in 2026. Judkins passed the eye test when he was on the field before injury, and he looks explosive right now in practice, too:
a full 2.5 minutes of Q at work 😤 pic.twitter.com/qlS0f6VPND
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) June 4, 2026
Even though 67% of his runs went for 3 or fewer yards (worst rate in the NFL), he was still a workload monster who got 34% of the Browns’ rush attempts and targets. The biggest concerns are that the Browns are projected to be a losing team, and they aren’t projected for a lot of touchdowns. Being part of a winning team is a massive factor when you’re looking for a RB with a high ceiling.
2026 Vegas Projected Win Total: 6.5
Who Wins the AFC North?
Andy and Jason predict that the Baltimore Ravens will win the division, while Mike stands alone, picking the Cincinnati Bengals to win.