{"id":875198,"date":"2026-04-26T13:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T13:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/875198\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T13:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T13:33:17","slug":"afc-north-grades-for-the-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/875198\/","title":{"rendered":"AFC North Grades for the 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NFL Draft is now officially over and brought about an influx of talent in the AFC North. Between the four teams in the division, 40 total players were drafted across all seven rounds. How did the Baltimore Ravens<\/a>, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> and Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> fare in this year\u2019s draft?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s break down each team\u2019s draft class and assign a grade.<\/p>\n

Cleveland Browns<\/p>\n

Round 1, No. 9: OT Spencer Fano, Utah<\/p>\n

Round 1, No. 24: WR KC Conception, Texas A&M<\/p>\n

Round 2, No. 58: S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo<\/p>\n

Round 3, No. 86: OT Austin Barber, Florida<\/p>\n

Round 5, No. 146: C Parker Brailsford, Alabama<\/p>\n

Round 5, No. 149: LB Justin Jefferson, Alabama<\/p>\n

Round 5, No. 170: TE Joe Royer, Cincinnati<\/p>\n

Round 7, No. 248: TE Carsen Ryan, BYU<\/p>\n

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The Browns made a concentrated effort to improve their offense in this year\u2019s draft. They made significant additions on the first two days, beginning with the selection of versatile offensive lineman Spencer Fano out of Utah. Fano is a plug-and-play tackle but has the ability to kick inside at guard and potentially center, too. They were able to trade back three spots and still acquire him while obtaining extra draft capital. Then, they double-dipped at wide receiver and picked two of the draft\u2019s more talented pass-catchers: KC Concepion and Denzel Boston. Both of these rookie wideouts have different skill sets but are NFL-ready and should make an instant impact for the Browns\u2019 passing attack. The selection of safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren later in the second round was a great value pick, as many had the Toledo product pegged as a late first round talent. The remainder of the draft saw the Browns draft back-to-back Alabama players on each side of the ball in the fifth round, double-dip on tight ends, and draft another late-round quarterback to join a crowded QB room. In total, eight of the Browns\u2019 10 draft picks were used on offensive players.<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/p>\n

Cincinnati Bengals <\/p>\n

Round 2, No. 41: EDGE Cashius Howell, Texas A&M<\/p>\n

Round 4, No. 128: C Connor Lew, Auburn<\/p>\n

Round 6, No. 189: C Brian Parker, Duke<\/p>\n

Round 7, No. 221: TE Jack Endries, Texas<\/p>\n

Round 7, No. 126: DT Landon Robinson<\/p>\n

After trading for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence<\/a>, the Bengals were without a first round pick. They were still able to acquire notable talent after the first day of the draft. Edge rusher Cashius Howell out of Texas A&M had a productive five-year collegiate career and should help fill the void left by Trey Hendrickson<\/a>. They further addressed their list of defensive needs in Round 3 by drafting Tacario Davis, a cornerback with impressive physical traits and high upside. After that, the Bengals drafted four straight offensive players \u2014 two interior lineman and two pass-catchers. Auburn\u2019s Connor Lew is a solid mid-round center prospect and Landon Robinson, a seventh-round defensive tackle out of Navy, could outperform his draft spot.<\/p>\n

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Grade: B<\/p>\n

Baltimore Ravens<\/p>\n

Round 1, No. 14: OG Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State<\/p>\n

Round 2, No. 45: EDGE Zion Young, Missouri<\/p>\n

Round 3, No. 80: WR Ja\u2019Kobi Lane, USC<\/p>\n

Round 4, No. 115: WR Elijah Sarratt, Indiana<\/p>\n

Round 4, No. 133: TE Matthew Hibner, SMU<\/p>\n

Round 5, No. 162: CB Chandler Rivers, Duke<\/p>\n

Round 5, No. 173: TE Josh Cuevas, Alabama<\/p>\n

Round 6, No. 211: P Ryan Eckley, Michigan State<\/p>\n

Round 7, No. 250: DT Rayshaun Benny, Michigan<\/p>\n

Round 7. No. 253: OG Even Beernsten, Northwestern<\/p>\n

The Ravens made the chalk selection of Olaivavega Ioane in the first round, who was a safe but still home-run pick. Ioane is the best offensive guard prospect in this year\u2019s class and fills a huge need for the Ravens on their interior offensive line. They addressed another pressing need in Round 2 by picking Zion Young, a well-rounded edge rusher out of Missouri. Young is an athletic specimen with a high motor and great run defense, who will fill out the team\u2019s edge room nicely. Wide receiver Ja\u2019Kobi Lane is a bit of a project prospect with room to develop, but his physical traits make him an intriguing upside pick. The same goes for Elijah Sarratt, whom the Ravens drafted right after Lane marking a double-dip at wideout. The rest of Day 3 saw the Ravens add a pair of tight ends and supplement some depth with late-round talent at cornerback, running back, and defensive tackle. Notably, the Ravens did not draft a center and waited until Round 7 to draft a defensive lineman, which is a surprising and perplexing strategy given their needs at each spot.<\/p>\n

Grade: B<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers <\/p>\n

Round 1, No. 21: OT Max Iheanachor, Arizona State<\/p>\n

Round 3, No. 96: IOL Gennings Dunker, Iowa<\/p>\n

Round 4, Pick 121: WR Kaden Wetjen, Iowa<\/p>\n

Round 5, Pick 169: TE Riley Nowakowski, Indiana<\/p>\n

Round 6, Pick 210: DT Gabriel Rubio, Notre Dame<\/p>\n

Round 7, Pick 224: S Robert Spears-Jennings, Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Round 7, Pick 230: RB Eli Heidenreich, Navy<\/p>\n

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The Steelers attempted to draft wide receiver Makai Lemon in the first round but were usurped by the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>. Instead, their consolation prize was offensive tackle Max Iheanachor, who is an ascending prospect with good physical traits. Iheanachor needs some time to develop and refine his skill set but possesses high upside. The Steelers still wound up landing a talented wideout in Round 2, where they drafted Alabama\u2019s Germie Bernard. Bernard is a well-rounded wideout who should make an impact right away. Pittsburgh\u2019s most notable pick is third-round quarterback Drew Allar out of Penn State. Allar has NFL potential but underwhelmed a bit in his final collegiate season. The hope is that with the right infrastructure in place, Allar could tap into his potential and develop as the long-term starting quarterback that the Steelers currently lack. The Steelers diversified many position groups in the mid-to-later rounds, including back-to-back Iowa prospects on the offensive side of the ball. Players like Daylen Everette and Kaden Wetjen should immediately contribute on special teams and some on this class could carve out an offensive or defensive role in 2026.<\/p>\n

Grade: B<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft is now officially over and brought about an influx of talent in the AFC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":875199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59344,52,117,256,54,45347,32201,2793,1489,1800,7,26718,47813,6,109,57,7723,3620,20703,582,1503,855],"class_list":["post-875198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-adam-randall","tag-alabama","tag-baltimore-ravens","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-colbie-young","tag-daylen-everette","tag-defensive-tackle","tag-dexter-lawrence","tag-drew-allar","tag-football","tag-germie-bernard","tag-ken-blaze-imagn","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-spencer-fano","tag-tacario-davis","tag-taylen-green","tag-the-browns","tag-trey-hendrickson","tag-washington"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116471267601515553","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}