2024 NFL Draft: Dynasty Fantasy Football Winners And Losers From The AFC North

With the 2024 NFL Draft now over, we can accurately re-assess the depth charts of teams around the NFL. In this series, we’ll be taking a look at players who either gained or lost value based on what their team did this offseason and during the draft.

Next up, the AFC North!

Cincinnati Bengals

Draft Class

Round One, Pick 18: Amarius Mims, OT Georgia
Round Two, Pick 49: Kris Jenkins, DT Michigan
Round Three, Pick 80: Jermaine Burton, WR Alabama
Round Three, Pick 97: McKinnley Jackson, DT Texas A&M
Round Four, Pick 115: Erick All, TE Iowa
Round Five, Pick 149: Josh Newton, CB TC
Round Six, Pick 194: Tanner McLachlan, TE Arizona
Round Six, Pick 214: Cedric Johnson, DE Mississippi
Round Seven, Pick 224: Daijahn Anthony, S Mississippi
Round Seven, Pick 237: Matt Lee, C Miami

Winner: Jermaine Burton, WR

Burton was one of the biggest winners from the NFL draft when the Bengals selected him with the 80th overall pick in the 2024 round. First of all, he will be tied to one of the best quarterbacks in the league for the first four years of his career on an offense that runs a ton of three wide receiver sets.

Also, the Bengals offense is opening up perfectly for new skill position players to emerge. They let long-time slot, Tyler Boyd, walk in free agency this off-season. Further, Tee Higgins is only on the franchise tag and has publicly asked to be traded to find a long-term contract extension. All of a sudden the WR2 position on an excellent offense has opened up. There isn’t a ton of competition on the roster behind Burton so we could see his role grow this year and explode in 2025.

Loser: Bengals’ TE room

This tight end room in Cincinnati is an absolute mess. Joe Burrow didn’t really look the tight end’s way his first few seasons in the NFL, but Tanner Hudson showed some flashes with Jake Browning down the stretch that made people believe a tight end could be viable in this offense.

Following that Hudson performance, the Bengals finally felt like they should invest in the position, and boy did they ever. They signed Mike Gesicki to a one-year deal with $3.25 million. They followed that decision up by drafting Erick All in the fourth round and Tanner McLachlan in the sixth round. Both of these tight ends showed the ability to make plays with the ball in their hands at the college level.

It’s going to be a nightmare to decipher the Cincy tight end room on a weekly basis, and with them selecting two tight ends in the draft it’s even more difficult to decide which is the better dynasty option moving forward. I’d stay away for now and monitor which rookie is getting the most snaps early in the season.

Baltimore Ravens

Draft Class

Round One, Pick 30: Nate Wiggins, CB Clemson
Round Two, Pick 62: Roger Rosengarten, OT Washington
Round Three, Pick 93: Adisa Isaac, DE Penn State
Round Four, Pick 113: Devontez Walker, WR North Carolina
Round Four, Pick 130: TJ Tampa, CB Iowa State
Round Five, Pick 165: Rasheen Ali, RB Marshall
Round Six, Pick 218: Devin Leary, QB Kentucky
Round Seven, Pick 228: Nick Samac, C Michigan State
Round Seven, Pick 250: Sanoussi Kane, S Purdue

Winner: Rashod Bateman, WR

The former first-round pick was a sneaky winner of this off-season in Baltimore. Bateman wasn’t eligible for the fifth-year option due to only having accrued two seasons of play thus far in his career, but I’m not sure the Ravens would have even picked it up though because of his performance and health issues his first three years. Instead, the Ravens gave him a two-year extension that runs through the 2026 season. This shows that Baltimore is still committed to Bateman and believes in his long-term potential.

Beyond the contract implications, Bateman also benefited from what the Ravens did on the field this offseason. Baltimore let their second-leading receiver, Odell Beckham Jr, walk in free agency and failed to bring in any meaningful competition at receiver via free agency or the draft. Bateman’s ceiling is the third target on this offense behind Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews, but if he’s ever going to make a jump it’ll be in 2024.

Loser: Keaton Mitchell, RB

Everyone knew that JK Dobbins’s time as a Raven was done this off-season after an injury-riddled tenure in Baltimore. Then on March 11th, Gus Edwards signed a contract with the Los Angeles Chargers to reunite with his old pal Greg Roman. For a split second, it looked like Mitchell could be a major player on this offense once he returned from injury.

However, two days later on March 13th, the Ravens signed Derrick Henry to a three-year deal to restock the RB room. Then Baltimore selected Rasheen Ali in the fifth round out of Marshall who fills a similar role to Mitchell by providing explosive runs and big plays.

Worst case scenario for Mitchell is he missed the entire 2024 season and that three-week flash will only ever be a lingering “what if”.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Draft Class

Round One, Pick 20: Troy Fautanu, OT Washington
Round Two, Pick 51: Zach Frazier, C West Virginia
Round Three, Pick 84: Roman Wilson, WR Michigan
Round Three, Pick 98: Payton Wilson, LB NC State
Round Four, Pick 119: Mason McCormick, G South Dakota State
Round Six, Pick 178: Logan Lee, DT Iowa
Round Six, Pick 195: Ryan Watts, CB Texas

Winner: Najee Harris, RB

When the Pittsburgh Steelers announced they were hiring Arthur Smith as their offensive coordinator everyone knew that it was a signal that the Steelers were going to return to their roots and run the football. During his time in Atlanta and Tennessee, Smith’s offenses were some of the most run-heavy in the entire NFL.

To reinforce this commitment to the run game, the Steelers drafted three offensive linemen in the first four rounds including two with their first two picks. The Steelers are going to run Harris over and over and over again this year and he’s in store for a massive workload after a bounce-back 2023.

Loser: Calvin Austin III, WR

Calvin Austin showcased his big play ability in 2023 after missing his entire rookie season the year before. It looked like Austin was ready to take a big leap in 2024 when the Steelers let Diontae Johnson and Allen Robinson walk this off-season. However, Pittsburgh followed that up by drafting Roman Wilson in the third round and signing Van Jefferson.

Not only does he probably fall back to fourth on the depth chart, but what I mentioned above with Najee Harris also impacts Austin. The Steelers won’t have a high-passing volume this season and he will be almost completely useless in fantasy lineups.

Cleveland Browns

Draft Class

Round Two, Pick 54: Mike Hall Jr, DT Ohio State
Round Three, Pick 85: Zak Zinter, G Michigan
Round Five, Pick 156: Jamari Thrash, WR Louisville
Round Six, Pick 206: Nathaniel Watson, LB Mississippi State
Round Seven, Pick 227: Myles Harden, CB South Dakota
Round Seven, Pick 243: Jowon Briggs, DT Cincinnati

Winner: Deshaun Watson, QB

The Browns gave Watson a massive contract in 2022 but he has yet to live up to the expectations. There have been injury concerns and transitions but the Browns have done everything in their power to set him up for success in 2024.

The Browns started the off-season by trading for Jerry Jeudy to give Watson another weapon on the outside. Jeudy, Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore, and David Njoku create a more than serviceable receiving corps for Watson to succeed. Cleveland also drafted Zak Zinter who was the anchor of the best offensive line in college football for the last three seasons at Michigan. Zinter should help shore up an offensive line that should be one of the best in the NFL in 2024.

Loser: Cedric Tillman, WR

Tillman emerged at the end of the 2023 season as the WR3 for this offense and it looked like things were starting to click following an early injury. However, this off-season didn’t go well for Tillman as the Browns brought in Jerry Jeudy who will surely be a top-three receiver on this offense for the 2024 season. Then, Cleveland selected Jamari Thrash in the 5th round of the NFL draft.

Tillman was not exactly the most enticing dynasty prospect entering the offseason, but there was definitely some upside heading into 2024. However, when looking at everything the Browns did this offseason, it looks like Cleveland was trying to drastically upgrade their receiving room.

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Andrew Francesconi

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

I’m a former college basketball player and a recent law school graduate from Northeast Ohio. I began playing fantasy football as a way to enjoy the NFL without having to root for the Cleveland Browns as they routinely produced losing seasons. Voted “Most Likely to Try and Trade for Your First Round Pick in Next Year’s Rookie Draft”.

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