Which NFL Teams Draft Fantasy Contributors Best? AFC North Edition

With three main ways for franchises to add talent (free agency, trades and the draft), teams can use different strategies to build their rosters and find success. While the Rams won a Super Bowl using the trade market to find star players, the Chiefs drafted many of their best players and retained the core of a dynasty.

Let’s go through the past half-decade of drafts and look at which teams have found good fantasy players; this could help identify guys to grab in your fantasy draft in their rookie seasons, especially in dynasty leagues. Each team in the AFC North has a feasible path to the division title, meaning every piece of talent and depth added could make the difference.

Method

I looked at the past five drafts at quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends drafted by each team and classified each as an “Impact Player,” “Bust,” or “Other.”

Impact players are generally starters or at least fantasy relevant. I only considered busts from the first, second and third rounds, as picks after that point generally hit at a lower rate and are lottery tickets more than anything else.

Most players were included, but some guys who barely played or didn’t make the team were excluded. Draft histories from Pro Football Reference were used.

Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore’s most important draft pick in years was made the offseason before this stretch when Lamar Jackson was chosen with the last pick of the first round. 

Impact Players

• WR Marquise Brown, 1st Round 2019
• TE Isaiah Likely, 4th Round 2022
• Zay Flowers, 1st Round 2023

Brown was a good player for the Ravens before being traded, along with a third rounder, for a first-round pick on Draft Day 2022. The team then traded back (adding a fourth-round pick) and selected starting center Tyler Linderbaum. Likely has seen action in both seasons filling in for Mark Andrews when the latter was injured. Flowers was maybe the best rookie receiver from a class of four first rounders; he will be a fixture for Jackson.

Busts

• WR Miles Boykin, 3rd Round 2019
• RB J.K. Dobbins, 2nd Round 2020
• WR Rashod Bateman, 1st Round 2021

Boykin didn’t do much and now sits on the Pittsburgh bench. Dobbins is here because he can’t stay healthy, playing just 24 games across his first four seasons. Dobbins is a free agent, and the Ravens can’t bring him back on anything more than a low-cost flier.

I thought it was too early to call Bateman a bust, but he’s been in the league for three seasons now and has totaled less than 1,200 yards and just four touchdowns. It’s fair to say that he has failed to live up to his draft status by now.

Others Drafted

• RB Justice Hill, 4th Round 2019
• WR Devin Duvernay, 3rd Round 2020
• WR James Proche, 6th Round 2020
• TE Charlie Kolar, 4th Round 2022

Hill became a big fantasy name for a few weeks in 2023, but he plays backup-level snaps most weeks. His 387 yards were a career high. Duvernay had a role in his first three seasons but was mostly out of the rotation in 13 games in 2023 and returned kicks; he signed with Jacksonville recently.

Cincinnati Bengals

Impact Players

• QB Joe Burrow, 1st Round 2020
• WR Tee Higgins, 2nd Round 2020
• WR Ja'Marr Chase, 1st Round 2021

This list is the reason the Bengals went to the Super Bowl a few years back. Cincinnati hit big two years in a row with guys in or near the top 10 at their position. The last few seasons have been heavy on defense in the early rounds, a concern given how porous the Bengals were on that side of the ball last season.

Busts

None: The Bengals have drafted in bulk recently at the skill positions, mostly in the late rounds. When they went big in the early rounds, however, they struck gold.

Others Drafted

• TE Drew Sample, 2nd Round 2019
• QB Ryan Finley, 4th Round 2019
• RB Trayveon Williams, 6th Round 2019
• RB Chris Evans, 6th Round 2021
• WR Charlie Jones, 4th Round 2023
• RB Chase Brown, 5th Round 2023
• WR Andrei Iosivas, 6th Round 2023

A lot of uninspiring names here. Sample has underperformed for a second rounder but is a part of the offense as the second tight end. Finley played when Burrow was hurt as a rookie but hasn’t appeared in a game since 2020. The rest mostly made small contributions to the offense in 2023.

Cleveland Browns

Baker Mayfield was taken as the first overall pick in 2018, and the team has focused most of their premium picks on the defensive side in the ensuing years. The defense is among the best in the league, so it’s hard to argue with those results.

It leaves a lack of excitement on the offensive side, though, with the best players drafted on the offensive line. It’s not a bad strategy by the Browns; receivers and running backs can be found throughout the draft.

Nick Chubb was drafted in 2018 along with Mayfield, and Amari Cooper, Deshaun Watson, and Jerry Jeudy arrived via trade, so the best skill players on the team are not involved in this examination.

Impact Players

• RB Jerome Ford, 5th Round 2022

Ford probably wouldn’t be here if not for the injury suffered by Chubb early last season. Ford was a top-20 running back in fantasy and may have earned himself a role in 2024 even if Chubb is ready for the beginning of the season.

Busts

• WR Anthony Schwartz, 3rd Round 2021

Schwartz was a non-factor in 25 games over two seasons.

Others Drafted

• TE Harrison Bryant, 4th Round 2020
• WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, 6th Round 2020
• WR David Bell, 3rd Round 2022
• WR Cedric Tillman, 3rd Round 2023
• QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, 5th Round 2023

The pass-catchers here are mostly rotation bench players. Tillman has great size and physicality and could be something down the line, but he was a raw rookie last season. Thompson-Robinson saw action in a few games but was clearly overmatched, which is to be expected of a mid-round rookie.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The skill players here are pretty good; it’s the quarterback position that has held them back. The team will surely hope that is fixed with the signing of Russell Wilson and trade for Justin Fields, but they also created a need for more skill players.

Impact Players

• WR Diontae Johnson, 3rd Round 2019
• WR Chase Claypool, 2nd Round 2020
• RB Najee Harris, 1st Round 2021
• TE Pat Freiermuth, 2nd Round 2021
• WR George Pickens, 2nd Round 2022

Claypool had two strong seasons in Pittsburgh then netted the team Chicago’s second-round pick at the 2022 trade deadline, which ended up being the first pick of the round (No. 32 overall because the Dolphins were stripped of their first-round pick). The team took cornerback Joey Porter Jr.

Johnson was the top receiver on the team last year, but he was traded this offseason to the Carolina Panthers for cornerback Donte Jackson and a sixth-round pick. Pickens has the skillset to be a WR1, so there are pieces in place, but the team will need to replace Johnson, maybe through the draft.

The other two are starters and have had high and low points with the inconsistent quarterback play. Harris has gained over 1,000 yards in all three of his seasons but has averaged right around 4 yards per carry doing it, not bringing a lot of value.

Busts

• QB Kenny Pickett, 1st Round 2022

It’s hard to call a player a bust after just two seasons, but Pickett was replaced and sent out of town for a pick swap. He will be the backup in Philadelphia, likely to see very little time over the next two years.

Others Drafted

• RB Benny Snell, 4th Round 2019
• TE Zach Gentry, 5th Round 2019
• RB Anthony McFarland, 4th Round 2020
• WR Calvin Austin, 4th Round 2022
• TE Connor Heyward, 6th Round 2022
• TE Darnell Washington, 3rd Round 2023

A lot of names here, as Pittsburgh keeps the roster stocked through the draft. Austin has mainly returned kicks and had little involvement in the offense. Washington is huge and will probably be a great blocking tight end for a long time; think someone like Marcedes Lewis. If you’re looking for running back Jaylen Warren, he was an undrafted free agent in 2022.