You'll hear NFL teams talk a lot about winning their division as the first goal for their season.
The reason? The surest way to get into the playoffs is to win a division title, and it assures a home playoff game.
But to win that division title, teams should be as good as — if not better than — division opponents in a number of areas. That won't guarantee success, but it sure will help.
We continue our look at how the Steelers stack up against their AFC North opponents on a position-by-position basis.
Today, we look at tight ends:
When you look at the tight end position, they are typically one of two things: Either a bulked-up receiver or are a smaller offensive tackle. There just aren't many truly dynamic players in the league who are both adept at blocking and outstanding as receivers. George Kittle comes to mind. And then, well, it's a short list.
The bulked-up receivers can get in the way of would-be tacklers. But they're not usually going to move anyone off the line of scrimmage. And the too-light offensive tackles aren't all that threatening in the passing game.
The Steelers thought they had a player capable of being pretty good at both in Vance McDonald. And a year ago, he was coming off his best season as a receiver.
But with Ben Roethlisberger sidelined most of the season, McDonald struggled as a receiver in 2019. Worse, his blocking suffered, as well, perhaps in part because he always seems to be nursing some kind of injury. The injuries don't necessarily keep him from playing -- he's missed just three games the past two seasons -- but they do affect his effectiveness.
With that in mind, the Steelers signed former Pro Bowl tight end Eric Ebron in the offseason to a two-year, $12-million contract. One of those bulked-up receivers, Ebron adds the ability to stretch the middle of the field while providing a big red zone threat.
Both Steelers tight ends have and will miss time here and there with injuries, but that's not all that uncommon at the position. Tight ends take a beating catching balls in the middle of the field, where they usually get hit by multiple people, while also lining up to block defensive linemen and linebackers.
Not to be outdone, the Browns made a big splash in free agency, signing Austin Hooper to a four-year, $44-million contract that makes him the highest-paid tight end in the league. That $11 million per year average on the deal is $1 million more than Rob Gronkowski earned two years ago with the Patriots.
Hooper is a good, not great, player. But he's coming off his career-best season and is still 25. The Browns weren't done at the position, either. They then selected Harrison Bryant out of Florida Atlantic in the fourth round of the draft to add to a room that already included 2017 first-round draft pick David Njoku.
New head coach Kevin Stefanski wants to primarily run a two-tight end offense, so the expenditures on the position make some sense. But Cleveland will have a lot about $15 million tied up in the tight end position.
The Ravens have been collecting tight ends in the draft for the past few years, but shed one this season, trading 2018 first-round pick Hayden Hurst to the Falcons to help Atlanta replace Hooper.
Baltimore could do that because 2018 third-round pick Mark Andrews is the team's leading receiver, while Nick Boyle provides blocking prowess.
The Bengals, meanwhile, surprisingly spent a second-round draft pick on Drew Sample in 2019. Sample is a primarily a blocking tight end. He's very similar in talent to backup C.J. Uzomah, who was signed to a three-year, $18.3-million deal last year.
TIGHT END UNIT RANKINGS
- Browns -- Hooper, Njoku, Bryant, Pharaoh Brown
- Ravens -- Boyle, Andrews, Charles Scarff
- Steelers -- McDonald, Ebron, Zach Gentry
- Bengals -- Sample, Uzomah, Cethan Carter
The Browns have the slight edge here, based on their depth at the position with the addition of Bryant. But all of their tight ends are better receivers than they are blockers. The key is Njoku, a former first-round pick who was limited to four games in 2019. Boyle is a better blocker than any of the Cleveland tight ends, while Andrews is right there as a receiver with anyone on the Browns' roster -- and might be more dynamic. But he's also had injury issues in his first two seasons and the Ravens are lacking at the third spot after trading Hurst. The Steelers have been searching for the right combination of players at tight end since Heath Miller retired. They had it in 2018 when they set a team record for receptions and yardage at the position, but Jesse James left in free agency. We'll see if they can regain that with the McDonald-Ebron combination, which looks good on paper. Sample and Uzomah are easily fourth on this list. The top three teams are all in the upper half of the league in terms of overall tight end talent, while the Bengals are clearly in the bottom half.
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
- Andrews
- Hooper
- Njoku
- McDonald
- Ebron
ALSO SEE
Stacking quarterbacks
Stacking interior defensive line
Stacking the running backs
Stacking the edge rushers
Stacking the wide receivers
Stacking the off-ball linebackers
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