TSN football analyst Chris Schultz breaks down all the teams and each division in the NFL leading up to the regular season. DaShawn Hand Lions Jersey . Next up, the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cleveland Browns in the AFC North. Baltimore Ravens In 2014, the 8-8 season that the Baltimore Ravens experienced was to be expected. Coming off the 2013 Super Bowl, the absence of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and others, a quarterback that now receives a about a million dollars a game, it was just football logical that a regression of success would happen. The good news is that was then, this is now. In the AFC North there are three teams that could finish anywhere between first and third. Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Baltimore are all very similar but with head coach John Harbaugh and Ozzie Newsome now in his 19th year as a key decision maker, it is difficult to think this will be anything but a first place division winning team. Especially coming off a playoff-absent year with a younger and hungrier team. Joe Flacco did not have a good year last year. Ray Rice had a terrible off-season. Both players will bounce back by mid-season. In free agency, by acquiring Steve Smith the Ravens acquired emotional leadership. In the draft, by taking CJ Mosley they found a "ready to play" linebacker. And Torrey Smith as a receiver and Jimmy Smith as a cornerback are as good as any in the league. There is just too much football talent on an individual basis not to be optimistic about this season. An absolute key will be Week 1, 2 and 3: Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and at Cleveland. If Baltimore is 3-0 everyone in the division will be chasing them. If they go 0-3 they will be chasing everybody. Baltimore can make or break their season in September. Someone has to step in and replace Michael Oher at right tackle and they may need a fullback as both Shaun Chapas and Kyle Juszczyk are only second year players and not proven over a 16-game schedule. But if you believe in the trickledown effect, that if the strength of an organization is at the very top and because it is so strong everything else trickles down, Steve Bisciotti, Ozzie Newsome and John Harbaugh are just too good at their chosen profession not to have the Ravens bounce back in a big way here in 2014. Ravens will finish first in the AFC North. Cincinnati Bengals The Bengals have been a remarkably successful team during the regular season. In 2011 they went 9-7. In 2012, they finished 10-6. And last year, they had their best season of the three, finishing 11-5. But the Bengals have been a remarkably unsuccessful team in the playoffs. Under Marvin Lewis, who is a proven NFL coach, they are 0-5 in the postseason. And in those games they have not scored more than 17 points and have been outscored 132 to 64. Are the Bengals due this year to turn it around after the 16 games of the regular season? We wont know until January of 2015. This year they are off to a good start by wrapping up QB Andy Dalton and signing him for a lot of years and a lot of money. Dalton has his critics but who else is out there? Nobody. I think Cincinnati will finish second or third in the AFC North. They lost a very good defensive coordinator in Mike Zimmer and a very good offensive coordinator in Jay Gruden. Both received head coaching opportunities in Minnesota and Washington, respectively, and that says a lot. It is one thing to go from coordinator to coordinator from one team to another but to both receive head coaching positions means their value is in the extreme. Cincinnati has some great young talent. Giovani Bernard on offence and Vontaze Burfict on defence. And they do have a top-5 receiver in AJ Green who has caught more passes in his first three seasons than any receiver in NFL history with 260. But can they win the division again? The most important two games in the schedule happen in the last month of the season. First there is December 7 at Pittsburgh, and then in Week 17, December 28 at Pittsburgh. With a very balanced roster those two dates could be for first, second, or even third place in the AFC North. I think it will be for second. Bengals to finish second in the AFC North. Pittsburgh Steelers Just like the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals the Pittsburgh Steelers could finish first in the AFC North or third. It comes down to the head-to-head divisional games. Last year they split games with the Ravens and Bengals, and beat the Browns twice. On the plus side Pittsburgh finished strong last year, going 6-2 over the last eight games and 8-4 over the last 12. On the "wait-and-see" side of things the Steelers are all of a sudden a much younger team on defence. Only Ike Taylor and Troy Polamalu are over age 30. It will be interesting to see how Dick LeBeau educates and manages his youth and inexperience. Sometimes the toughest aspect of winning football to create is to go from 8-8, as the Steelers did for the last two years, to 10-6 which can get you into the playoffs. At 32 it may be up to Ben Roethlisberger to get it done by himself. The player who was the biggest surprise to me was left tackle Kelvin Beachum, number 68. He is going into his third year and was a seventh-round draft pick out of SMU. Not many seventh-round draft picks become starters in their second year and I would not say dominant but he played like an eighth-year starter. The offensive line for Pittsburgh could be a genuine strength by the end of the year. The Steelers were an old team last year but not this time around as they went through the painful process of getting younger. Now, believe it or not their oldest player is their best player in Polamalu at 33. How many years he has left is unknown - or maybe how many years he has left playing the style of football he plays - which I call "dangerous". Dangerous for himself and his opponent. Pittsburgh does have impact players on offence with Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and LeVeon Bell but their impact player on defence is still Troy Polamalu. If the Steelers do not make the playoffs this year it will be the first time since 1998 to 2000 that there were three consecutive "down years" for that franchise. The competition in the division is as good maybe as the NFC West. And because of that, the Steelers will finish third in the AFC North. Cleveland Browns In the last five seasons the Browns have won either five or four games, depending on the year. Overall the argument can be made that Cleveland is the most dysfunctional team in all of NFL football. The reasons are simple. Too many owners, too many head coaches and too many quarterbacks. Continuity has been a challenge but maybe, just maybe, it changes this year. All the attention is on Johnny Manziel but there are other aspects of Browns football that are more than respectable. The loss of Josh Gordon is the same for the Browns as if Detroit lost Calvin Johnson. Gordon changes games. But Miles Austin, Nate Burleson, Andrew Hawkins and Earl Bennett are all proven receivers. And that is the frustration with the Browns, they have talent. They have two good cornerbacks in Justin Gilbert and Joe Haden, and Joe Thomas and Alex Mack at tackle and centre. Jordan Cameron is a Pro Bowl player at tight end. But for whatever the reason it never comes together for more than five wins. With that, Mike Pettine has his challenge. The newest head coach does have a defensive system that is proven and has an offensive coordinator in Kyle Shanahan who is experienced. But somehow it all has to come together beginning on September 7 in Pittsburgh. Who will be at quarterback? I am betting on Brian Hoyer. He only played in three games last year but it forced Brandon Weeden to Dallas and he played well. Manziels time is coming but Hoyers time is now. Its all new again for the Browns: head coach, offensive and defensive coordinators and general manager in Ray Farmer. Its all new again, except for one thing - they will finish fourth again in the AFC North. Sylvester Williams Jersey .S. international midfielder Michael Bradley is complete. DeShawn Shead Jersey .J. - Percy Harvin is ready to go, and theres no question in his mind hell be playing Sunday.First base has always been a position for power hitters, the mashers who can provide home runs and RBI to anchor your fantasy team and the position will improve its depth with a couple of additions this season. The most notable is Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, who moves across the infield now that Prince Fielder has moved on to Texas. No matter what position he plays, Cabrera is a top-tier hitter. Since 2007, he leads them majors with 261 home runs, 856 RBI and 706 runs scored, along with a .326 batting average. Leading all of baseball in those categories, with consistent production year after year, makes Cabrera the biggest difference-maker, even when compared with other sluggers at first base. Arizonas Paul Goldschmidt has quickly emerged as an elite option too, in part because he adds stolen bases to his impressive power numbers. Over the past two seasons, Goldschmidt has swiped 33 bases, most among first basemen, and is one of two (Edwin Encarnacion is the other) to record at least 50 homers and 200 RBI while scoring at least 180 runs. Unless your league has an on-base percentage as a category, there is a large gap between the value of Cincinnatis Joey Votto in real life (where hes MVP calibre) and in fantasy, where hes among the top handful at first base. Vottos tendency to walk limits his RBI upside, which is a factor in his fantasy appeal. When you move beyond the top handful of players, there are still plenty of appealing options. Baltimores Chris Davis has outrageous power. He also strikes out a lot, which slowed his arrival as an everyday player but, after 86 home runs and 368 strikeouts in the past two seasons, hes settled in with the Orioles. Two of the more interesting options at first base are long-time stars. Prince Fielder has had more than 100 RBI in six of the past seven seasons, but last years 25 home runs and .819 OPS were career-lows. Going to a hitter-friendly park in Texas does seem like a decent opportunity for Fielder to have a relative bounceback in his numbers. The other veteran, who has shown more decline, is Albert Pujols, who is coming off his worst season and is pretty much a wildcard for the first time in his career. If Pujols regains his form, even somewhat, then 30 home runs, 100 RBI and a .300 average is possible, particularly coming off a season in which his batting aaverage on balls in play was a career-low . Levine Toilolo Lions Jersey. .258 (same as his average), but there is also the concern that a 34-year-old Pujols isnt going to ever have that legendary bat again. If youd rather avoid the risk of those veterans, Adrian Gonzalez is a steady enough performer and Freddie Freeman is a productive younger slugger who has driven in 203 runs over the past two seasons. Shifting to first base from catcher, Minnesotas Joe Mauer doesnt have the power of a typical top tier first baseman, but hes a career .323 hitter, so if he can stay in the lineup, Mauer will have an opportunity to make a difference in that way. Kansas Citys Eric Hosmer appeared to get back on the right track last season and San Franciscos Brandon Belt has continued to make progress. Both are young, with room to grow, so they offer worthwhile upside if you cant secure the best at the position. Upside comes further down the list too. Whether its White Sox rookie Jose Abreu, the Cuban slugger or across town with the Cubs Anthony Rizzo, who could be prime for big numbers with a little better luck (after a .258 BABIP in 2013). You probably wont have to pay premium prices for someone like Bostons Mike Napoli, even though hes hit at least 20 home runs in six straight seasons, and Oaklands Brandon Moss could be a nice source of mid-to-late round power after slugging 51 home runs in 711 at-bats over the past two seasons. St. Louis Matt Adams is a slugger on his way up and due for a full-time role this year after hitting 17 home runs in 296 at-bats last year. If you get desperate, maybe consider the Yankees Mark Teixeira, who may be ruined by a wrist injury, but has such a track record of putting up power numbers that hes worth a late-round look; certainly around the time that youre willing to venture down the road for Ryan Howard. Anyway, there are a lot of viable candidates to hold down first base for your team, but if your league incorporates corner infielders and DH spots, suddenly first base can thin out in short order, so dont wait too long. Take a good one relatively early, then worry about the upside/bounceback/sleeper options later. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap Arizona Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Falcons Jerseys Cheap Ravens Jerseys Cheap Bills Jerseys Cheap Panthers Jerseys Cheap Bears Jerseys Cheap Bengals Jerseys Cheap Browns Jerseys Cheap Cowboys Jerseys Cheap Broncos Jerseys Cheap Lions Jerseys Cheap Packers Jerseys Cheap Texans Jerseys Cheap Colts Jerseys Cheap Jaguars Jerseys Cheap Chiefs Jerseys ' ' '