MOST IMPROVED TEAMS, DIVISION BY DIVISION, PART 2 OF 8: AFC NORTH

Author: Peter DiPaola

Here are the results of the online polls to see who improved the most in the AFC North:

Twitter Poll:
Browns 50%
Ravens 25%
Steelers 25%
Bengals 0%

Facebook Poll:
Browns 71%
Steelers 29%
Ravens 0%
Bengals 0%

Writer's Pick: Cleveland Browns

This was an easy pick, not just because the Browns are coming off a season where they went 1-15 and the only way they can go is up, but because of how they have done since their season ended.

Cleveland brought in Gregg Williams as their defensive coordinator back in January which was a good move by a team that needs help on defense.  Not long after that happened the Browns gave linebacker Jamie Collins a 4 year contract to retain him and give Williams a nice piece to work with on defense.

The Cleveland brass managed to land three offensive linemen, they signed signed guard Kevin Zeitler who played for their division rival Bengals, they also signed Matt McCants, a tackle who played for the Bears last season.  The third lineman they signed Marcus Martin, a center, off waivers from the 49ers.  Aside from signing linemen the Browns landed wide receiver Kenny Britt in free agency which helps because they lost Terrelle Pryor to Washington, they also added receiver James Wright from the Bengals by claiming off waivers.

Free agency has not been the only way the Browns have improved, they drafted well to continue to build their team and help head coach Hue Jackson acquire talent.  Cleveland ended up drafting three players in the first round and gained an extra first round pick in 2018 by trading back from 12th to 25th with the Texans.  They picked Myles Garrett, defensive end from Texas A&M with the 1st pick, then with the 25th pick they drafted Michigan's safety/linebacker Jabrill Peppers.  They then acquired a third pick in the first round by trading for the Packers 1st round pick and they drafted David Njoku, tight end from the University of Miami.  What was great was the the Browns did not pull the trigger on a quarterback until the second round when they picked Notre Dame's DeShone Kizer, it was smart to wait to take one until after they picked up other pieces first in order to bring more talent to the Browns.

Cleveland has made some great moves and it appears they could be heading in the right direction with the decisions they made.  They added plenty of talent to both sides of the football both in free agency and the draft.  There should still be growing pains in Cleveland, but with what they have done as of late should help those growing pains be a little less painful.

2017 Record Prediction: 6-10, 4th place in the AFC North

Draft information from www.nfl.com/draft
Transaction information from: http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/team/transactions.html

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