AFC North Draft Breakdown

With the 2010 NFL Draft in the books, FanHouse takes a division-by-division look at how each team fared. Click here to read the rest of the divisional breakdowns.

Baltimore Ravens

Best pick: Sergio Kindle, OLB, Texas (2nd round, No. 43 overall): Kindle seems like a perfect Raven. Aggressive, fast, nasty -- he will fit nicely in Baltimore's up-tempo, attacking defense.

Riskiest pick: Terrence Cody, DT, Alabama (2nd round, No. 57 overall): There's a lot to like about Cody, but asking a guy who weighs 360 pounds to play entire games sounds in some ways like a heart attack waiting to happen. Cody has ability, but his weight forced him to round two.

Final analysis: Some teams just draft guys. Other teams understand the draft. They use their picks wisely, move around when it's not prudent to spend the money on a pick and wind up feeling pretty good about themselves. The Baltimore Ravens are one of those teams that gets the draft. Year in and year out, Ozzie Newsome does an outstanding job, and he did that this season – trading down for numbers and then drafting guys who can help his team.

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Cincinnati Bengals

Best pick: Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma (1st round, No. 21 overall): Any help given Carson Palmer is good help, and Jermaine Gresham is a good tight end. The guy can block, catch and catch the ball downfield. Palmer has to be happy with this choice.

Share Riskiest pick: Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida (2nd round, No. 54 overall): The Bengals have big dreams for Carlos Dunlap, but every red flag in the book was raised about him. That's what happens when a guy is found passed out in a parked car four days before his team is playing in its conference championship game.

Final analysis: The Bengals seem to have some masochistic tendency to take guys who present challenges. Dunlap doesn't come with a sterling reputation from Florida, but he's in Cincinnati. Gresham is a very good pass-catching tight end, but he missed last season with a knee injury. A year ago, the Bengals took Rey Maualuga even though there were many reports about drinking issues. What happened in the offseason? He was arrested for a DUI. It's hard to do backflips over this year's picks until they ... well ... actually work out.

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Cleveland Browns

Best pick: Shawn Lauvao, OT, Arizona State (3rd round, No. 92 overall): There is something to be said for a strong, tough interior lineman. A guy like that might not excite the masses, but he produces on winning teams. The Browns addition of Arizona State guard Lauvao fits this description. He could find himself working into either one of the starting guard spots.

Riskiest pick: T.J. Ward, FS, Oregon (2nd round, No. 38 overall): How much does past injury history affect a guy's draft status? In Cleveland not a lot. The Browns took two guys with lengthy medical reports in the second round in safety Ward and running back Montario Hardesty. Ward has ruptured a patella tendon and injured the MCL in the same knee, and missed time last season with an ankle sprain. Hardesty was voted a team captain at Tennessee, in part because he's played through three knee surgeries.

Final analysis: The sexiest pick in the draft probably won't play for the Browns at all in 2010. Texas' Colt McCoy was a big story in round three, because he's a quarterback who lasted past the second round. The Browns took him – most wrote that they "stopped his freefall" – but he'll spend a year learning (barring an incredible camp or incredible injuries). Thus, the immediate results of this year's draft will be judged on how guys like Joe Haden and Ward play.

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Pittsburgh Steelers

Best pick: Maurkice Pouncey, C, Florida (1st round, No. 18 overall): Pittsburgh violated one of the "you don't" rules when it selected Pouncey, a center, in the first round. No matter. Pittsburgh for years has focused on taking offensive linemen high and plugging them right into the system. This was a very intelligent pick for a team that usually drafts very intelligently.

Riskiest pick: Jason Worilds, LB/DE, Virginia Tech (2nd round, No. 52 overall): Worilds might turn out to be a very good player. Too, there is not a team in football that more cleverly utilizes its linebackers. But the Steelers had glaring needs at cornerback and took a linebacker when they already have James Harrison and Lamar Woodley. That makes this a risk pick because it eschewed the bigger need.

Final analysis: It's hard to knock the Steelers overall strategy. They identify guys who fit their approach, and they take them. They don't care if it's a guard in the first round, or a player some might see as a backup in the second. They're almost always a good team, because they make things work. It's easy to question them, but usually they are proven right.