Start your AFC North exposure with Lamar Jackson when your lineup needs weekly separation at quarterback.
Choose Ja'Marr Chase when PPR target volume is the priority.
The Baltimore Ravens also offer Zay Flowers' concentrated targets. The Cincinnati Bengals keep Chase Brown involved on the ground and through the air. The Cleveland Browns present less stable scoring for Quinshon Judkins and Jerry Jeudy, while the Pittsburgh Steelers have rebuilt around Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman. Cleveland and Pittsburgh work best for lineups that already have dependable weekly scorers.
Start with the roster need
Four-point passing-touchdown leagues push Jackson to the front of this division. Full PPR scoring strengthens Chase and Flowers, while also keeping Brown's receiving work relevant. In half PPR, Judkins' rushing volume gains importance and Pittsburgh's deeper targets matter more.
Those scoring details should change the order in which you attack the division. They shouldn't change the central read: Baltimore and Cincinnati supply the safest weekly engines. Cleveland offers a backfield role worth monitoring. Pittsburgh has enough passing-game talent to produce useful fantasy starters, but the new quarterback, coaching staff and receiver hierarchy need time to settle.
Volume is only useful when you know which player gets to keep it.
Baltimore turns quarterback ceiling into a weekly shortcut
Jackson enters the season as FFN's QB2 in PPR scoring. He will be a top-two quarterback. His rushing work can rescue a modest passing day.
His Week 18 trip to Pittsburgh showed why: 20.4 fantasy points despite a light passing workload. A quarterback who can reach that score without high passing volume changes how aggressively you need to chase points at other positions.
Draft Jackson inside the top-two quarterback tier in leagues that reduce passing-touchdown value. His weekly ceiling can cover a thinner running back or receiver slot.
Flowers is the companion piece, though his path works differently. During Baltimore's closing month, Flowers averaged 6.8 targets and owned a 34.1 percent target share. That work produced 20.1 PPR points per game. He also played 85 percent of the offensive snaps. The role carried real weight even when Baltimore leaned on Derrick Henry and the run game.
Flowers fits rosters that already have a steady receiver and can use a player with spike-week potential. The concern is volume. Baltimore's 2025 offense passed on 53.6 percent of its plays. The Ravens ran on 54.8 percent of their red-zone snaps. Jackson can pay off on limited attempts because he adds rushing points. Flowers needs the targets to remain concentrated.
Cincinnati keeps the valuable touches in familiar hands
Chase has the division's strongest receiving case. FFN has him as the PPR WR4, and another top-five PPR finish is the expectation. Down the stretch, he averaged 10.8 targets with a 31.2 percent target share. Cincinnati also posted a 66.2 percent pass rate last season, the highest mark among these four teams.
That combination gives Chase multiple ways to win. He can dominate target volume in neutral situations, stay involved when Cincinnati trails and still command scoring opportunities near the goal line. Tee Higgins can have a strong season without removing Chase from the offense's center.
Brown offers a different kind of workload. His late-season work combined mid-teens carries with steady receiving involvement. Cincinnati still used him on only 61.4 percent of the offensive snaps during that stretch, so he produced without needing an every-snap role.
Take Chase when your roster needs a receiving anchor. Brown makes more sense when you can absorb some weekly rushing variance in exchange for receiving work and touchdown access. His role can still deliver when game flow pushes Cincinnati toward Burrow and the passing game.
Cleveland offers roles before it offers certainty
The Browns are the division's conditional play. Judkins sits first on the current running back depth chart, and Jeudy sits first at wide receiver. That gives both players a visible route to touches. The offense around them remains the hard part.
Cleveland passed on 63.2 percent of its plays last season, yet its average passing EPA was deeply negative. Jeudy still played 87.8 percent of the snaps during Cleveland's closing month and drew a 20.0 percent target share. The same stretch produced only 7.9 PPR points per game. His opportunity was usable, but the offense didn't turn it into enough efficient scoring.
Jeudy fits a roster that can treat him as a matchup option rather than a required weekly starter. Better passing and red-zone execution would raise his ceiling quickly. Until those arrive, target share alone can't carry the entire case.
Judkins has the stronger upside case because rushing volume can survive an uneven offense. His workload swung late last season: 18.7 carries per game in one three-appearance stretch, followed by 11.3 in the next. He also averaged 4.3 targets during the later stretch, which kept him involved even as the rushing share tightened.
Draft Judkins as a conditional starter with room to climb if Cleveland commits to him near the goal line. The constructive path is straightforward: consistent touches in the mid-teens plus passing-down work would make him useful even when the Browns struggle to score.
Pittsburgh needs a distribution answer
Pittsburgh changed the passing-game picture twice. Pittman arrived in a March trade from Indianapolis, then Rodgers signed in May. The current depth chart places Metcalf first and Pittman second at wide receiver, with Mike McCarthy as head coach and Brian Angelichio coordinating the offense.
Metcalf brings the strongest downfield role. Across Weeks 14-16, he averaged eight targets and drew 48.5 percent of the available air yards. That work yielded 14.8 PPR points per game. His prior role shows how he can win when the offense gives him vertical chances instead of treating every target the same.
Pittman's prior role was built more on steady routes and intermediate volume. His target average fell from seven in one late three-appearance stretch to four in the next. Now he moves into a new offense where Metcalf owns the first spot on the depth chart. Pittman can still lead the team in catches, but he needs Rodgers to support two receivers often enough for that volume to matter.
Rodgers closed 2025 at 42.3 attempts per game across his last three outings. That workload says the passing volume can exist. It doesn't tell us how McCarthy and Angelichio will divide it in Pittsburgh, especially with Metcalf's vertical role and Pittman's underneath work competing for different parts of the field.
I prefer Metcalf when the lineup needs touchdown and big-play upside. Pittman fits better when you already have weekly ceiling and want a player who can gain value through catches. Both become stronger plays if Pittsburgh opens the season with a higher pass rate than its personnel suggests.
The first signal to trust
The opening weeks should clarify these calls faster than preseason speculation can. For Baltimore, watch whether Jackson keeps four to six designed or scramble carries while Flowers remains near a 30 percent target share. In Cincinnati, Chase's target concentration should stay obvious, and Brown needs his receiving work to survive even when the offense plays from ahead.
Cleveland's key signal is Judkins holding a stable mid-teens workload. Pittsburgh's is the target split between Metcalf and Pittman. One game can lie about efficiency. Route participation, touches and where those targets occur usually reveal the intended roles sooner.
What changes the call
The risk is that Jackson's rushing usage fades while Flowers' target share drops below 25 percent. A low passing total would then leave both players with fewer ways to cover a quiet week.
Cincinnati could give another back enough valuable touches to dent Brown's weekly ceiling. His first meaningful warning would be leaving the field on obvious passing downs. The receiving work keeps his role useful when game flow shifts toward Burrow, Chase and Higgins.
Cleveland needs offensive improvement for Jeudy's routes to become reliable points, while Judkins needs his rushing workload to stop swinging.
Pittsburgh carries the most moving parts. Rodgers is entering his 22nd season, the coaching staff is new and both featured receivers are adapting to a different passing structure. A slower offense could leave Metcalf reliant on touchdowns and Pittman reliant on empty catches.
Draft day gives us the first call; September decides whether to add exposure. Flowers slipping below a 25 percent target share, Judkins losing a mid-teens workload or Pittman failing to earn quick-game targets would each force a reset before the second wave of roster moves.
- FFN rankingsLamar Jackson is FFN's PPR QB2 with a 279.9-point projection, while Ja'Marr Chase is the PPR WR4.
- team tendenciesCincinnati passed on 66.2 percent of its plays last season, while Baltimore passed on 53.6 percent and ran on 54.8 percent of its red-zone snaps.
- player role trendsFlowers held a 34.1 percent target share during the closing month of the 2025 season, and Jackson scored 20.4 fantasy points in Week 18 at Pittsburgh on 18 pass attempts and four carries.
- depth chartJudkins is first on the Cleveland running back depth chart, while Metcalf and Pittman are first and second at wide receiver for Pittsburgh.