State of AFC North: Cleveland playing copycat; DeAngelo Williams makes more headlines; OSU to Baltimore for Elliott?

The Baltimore Ravens have made it a point to surround Joe Flacco with better talent this offseason, but one receiver is still not coming along as quickly as planned. The Browns have handed out several pink slips to their scouting department, but what will they do from there? DeAngelo Williams made news twice this week. Both times involved an opponent from the AFC North but for very different reasons.

Baltimore Ravens

Kiper Jr. has Baltimore upgrading it's backfield in latest mock

Mel Kiper Jr. stirred up some controversy with his latest mock draft by having the Ravens select Ezekiel Elliott , the running back from Ohio State. Admittedly, I thought it was a ridiculous selection at first, but the idea has grown on me. It really matters who the best available players are when the Ravens pick, but they could do far worse than adding an every down back to come in and share time with Justin Forsett. Elliott would obviously takeover for Forsett sooner rather than later as the Ravens running back will turn 31 in October, and once his production falls off Baltimore would only be left with Javorius Allen who filled in admirably last season.

Elliott was very effective at Ohio State in both running and catching the football. That has become a very valuable skill set to have in an NFL backfield. Still if the right defender or offensive linemen is there, it would be hard to imagine the Ravens passing them up for a running back.

Breshad Perriman still remains a question mark

It feels like the middle of last season talking about Breshad Perriman's health status. At this point I really hope he has been worth the wait for Baltimore. The Ravens are reporting that Perriman is running but not at full speed. It has been almost a year since he strained his PCL, and it has been a frustrating process for the Ravens and their fan base. The team even went out and added Mike Wallace to stretch the field, which was something Perriman was supposed to bring them. The reality is that the Ravens and their fans will quickly put this behind them if Perriman starts to produce at a high level and help win games in 2016.

Cleveland Browns

Could the Broncos trade for McCown?

The Broncos may be interested in trading for Josh McCown after apparently coming to a stalemate with the 49ers in a trade for Colin Kaepernick. The interest in Kaepernick was confusing to say the least. He is the same quarterback he was when he took over the job from Alex Smith. When the league caught up with the read option, Kaepernick became obsolete considering he isn't very accurate. He was even benched for Blaine Gabbert last season (BLAINE GABBERT). McCown, however, is coming off a solid season where he had 12 touchdowns compared to four interception and he completed 63 percent of his passes. That is fairly impressive given how bad Cleveland's roster was last season.

McCown is by no means a long term answer to the quarterback spot, but he could be a nice bridge quarterback until the Broncos find a solution, and considering how much it would cost to take Kaepernick and with Ryan Fitzpatrick wanting franchise quarterback money, this could be the best and most affordable option for the Broncos.

Browns shrink scouting department

The Browns said farewell to six of their scouts on Friday. It seems like the Browns could be attempting to further mold themselves in the Bengals' way. Paul Dehner Jr. wrote about the Bengals' unique scouting department, saying, the Bengals' scouting department would rank among the smallest in the NFL with just seven employees. The coaching staff also plays a big role in selecting players they feel will fit their system and can be easily developed.

This could be a welcomed change after last season when the Browns had a clear disconnect between the GM and head coach in deciding on players who were right for the team. Cleveland may finally be learning its lesson after the multiple first round draft picks who haven't amounted to anything and the free agents who have failed to make an impact.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Why the Steelers don't need to draft a QB

Whether you feel the Steelers need to draft a quarterback during this draft probably depends on your opinion of Landry Jones. Jones has gained a reputation with the Steelers' fan base as possibly the future at the position, or as a quality backup. There are major doubts in just how far he can go. To be fair, Jones only has a limited sample size, but he has been iffy in that time. He threw three touchdowns vs four interceptions last year and completed under 60 percent of his passes. The Steelers can do better at the position.

The backup quarterback position has become even more valuable for the Steelers as Ben Roethlisberger is getting older. The toll for taking all those big hits seems to finally be catching up with Roethlisberger. He was banged up during much of last season, even when he was playing. There is no doubt Roethlisberger can still compete at a high level when he is out there and healthy, but that might be becoming more and more rare for the quarterback.

DeAngelo Williams and Gary Barnidge make a video together

DeAngelo Williams and Gary Barnidge made a very awkward video showing rivals can be friends. This isn't the first time the two have hung out. The first video these two had was during a trip to Egypt. Clearly Williams and Barnidge have created quite a friendship, but it is possible Williams is only comfortable with making friends with players who aren't on competitive rival team. Williams revived the bad blood with the Bengals by getting into a Twitter argument with Vontaze Burfict about his hit on Antonio Brown. Maybe you can't be friends with all your rivals.