Most Indispensable-AFC North
Scott and Jeremy went over a great article posted on ESPN.com on the leagues 'most indispensable' players. Over the next few days I'll go over my picks for those very players, those guys a team just can't do without. Choosing a quarterback is simply too easy, as you may have a legitimate case to choose the QB of every team as that player they'd suffer the most from losing. Below I'll include Scouts Inc.'s choice along with mine, as some may differ. I'll go over each division and today I'll start with the Baltimore Ravens division, the AFC North.
Cincinnati Bengals:
Scouts Inc. Leon Hall-CB
My Pick:
Though Leon Hall is a very important piece to that improving defense and is a solid choice here, the fact that the Bengals have another solid Corner on the other side in Jonathan Joseph, makes me go in another direction. I would have went with Antwan Odom but as was the case last year, they've shown they can still play well with Odom sidelined with injury. In the spirit of debate I'll go with Cedric Benson, who helped bring life to a dorment offense. With Carson Palmer struggling to regain his pre-injury form and with the passing of Chris Henry, it is hugely important to run the ball effectively. When they were able to do this last year, their offense as a whole benefited from it.
Baltimore Ravens
Scouts Inc. Haloti Ngata-DT
My Pick:
Haloti while truly being indispensable and quite possibly the Baltimore Ravens best player, he's not my choice. While he may have been my choice in other years, the Ravens' lack of Cornerback depth puts a bigger emphasis on pressuring the Quarterback. A much improved Terrell Suggs would be huge here and that's why I'll go with him.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Scouts Inc. Troy Polamalu-S
My Pick:
The Pittsburgh Steelers, after consistently being one of the leagues better defensive teams saw a dip last year after playing much of the year without Troy Polamalu. Troy, who's shown in past years to be a playmaker and an absolute game changer is my choice here aswell, as the Steelers clearly missed him last year and could not afford to lose him again this year.
Cleveland Browns
Scouts Inc. Joe Thomas-LT
My Pick:
Hard to disagree here aswell, as Joe Thomas is one of best Left Tackles in the game, and a rare bright spot in a struggling offense. With Jake Delhomme's struggle to keep the ball from the other team, he will need to at the very least stay upright. Joe Thomas was drafted to be a franchise Left Tackle and after a rookie year in which he made the pro bowl, he's shown he's very capable of being just that.
