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The AFC North blog continues to look at the different positions and rank each team in terms of draft need. For Thursday, the blog is addressing tight ends. Mel Kiper Jr.'s top five tight ends are: Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert, Stanford's Zach Ertz, Mich...

In an annual audit on how the value grades of the NFL draft stood up once performance came into play after 16 regular-season games, Mel adjusts his grades. Some, such as the Raiders, flew up. Others, such as Baltimore, took massive hits.

Story | Conversation | January 28, 2011

Mel Kiper breaks down the offseasons and needs of each AFC North team. Among other observations: the Ravens may be elite contenders, but they could use some help in the secondary now; the Steelers need athletes all over the field.

Story | Conversation | July 07, 2010

The NFL offseason cycle: team needs, more team needs, draft, evaluate the draft and still more team needs. Mike Kurtz tackles the final part of that cycle (the remaining post-draft needs) for the teams in the AFC North.

Story | Conversation | May 11, 2010

Maturity issues came into play with the top impact players from the NFL draft, Rounds 4-7. In one instance, immaturity was a question, and in another, a player was already 25. But both Aaron Hernandez and Dennis Pitta could be early factors.

Story | Conversation | April 29, 2010

The Chiefs made a curious pick in Round 2 when they grabbed the smallish Dexter McCluster out of Ole Miss. But Mel Kiper thinks McCluster, along with four others, could be one of the immediate impact players from Rounds 2 and 3 of the draft.

Story | Conversation | April 28, 2010

Pete Carroll's arrival in the Northwest couldn't have been more controversial. And although the coach has an aggressive style, patience paid off when the Seahawks' war room convened. Mel Kiper was impressed enough to give the Hawks top marks.

Story | Conversation | April 27, 2010

I'm not big on grading an NFL draft 24 hours after it's complete. But I know a lot of people are. So we bring in ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper to do the heavy lifting and provide his evaluations for the AFC North: Baltimore Ravens Kiper's draft ...

Pete Carroll's arrival in the Northwest couldn't have been more controversial. And although the coach has an aggressive style, patience paid off when the Seahawks' war room convened. Mel Kiper was impressed enough to give the Hawks top marks.

Story | Conversation | April 25, 2010

NFL draft gurus Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay posted their latest mock drafts on ESPN.com. With the 2010 draft exactly two weeks away, let's examine what they have in store for the AFC North. Cleveland Browns (No. 7 overall) Kiper's pick: Dez ...

Mel Kiper's top five draft-eligible prospects by position for April 7, 2010 are quite different than the March 31 edition: Jermaine Gresham is rising, as are Joe McKnight and Demaryius Thomas. Dive in for the full list.

Story | Conversation | April 07, 2010

This is a list of Mel Kiper's top five prospects, by position, for the 2010 NFL draft -- among declared players (not returnees) -- as of March 31, 2010. Nothing changed since the March 24 file, but with the draft 23 days away, changes are a comin'.

Story | Conversation | March 31, 2010

This is Mel Kiper's latest list of the top five players, per position, among NFL draft-declared athletes (March 24, 2010). Two big changes: Aaron Hernandez of Florida is now the top TE (over Jermaine Gresham) and Donald Butler of Washington debuts here.

Story | Conversation | March 24, 2010

Our AFC North inbox is getting a lot of NFL draft questions now that three teams are preparing for the 2010 season. To be honest, there is not much concrete draft insight to provide in mid-January. With undecided juniors, the Senior Bowl, the NFL ...

Mel Kiper dishes analysis on who cleaned up and who messed up at this weekend's NFL draft.

Story | Conversation | April 28, 2009