Don't Doze: AFC North

By: Josh Frey-Sam

While I continue to work on locking down some beat writers to guest on the Summer Series, let’s fire up another series looking at some deep sleepers for this season.

The players featured — one per team — could be some really deep cuts, while others might be players who I believe are totally being overlooked at this point in the off-season.

We’ll take it one division at a time. Let’s start in the AFC North.

Baltimore Ravens: Ja’Kobi Lane, WR

Frankly, Zay Flowers is my real pick for this. I’m very high on Flowers this season, especially at his current ADP (5th round, WR25), and I don’t think he’s getting anywhere near the attention he deserves. But I digress.

Let’s go into a deeper sleep for this pick.

Lane, selected in the third round of this year’s draft, enters his first training camp in a WR room that is uninspiring beyond Flowers. At 6-4, 200 pounds, he also brings with him perhaps the most unique skill set of the entire room, as a big, long target with an impressive catch radius.

Rashod Bateman, Devontez Walker and fellow rookie Elijah Sarratt are the others who are currently locks to be on the team’s active roster come Week 1 and have some kind of impact in the receiving game.

They all have different skill sets, but similar body types. Lane stands out in that respect.

A dream for Lane would probably be to fill a similar role that was occupied by De’Andre Hopkins last season as a taller downfield threat who can high-point the ball well.

Lamar Jackson is not afraid to launch the ball.

Hopkins ranked inside the top 25 (among all WRs with at least 25 targets) in average depth per target last season. He was pretty much useless for fantasy, but Jackson’s willingness to give him big-play opportunities can’t be overlooked.

One of Lane’s biggest concerns entering the NFL is his ability to separate. That could make him more or less a one-trick pony until he improves his route running, and perhaps put him in the boom-or-bust category this season.

But his size and strong hands could still push him onto the field. Lane could see some opportunities in the red zone this season, where Baltimore’s offence ranked 27th last season. There’s no doubt that his catch radius was intriguing to the Ravens, led by first-year offensive co-ordinator Declan Doyle.

Per my Summer Series conversation with local media member Ken McKusick, Devontez Walker is likely to open the season as the No. 3 WR for the Ravens, but don’t be shocked if Lane sees snaps early on, as well. If those snaps are in scoring range, Lane, who is currently going undrafted in redraft leagues, could have some deep flex value later in the year.

Cincinnati Bengals: Tahj Brooks, RB

The Bengals’ starters are pretty well set already, which makes them a difficult team to target sleepers.

Injuries can change that in a hurry, however, which is where Tahj Brooks comes into the fold.

Like Lane, Brooks won’t be selected during most of your drafts this season, but there’s reason to suggest he could be an interesting handcuff to Chase Brown and potentially a late-season waiver wire target, especially if the Bengals are unable to make a playoff run.

Brooks, a 2025 sixth-round pick, is relatively unknown to those outside of Cincy, but he possesses an intriguing skill set that could push the Bengals to give him more opportunity than the 16 rush attempts he saw as a rookie.

He was a workhorse at Texas Tech and a capable receiver out of the backfield. While explosives might not be his specialty, he has a knack for grinding out tough yards.

Make no mistake, Brown is in line for most of the early-down work, and Samaje Perine will get his usual snaps on third down, but neither player is under contract beyond this season, and there is a world in which Brooks is the only player returning to this room in 2027.

The Bengals will probably want to see what they have in him at some point.

If Brown got hurt, it’s not a guarantee that Brooks would be the starter (Perine has stepped up admirably when given more opportunity), but now being in his second year, there is more reason to think that he would get the ball in the event Brown goes down.

Cleveland Browns: Denzel Boston, WR

The Browns WR room won’t be appealing to target, but someone needs to catch passes, and I’m betting Boston will command a healthy target share this season.

His competition is Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, Isiah Bond, tight end Harold Fannin Jr. and fellow second-round rookie KC Concepcion.

By all accounts, Boston looked the part during mini-camp and OTAs. His long 6-4, 220-pound frame is already proving to be a huge benefit, and he even surprised some people by showcasing his underrated ability as a route-runner.

This is an intriguing target late in drafts because the competition for targets is wide open, which means the door is open for Boston to command a significant role to begin his NFL career.

Boston is going in the 12th round of drafts currently, slightly behind Concepcion. I expect the Browns to look for both of their second-round rookie receivers, but Boston’s length could make him a much more viable red zone threat, and if he can find separation, he will see work in-between the 20s.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Germie Bernard, WR

Germie Bernard, drafted in the second round this year, has looked fantastic this off-season; so much so that he’s already drawn compliments from Aaron Rodgers.

If there’s one thing I know from watching Rodgers for 15+ years with my Packers, it’s that you need to earn his trust to see targets. Bernard appears well on his way to achieving that.

The exciting part here is that it’s looking like Bernard is going to see the field pretty quickly. Of course, DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. are the guys in two-WR sets, but the Steelers will be in a lot more three-WR sets under Mike McCarthy, and Bernard’s ability to play in the slot aligns perfectly with Metcalf and Pittman Jr., who can play on the outside.

Bernard was one of my favourite WRs in this year’s class. At 6-1, 204 pounds, he brings decent size, but the thing that will excite the Steelers the most are his ability after the catch and strong hands. He had 340 yards after the catch and was charged with just one drop while playing for Alabama last season.

He’s not the flashiest receiver, but Bernard was viewed as a high-floor prospect who could make an immediate impact.

The Steelers demonstrated that they feel the same way by selecting him in the second round, and if Rodgers likes Bernard, he could run into a few weeks as a bye-week fill in/ flex option.

Like many of the other guys on this list — and in this series — Bernard is going undrafted in redrafts right now. He could warrant a late-round flier pick, but he’s more so a player to keep an eye on as a waiver wire target.

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Josh