The Best Quarterback for Every AFC North Team

There have been several great quarterbacks throughout the history of the NFL. Most QBs have had their share of highlight moments, dream seasons and dominant performances.

This is the second installment of every NFL team's best quarterback by division, now with the AFC North.

Baltimore Ravens: Lamar Jackson

How can we pick Lamar Jackson over Joe Flacco, who won a Super Bowl for the Ravens? And how can we pick Jackson after only 70 career games? It wasn't that difficult. Just believe what your eyes tell you. Jackson was named NFL Most Valuable Player in 2019 in a unanimous vote in his first full season as a starter. He set the NFL record for a quarterback with 1,206 rushing yards.

He has won over 75 percent of his games in the regular season, became the only quarterback in NFL history to have multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and tacked on another MVP to his resume in 2023.

Cincinnati Bengals: Ken Anderson

We’re a few seasons away from Joe Burrow taking over this spot, but for now, Ken Anderson still holds on to this one. Anderson's 82.3 passer rating was second-best among all starting quarterbacks to play in at least 100 games between 1972 and 1984, trailing only Roger Staubach. Anderson became one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL by the mid-70s. He ran Bill Walsh's short passing game to perfection.

In 1981, Anderson led the Bengals to Super Bowl XVI and was named NFL MVP that year. Unfortunately, like his replacement Bommer Esiason and Burrow, his lone Super Bowl appearance ended in defeat. Burrow, though, still has chances to secure a Super Bowl win.

Anderson holds the Bengals' career record for yards, completions and touchdowns. Anderson is on the short list of best players not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was the first quarterback to thrive in a "modern" offense coach Walsh.

Cleveland Browns Best Quarterback: Otto Graham

It's a testament to Otto Graham's greatness that almost 70 years have passed since he played his last game, and no one has even come close to knocking him off the throne as the Cleveland Browns' greatest quarterback. Graham holds a mark for excellence that will likely never be broken. For 10 consecutive seasons between 1946 and 1955, the Northwestern alum led the Browns to the championship game of his league.

The Browns won 7 of those 10 games, including all 4 championships in the brief history of the All-American Football Conference, a league that competed with the NFL just after World War II. Cleveland joined the NFL in 1950 and the Browns continued to be one of the elite teams in the game. Graham won three MVPs and three titles. He still holds the Browns' franchise mark with 174 career touchdowns. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Terry Bradshaw

Terry Bradshaw’s numbers don’t compare all that well to the stats of today's pass-happy league, but stats couldn’t measure his impact on the game. Bradshaw struggled early in his career and often clashed with his legendary coach Chuck Noll. But by the midway point of the 1974 season, he had won the starting job for good.

Bradshaw won two Super Bowl MVP awards and was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1970s. He never finished with a losing record between 1972 and 1982. Over that stretch, he won 4 Super Bowls and was named MVP in 1978. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.