2 players for Bengals to steal from each AFC North rival

Pittsburgh Steelers Offensive Player – Najee Harris, RB

The Steelers are certainly not blessed on the offensive side of the ball. That made this decision reasonably tricky. None of the receivers would likely displace the Bengals top three, so I will go for Najee Harris. Rather than seeing him as a Mixon replacement for this scenario, we will go with him as an addition.

Harris was a physical freak in college football, and he looked like he was playing against kids most weeks as he broke through tackles and demolished SEC defenses. He went for 1,200 rushing yards as a rookie in 2021, and the Steelers look set to lean on him heavily again this year.

As a one-two punch, you could barely think of better than Joe Mixon and Najee Harris. The elusiveness of Mixon and the pure physicality of Harris would mean no opposing defenses wouldn’t be able to adapt their scheme to impede the running game.

Pittsburgh Steelers Defensive Player – T.J. Watt, EDGE

The final piece we steal is probably the most far-fetched. The Steelers signed T.J. Watt to a four-year, $112m deal with $80m guaranteed, which is a contract the Bengals would likely balk at. That’s not to say it is undeserved. Watt is one of the most dominant edge rushers in the game and is part of the reason the Bengals have invested so heavily in their offensive line.

The Bengals hope Joseph Ossai will add a further dimension to their defense next year, but can you imagine pairing Watt with current Bengals pass rusher Trey Hendricksen? The pair have been two of the most productive players in the league:

It would undoubtedly be a tandem to strike fear across the league, particularly when you add the solid Sam Hubbard and brute force of nose tackle DJ Reader. It’s nicer to dream of Watt in a Bengals uniform than to consider the nightmare he could cause against them in 2022.

Who would you steal from each AFC North team?