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Roethlisberger is entering his 14th NFL season and during his career he's 123-60 in the regular season and 13-7 in the postseason, including three Super Bowl appearances and two Lombardi Trophies. Big Ben turned 35 in March but he remains not only the best quarterback in the division, but one of the best passers in the league.
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Bell is a special talent who is as dangerous catching passes out of the backfield as he is juking would-be tacklers out of their shoes when he's used as a traditional ball carrier. The biggest knock against Bell is that he can be injury-prone but consider this: In 12 regular-season games in 2016, he still had 1,268 rushing yards and 616 receiving yards.
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Brown is the league's best route runner, rarely drops a pass and it often takes double- and sometimes triple-teams to slow him down. Despite all that attention -- and no clear No. 2 receiver to relieve some of the pressure -- he still managed 106 receptions for 1,284 yards and 12 scores in 2016.
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One of the best deep threats in the league, Green played in just 10 games last season because of a hamstring injury. He still managed nearly seven catches and 96.4 yards a game. It was the "worst" season of his six-year career, which tells you all you need to know about his game-changing abilities.
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There were other candidates for the No. 3 spot -- Brandon LaFell, Kenny Britt, Mike Wallace, Jeremy Maclin -- but Bryant has the most upside and it's not even close. Suspended for all of 2016, Bryant is back and if he can stay out of trouble he could emerge as one of the NFL's most dynamic players. In 21 games he's averaged 17.3 yards per reception.
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Eifert's athleticism makes him a middle-of-the-field matchup nightmare. Unfortunately, injuries limited him to just eight games last season. In 2015 however, he finished with 52 receptions for 615 yards and 13 touchdowns.
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Here's all you need to know: In 10 seasons Thomas missed exactly zero starts. That's right -- 160 straight games, all played at a high level for one of the NFL's worst organizations during that time.
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One of the NFL's most tenacious players and regularly rated as one of ProFootballFocus.com's top guards. He's the O-line anchor in Baltimore.
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Pouncey's athleticism is what differentiates him from most of his counterparts. He's a better pass blocker than run blocker, though you wouldn't know it with Le'Veon Bell running behind him.
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DeCastro, a 2012 first-round pick, was the final piece to the right side of the Steelers' O-line (the team drafted Pouncey in Round 1 in 2010 and Marcus Gilbert a year later in Round 2), and he's played at a high level ever since. He's arguably Pittsburgh's most consistent player.
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Gilbert enters his fifth year as the starting right tackle and he's gone from young and inexperienced to a Pro Bowl-type talent.
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Heyward battled a pectoral injury last season but he's pretty much unblockable when he's healthy -- both against the run and the pass. In 2014-15 Heyward had 14.5 sacks and six passes defended.
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After a down year in 2014 in which Atkins finished with just three sacks, he had 11 in 2015 and eight last season. He's one of the league's most consistent players that no one is talking about.
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The Ravens know how important Williams is to the middle of their defense -- they signed him to a $54 million deal this offseason. He hasn't missed a game in three seasons, and while his stats don't jump off the page (he had just one sack in 2016), he does the dirty work that allows everyone else to make plays.
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Like Brandon Williams, Shelton is an athletic, disruptive space-eater who requires double- and triple-teams to move off his spot.
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At 28, Dunlap is still in his prime, which is troubling news for the rest of the AFC North. Last season he had eight sacks to go along with a mind-boggling 15 passes defended. In his first six seasons he combined for 15 passes defended.
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One of those players opponents and fans love to hate, Burfict can be a game-changer when he's not being a distraction through cheap shots and personal-foul penalties. He's a tackling machine -- he racked up 101 tackles in 2016 in just 11 games -- and has a nose for the big play.
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A 2014 third-round pick, Kirksey is such an integral part of the Browns' defense that the team gave him a four-year, $38 million contract extension this offseason.
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Traded to the Browns last offseason, Taylor has emerged as one of the NFL's top young cornerbacks. In 15 games, he had three interceptions and 13 passes defended, and ranked 19th among all CBs, according to ProFootballFocus.com.
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Like Taylor, the Steelers rookie had 13 passes defended and three interceptions in 2016, though he was occasionally exposed due to his lack of experience. That should change in Year 2 as the Steelers defense looks to bounce back from a humiliating performance against the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
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Weddle may have been on the wrong side of 30 when the Ravens signed him a year ago but he played like one of the league's best safeties. There's no reason to think that'll change in 2017 now that he'll play alongside Tony Jefferson.
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After four years in Arizona, Jefferson signed a four-year, $36 million deal with the Ravens this offseason. He'll join Eric Weddle at safety, giving Baltimore not only the best safety tandem in the division but perhaps the league (the Seahawks would probably have some objections). And at 25, Jefferson hasn't even hit his prime.
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Tucker is as close to automatic as you'll see. Consider this: In his five-year career, Tucker is 50-52 from 30-39 yards, and 48 of 53 from 40-49 yards. Put another way: He's easily the Ravens' best scoring threat, and it's not even close.
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Colquitt averaged 40.3 net yards per punt last season, and of his 24 punts inside the 20 only two went for touchbacks.
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Bengals second-year player Alex Erickson was under consideration (he averaged a division-best 27.9 yards per kick return last season) as was Browns rookie first-rounder Jabrill Peppers. Ultimately, it was impossible to pass on Antonio Brown, who is one of the league's few legitimate four-down players. In his career, he has five touchdown returns (four on punts, one on kickoffs).
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