Fantasy Football Mastermind, one of our partner sites, provides year-round fantasy football coverage. This week, Michael Nazarek is taking a look at the AFC and NFC North teams. For more great fantasy football information, check out Fantasy Football Mastermind.

It’s time to take a closer look at the North Division teams to see how they are shaping up in May. Let’s get right to it…

AFC NORTH

Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens had another successful season in 2010, but failed to make it to the big game. QB Joe Flacco returns as the starter, but has yet to reach that elite level as a fantasy starter or a Super Bowl champion. In fantasy terms, he’s still a solid fantasy backup in most leagues. I don’t see that changing much in 2012. The sportsbook review indicates that the backup position at QB is shaky with QB Curtis Painter signed this offseason. Keep Reading…

It’s very early in the process, but there are certain prospects being mentioned in 2013 NFL Draft discussions that make me wonder if we’re watching the same games. At the same time, there are other players who have rarely been mentioned at all. Time to set the record straight. Here are the most overrated and underrated prospects heading into the 2012 college football season.

OVERRATED

QB Landry Jones, Oklahoma

There isn’t a quarterback more overrated for the 2013 NFL Draft than Lance Jones. Many people thought that his returning to school was a good call and an opportunity to improve upon glaring weaknesses in his game. He has been working with quarterback guru George Whitfield, so maybe there is some hope but Jones was so bad to finish the season that I thought he should leave for the NFL Draft while he still has the chance Keep Reading…

Before I dig too far into my thoughts on Blaine Gabbert, I’d like to expound on what I look for when evaluating quarterbacks.  This is not a unique criteria applied solely to Gabbert – these are the same traits I look at in every quarterback I study.

First, we all know that television broadcast angles make it incredibly difficult to see all route combinations and coverages in their entirety – in effect, we cannot see things as the quarterback is seeing them.  As such, I try to make my focus on things that I can see on every play.  The following list is in a general but not steadfast order.  Understand that all quarterbacks have overlapping strengths and weaknesses and that no two quarterbacks are the same.  Instead of looking at these traits in a zero-sum “has it or doesn’t have it” mentality, think of it like a scale or spectrum, Keep Reading…

You may not know this name, but you certainly should.

Hailing from the little-known Tusculum College, quarterback Bo Cordell has spent the past few seasons rewriting the school record book and racking up ridiculous amounts of yardage.

Since his freshman year at Tusculum, Cordell has been the starting quarterback for the Pioneers. Before breaking his foot three games into the 2011 season, every sub-division award watch list that included quarterbacks had his name on it. He was named the 2011 Preseason National Division II Football Most Valuable Player by Lindy’s Sports Magazine and was on the shortlist of players to watch for the 2011 Harlon Hill Trophy (Division II’s version of the Heisman).

What really got Cordell on NFL radars, though, was his 2010 season. During his sophomore campaign, Cordell led all NCAA divisions in total offensive yards per game (425.45), passing yards per game (423.36) and completions per Keep Reading…

I’m in the midst of doing a fairly large write-up on what I thought of Blaine as a prospect, why his rookie year went the way that it did, and what he needs to work on to be a starting caliber NFL quarterback.

These are the exact same videos I’ll be basing my writeups on (I just cut them this past week). The first two are from his final year in college, the last four are from his rookie season in the NFL.

Please feel free to leave your opinions and insights in the comments section.