The 10 most important players on every AFC North team

Take the quarterback out of the equation for a moment: Which AFC East players are the most vital to their teams' success?

A quality quarterback can carry a team a long way in the NFL, but teams carry 53 players for a reason: QBs can’t do it alone. So, with the draft and the heart of free agency in the rear-view mirror, we’re asking the question: Who are the 10 most important non-quarterbacks on each NFL roster?

We polled writers from SI and The MMQB to find some answers. Each writer was assigned to a conference and asked to rank players, for every roster, 1-10. Those players then were given points consistent with their positioning—a first-place vote worth 10, second-place worth nine and so on.

Next up is the AFC North, with the following pollsters: Ben Baskin, Chris Burke, Robert Klemko, Bette Marston, Eric Single.