The NFL draft and free agency has been concluded and the rosters for the AFC East have been pretty much settled (barring one team signing Cam Newton). Now we are able to look at each offense and rank them at this current time before training camp ruins all our predictions.
4: Tom Brady’s ex
The Patriots had the biggest loss in the offseason as their starting QB did what all old Northerners do; go to Florida. He also left a huge dead cap on the books as a farewell present which affected what moves the Patriots could make to replace him. The big name players were also out of their price range or just didn’t fit into what the Hoodie wants. The offense will have a new leader in Jarrett Stidham whose only experience is throwing a pick six to Jamal Adams.
Overall the offense has many question marks besides the Quarterback position. The wide receiver position has some question marks as outside of Edelman, none of the guys have done much in New England. Sanu is a solid Wide Receiver who never made much of an impact last year even though they traded a 2nd for him. Their 1st round pick was largely nonexistent and he right now is looking like a bust. On paper the wide receiver position is not as bad as last year made it out to be and the question this year will be is the position that bad or did Brady just not trust anyone but Edelman and put everyone else in timeout. In the draft they drafted some tight ends who are solid in blocking so I’m expecting the offense to be more run oriented and throw more off play action. They are last mainly due to question marks at the skill positions and QB.
3: Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins spent this offseason beefing up the run game, offensive line and QB position. They got Jordan Howard who will destroy the Bills the two times he plays them. They also obtained Breida from San Fran who also will give the running back position a boost. In the draft they went heavy on the line and the line should pretty much be brand new by the end of the year. The biggest move was at their 1st pick with the drafting of Tua from Bama who if not for a hip injury from a stupid stupid move by his head coach, would probably have been in the conversation for the 1st pick.
The offense at first will be led by Ryan Fitzpatrick who will give you up and down for 4 games before he is finally replaced with Tua. The Dolphins have more sure things than the Patriots but at the Wide Receiver position it is kind of DeVante Parker and hope Preston Williams isn’t a fluke. Once Tua is in the offense should look far better as Tua is quite an accurate passer and throws a nice deep ball which should give the team some life….if the line protects. The offensive line is the biggest thing that could hurt this offense but offensive coordinator Chan Gailey can work around a bad as he has done in the past. This offense has the biggest upside, but could also just as easily fall flat on its face.
2: New Jersey Jets
It is the first time in a while the Jets can claim they have the 2nd best QB in the AFC East but this year they finally can! Sam Darnold has his warts but he is a better QB than Stidham and Fitzpatrick and QB play matters a lot in the NFL. The Jets have invested in the offensive line in free agency and the draft which will help as Darnold likes to hold the ball a long time (only Jacoby Brissett and Kirk Cousins had a higher time to throw last year). At receiver they overpaid for Breshad Perriman and drafted Denzel Mims so now it isn’t the Crowder show. At RB they signed Frank Gore because he wants to finish his AFC East tour.
The Wide Receiver position is 2nd best in the East but that is only because the Dolphins and Patriots are that bad. Perriman is a #3 at best and did nothing last year until injuries to the top 2 WRs gave him expanded opportunities and being the only NFL caliber receiver at the time helped too. Mims is pretty good but you never know with a rookie how good they will be. Crowder is a reliable slot receiver who is a less good Cole Beasley. At RB LeVeon Bell can’t be worse than last year but I doubt he will ever live up to the contract he got and Frank Gore only has so much in the tank for a year. There is also the Gase effect which makes QBs be far worse than they actually are. Darnold could be Patrick Mahomes but due to Gase, he plays more like Josh Allen. I think Darnold will do enough to get a 5th year option but I don’t expect this offense to do enough to win more than 7 or 8 games and hopefully they fire Gase and get a Head Coach that actually has had success with QBs.
1: The Buffalo Bills of Toronto
The Bills on paper have the best offense in East and top 5 in the AFC. They have a solid trio at receiver with John Brown, Cole Beasley and Stephon Diggs. Their offensive line is very good and they have depth there too. The running back position has a solid duo in Devin Singletary and 3rd round pick Zack Moss. The only question mark is QB Josh Allen and if he takes that next step. Last year including the passing and rushing, Allen was a very average middle of the pack QB. He didn’t throw for big yards or high completion percentage. He didn’t turn it over a lot but he also was very inconsistent on the deep ball. He is a good runner but I don’t want them to run him to death like the Panthers did Cam so he is worn out 3 years from now. Having Diggs should help as Diggs is a very good contested catch receiver who can catch those tight window throws. Allen likes to push the ball downfield more than most other QBs. Allen just needs to work on connecting more on those passes and he can go from an average QB to an above average QB which you need in the playoffs.
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