Who Will Win the AFC East?
The past twenty years have been dominated by the New England Patriots, not just in the entire NFL, but specifically the AFC East. It hasn’t been until just this past year that they lost their division. 2020 saw the Patriots’ long time starting quarterback, Tom Brady leave the team to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Patriots also lost more starters, having the most opt outs of the 2020 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All of this resulted in the Patriots coming third in the East, behind the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins. In 2021, will the Patriots be able to relight their dynasty and take the division back from Josh Allen and the Bills? Or will the Patriot way prove to not be the only way, as Tom Brady recently has stated?
The Buffalo Bills became division champions for the first time since 1995, ending a 12 year streak by the Patriots. So how did the Bills accomplish this feat? First, the Bills have developed heavily into their franchise quarterback, Josh Allen. Allen was selected in the 2018 NFL draft and has progressively gotten better each year he’s been in the league. Allen is now sitting as one of the best quarterbacks in the AFC, possibly right behind Patrick Mahomes. Last year the Bills set out to make Allen’s life easier, as they traded for wide receiver, Stefon Diggs. Diggs proved that this move was the right one to make, as he emerged as one of the best receivers in the league due to the chemistry between himself and his new quarterback. The Bills have shown that they are a force to be reckoned within the AFC, as they made it all the way to the AFC championship game last year. So will any team in the division make a run to take the title away from the Bills this upcoming season?
The Miami Dolphins came second in the division last season, a year separated from a season in which many thought they were tanking to get a top draft selection. Under the leadership of Ryan Fitzpatrick and the quarterback they selected in last years draft, Tua, they ended their season with a 10-6 record and fell just short of a playoff berth. This offseason Miami has added Will Fuller, a big bodied receiver that can take double coverage off of Devonte Parker. The Dolphins look to be building around Tua and are clearly planning on him to be their leader for the future. One major move the dolphins made this offseason is trading out of the number three overall pick, which they acquired for the Houston Texans for Laremy Tunsil. The Dolphins sent this pick to the San Francisco 49ers for the 12th overall pick as well as two other first rounders in future years. The Dolphins then moved up from the 12th selection to 6th in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. This trade included the 12th pick from this season as well as a future first rounder. The Dolphins are now poised to take one of the top pass catchers in the draft this year, as there are four that would go top five in any other draft. So will the addition of Will Fuller and likely another receiver make the three game difference which was needed for Miami to make the playoffs last year?
The Patriots, as we said earlier, came third last season after losing a significant amount of former starters on their team, finishing with a record of 7-9. This season will look quite different for the Patriots though, and its possible they are able to take their throne back from the Bills, sadly. This offseason has been one that will go down in history for the Patriots, as they’ve already gone down in the record books for giving out the second most guaranteed money in a single offseason. Some of the biggest names they’ve signed in free agency this offseason include the top two tight ends, Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry, as well as names like Matthew Judon, Jalen Mills, Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne, Kyle Van Noy and David Andrews. They also brought back Cam Newton, and are picking 15th in the draft. Some say that the Patriots will look to go quarterback, and have him sit behind Cam for a year, but the possibility for the top quarterbacks to be gone by the time the Pats are picking, makes it seem like they would have to trade up to be able to acquire the guy they would want. What is more realistic is a cornerback, offensive lineman or possibly a receiver, if one of the top pass catchers somehow fall that far. Only time will tell.
The final team in the division is the New York Jets. In recent days the Jets traded Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers for several draft picks. The trade of Darnold was inevitable to say the least, as the team is looking to draft a quarterback at the second pick in the draft. When Zach Wilson finally becomes a Jet on April 29th, he will be able to look forward to tossing the rock to guys like Corey Davis, as the team just signed him to a three year deal worth $37.5 million, and Keelan Cole, as he just signed a one year deal worth $5.5 million with the team. This offseason the Jets also finally fired head coach Adam Gase and hired Robert Saleh to be their main decision maker. The Jets are looking for a fresh start under Saleh, but will this fresh start bear any fruits in year one?
To predict the outcome for this division, we’re going to start with last place, then work our way to the front. Coming in last in the AFC East, we predict that the New York Jets will repeat as the division losers. Due to their fresh start and clean slate we dont think they’ll be able to compete with the organization and firepower that other teams have. In third we predict that the. Miami Dolphins will come in a close third. The Dolphins have gotten much better this offseason and will look like a whole new team, and we predict they’ll finish the season in the double digits in the win column, but they will finish third. Between the Patriots and the Bills, we predict the Bills will repeat as champions and finish on top. The Bills have fluidity in their roster, as well as consistency. The Bills will be better than the Patriots, but we think it will be a close race. As for the New England Patriots, we predict they will come second, but as a close second. We say this because, in NFL history, great teams haven’t been built in free agency. Spending a load of money doesn’t guarantee anything, and the Bill Belichick led Patriots will find success, and possibly a playoff berth, but not the division title. This division will likely end in a close run for first, as Miami, New England and Buffalo will all have a chance for the win, but we think it will shake out with the Bills first, Patriots second, Dolphins third and the Jets in last.