New York Jets: 10-7
All the hype the Jets had coming into last season could finally be coming to fruition this time around if Aaron Rodgers plays more than four snaps this season. The problem is that this is the roster of ifs after another offseason of bringing in old talented players that have major injury concerns. Tyron Smith hasn’t played a full season since 2015, Mike Williams is coming off a torn ACL, and obviously Rodgers is coming off his torn Achilles. If they get great injury luck from all those players and their defense keeps up its dominant play, they’ll be a legit Super Bowl contender. With superstars all up and down this roster in Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner, and Quinnen Williams now playing with a real QB (not Zach Wilson) the floor for this roster is a wildcard berth. Helping the floor of this team, and the main difference between last year’s roster and this year’s is that they have legitimate backup plans if their old players get hurt. They drafted a tackle, Olu Fashanu, in the first round, and a receiver, Malachi Corely, in the third round to back up the two injury prone additions they made this spring, Tyron Smith and Mike Williams. They also now have a competent backup QB in Tyrod Taylor, so even if Rodgers plays as little as last season, the offense won’t be as much of a trainwreck. Taking into account both the highs and lows I'd predict them to win the AFC East and then have some Jets type luck and lose in heartbreaking fashion, most likely right as Jets fans finally start to believe again.
Buffalo Bills: 9-8
A slight step back from last year’s record is hard not to envision after some key departures this offseason. Their losses include WR Stefon Diggs, WR Gabe Davis, S Jordan Poyer, S Micah Hyde, and CB Tre'Davious White. Some are expecting Buffalo to miss the playoffs and have a losing record, but they are sorely forgetting just how great Josh Allen is. If not for Mahomes, Allen would easily be the best QB in the league. Having the second best QB in the league and a passable supporting cast is good enough to sneak into the playoffs as a wildcard, and that’s exactly what the Bills have. They replaced some of their losses by drafting WR Keon Coleman, and signing S Taylor Rapp, C Will Clapp, and WR Curtis Samuel. This is also a team that ravaged by injuries last season. Some of those injured players left in free agency like Tre'Davious White, but some like star LB Matt Milano will be returning from injury, so these losses may be slightly overblown. This year is likely to have some growing pains, but Buffalo should be better in the long run after replacing older and less reliable players with cheap young talent.
Miami Dolphins: 9-8
The Dolphins may have lost more than any other team in free agency, outside of possibly the Vikings. They lost starting OG Robert Hunt, OG Connor Williams, DT Christian Wilkins, CB Xavien Howard, EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel, and key backups S Brandon Jones and EDGE Emanuel Ogbah. The Dolphins did a solid job replacing these players with cost effective options like S Jordan Poyer, C Aaron Brewer, CB Kendall Fuller, DT Benito Jones, and first round EDGE Chop Robinson. The biggest loss was undoubtedly Christian Wilkins as he was dominant last season and has developed into one of the best interior defensive linemen in the league. Their defense is going to struggle without him. The offense might also be a little worse after losing both starting guards, especially considering how much QB Tua Tagovailoa struggles with interior pressure, but with a core of Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Tagovailoa, and Mike McDaniel running the show, they should still easily be one of the best offenses in the league. Even with a great offense, it's still hard to see them as the best team in the East without a good defense. The most likely outcome is they end up as a flashy wild card team that loses in early in the playoffs.
New England Patriots: 5-12
The biggest question mark with New England is how new head coach Jerod Mayo is going to replace the most accomplished coach of all time Bill Belichick. I don’t need to tell you why they moved on or how unwatchable the Patriots offense has been the last few years, but Belichick was still one of the best defensive minds in the league. His defense was a top ten-unit last season even while losing many of its best players to injuries. Christian Gonzalez, and Matthew Judon in particular both only played in four games last season. Judon was coming off a career year where he had 15.5 sacks in 2022 and Gonzalez looked like a superstar corner in his limited rookie season, so being as good of a defense last season without two of their best players showed how great Belichick was on that side of the ball. Getting both of those players back will help Mayo, but we'll quickly find out how much of the defensive success was due to Belichick and if the new head coach can live up to the sky-high defensive expectations. Offensively is where there are even more questions considering this would have been the worst offense in the league if not for the Panthers and Jets. Luckily, Jacoby Brissett is now starting, and should raise the floor dramatically. They also brought in a real reliable receiver in the second round in Ja’Lynn Polk, but he’s joining a bottom five receiver room, and it's hard to put all of that pressure on a rookie receiver who wasn't even a WR1 in college. It'll be up to Mayo to find a way to get this offense to a competent level. They'll likely be without their biggest offseason addition, third overall pick Drake Maye, as it seems unwise to put him behind such little offensive talent considering what happened to Mac Jones and what is currently happening in Carolina with Bryce Young. Mayo will definitely have his work cut out for him on the offensive side. The roster, while definitely improved, especially at QB, is still a few good drafts away from being a contender. It’ll be up to Mayo to prove he can keep the defense playing at an elite level and bring a modern touch to this offense. If he can, they will easily win more than the 4.5 games that Vegas expects from them.
Photos by Ryan Kang (Getty Images), Mark Konezny (USA Today), Geoff Burke (USA Today), and Christian Petersen (Getty Images)
Kommentare