Who Should The AFC East Teams Draft?

With the NFL season being almost over, there are 30 teams right now who are thinking draft and free agency. Half of the AFC East is thinking championship, and the other half is working on being more competitive next year.

The Patriots are as close to lock for a title as it gets, as for the Dolphins a lot of things will have to go right for them and then some before they’re considered… And even then it’s still unlikely. However, the Bills and Jets know where they currently sit as far as where they will picking. In this segment, we’re going to breakdown what these teams should be doing with their first pick as well as an alternate free agent to look at.

New York Jets- Picking number six in the upcoming draft, there are some pressing needs for this franchise. Just like the Browns, there’s almost no position they could ignore.

 Their passing game is abysmal at best, their defense isn’t what it once was, and although they ran the ball well it was led by Matt Forte at age 31. As it stands now, if I’m Mike Maccagnan I’m looking a couple ways. 

A good move here is to see if you can get Kirk Cousins or Case Keenum at a cheap price, then draft Mitch Trubisky if available. If not, then I take Mike Williams and start putting weapons in place before taking my future quarterback.

Buffalo Bills- Not too far behind the division foe New York Jets, the Bills currently hold the tenth pick in the draft. Looking back on the 2016 season, the Bills need to sit down and realize alright, we didn’t throw the ball well, we didn’t protect our quarterback well, and we failed to stop the run. First order of business, they need to retain star cornerback Stephon Gilmore. Next, we need to address our offensive line either by taking Cam Robinson or go after Matt Kalil or Ron Leary in free agency.

Miami Dolphins- This should be short playoffs for the Phins. If it is a short stint, they’ll be picking anywhere from 20-24 in the draft. There are some areas the Dolphins could certainly address such as tight end, but the area they need to clean up the most is their run defense.

They allowed an average of 140 yards rushing per game this year which ranks 30th in the NFL. I know it’s hard to fathom the Dolphins needing to upgrade their front seven given their recent acquisitions, but something still needs to be done, hopefully for them Malik McDowell can fall to them (I doubt Tim Williams does), the backup plan if I’m in charge is see if we can’t sign Dontari Poe, then grab O.J. Howard or David Njoku in the draft.

New England Patriots- At worst (or best depending on how you look at it) these guys are picking 28th, although the consensus seems to be 31st or 32nd. Either way, I see these guys going with a defensive back or a defensive end with their first pick, if they lose Logan Ryan and Jabaal Sheard to free agency.

Another potential hole they may have to fill is running back, LeGarrette Blount did well this year and there are question marks all over Dion Lewis, and it just so happens Blount may retire or go to another team, not to mention Brandon Bolden hits free agency too. If I’m in the New England war room, I’m suggesting we take Sidney Jones, Christian McCaffrey, or Desmond King, whichever is available.  

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We’re still ways off from the draft. This is merely what I would do with these teams if we were in full offseason mode right now. We still have guys declaring for the draft, such as most recent declared Joe Mixon the running back from Oklahoma. The playoffs are going to be fun to watch, but I love the wheeling and dealing that goes on from February to April. Feel free to leave a comment or little synopsis of what you might do with these teams.