The Present and Future of the AFC East (Analysis and Observations)

[Dont Stop Billeiving]

It's interesting that of the replies so far, half are more bullish on the Dolphins and less convinced by the Pats than I predicted and then the other half feel the opposite. Everyone seems to agree on the Bills and Jets for the most part (Bills are in a strong position and the Jets are a couple years away while Douglas attempts to fix the cap/roster). 

 

Miami and NE have undergone a massive amount of change and that will continue with the larger draft stockpiles they have. Can't predict what they will do in the draft and their projections could change significantly depending on what players they're able to land, but as it stands, both teams have above average defenses (not top 10 though) and very subpar offenses. Unless Miami lands either Tua or Burrow with a huge trade up and the Pats somehow find the money to trade for Dalton/Newton or draft one of the top 3 QBs, neither team is a threat to the Bills in 2020 IMO. 

[Antonio]

20 hours ago, Dont Stop Billeiving said:

Thanks man. Yeah 100%, I get what you're saying. I promise I did my best to look at each team objectively and I genuinely believe the Bills are in the strongest position to win at the moment. But Dolphins fans should be super excited...they aren't far removed from being called one of the worst teams in history and now have a bunch of new pricey FAs and a ton of draft picks to look forward to. 

 

I'm high on a few of their signings as well as their head coach and I mentioned the draft capital, but I think they will either miss out on Tua at pick #5 or have to trade a lot of those picks in order to get him. The draft is hard to predict so it's therefore hard to predict what the Dolphins will ultimately look like on Sundays.

 

In the end, Miami is likely headed in the right direction and could be a big threat to us in the coming years (as others have said, it's not difficult to envision a return to the 90s when it was Buffalo vs. Miami for the division with the Jets a bit behind and the Pats being irrelevant). I just don't think Miami will field a winning team in 2020 and that's kind of what I was focused on.  

 

Yeah I agree with you, they are the hardes to predict. 

 

Even hitting on all their draft picks, it takes time for rookies to get to NFL level, let alone Pro Bowl or All Pro Level, so it will take them some time to be good. 

 

I would love nothing more than a return to the 90´s with the Bills running the AFC and hopefully this time around we can colse the deal and get at least 1 SB home.