We are less than a month away from the beginning of the football season, as the Broncos and Falcons are set to square off on August 1st for the annual Hall of Fame game. This means that it is time to start looking ahead into the season. Over the course of the next week or so, we will be going through each team in every division, and identifying the state their franchise is in as well as some reasonable expectations for the upcoming season. Today will be the AFC East. Enjoy!
Miami Dolphins
2018 Record: 7-9(missed playoffs)
Biggest Additions: Josh Rosen, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Christian Wilkins
Biggest Losses: Cameron Wake, Frank Gore, Danny Amendola
State of the team: The Dolphins are in a pretty miserable spot. They do not have many blue-chip talent on their team at all, and must bank on severe growth from recently acquired sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen if they want to have any success at all. Last year had its highs and lows, but was generally a disappointment due to the lack of a playoff berth. This season, they should try and develop their young players to make it back to the tournament in a few years time. The drafting of Clemson tackle Christian Wilkins was a smart one, as he can try to fill in the Cameron Wake-sized hole in their front seven.
Most Important People: Right now, newly appointed head coach Brian Flores is probably the most important person for the Dolphins. He will be the main person tasked with helping along their youth, and right now that is all that the 'Fins should be focused on. They should also look towards QB coach Jim Caldwell to help the growth of Rosen.
Projected team MVP: Running back Kenyan Drake, who might be the only consistently good offensive player for this team.
Expectations/Goals: Honestly, the Dolphins might be the worst team in the league this season. Their hope should be to try and get a few pro bowl or all-pro level players, and get a good enough draft pick to land the face of the future.
New York Jets
2018 Record: 4-12(missed playoffs)
Biggest Additions: Le'Veon Bell, CJ Mosley, Jamison Crowder
Biggest Losses: Isaiah Crowell, James Carpenter
State of the team: Unlike Miami, the Jets are in a surprisingly decent spot for next season. After a very underwhelming run under coach Todd Bowles, a new era has begun. They have a promising young quarterback in Sam Darnold, and splashed big in free agency, landing marquee players to the likes of Le'Veon Bell and CJ Mosley. Although the front office has been a bit hectic(GM Mike Maccagnan was fired in the middle of the offseason), they have some hope.
Most Important People: Newly appointed head coach Adam Gase will be a very important person for the Jets this season. He will be responsible for integrating Bell into the offense, and will also be tasked the further growth of Darnold. Speaking of which, both of those two(Bell and Darnold) will be integral to the Jets' success this year, and down seasons from them will likely spell disaster.
Projected team MVP: Bell, who will have to carry this offense for parts of the year, and will be the fall-back when things go wrong.
Expectations/Goals: Given the talent and potential of this team, a couple upset wins here and there and the Jets could find themselves playing in January next year. A reasonable expectation would be to try and win at least 8 games, but the playoffs are certainly not a stretch if a couple things go their way.
Buffalo Bills
2018 Record: 6-10(missed playoffs)
Biggest Additions: Mitch Morse, John Brown, Cole Beasley
Biggest Losses: Charles Clay, John Miller
State of the team: The Bills also have a pretty bad team this season. After failing to trade for Antonio Brown, Buffalo "solved" its seemingly eternal receiver problem by signing John Brown and Cole Beasley, two pretty good but not great receivers. They should hope for even more growth from Josh Allen, and drafting Ed Oliver with the 9th pick was a great decision too. Buffalo will not be good, but has the potential to be in the coming years.
Most Important People: Like the other two teams, Buffalo has a quarterback entering their sophomore year, which means that the coach will be very important to the team. In this case, it is Sean McDermott, who is a defensive mastermind that found a way to take Buffalo to the playoffs two years ago. Additionally, the Bills receiving corps will be instrumental to this team, as they will need to catch their passes if they want Allen to blossom.
Projected team MVP: Oliver, who has a good shot at winning defensive rookie of the year in Buffalo's system this season.
Expectations/Goals: The Bills have something going here, just not this season. All Buffalo should be trying to do is develop their players, as there is not too much hope of being a playoff team. A 6-10 record seems reasonable, and a push to reach .500 would give a sense of hope for Bills fans around the country.
New England Patriots
2018 Record: 11-5(won Super Bowl)
Biggest Additions: Michael Bennett, Ben Watson, Demariyus Thomas, Jamie Collins
Biggest Losses: Rob Gronkowski, Trey Flowers, Trent Brown
State of the team: To the surprise of pretty much nobody, the Patriots are in the best position in the AFC East. Coming off their 6th Super Bowl of the millennium, they remain among the top of the Super Bowl favorites. However, they lost many key players in both free agency and to retirement, and have big voids to fill. Nobody does that better than Bill Belichick, and the Pats should be just fine for the season.
Most Important People: Julian Edelman will have lots of additional responsibilities this season. He will see a lot more targets after Gronk's retirement, and might have his best season yet. Also, draftee N'Keal Harry will assume Gronkowski's red zone roles, and given that the Pats thrive off of red zone success, his play is key. 2018 draft pick Isiah Wynn will also have more responsibilities coming off his achilles tear, as he is the main pick to protect Tom Bardy's blind side. On the other side of the ball, Michael Bennett will have to play well in order to fill in Trey Flowers' shoes.
Projected team MVP: Brady. If he goes down, this team is probably not a playoff team.
Expectations/Goals: For the Pats' season to be considered successful, they must add another championship to their resumé. While that seems like piling on unnecessary expectations, it has been the norm for the past 5 years or so. This season, they will face some revamped competition from other divisions, and it is uncertain whether the Pats can out-scheme the rest of the league for another Lombardi Trophy.
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