Welcome to Part 5 of my NFL Draft Report Cards. Today, I’ll be kicking off my AFC draft reviews with the AFC East. The New England Patriots (my team) have dominated this division for years. But did they dominate the draft? What other AFC East teams thrived? Keep reading to see my Draft Report Card for each team, including a grade for each pick as well as my final grades. As I post more articles, I will also include links to the rest of my draft grades.
NFL Draft Report Cards 2019
AFC North
AFC South
AFC West
New York Jets
Overall Grade: B+
Draft Report Card:
Analysis:
The Jets may have reached for a couple players and they did struggle to fill all of their needs with six picks. But for the amount of picks they had, this was a pretty solid daft. I would’ve rather the Jets take Josh Allen over Quinnen Williams, as Allen is the better fit even though Williams is the better player. They did make up for it later though, as they drafted Jachai Polite and Blake Cashman. I also really liked the selection of Chuma Edoga, an underrated player at a position of need for the Jets. The Jets opted to wait on a tight end and a corner, and when they finally drafted them, it was a reach. They also failed to fill needs at center and receiver. But the Jets did the best they could and finished with a strong draft class.
New England Patriots
Overall Grade: B
Draft Report Card:
Analysis:
I wrote a more in-depth Patriots draft review in a separate article. Check it out!
Buffalo Bills
Overall Grade: B
Draft Report Card:
Analysis:
The Bills made some very confusing picks, but they also drafted some quality players in between. They did fill all their biggest needs early, as they didn’t really have many. They earned a steal by drafting T Cody Ford in the 2nd. They also drafted a strong TE, Dawson Knox and an OLB, Vosean Joseph in later rounds to fill their other two needs. They did draft another TE later, but this pick was an unnecessary reach alongside some others. I also don’t get why they took DT Ed Oliver at #9 when they didn’t need a DT and good o-linemen were available. It was good that the Bills took a young RB, but the backfield is way to crowded for it, and Round 3 was early for Singletary. Otherwise, I didn’t mind this draft too much.
Miami Dolphins
Overall Grade: B-
Draft Report Card:
Analysis:
Most of these picks were understandable, but the Dolphins had better options. It wasn’t easy for Miami in this draft, as they had a lot of needs to fill as they rebuild and they didn’t have many picks to do so. The rebuilding will need to continue over the next couple years. Most of these picks filled needs, so that helps Miami’s case. But a couple of them were reaches, especially the selection of Auburn RB Chandler Cox. In addition, the Dolphins didn’t really make a point to priorities their biggest of needs. But overall, I didn’t mind this draft class, but this is only the beginning of a long rebuild for the Fins.
That’s all for this portion of my Draft Grades. Stay tuned for my reviews of the rest of the AFC. I’ll be reviewing the AFC North yet, where I feel 1 team highlighted this year’s draft. Which team is it? Find out in my next post.
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