AFC East Draft Review

Buffalo Bills
(23) Kaiir Elam CB Florida
(63) James Cook RB Georgia
(89) Terrel Bernard LB Baylor
(148) Khalil Shakir WR Boise St.
(180) Matt Araiza P San Diego St.
(185) Christian Benford CB Villanova
(209) Luke Tenuta OL Virginia Tech
(231) Baylon Spector LB Clemson

Immediate Impact: CB Kaiir Elam
This Bills roster was pretty complete going into the draft with one notable exception, CB. Elam was a guy they wanted and they moved up a couple of spots to get him. He will immediately start opposite Tre’Davious White and I think he’s an upgrade over Levi Wallace. They have needed a second CB for years, now they have a really good one.

Best Value: WR Khalil Shakur
Shakur was a highly productive player for Boise St. for a few years and there were plenty of people who thought he was a day two pick. The depth of the WR position and a few teams reaching for other players pushed him down and the Bills stole him in round five. I doubt the Bills had any intention of drafting a slot receiver but Shakur was just too much value in round five and they couldn’t pass him up anymore.

Sleeper: Shakur
I only call him a sleeper because he may not be very productive this season and we may have to wait a few years to see him really blossom. Shakur is best in the slot and the Bills signed Jamison Crowder, who is a master in the slot, and they brought back Isaiah McKenzie, who was really good there last year too. Crowder is only on a one-year deal so Shakur will have to wait his turn.

Overall Analysis
The Bills roster is pretty stacked so they went into the draft with very few needs. The big one was CB and they wanted Kaiir Elam and they got him. Elam is a tall CB and yet it doesn’t hinder his lateral quickness or ability to turn and run, that’s why he’s so good in coverage. He’s an immediate starter and he has potential to be an elite corner. The James Cook pick may have been a bit early and he was the third RB off the board. The Bills decided not to go for a bigger back and doubled down on the smaller, speedy pass catching back. Cook is that guy but I would have gone with the big back just to try to save some of the short yardage wear-and-tear on Josh Allen. They use Allen as that guy and I would want to save him from those hits. I would also say LB Terrel Bernard was an odd pick. They need LB depth but Bernard is a bit undersized but I guess they did decide to get a different type at LB from what they have, he’s the anti-Tremaine Edmunds.

WR Khalil Shakur was a great value pick and while he may be a bit player this year, he’s a great future asset. I’m usually against picking punters and kickers but I seem to be coming around because I don’t mind this punter pick either. Matt Araiza is known as the “punt god” out of San Diego St. and while he was the third punter taken, he was great value in round six. Araiza isn’t a nuanced punter; he basically just launches it every time with no regard for direction or hang time. That’s fine, the Bills are desperate for a punter and his big leg will be good for weather and wind in Buffalo. CB Christian Benford is small school guy who will struggle to make this roster. They need help at CB but probably not that badly. OL Luke Tenuta is a practice squad guy and so is LB Baylon Spector.

Miami Dolphins
(102) Channing Tindall LB Georgia
(125) Erik Ezukanma WR Texas Tech
(224) Cameron Goode LB California
(247) Skylar Thompson QB Kansas St.

Immediate Impact: WR Tyreek Hill
The Dolphins basically traded away this draft for Tyreek Hill. He going to make for a dynamic duo with Jaylen Waddle if Tua Tagovailoa can play well enough to use them. He’s arguably the most dynamic playmaker in the NFL and the Dolphins are swinging big to become a playoff team now.

Best Value: None
They had four picks in this draft and none of them are of particular value. They also gave up a bunch of draft capital to get Tyreek so it’s hard to say what the value of that was until we see if they are a competent team with him.

Sleeper: LB Channing Tindall
Tindall is a superior athlete who wasn’t really even a starter for Georgia and was maybe the ninth best player on that defense. You can’t teach a guy to be the athlete Tindall is so maybe the Dolphins coaching staff can refine him and find a role for him. There’s not a lot to choose from here so forgive me.

Overall Analysis
The Dolphins clearly went for win-now mode trading lots of draft capital this year and in future years to get Tyreek Hill and pay him a lot of money. Hill and Waddle can be one of the best WR duos in the NFL but it won’t matter if Tua can’t put it all together. The four-man draft class is of virtually no consequence and at best they are some backups and special teams’ players. They even wasted their seventh-round pick on QB Skylar Thompson who’s a scout team guy if he’s at his best. This is the Tyreek Hill draft, plain and simple.

New England Patriots
(29) Cole Strange OL Tennessee-Chattanooga
(50) Tyquan Thornton WR Baylor
(85) Marcus Jones CB Houston
(121) Jack Jones CB Arizona St.
(127) Pierre Strong Jr. RB South Dakota St.
(137) Bailey Zappe QB Western Kentucky
(183) Kevin Harris RB South Carolina
(200) Sam Roberts DL Northwest Missouri St.
(210) Chasen Hines OL LSU
(245) Andrew Stueber OL Michigan

Immediate Impact: OG Cole Strange
The worst pick of the first round goes to Bill Belichick, no surprise there. Belichick likes his guys and doesn’t give a damn about value. Strange better win one of the starting OG jobs but this pick only makes sense from a value standpoint if Strange ends up becoming their starting LT at some point. That’s hard to see right now.

Best Value: Haha
Belichick doesn’t know the meaning of draft value. He basically took every player at least a round too early, some more than that.

Sleeper: OT Andrew Stueber
It’s probably not great that the player I like the most in this class is the seventh-round guy they took as the 245th player in the draft. Stueber is a giant human at 6’7 338 lbs. and I have to assume he’s insurance against Trent Brown getting hurt again. The line really struggled when Brown went down and while Stueber isn’t quite as big as Brown (I know, that’s scary), he would be an upgrade as the backup RT. He may need a little coaching but I think Stueber could become a late round steal on the offensive line.

Overall Analysis
Overall, I hate this draft. Cole Strange might become the starting LG but you can find starting guards later in the draft. They traded back from 21st overall when Trent McDuffie was still on the board and they needed CB help. Clearly, they weren’t turned off by McDuffie’s lack of size because they drafted two undersized CBs later in the draft. Then they took Tyquan Thornton to be their deep threat, I only like this move if it means they trade away Nelson Agholor after his rough year last year. Thornton certainly brings the deep speed they’ve needed for years but he’s a skinny WR with small hands, I think he went a round too early. Romeo Doubs went in round four and I think he has a chance to be just as good of a deep threat.
They took Marcus Jones, a 5’8 175 lbs. corner in round three when guys like Coby Bryant and Jalyn Armour-Davis were still available. Then they doubled up on the small CBs with Jack Jones in round four. Belichick can’t stop collecting short CBs named Jones (Jonathan Jones is already on the roster). They needed CB depth but it would have been nice to get one big, outside CB prospect so you don’t have to count on Malcolm Butler and Jalen Mills there. He may have looked at his division and said small, fast CBs are great against Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs and Garrett Wilson. However, if you want to compete in the AFC you have to go up against Keenan Allen and Mike Williams with the Chargers, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster in Kansas City, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in Cincinnati, not to mention Amari Cooper, Devante Adams, and Courtland Sutton; all guys on playoff contenders in the AFC. The Joneses are going to struggle to keep up.

Pierre Strong Jr. wasn’t a bad pick in round four if he can make the jump from South Dakota St. and eventually replace James White. The pick of QB Bailey Zappe in round four was puzzling. He’s the third QB at best (assuming he beats out Jarrett Stidham) and he’s a QB with a weaker arm than Mac Jones. Strange use of a fourth-round pick when there were still useful players on the board like Darian Kinnard, Zach Tom, Khalil Shakur, Tariq Woolen or Tyreke Smith. They inexplicably doubled up at RB with Kevin Harris because they just don’t have enough RBs apparently? Then they took a small school defensive lineman who isn’t making this roster, an OG from LSU who could probably start if they hadn’t taken an OG in round one, and then my favorite pick, OT Andrew Stueber. Oh yeah, Stueber could also play guard.

Sorry I rambled this long; I was hoping to talk myself into liking this draft. It didn’t work, I hate it more. And now I have to talk about how great the Jets draft was, this sucks.

New York Jets
(4) Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner CB Cincinnati
(10) Garrett Wilson WR Ohio St.
(26) Jermaine Johnson II DE Florida St.
(36) Breece Hall RB Iowa St.
(101) Jeremy Ruckert TE Ohio St.
(111) Max Mitchell OL Louisiana
(117) Michael Clemons DL Texas A&M

Immediate Impact: CB Ahmad Gardner, WR Garrett Wilson, DE Jermaine Johnson, RB Breece Hall
The Jets were aggressive and ended up with three first round picks and they moved up for Hall in the second. Gardner was arguably the best CB in the draft (I had him slightly behind Derek Stingley Jr) and he’s immediately their CB1. He pushes DJ Reed to CB2 and that’s where he can excel too. Wilson completes the WR trio with big WR Corey Davis and the slot guy Elijah Moore. Wilson is an excellent route runner, has great speed, and he’ll make everything easier for Zach Wilson.

They traded up for Jermaine Johnson because he fell towards the end of round one and he was too good to let fall any farther. He can ease in behind Carl Lawson and John Franklin-Myers but he’s going to play a lot of snaps. Hall slots in as the starting RB. He’s a better all-around back than Michael Carter and makes Carter more valuable as a complementary piece. Hall’s a perfect fit with the zone blocking scheme they run because one of his best traits is his patience.

Best Value: Johnson
He was considered at one time to be a potential top 10 pick and they got him at 26th overall. They had to trade up to get him but he’s well worth it. They needed to hedge against Carl Lawson coming back from injury and Johnson has starter ability.

Sleeper: OT Max Mitchell
They traded all their later picks to move up earlier so all seven of their picks came in the top 117 picks. Makes it harder to choose a “sleeper” but I’ll go with Mitchell. He’s a small school guy who needs some development but the Jets need help on the offensive line. It’s the one major area they didn’t address in the off season to help Zach Wilson. Mitchell could be needed and he’s actually quite well-suited for the Jets zone scheme.

Overall Analysis
I’ve basically talked about everyone. Gardner is now the top CB, Wilson is arguably the top WR, Hall will be the starting RB, and Johnson will play plenty at DE. Their fifth pick was Jeremy Ruckert in round three and he would have been an immediate impact guy if they hadn’t signed CJ Uzomah and Tyler Conklin in the off season. Ruckert is probably the best all-around TE in this class so he’ll be useful if needed but he may have to wait to get playing time. Mitchell fits their offensive lineman mold so he’s a decent bet to develop into something. DE Michael Clemons isn’t an elite athlete but he has size and some skills and the Jets defensive line isn’t deep. He won’t play as much as Johnson but he can be a very solid depth piece. Joe Douglas did a very nice job with this draft. If they sign a veteran or two on the offensive line, the Jets could be a problem. They aren’t going to be great unless Zach Wilson takes a massive step forward, but they aren’t going to be a pushover either.