We Dolphins fans find ourselves in the happy and yet unhappy position of being in the AFC East, which was a bad division last season, all three "also ran" teams did not have good seasons last year. The Jets went on a spending spree, but still have QB, quesitons, they were almost as bad as we were last year, and history shows, spending sprees take tremendous luck to work. Rb Jones had a decent year for a bad team, but he is getting up in age a bit. The Bills, Qb troubles, and a general lack of direction, they have Marshawn Lynch who had a great season last year, but for some reason, these guys cannot seem to pull it together. Dolphins...Qb troubles, rebuilding defense, questions at Running Back, can Ricky play at a high level (I think he can), we really didn't pick up impact FA's besides Smiley, we did pick up McCown FWIW. So who has the most realistic shot at #2 place in the AFC East this year? And scenarios that we can move into that spot or are we a straight up basket case rebuild? 2 years ago the Jets HC was called "Mangenius" can we do the same or are we sunk with a Rookie HC, an unproven Qb and a defense that can be sliced and diced more frequently then Tuna at a sushi bar? For myself, I don't know, it's predraft, the Bills are an erratic team, and the Jets are...the Jets...
Nice thread and post bro. Earlier this offseason I made my prediction on what I think the standings will be. It went like this : NE - 12-4 NY - 8-8 Buf - 7-9 Mia - 5-11 (Pending draft) Now after several months, I changed it to this: Patriots - 12-4 Jets - 7-9 Bills - 7-9 Dolphins - 6-10 (Still pending draft) So imo, it will be Jets and Bills tied for second because of same records and split in the division series.
The thing about the Jets is if the draft McFadden, he could spark their offense like Peterson did with the Vikings last year, Clement is not as hopeless a Qb as T. Jackson was, and Pennington is better then either one of them. The Bills have a bit better talent then we or the Jets do, they are further along with decent lines and better impact players in Lynch and Evans.
The Bills are severely underrated in my opinion. They had two very strong drafts in a row, managing to pick up 7 to 8 starters, and they are very solid in the trenches. I wouldn't be the least surprised to see them becoming this year's Cleveland and making a strong push for a playoff berth. A lot depends on QB play, of course, but if they manage to draft strong again, I see them a major contender in two or three years at the latest. As for the Jets ... they basically fell into the classic trap of coning themselves into believing that they were a better team than they actually were. We did the same after finishing strong in Saban's first season. Last year should've told them that their rebuilding had only just begun but, being the Jets, they broke the bank in FA. Stupid move. They might be able to make it to 8-8 but their longterm development just went down the drain. When it comes to us, I'm actually all for finishing something like 4-12. It would be a painful season but I don't want us falling into the above mentioned trap again. This team is so devoid of talent that it'll take three years to become a contender again. I actually think that the Parcells hiring might make for an overachieving season much like the Saban hiring did, but, one way or the other, this year's record is completely and utterly irrelevant. I'd rather finish 4-12 in the next two years and have a lasting rebuilding for a change than bouncing up and down like the Jets did and starting to panic.
