The New York Jets play in a difficult division.
The Bills are a team swimming in talent.
The Patriots went out this offseason and spent real money, and followed it up with a high-quality draft.
The Dolphins have a talented offense, albeit with some questions on their defense, but have been dealing with injuries.
The AFC East is full of teams seemingly on the rise, but how could the Jets follow that trend?
Reviewing the Jets’ offseason
This offseason, the Jets tried to acquire pieces that will fit their new style of offense under offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand, and defensive players that could see a lot of time on the field.
Offensively, the big fish was Justin Fields, who will now step in at quarterback to be their guy. They inked him to a two-year contract, which will give him time to develop in this new system.
They also added some depth pieces, with my favorite being Josh Myers. He has experience playing in Green Bay, and I am surprised he could not find a starting job elsewhere. Nonetheless, the Jets added a good backup center there.
They also added tackle Armand Membou, tight end Mason Taylor, and wide receiver Arian Smith through the draft. All of these players will be seeing playing time this season, and the first two will likely play major roles. They could build certain aspects of their offense, focusing on these two.
Now shifting over to the defensive side, the Jets acquired and retained a bunch of quality players. They added a bunch of depth players as well, with the bulk of them coming on the defensive line.
They added starters in S Andre Cisco, CB Brandon Stephens, DL Derrick Nnadi, and retained LB Jamien Sherwood. All of these players will be seeing a lot of time on the field and will be key pieces to the success of the defense this season.
Through the draft, the Jets added players like CB Azareye’h Thomas and S Malachi Moore, who will have an opportunity to show what they are about this season. Many believe that Moore has a real chance to start Week 1.
Can the Jets become a consistent force in the AFC East?
The Jets haven’t been a competitive team in recent years. They have fielded teams with potential, but due to many unforeseen circumstances, they haven’t amounted to much.
This season could be different, though, and it all starts with new head coach Aaron Glenn.
They have built a team that, on paper, has a very real opportunity to make the playoffs. They have pieces on defense that are elite. They also have very good role players on the same side of the ball, ones that will be a great baseline for play.
The offense is going to need to be worked on during the season. They have a lot of young players, many of whom are inexperienced. Bringing in a veteran or two more to help lead the younger guys could have been beneficial, but this leaves more of a responsibility to the coaching staff.
So far this offseason, they have already had the whole team buy in. This is the first part of a successful season. If you have players who, year after year, are bought in and want to work to succeed, you will see changes being made in the record book.
Glenn will try and lead this team, motivate them, and help them strive for greatness.
How the Jets can better their AFC opponents
The Bills are an elite team that has an elite quarterback. There is no real way to stop an elite quarterback like Josh Allen, but you have to find ways to limit him.
The Jets have done so in the past, although Allen has had success as well. With a defense trying to limit Allen and his offense to around 20 points, they need an offense that can score.
This will put some pressure on Gang Green’s offense to go against a very good Bills defense, but that is what the NFL is about. Maybe this season will be tough to compete, but as they continue to build, we could see some success there.
The Dolphins and Jets always seem to have good battles. To stop this team offensively is to get to the quarterback. They have a weak offensive front that could be taken advantage of, and the Jets have a great pass rush to do so.
Offensively, the competition should be much easier than the Bills, as the Dolphins do not have much elite talent on their defense. If Fields and company are consistent, then we could see success against the Dolphins immediately.
The Patriots added a lot of pieces this offseason, and we will see them benefit from it immediately. Their defense is their stronger unit, with a lot of quality players listed as starters. To beat them is to use their weakness, their offensive line, against them.
They have added some good pieces like rookie first-round OT Will Campbell to the unit, but I still believe they have work to do to become a good unit.
Picking on the offensive line, and trying to find ways to confuse the young quarterback in Drake Maye, will need to be deployed to beat the Patriots.
