AFC East Fantasy Football Rankings: Will Aaron Rodgers, Jets live up to hype?
Fantasy football analyst Matt Harmon hands out grades to every NFL team based on their fantasy juice for 2023. Check out the AFC East grades below — go here for his full AFC rundown.
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New England Patriots: D+
Here’s a tricky one. Mac Jones took a step back last season, but it’s hard to blame him, or fairly evaluate his game when he was saddled with that offensive coaching staff nightmare. Regardless of how you feel his career may go from here, you have to mark him as an unknown at this stage. Jones can’t expect his receiver corps to be anything more than “fine,” either.
DeVante Parker is an average starting X-receiver and JuJu Smith-Schuster is a rock-solid big slot player. Neither is a true difference-maker. Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton bring different skills to the table and will battle it out at flanker.
Rhamondre Stevenson is the best player on this unit. He is a powerful back with nimble feet and passing-down chops. That’s a rare combination but it doesn’t sound like the Patriots, or Stevenson himself, want him to play as much as he did last year. A veteran back is coming. The tight end combination of Mike Gesicki and Hunter Henry has the potential to be a nice and complementary pairing.
This unit is going to be better than it was last season; book it. Still, a league-average unit probably represents the ceiling.
Miami Dolphins: B-
Starting off with the duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle is simply an unfair advantage for any offense. The speed, separation and open-field ability they both bring to the table forms a truly rare and unmatched combination. Tua Tagovailoa showed himself to be a quality point guard with these two at his disposal. As long as these three guys are on the field, this offense is potent.
I think it’s right to bring up the holes elsewhere and those issues keep the Dolphins off the A-tier to me. They didn’t seem interested in using a tight end last season but that spot is pretty barren. Their third receiver is either Chosen Anderson or Braxton Berrios. Questions, albeit different queries, surround both guys’ ability to be a true high-volume third target. The running back rotation will consist of Devon Achane, Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. There’s not a season-long lead back in that group.
The Dolphins' strengths rival the best units in the league, and they’ll be a quality attack this year. No one appreciates a concentrated offense more than me, but if we’re grading the skill-position talent, they’re top-heavy.
New York Jets: B-
Aaron Rodgers has lost some of the mobility he once possessed but is still accurate and aggressive in pushing the ball down the field. He represents a massive leap for this team. The receiver corps is led by obvious superstar candidate Garrett Wilson. He’s going to take this unit to new heights all on his own. The receiver room behind him of (I think in this order) Corey Davis, Allen Lazard, Mecole Hardman and Randall Cobb is fine, but not great.
Breece Hall looked like an instant hit as one of the top backs in the league last season. By all accounts, he had a pretty clean ACL tear and should be back up to speed, if not by Week 1, then early in the season. There’s a pretty deep stable of solid options behind Hall for when he needs a breather.
Hall, Wilson and Rodgers are doing most of the heavy lifting in this grading, but they have the strength to lift the unit.
Buffalo Bills: B
The Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs connection goes a long way for this team. Both are elite top-three players at their position.
The questions, however, are all over the rest of the roster. Gabe Davis is a dangerous vertical receiver but a little overmatched as a true No. 2. Buffalo is hoping having a variety of legitimate options behind him this year will fill in the gaps.
First-round pick Dalton Kincaid will join Dawson Knox in the tight end room and play a ton of slot receiver. Second-year man Khalil Shakir has the potential to play as a flanker or slot receiver.
The running back room could have a nice one-two punch between James Cook and Damien Harris, especially after the season-ending injury to Nyheim Hines. In theory, Harris is the exact kind of power back this team needs. The Bills also added Latavius Murray who also fits the big back mold the Bills have to fill.
