AFC East Areas of Concern
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
The New England Patriots will utilize the TE’s in the passing game more than their WR’s but at some point in time the Pats will have to complete some passes downfield. WR Deion Branch has good hands and runs good routes. Branch is QB Tom Brady’s favorite target. Over the last two seasons Branch has caught 113 balls for 1,452 yards. At 5-9 and 193 pounds Branch will not be able to consistently make tough catches across the middle. WR Reche Caldwell could not get the job done in San Diego. Caldwell only caught 76 passes in the last four years. The Patriots will have to count on Rookie WR Chad Jackson. Jackson has a lot of speed but it might take him a few years to develop into a dependable WR.
The Patriots secondary wasn’t able to dominate last season due to injures and a lack of talent. CB Asante Samuel lacks the size at 5-10 185 pounds to deal with the bigger WR’s in the NFL. CB Ellis Hobbs at 5-9 is even smaller. The Patriots did acquire CB Eric Warfield from Kansas City but Warfield was apart of Chiefs secondary that was one of the worst in the league. New England will be looking at trade possibilities and camp casualties to help improve their defensive backfield.
The Buffalo Bills used a first round pick on J.P. Losman a few years ago and they have yet to figure out if J.P. is the QB of the future or not. Losman will never develop if the Bills keep benching him every couple of games. QB’s Craig Nall and Kelly Holcomb are not the Bills QB’s of the future therefore, General Manager Marv Levy and head coach Dick Jauron need to give the whole season to J.P. and depending on his performance decide if they need to address the situation in free agency or the 2007 NFL Draft. Losman completed just fewer than 50 percent of his passes and threw 8 touchdowns and 9 picks. An entire year behind center will give J.P. the opportunity to show if he is a starter in the NFL or not.
The Bills wide receivers are young and talented. It is important for one or two of the WR’s to step up and show that they can be counted on every game to catch six to nine balls. WR Lee Evans is entering his third season and has caught 48 passes each year and is averaging 8 touchdowns per season and 16 yards per reception. Evans production has been steady but he must double that production in 2006. The Bills have resigned Peerless Price who left the Bills to go to the Falcons a few seasons ago. Price has not been productive since he left Buffalo. Price production will still be in question this season because he will have to rely on a young and inexperienced QB to get him the ball. WR Roscoe Parish should be an excellent slot receiver and will compete with Josh Reed for that job. Parish is fast and elusive and hard to bring down in the open field. In 2003 Josh Reed had 58 catches and he needs to return to his 2003 form if the Bills have any hopes of being successful on offense this season.
NEW YORK JETS
The QB position is up in the air for the Jets. They have Chad Pennington who a few years ago was considered one of the best young QB’s in the league. Then there is Patrick Ramsey who was brought in from Washington because the Jets did not believe that it would be wise for them to bank their season on Chad Pennington’s health. In the 2005 draft the Jets selected Kellen Clemens as their QB of the future. From the Clemens selection it is clear that Pennington or Ramsey will only be the starter for a few years until Clemens is ready. Pennington wants to prove that he can stay healthy and regain his form from two seasons ago. If Pennington can stay healthy he will at least open up opportunities to play for another team once his contract expires. Chad’s arm strength has always been questioned and arm strength is Patrick Ramsey’s best attribute. The Jets believe Ramsey has the arm to get the ball downfield to Laveranues Coles. If Chad is healthy and that is a big if then the Jets QB situation will go from uncertainty to one of the best units in the NFL. Chad is a career 65% passer with 55 TD’s and only 30 INT’s.
The WR position is a major concern a few seasons ago Laveranues Coles was the Jets go to guy. In 2005 Coles production slipped from 2002 to 2004 Coles caught just under 90 passes per season. In 2005 Laveranues only had 73 catches. His lack of production could be directly related to the loss of QB Chad Pennington. The Jets hope both of these players can rekindle some of their old chemistry. On the other side of Coles is Justin McCariens who only had 43 catches last season. The combination of McCariens and Tim Dwight does not bode well for the Jets. New York drafted former QB Brad Smith and will convert him to WR. The Jets should be looking for another WR that they can count on or else Coles will face double and triple teams,
MIAMI DOLPHINS
The Dolphins will be affected by the Ricky Williams suspension. Now second year RB Ronnie Brown must carry the load by himself. Last season Ronnie Brown had a good rookie season but he did not separate himself from Ricky Williams. Both backs averaged 4.4 yards per carry. Williams was accepted back to the team last season after quitting. Brown should have had the advantage to take control of the RB position. Williams even was under weight the majority of the season and Brown only had 39 more carries than Williams. Sammy Morris is the backup RB to Ronnie Brown and Morris is not as talented as Williams. Brown will need to show that he is capable of carrying the load alone and the Dolphins will have to hope that Brown remains healthy because they cannot rely on Sammy Morris to be their feature back.
The CB position is not as good as it was when they had a younger Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain. The Dolphins got free agent CB Will Allen from the New York Giants this past off-season. Allen does not catch the ball well in five seasons he only has 8 interceptions. Allen is a true number two corner and he will be counted on by the Dolphins to be their number one corner. The Dolphins also got CB Renaldo Hill via free agency. Hill is one of the best Nickel backs in the NFL and he will be a great addition to the Dolphins secondary. Hill is a versatile player that can play both safety spots and corner. Hill had 75 tackles and one interception last season. Returning CB Travis Daniels only had one interception last season. The Dolphins are still in need of playmakers at the CB position.
