AFC East Breakout Candidates 2015

Buffalo Bills

Stephon Gilmore, CB: Get ready for Gilmore to join the elite group of cornerbacks in 2015. Health has held him back these past couple of years, but if he can stay injury free then he is in for a huge year. Gilmore has the size, athleticism and ball skills to join the upper tier of cornerbacks, and he is in a terrific position with Buffalo to do just that. Rex Ryan has had a lot of success with defenses in general, and he often relies on great cornerbacks (Revis and Cromartie) to anchor his defenses. Ryan will be able to get the most out of Gilmore, and the Bills have arguably the best front 4 in all of football (between them and St. Louis) to aid Gilmore even more. I'm predicting a big jump from Gilmore, and for him to have 5 interceptions by seasons end.

Miami Dolphins

Jelani Jenkins, OLB: Jenkins has games where he is the best player on the field. He can be a tackling machine that plays all over the field. The problem is that there are games where he is very quiet and has such a small impact on the field. I'm going to bet on the former becoming more of a regular appearance in 2015. Jenkins is very good in coverage, and he also looked solid as a pass rusher too. Where he struggled at times was against the run, but lucky for him the Dolphins invested in Ndamukong Suh to beef up their D-line. This should give Jenkins more space to operate, and allow him to use his athleticism to flourish. I'm predicting Jelani Jenkins to have 135 combined tackles, with 3 interceptions and 4 sacks.

New England Patriots

Dominique Easley, DT: Easley is another year removed from his ACL tear, and should be in line to play a lot of snaps for New England. Alan Branch and Sealver Siliga are not good starters to have, and the Patriots have two very talented young players in Easley and Malcolm Brown waiting to replace them. Since I don't mention rookies as breakout candidates, I won't talk about Malcolm Brown, but Easley is a talented interior pass rusher and penetrator, and can be a key cog in a talented Patriots front seven. New England will rely on him to step up because they lost Vince Wilfork in the middle, and need another threat in between their ends. Even though he won't play nose tackle like Wilfork, he can eat up space in the middle to give the Pats linebackers space to work their magic. What's working against him is his health. He has torn both of his ACL's in his career but if he can stay healthy I'm predicting 4 sacks, and for him to be an impact run stuffer too.

New York Jets

Calvin Pryor, SS: What better way to retool a struggling secondary then by signing Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Buster Skrine. They also have an incredible defensive line to support their secondary. This puts Calvin Pryor in a perfect position to do what he does best, hit hard, make plays and strike fear into opponents. Todd Bowles has a better Deone Buchanon to use in Calvin Pryor, and with a substantially better secondary, this allows Bowles to play Pryor to his strengths. He had a solid rookie season, but at times he struggled with consistency and went through expected rookie struggles. If he can fix a few technical issues, he could turn into a terrific safety. This kid is a flat out playmaker and he should begin to realize his potential next season. I'm predicting 80 total tackles, 3 interceptions, 1.5 sacks and a handful of bone crushing hits.

Offseason Outlook 2015: New York Jets

Offense

What can I say, the AFC East has been making moves this offseason. The Jets are in a similar situation as the Buffalo Bills. There is a mess at quarterback, but the rest of the offense is starting to take shape. Geno Smith goes into camp as the expected starter, but at some point this season it would not be crazy to expect Ryan Fitzpatrick and maybe even Bryce Petty. They do have more talent at QB then the Bills do, as Geno Smith hasn't been great but the jury is not completely out on him quite yet. At wide receiver the Jets added Brandon Marshall in a trade with the Bears. Even with him aging, he is still a solid number 1 receiver, which the Jets have been lacking for a long time now. Sliding him at the X receiver upgrades the entire core. This moves Eric Decker to the number two receiver, and the recently drafted Devin Smith can play the slot. Jeff Cumberland and Jace Amaro are also two solid TE's and Amaro has a pretty high ceiling as a number 1 TE if he starts to develop his game more. In the backfield, the Jets have added quite a bit of depth this offseason. Chris Ivory should still be expected to be the "starter", but don't be surprised if the recently signed Steven Ridley, or the recently traded for Zac Stacy steal a lot of carries this season. The Jets have a solid offensive line too. D'Brickashaw Ferguson (If you don't know anything about the Jets, yes that is his real name, and it's awesome) has been a franchise left tackle for the Jets, and even though he's getting older, he's still reliable on the blindside. Also the Jets have Nick Mangold, and he is one of the the best centers in the NFL. The rest of the offensive line is a bit of a question mark, as James Carpenter, Willie Colon, and Breno Giacomini can be solid but inconsistent players. Overall though this offense will be improved, and the new coaching staff with Chan Gailey at offensive coordinator should spark some life in an offense that struggled mightily last year. The additions at the skill positions, mainly Brandon Marshall, will also help the Jets figure out if Geno Smith has it in him to be a starting caliber NFL quarterback, which is the biggest question on offense this year for New York.

Defense

There is so much positive with this Jets defense, lets start with the negative. The linebacker talent on the Jets is questionable on paper. I have been a fan of Demario Davis since he was drafted, but he still hasn't quite put it all together. David Harris and himself are two solid starters at ILB, but they are not star players by any means. Quinton Coples, Jason Babin, and Calvin Pace make up the group of outside linebackers, and they are all talented pass rushers at times, but for the most part they have been unreliable on a game to game basis. Now onto the good for the Jets defense. Or should I say incredible, because that's really what it is. Let's start with the newly revamped secondary. New York signed possibly the hottest free agent not named Ndamukong Suh in Darrelle Revis, and they also reunited him with Antonio Cromartie who had a great year with Arizona last year. That duo alone intimidates the rest of the NFL, but they also signed Buster Skrine who will most likely be their slot cornerback. Moving on right? Oh wait, they also have 2013 1st round pick Dee Milliner who was a lot better then people give him credit for last year to back up Revis and Cromartie, and at safety they have 2014 1st round pick Calvin Pryor who is a massive hitter who himself had a surprisingly good year in a poor Jets secondary last year. The best part of the Jets secondary is that it isn't even the best position group on their defense. That award goes to the Jets defensive line. As of right now, I'm going under the assumption that they aren't trading Muhammad Wilkerson because other then some rumours after the draft, there has been no indication that they will deal him. So under that assumption, they have Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, Damon Harrison, AND Leonard Williams who was the highest rated player on a lot of analyst's draft boards this past year. Richardson and Wilkerson are both elite 3-4 DE's. Damon Harrison is one of the best nose tackles in the NFL too. Also, like I said earlier, Leonard Williams is an extremely talented, blue-chip prospect that could be one of the elites at his position once he gets regular playing time. So this defense does have some talent. The loss of Rex Ryan should be mentioned here too, because he is a great defensive minded head coach. Under normal circumstances that would be a big loss, but new head coach Todd Bowles was a spectacular defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals and could easily bring that some ferocity that Ryan brought to this defense. The Jets are probably going to be the most improved defense this year, as last year they were in the bottom ten in points allowed per game. They also really struggled at forcing turnovers last season, but the retooled secondary should help fix some of those problems. There was a lot of turnover with this defense, and some early season struggles with a new scheme wouldn't shock me, but the talent is there for this team to have a top 10 defense and that's what I expect by season's end.

The AFC East, wow. I've said it in my other Offseason Outlook articles about each team in the AFC East, and this one is no different. If the Jets were in the NFC South I might predict them to win the division, but it will be tough. They are going to be a tough team to face week in and week out, and if Todd Bowles ends up being the right man for the job, they do have an actual shot at a playoff berth. Their defense will have to be playing lights out for that to happen, but it is definitely a possibility. There should be a lot of hope for this team though. The talent on the roster is young, and almost every facet of this team should be improved from 2014.

Offseason Outlook 2015: Buffalo Bills

Offense

Words used so often in football, "They are a quarterback away". Frankly, it is true with Buffalo. They will be strolling out either Matt Cassel, E.J. Manuel, Tyrod Taylor or Jeff Tuel behind center. If you didn't know, that is not a strong group of quarterbacks, and they would be lucky to get league average QB play from one of them. At the skill positions, Buffalo got quite a few star-caliber players to add to their roster. It starts with LeSean McCoy. The Bills traded Kiko Alonso for the star running back. The Bills haven't had an RB of his talent level for a very long time. Adding LeSean McCoy will force opponents to stack the box, which will open up more space for their receivers. The Bills have a star in the making in Sammy Watkins, and he is still paired up with another blossoming young player in Robert Woods. Rex Ryan and Bills management didn't stop there though, they also signed Percy Harvin in free agency. For those of you that don't know or happen to forget, Percy Harvin was an MVP candidate in his last year with Minnesota until he got injured, and even though the last fcouple years have been a big struggle for him, he still has an abundance of talent. The speed and skill level of all these wideouts is enough to scare defenses, but add in LeSean McCoy too, and it will be really tough for any defense to play man coverage against this offense. The offensive line is mediocre at best. Cordy Glenn is a solid left tackle, but there are question marks all across the rest of the O-line. Eric Wood is a decent center, and Richie Incognito was a good guard the last time he played, but he's currently a big question mark. At right tackle, Seantrel Henderson will duke it out with Cyrus Kouandjio to start, but both players struggled last year. The Bills drafted John Miller in the 3rd round this year and he will likely start at the other guard position, but not much should be expected out of a rookie guard. While the lack of talent on the O-line and at QB should be noted, this offense isn't doomed in the slightest. Expect a lot of quick passes and screen passes, as McCoy, Watkins and Harvin are three of the best players with the ball in their hands in the NFL. The Bills will most likely want to become a ground and pound offense under Rex Ryan, and they have the weapons to get that done and put up some points. I doubt they will be an elite offense, but they have a chance to be middle of the pack, which would be a huge improvement over last year.

Defense

The Bills did hire Rex Ryan for a reason. and Sexy Rexy has made one heck of a career on creating elite defenses. Lucky for him, the Bills already have an elite defense, as they were 4th in fewest points allowed per game in 2014. It starts and ends up front with one of the most dangerous defensive lines in football (we'll get to St. Louis eventually). From left to right, they have Mario Williams, Marcell Dareus, Kyle Williams, and Jerry Hughes. 3 of those players are elites at their positions and Jerry Hughes is turning into a spectacular pass rusher. At linebacker, they traded away their star in Kiko Alonso to get McCoy, but Ryan has done spectacular work in his career with getting the absolute most production out of linebackers. They also have a talented sophomore in Preston Brown. Nigel Bradham was good for them last year too, so Rex has some talent to work with. In the secondary, they have a young up and coming cornerback in Stephon Gilmore. If he stays healthy, he could really turn the corner to being a top 10 cornerback this year. They recently drafted Ronald Darby in the 2nd round, which I thought was a good pick. He doesn't do any one thing spectacularly, but he is a solid overall cornerback and I could easily see him being a great number 2 behind Gilmore for years to come. Leodis McKelvin is another solid cornerback who will be the number 2 this year behind Gilmore, and Nickell Robey was a good nickel cornerback last year and should continue to grow (Nickell playing nickel... Get it? Anyone? No, okay...). At safety, they have Duke and Aaron Williams who were both average players last year. It's true that this defense will be known for their deadly front four, but there is some depth to it and talent across the board. So when this defense is top 5 another year in a row, make sure to give Gilmore, Brown and some other players some credit too.

Bills fans are used to hearing that it's going to be another long year, so I guess it's a good thing that they don't have to hear that same line this year too! The Bills are building something. I think Rex Ryan is the perfect coach for them, and just by the general attitude in Buffalo, you can tell that there is a level of excitement they haven't had in years. Do I think they will win the division? No, sorry Buffalo fans. The difference between Brady and Matt Cassel is too much. I do think Buffalo has a great shot at a wildcard playoff berth this year. They were oh so close last year, and I believe that Buffalo only got better this year. So Bills fans, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride this season, because it's going to be exciting.

Offseason Outlook 2015: Miami Dolphins

Offense

What a difference an offseason makes. The Dolphins are coming in with a revamped roster, and a new swagger. Offensively, they will bank on Ryan Tannehill. He has a lot of differing opinions about him, but the truth is that he is a good quarterback. Not spectacular, but he was above average last year and he's still young so expect even more development. The running back situation relies almost solely on Lamar Miller this year, and he had a very underrated year so that isn't a bad situation to be in. I'm also a big believer in Jay Ajayi who was drafted in the 5th round this year by Miami, if he stays healthy he can be a terrific compliment to Miller. There was a lot of turnover for the Dolphins at the wide receiver position. Jarvis Landry is still going to be leading the pack, most likely playing out of the slot most of the year, but new additions in Kenny Stills, Greg Jennings and first round pick DeVante Parker make this an exciting and talented group. If the Dolphins get DeVante Parker to step up immediately, then look out rest of the NFL because this can be a very explosive offense. Parker has terrific hands and size so he will be a perfect red zone target for Tannehill. Speaking of red zone targets, the Dolphins also signed Jordan Cameron to a 2 year/$15 million deal to replace Charles Clay who they lost in free agency to the Bills. While Cameron doesn't exactly have Clay's flexibility, he could be a better asset in the passing game and for the development of Tannehill. On the offensive line, the Dolphins are in a tricky situation. Brandon Albert is healthy, which will have a huge impact on the Fins. They also have Mike Pouncey who is a good center, and Ja'Wuan James who showed real promise last year at tackle. The issue is that their guards on the roster are not good. There is no way around this, they lack talent at guard and it could hurt them once the year starts. That being said, don't let the lack of depth inside sway you from believing in this offense. It will produce, and most likely it will produce more then last year. I'm sure fans are happy about trading the ever so frustrating Mike Wallace as well, and the weapons for Tannehill look a lot better. There should be a lot of growth in this offense, and a top 10 offense is not out of the question. In fact, they finished 11th in points per game last year, a top 10 offense should be expected from this Dolphins team.

Defense

Ndamukong Suh. The big man on campus. His arrival brings a lot of excitement to an already talented Dolphins defense. Suh is an elite defensive tackle, and paired up with the Dolphins other elite defensive linemen in Cameron Wake, they should have no trouble in bringing the heat on opposing quarterbacks. Oliver Vernon, who is the DE opposite Wake, also showed a lot of promise last year, and could be even better this year. The Dolphins saw a bit of a transformation on defense this year too, as they traded Dannell Ellerbe and released Phillip Wheeler. They have Koa Misi at ILB, who was a quality starter last year, and Jelani Jenkins at weak side line backer who showed tremendous flashes but struggled with consistency. In the secondary, the Dolphins have a star cornerback in Brent Grimes. He can shut down the opponents number one wide receiver and is a very valuable asset for this Miami squad. The Dolphins also have Reshad Jones at safety who is a great player, and they re-signed Louis Delmas who will be a solid starter for them this year. They lack the depth at cornerback to have a shutdown secondary, as their second cornerback and slotback are both unproven players. This is a defense with a lot of star talent on it. There are some holes at cornerback and potentially linebacker, but if Wake, Suh, Grimes, and Jones play up to their potential, this defense will wreck havoc on opposing offenses. Expect them to end the year around the top ten in fewest points allowed per game as this is a talented squad, but there still are some questions.

This could be the year for the Dolphins. The Patriots are not looking as strong as reigning Super Bowl champions should look because of DeflateGate and Tom Brady is suspended. The AFC East is an incredibly tough division with all the roster moves every team has made, but the Dolphins were on the brink of a playoff berth last year, and one should be expected this year. It's still tough to bet against Brady and the Pats for the division, but a wildcard berth and a playoff win or two isn't completely out of the question for a young, talented Dolphins squad.

Offseason Outlook 2015: New England Patriots

Well after Deflategate, I figured I may as well look into the Patriots team. And even with some roster losses, it still looks pretty freaking awesome.

Offense

Yes, Tom Brady is suspended the first four (probably 2) games. That's irrelevant, the Patriots still have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. When a team has an elite QB, they are going to have a potent offense no matter what. Luckily it's not just Brady, the Pats have some weapons too. Rob Gronkowski is the cream of the crop when it comes to New England. Gronk puts in work, and having that type of premier talent helps Brady (or Garoppolo) out big time. New England also signed Scott Chandler, and they have Timothy Wright, so TE depth is not an issue either. At wide receiver, Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell, and Danny Amendola are the three that the Pats will be counting on. All three are solid wide receivers, with Edelman being the best of them, but nothing crazy should be expected out of them. New England has built a respectable offensive line. Nate Solder at left tackle, and Sebastian Vollmer at right tackle are a formidable duo. Inside is where they struggle. Brian Stork is very young and he could still end up being a good center, the recently drafted Tre' Jackson should help with the depth at guard, and Ryan Wendell is decent too. Josh Kline also put in a solid year last year, but he'll be monitored this year and possibly replaced if the time comes. At running back is where the Patriots have issues. This is a very, very thin group of unproven backs. It is led by LeGarrette Blount, who could be okay in an increased workload, but will start the season suspended. The depth is James White, Jonas Gray, Brandon Bolden, and Travaris Cadet. This group is unproven and unspectacular, but knowing Bill Belichick he will get 200 yard games from each of them at some point. The offense is still centred around Tom Brady, and it will rely on him until he retires, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there because right now the Pats offense looks threatening again, and should have no trouble being in the top 5 in points scored, like they have been for the past 5 years.

Defense

Bill Belichick has built one heck of a defense. The only real hole is at cornerback. The loss of Revis, Browner, and the releases of Dennard and Arrington hurt. Now the Patriots will rely on Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan, and Bradley Fletcher to shut down opposing wide receivers. So that is pretty rough. The Pats front seven is deadly though. Vince Wilfork is another big loss, but they drafted Malcolm Brown to be an interior pass rusher, which is not really what Big Vince was for, but nonetheless he can be a difference maker inside. Their duo at DE is Rob Ninkovich and Chandler Jones who are both very good players. If Chandler Jones can stay healthy, expect a monstrous season out of the long armed pass rusher. They also signed Jabaal Sheard who I think will end up being the biggest bargain value in free agency. He'll be a great pass rusher, and can play the run well too. The scariest part about New England's defense is definitely their linebackers. Dont'a Hightower, Jerod Mayo (hopefully he can stay healthy), and Jamie Collins are all outstanding players and will be the difference in the Patriots having an okay defense, or an elite defense. Fortunately for the Pats they resigned their biggest priority this offseason. Not Darrelle Revis no, but Devin McCourty. He is the heart of that secondary, and he'll patrol center field for them making big plays and playing incredible football. This defense should see some regression, as they had big losses at cornerback and they lost Vince Wilfork too. Although that shouldn't worry Pats fans, as they are getting Jerod Mayo back for hopefully more then 6 games this year, and the development of their young linebackers and Chandler Jones should make up for some of the losses.

Pats fans are used to this, but an 11-12 win season should be expected again this year. The AFC East did get a lot stronger this offseason, and Tom Brady is suspended, but that won't be enough to keep them out of the playoffs. Eventually another team will win the AFC East, just not this year, especially after the offseason the Pats had with them being under investigation for Deflategate. Expect them to come out swinging this season.