AFC East: Quarterbacks
Now to the controversial rankings. The Quarterbacks! I wanted to include backups but that would have been Moore difficult.
4) New York Jets
Last year, the Jets started Mark Sanchez yet again. My bad, I mean they started Geno Smith. Geno ended up throwing 21 interceptions to only 12 TDs; he played so badly, some cheered for the Sanchize to come back. After the season, the Jets signed Michael Vick, who will either get hurt in the 1st week of the preseason or end up starting week 4 when the fans cheer for his name. The reason the Jets finish 4th in QBs is they have two turnover prone guys and a guy in Taj Boyd who threw the worst interception of all time. With the Jets having a young QB in Geno who clearly has some upside, the right thing would have been to get him some weapons and show their faith in him. Instead, the Jets do the opposite and potentially make him into The Sanchize 2.0. But that doesn’t bother Rex, as his No Passing Offense doesn’t need a QB.
3) Buffalo Bills
The Bills drafted E.J. Manuel in the 1st round last year and it was a very up-and-down season. It started out well with a comeback victory over the Carolina Panthers, but then he got injured against the Browns on what was a cheap shot. That caused him to miss the next four games and stunted the progress he was showing. He spent the offseason working on these issues, and so far in offseason workouts looks to be a better QB, though he still struggles with the sideline passes and the deep ball to anyone not named Woods. The biggest concern for E.J. right now is his accuracy beyond 20 yards and the fact he right now is more of a throw-to-open-receivers kind of guy. The good news is with Stevie Johnson gone, Robert Woods will be manning the slot, and last year and through offseason camp has been E.J.’s go to guy, plus he has Sammy Watkins, who can take those little checkdowns to the house. Overall, E.J. looks to be a better QB than last year, but not good enough to better than #3.
2) Miami Dolphins
Last year, Ryan Tannehill looked to be the guy. There was a period after the bullying scandal that he put the team on his back and was carrying the team to the playoffs. However, he ran out of energy and collapsed in the last two weeks against two opponents that they had no business losing to. The good news is that Mike Sherman and the bad coaches were fired; the bad news is this is a do-or-die year for Tanny, even though he is better than over half the starting QBs in the NFL. Thankfully they hired OC Bill Lazor, who will run an offense that will be more suitable to Tanny’s talent. That, and he has one of the best WR corps in the AFC and he will have a breakout year. If Tanny improves his deep ball and holds on to the ball less, he should be taking his team into the playoffs and make big money. If he doesn’t, at least he will get Cutler money.
1) New England Patriots
Tom Brady is one of the three best QBs of all time. Even as he gets up there in age, he is clearly one of the ten best QBs in the league. Last year, even with his man Gronk out for over half the year and a bunch of rookie WRs, Brady threw for 4000 yards and 25 TDs. This year, Brady will be trying to show that he isn’t done, and with the receiving corp and Gronk back and better than ever, he should be looking like the Brady of 2012. While Tannehill might eventually surpass Brady this year (50/50 chance), for the moment, Brady is #1.
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