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AFC North | AFC South | AFC West
AFC East (Listed in order of predicted finish) 1) New York Jets Strength The defense: A no-brainer here, as Rex Ryan has assembled a fearsome secondary that should make his aggressive pass rush even more dangerous. Darrelle Revis cannot be thrown at, Antonio Cromartie is one the best athletes in the league, and Kyle Wilson should be an above-average nickel DB/return man right away. This is a defense to be feared.
Weakness A couple spots along the offensive line: Damien Woody is aging at right tackle, and rookie Vlad Ducasse (out of Massachusetts) will be forced to step in and start at left guard. The rest of the offense is solid with the RB tandem of Shonn Greene and LaDanian Tomlinson, and three above average receivers in Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards, and Jerrico Cotchery – but a shaky O-line unit could hamper them a bit.
2) Miami Dolphins Strength The entire offense: The addition of Brandon Marshall (when healthy he’s a top 3 receiver) more than adequately solves the problem of a go-to wide receiver – something Miami lacked last year. Chad Henne makes good decisions at quarterback, and (again, when healthy) Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams might be the best 1-2 RB punch in the AFC East. The offensive line, anchored by Jake Long, is the best run blocking unit in the league.
Weakness Health: Notice the parentheses in the previous paragraph? They're the key to the whole season. If Marshall's hips are healed and ready to go by the beginning of the season (and hip injuries can be tricky) and Brown is coming off Lisfranc surgery. If neither is at full strength, the season could look much worse than I am predicting at this point.
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3) New England Patriots Strength Young potential and talent: The Patriots had an excellent draft, coming away with several players who could make instant impacts. TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, LBs Brandon Spikes and Jermaine Cunningham, CB Devin McCourty, and S Pat Chung will all battle in training camp for playing time at their respective positions. Of that group, look for Gronkowski, McCourty, and Cunningham (a sleeper choice) to have the biggest impacts.
Weakness The running game: It’s been a pet peeve of mine that Belichick refuses to upgrade a backfield rife with old guys (Kevin Faulk, Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris), unproductive young guys (Laurence Maroney), and tweeners like BenJarvus Green-Ellis. There were opportunities in this year’s draft to take Jahvid Best, Toby Gerhart, or Ben Tate, but the Pats passed on all of them.
4) Buffalo Bills Strength Offensive skill position players: RB CJ Spiller (multi-talented), and WRs Lee Evans (big play capability), Roscoe Parrish (slot and return man) and James Hardy (a 6’5” red zone target) would be an excellent group of weapons for any team in the league.
Weakness Quarterback: We have no idea whether it’ll be Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick, or Brian Brohm under center on September 12…or how long they’ll be there. Sadly, all those weapons I mentioned might be neutralized by poor play from the quarterback position.
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