2019 NFL Draft Recap – AFC East

Now that the NFL Draft is a couple weeks removed from its completion, let’s dive in and analyse the potential. The AFC East has been dominated by the New England Patriots for many years, so the question is; have the others finally closed the gap?   

AFC EAST

New England Patriots

Round 1 (32): N’Keal Harry (WR) - Arizona State

Round 2 (45): Joejuan Williams (DB) - Vanderbilt

Round 3 (77):  Chase Winovich (DL) - Michigan

Round 3 (87): Damien Harris (RB) - Alabama

Round 3 (101): Yodny Cajuste (OL) - West Virginia

Round 4 (118): Hjalte Froholdt (OL) - Arkansas

Round 4 (133): Jarrett Stidham (QB) - Auburn

Round 5 (159): Byron Cowart (DL) - Maryland

Round 5 (163): Jake Bailey (P) - Stanford

Round 7 (252): Ken Webster (DB) - Mississippi

Undrafted Free Agents:

Jakobi Meyers, WR, NC State | Calvin Anderson, OL, Texas | Terez Hall, LB, Missouri | Malik Gant, DB, Marshall | Andrew Beck, TE, Texas | Tyler Gauthier, OL, Miami | Ryan Davis, WR, Auburn | Tyree St. Louis, OL, Miami | Nick Brossette, RB, LSU |D'Angelo Ross, DB, New Mexico

Identifying one of their greatest needs in the first round, the Patriots may have once again found gold in N’Keal Harry - a player that has received comparables to that of Dez Bryant. Harry is truly a gifted talent that should be able to carve out a starting role from day one.

With the talk of Harry’s potentially taking over the outside receiving duties, selecting running back Damien Harris did come with some surprise. New England already houses a plethora of talent at the position but is never shy to overstock the room. We don’t view Harris with extreme enthusiasm like many others do, but finding a home in New England may be the best scenario for his skillset.  

Adding more viable assistance on defense was clearly on the menu for this club and the Patriots may have hit a couple homeruns as well. Defensive back Joejuan Williams should challenge for a starting role while pushing the veterans on this roster. He’s extremely tall and plays press coverage to perfection. With the loss of rushing talent to free agency, the Patriots may have also filled that gap with Chase Winovich out of Michigan.  

As expected, the New England Patriots look to have done a masterful job in securing talented players to fit into their system while reaming highly competitive. We struggle to find a great deal of weakness to this draft class.

Buffalo Bills

Round 1 (9): Ed Oliver (DL) – Houston

Round 2 (38): Cody Ford (OL) - Oklahoma

Round 3 (74): Devin Singletary (RB) - Florida Atlantic

Round 3 (96): Dawson Knox (TE) - Mississippi

Round 5 (147): Vosean Joseph (LB) - Florida

Round 6 (181): Jaquan Johnson (DB) - Miami (FL)

Round 7 (225): Darryl Johnson Jr. (DL) - North Carolina A&T

Round 7 (228): Tommy Sweeney (TE) - Boston College

Undrafted Free Agents:

Tyree Jackson, QB, Buffalo | David Sills, WR, West Virginia | Blake Hance, OL, Northwestern | Nick Easley, WR, Iowa | Cam Lewis, DB, Buffalo | Tyrel Dodson, LB, Texas A&M | Juwan Foggie, LB, UNC-Charlotte

It’s becoming extremely difficult to criticize the Bills front office for moves they continue to make. Having a clear vision and objective to rebuild this roster to challenge the best in the business may have come a little closer after reviewing this draft class.

Our final mock draft had Houston product Ed Oliver heading to Western New York and on draft day, the Bills made that a reality. Having comparable skillsets to a poor man’s Aaron Donald, Bills-Mafia should be enthralled with this choice.

Following that selection up with two more highly talented individuals, the Bills continued revamping their offensive line with mauler Cody Ford, while adding more running back depth with spark plug Devin Singletary. Both players should have roles on this team in 2019, but Ford should slot in as a day one starter on that line.

Rounding out the rest of the draft class, the Bills chose to select players with great intelligence and specific skillsets to help aid the transition. With the defense already pegged as a strong up-and-coming unit, the outlook is moving in the right direction.

We can’t end this evaluation without discussing undrafted free agent wide receiver David Sills. Holding a draft grade hovering around the third or fourth round, Buffalo may have hit the jackpot with the abilities he possesses. Sills has the height and speed to man an outside position while potentially becoming a true redzone target for the Bills Josh Allen. Things are truly looking up in Buffalo.        

New York Jets

Round 1 (3): Quinnen Williams (DL) - Alabama

Round 3 (68): Jachai Polite (DL) - Florida

Round 3 (92): Chuma Edoga (T) - USC

Round 4 (121): Trevon Wesco (TE) - West Virginia

Round 5 (157): Blake Cashman (LB) - Minnesota

Round 6 (196): Blessuan Austin (DB) - Rutgers

Undrafted Free Agents:

Greg Dortch, WR, Wake Forest | Toa Lobendahn, OL, USC | Jamey Mosley, LB, Alabama | Jalin Moore, RB, Appalachian State | MyQuon Stout, DL, Appalachian State | Wyatt Miller, OL, Central Florida | Santos Ramirez, DB, Arkansas | Fred Jones, DL, Florida State | Justin Alexandre, DL, Incarnate Word | Trevon Sanders, DL, Troy | Jabril Frazier, DL, Boise State | Kyle Phillips, DL, Tennessee | Jeff Allison, LB, Fresno State | John Battle, DB, LSU | Kyron Brown, DB, Akron

Some may be convinced that the New York Jets are on the rise after spending big on the open market while securing some of the best free agents this offseason. After reviewing this draft class while overlooking the overall roster, improvements should be feasible to the win column.

After looking to trade down from the third overall selection and finding no trade partner, the Jets picked perhaps one of the safest prospects to come out of the 2019 class. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams will have his role waiting for him while learning from star talent Leonard Williams. Improvement to the defensive front was the greatest need and they filled that without any question. Williams will prove to be a difference maker on the field while holding fantastic measurables of size, strength and athleticism. The potential to become a regular pro bowl caliber type of player is the ceiling for Williams.   

Outside of their first round selection, this Jets class could be viewed with an uneven eye as it appears need trumped the opinion to draft the best player available. While it’s no surprise that defense dominated the draft board, New York did secure a healthy number of undrafted free agents to help round out this roster.

The Jets should be better in 2019, but from our initial take, this draft class (outside of Williams) will leave a lot to be desired.

Miami Dolphins

Round 1 (13): Christian Wilkins (DL) - Clemson

Round 3 (78): Michael Deiter (OL) - Wisconsin

Round 5 (151): Andrew Van Ginkel (LB) - Wisconsin

Round 6 (202): Isaiah Prince (T) - Ohio State

Round 7 (233): Chandler Cox (FB) - Auburn

Round 7 (234): Myles Gaskin (RB) - Washington

Undrafted Free Agents:

Terrill Hanks, LB, New Mexico State | Preston Williams, WR, Colorado State | Tyler Horton, CB, Boise State | Deion Calhoun, OL, Mississippi State | Nik Needham, CB, UTEP | Montre Hartage, CB, Northwestern | Ryan Anderson, OL, Wake Forest | Wes Farnsworth, LS, Nevada | Dewayne Hendrix, DL, Pitt | Jonathan Ledbetter, DL, Georgia | Trenton Irwin, WR, Stanford | Aaron Monteiro, OL, Boston College | Rob Rolle, S, Villanova | Tre Watson, LB, Maryland

Heading into the 2019 offseason, it was clear management had seen enough of the current version of the Dolphins and looked to make a massive change. Hiring former Patriots defensive coordinator Brian Flores to spearhead the rebuild, we fully expected a draft class to what was selected from Miami.

It always is our contention for any club entertaining a full roster shuffle to begin in the trenches with the offensive and defensive lines. True to form, the Dolphins went in that direction securing Clemson standout Christian Wilkins with their first round pick. Being sound supporters of Wilkins body of work, this appears to be an early slam dunk for a defense in great need.

Following that great selection up with offensive line assistance for newly acquired quarterback Josh Rosen, we again were delighted to witness the Dolphins find another talented player in Michael Deiter. Adding a player of his aptitude should go a long way to help improve the interior offensive line play.

Expectations will be quite low for this edition of the Dolphins as they truly are a club looking to rewrite the inadequacies of the past. Anything over and beyond their first two selections will be a giant victory this season.