Still no news on the pending trade of Aaron Rodgers to the Jets, but New York and the rest of the league have to focus on the next big event on the NFL offseason calendar. The NFL Draft will take place in less than one week. Between now and then, we’re looking at the needs for the teams from each division from a fantasy football perspective. What does each team need to do to maximize their roster’s fantasy returns? What moves will boost both those teams’ on-field performances and our own fantasy prospects? We continue our league tour previewing the 2023 AFC East.

2023 Pre-Draft Fantasy Needs Series

• AFC North
• NFC North
• AFC East
• NFC East
• AFC South
• NFC South
• AFC West
• NFC West

Note: All 2022 fantasy point totals and rankings are PPR, unless otherwise noted.

2023 AFC East Draft Needs: Buffalo Bills

Maybe it’s not quite the disappointment of four straight Super Bowl losses, but safe to say the past four seasons have not ended the way the Bills would’ve preferred. The Bills’ ascendance to the upper echelons of the league’s contenders has paralleled quarterback Josh Allen‘s rise to the upper crust of the quarterback position. But while Allen’s talents have led many a fantasy manager to a league championship, he has yet to get the Bills over the hump. A pair of overtime heartbreakers, a Conference Championship Game loss, and a crushing loss at home to Cincinnati with Damar Hamlin in the building are all the Bills have to show in the playoffs for all their regular season dominance.

It stands to reason that a team that’s been riding at or near the top of the standings has performed well statistically. The Bills have been a top-five offensive unit in the NFL each of the last three seasons. On top of that, they’ve been a top-eight fantasy defensive unit in that same stretch. Allen, top wideouts Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis, tight end Dawson Knox, and running back James Cook return to lead the Buffalo attack. Damien Harris will jump ship from New England to join the fray. And kicker Tyler Bass (last year’s K9) is fresh off signing a four year extension. There aren’t many holes to speak of on this club.

Bills’ Bottom Line

Perhaps the one actual “weakness” Buffalo could stand to shore up would be on the offensive line. The Bills ranked 23rd on PFF’s end of season offensive line rankings. While much of that could be attributed to injuries costing the Bills any chance of continuity, none of the individuals on the line was all that stellar. Left tackle Dion Dawkins ranked 24th out of 81 qualifying tackles in PFF’s rankings to lead the club. Buffalo should definitely be looking to upgrade anyone and everyone to the right of Dawkins. With the 28th pick in the first round, the premier tackle prospects will probably be long gone. However, most- if not all- of the top interior line prospects should be available at that point (Florida’s O’Cyrus Torrence?) If they choose to wait until their round two pick, perhaps someone like athletic North Dakota State tackle Cody Mauch could fit the bill.

The only other position I’d like to see them target would be a receiver to complement Diggs and Davis. 2022 fifth-rounder Khalil Shakir probably has the inside track at the slot position at this point. But there are several intriguing slot prospects available this year. Zay Flowers, the top slot, may still be around at 28. Otherwise, someone like Houston’s Tank Dell could be had on day two or perhaps even Saturday.

Bills’ 2023 Draft Picks

• Round 1, pick 28
• Round 2, pick 28
• Round 3, pick 28
• Round 4, pick 28
• Round 5, pick 3
• Round 6, pick 28

2023 AFC East Draft Needs: Miami Dolphins

What a ride the Miami Dolphins took us all on last season. With a fully healthy Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback, the Dolphins won eight games against four losses. Of those four losses, only one came by more than one score (a 33-17 loss to the 49ers in Week 13.) Without Tagovailoa, Miami won just one game, a playoff-clincher over the Jets in Week 17 in which the offense managed just three field goals before a safety on the final play sealed the victory. The following week, the Dolphins, behind rookie third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson, fell a field goal short of knocking off the rival Bills in the Wild Card round.

Miami’s hopes for the coming season will rest on Tagovailoa avoiding a repeat of the concussion issues that plagued him last season. Regardless of fandom, the frightening scenes we witnessed last season at Tagovailoa’s expense would be gladly left in the past. While the Dolphins did bring in former Jets quarterback Mike White behind Tua, all indications are that he will be ready to go for the season. So what can the Miami front office do to give Tagovailoa (and fantasy managers) a hand this season? Unfortunately, recent trades and organizational missteps have left the Dolphins woefully bereft of draft capital, with just four total picks at the moment and no first-rounder. Miami has a single pick in each of the second, third, sixth, and seventh rounds.

Dolphins’ Bottom Line

Allowing tight end Mike Gesicki to leave for New England in free agency might have surprised some fans, but fantasy managers everywhere breathed a sigh of relief. The annual and weekly anticipation of great things from Gesicki is over in Miami. He joins DeVante Parker as former Dolphin headaches who’ve headed north to Foxboro. However, he does leave behind something of a roster hole. I’m not quite sure why Mike McDaniel never seemed to warm to Gesicki. But there’s precedent for the tight end being a big contributor in this offensive scheme (George Kittle, anyone?) Fortunately for the Dolphins and their empty draft purse, this is a deep tight end draft. There’s every possibility that a playmaking prospect will still be available when the Fish are finally on the clock with the 51st overall pick.

The Dolphins signed Chosen Anderson to bolster their wide receiver corps and brought back their entire running back room. That leaves offensive line as their most pressing offensive need. They’ll hope for better health for Terron Armstead, but help in the interior could also go a long way toward protecting Tagovailoa. Dolphin running backs had just 2.6 yards before contact last season. Raheem Mostert‘s all-world speed is wasted if he’s continually getting hit early in runs. Better blocking to enhance the threat of the run game would also be to Tua’s benefit.

Dolphins’ 2023 Draft Picks

• Round 2, pick 20
• Round 3, pick 21
• Round 6, pick 20
• Round 7, pick 21

2023 AFC East Draft Needs: New England Patriots

It’s been an… atypical offseason in New England. The Patriots are coming off their second losing season and third-place finish in the last three seasons. Bill O’Brien is back. Matt Patricia is not. There’s something of a brewing quarterback controversy, between reports of players split on Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe last season and reports of the Patriots shopping Jones since the season’s end. And some- not all, but still, some- are starting to question whether Bill Belichick has lost his mojo.

2022 was not a success in New England, especially by the Patriots’ standards. Still, things aren’t all doom-and-gloom. New England boasted the eleventh-ranked offensive line in the league (although surprise top draft pick Cole Strange was a bit up-and-down.) They were the top fantasy DST on the strength of 30 turnovers and 54 sacks, good for second and third in the NFL, respectively. The Patriots were a Week 18 win away from making the playoffs despite the season-long debacle that was Patricia as primary co-offensive coordinator. Heck, even the fact that there’s question about which quarterback should be starting could conceivably be construed as a positive, as both look capable of playing in the league. First-World problems, dude.

Patriots’ Bottom Line

Despite that number 11 ranking on the offensive line, that stands out as a position ripe for upgrade, especially at the tackles. Center David Andrews is solid when healthy. Michael Onwenu looks to have found a home at right guard, where he was named a second team All-Pro by PFF. And it’s way too early to properly gauge Strange, let alone give up on him. But none of the tackles currently on the roster was all that spectacular last season. Long-time, part-time, full-time starter Trent Brown was finally healthy for (almost) a full season, but ranked just 43rd out of 81 qualifying tackles in PFF’s rankings to lead the Patriots at the position. New England has been widely mocked as taking a tackle at 14 overall (as opposed to being mocked for taking the Chattanooga Moc Strange last season.)

The other position of need on this offense- and stop me if you’ve heard this- is wide receiver. The perennial weakness of the New England offense just keeps weakly weak-ing. After allowing Jakobi Meyers to leave in free agency, Belichick brought in JuJu Smith-Schuster as the new lead wideout. Speaking of perennial weakness, DeVante Parker is the nominal number two wide receiver at the moment. He’s followed by Kendrick Bourne and 2022 second round pick Tyquan Thornton (no relation. Seriously.) In theory, it shouldn’t be hard to upgrade this group, even in a less-than-deep draft for the position. But for all his longevity as a football genius, wide receiver remains the one equation Good Bill Hunting can’t seem to solve. (Belichick + WR + #X Draft Pick)/ 19 total picks = Deion Branch in 2002 + Julian Edelman in 2009 + mostly roster filler. That doesn’t add up.

Patriots’ 2023 Draft Picks

• Round 1, pick 14
• Round 2, pick 15
• Round 3, pick 13
• Round 4, picks 5, 15, & 33
• Round 6, picks 7, 10, 15, 33
• Round 7, pick 28

2023 AFC East Draft Needs: New York Jets

It’s tempting, especially as a Packer fan, to just throw a big “Under Construction” or “In Progress” sign over this section of the article and ignore the immunized elephant in the dark room. But, being the dedicated professional that I am, I will forego “unnecessary”, pithy commentary on the pending Aaron Rodgers trade and focus on the facts. As of Sunday, there was nothing new to report save this from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:

After a dormant couple weeks, the #Jets and #Packers recently re-engaged on trade talks surrounding star QB Aaron Rodgers, sources say. A deal is not imminent, but the two sides are at least talking — with hopes a deal can (finally) be done this week.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 23, 2023

The Packers are apparently holding out for a first round pick of some type from New York. The Jets are apparently holding out for the Packers to end their holdout. Meanwhile, the Interwebs continue to revel and bask in the resultant cluster-you-know-whattery as the situation persists. Either way, the Jets are a team with few discernible fantasy needs outside of quarterback, thanks in no small part to falling all over themselves attempting to bring in members of Rodgers’s entourage wish-list. (Evidently, it’s the lack of first-round receivers that has resulted in Green Bay’s failure to return to the Super Bowl with Rodgers. But the players they have had are apparently good enough to succeed if they can just join him at MetLife Stadium. That must be some darkroom logic.)

Jets’ Bottom Line

The Rodgers drama aside, this really is a team with precious few holes in the roster. It’s a good (and getting better) defense balanced by young, electric talent at most of the skill positions. Presumably, they’re getting a future Hall of Fame quarterback just one season removed from back-to-back MVP awards. They have both the reigning Offensive- and Defensive Rookies of the Year. The one place they absolutely need to improve is along the offensive line. They look set at the guards with 2022 free agent signee Laken Tomlinson and 2021 first round pick Alijah Vera-Tucker. 2020 first round pick Mekhi Becton is talented, but seemingly hasn’t been healthy since perhaps his youth football physical and has played just 15 games in his three years in the league. Connor McGovern, who ranked tenth among centers in PFF’s rankings, remains unsigned.

With the Jets picking at 13 overall, there should be at least one of the top tackle prospects available, should they choose to go that route. In the event they get to keep at least one of their two second round picks, there’s a good chance that one of the draft’s top center prospects could still be available as well. Wisconsin’s Joe Tippmann, Minnesota’s John Michael Schmitz, or TCU’s Steve Avila could all still be there when the Jets’ number is called on the draft’s second night.

But even if this team does pull off the Rodgers trade, they’re only postponing the inevitable. One other move that could really help this team would be to trade back up into the first round to draft a (questionable) quarterback of the future. That’s the kind of franchise-savvy move that really speaks to a player of Rodgers’s caliber. At the very least, you know he’ll be thinking of it next time he’s looking for light in a dark room or throwin’ back a coupla ayahuascas.*

*Sarcasm alert

Jets’ 2023 Draft Picks (for now…)

• Round 1, pick 13
• Round 2, picks 11 & 12
• Round 4, pick 10
• Round 5, pick 9
• Round 6, pick 30

It’s Always Fantasy Season

There is no offseason in fantasy! Draft previews, free agency analysis, and Dynasty strategy are just some of what you’ll find when you check Belly Up Fantasy Sports for more fantasy football analysis and entertaining insight. With the MLB season in full-swing, there’s a ton of fantasy baseball content, too. As always, more great NFL coverage is available on the main Belly Up site, as well as fun, informative content on the Belly Up Podcast Network. Got something to say? Leave a comment below, follow me on Twitter @SttChaseFFB, and catch me on the Belly Up Fantasy Live podcast each week.