The AFCE featured a new team & QB at the top last year in the Buffalo Bills & Josh Allen, and also featured a potential star QB in Tua Tagovailoa. This year however, looks to be much more competitive, with the NY Jets (Zach Wilson) & New England Patriots (Mac Jones) loading up on new QBs. New England spent more money this off-season than we have ever seen, making an attempt to compete for the division again. The Jets loaded up on young stars to surround Wilson, something the previous regime failed to do for so many years. In this article, we will rank the QBs in the AFCE, and analyze their futures.
- Josh Allen. While this comes as no surprise to Billsmafia, Josh Allen looked like a brand new QB from what we’ve seen in years past. Bringing in Stefon Diggs, adding Gabe Davis, and continuity played a part in Allen’s growth from year 2-3 for sure. However, many will lead you to believe Allen isn’t done growing yet. Allen is still very young with so much more to work on, and to help with that, GM Brandon Beane has done a good job of continuing to bring in more talent for him (Emmanuel Sanders, 2 new OL, and a QB to help guide Allen this year.
- Tua Tagovailoa. Too showed a lot of flashes of what he could be last year, but that was overshadowed by the lack of consistency on offense, mainly from their WRs. Brian Flores & GM Chris Grier have made sure to add more weapons for him, too. With Will Fuller, Jaylen Waddle, and rookie TE Hunter Long now in the mix, we should see more improvement from Tua. But what’s overlooked & a very underrated move by Miami this off-season is adding Liam Eichenberg to their already young OL. With this addition, this will allow 2nd year OT Robert Hunt to slide inside where he should play much better, and Eichenberg to OT.
- Zach Wilson. Zach Wilson. The brand new QB for NY media to scrutinize for everything he does. Wilson may have one of the biggest upsides out of the QBs in this draft, and it’s a pick that should save that franchise. GM Joe Douglas has done a fantastic job of giving Wilson weapons. Those include Elijah Moore, Kenny Yeboah, Corey Davis, Keelan Cole, and almost solidifying the OL with Alijah Vera-Tucker. If the Jets can hit on this pick, we may be seeing a brand new division with 3 teams fighting for 1st place, much like the NFC West.
- Cam Newton/Mac Jones. I fully expect Mac Jones to start this season, but it may not be until mid-season that it happens. Until then, Pats fans are stuck watching Newton for a few games. The Patriots certainly spent this off-season, but it may not have been on the right players. Still never gave their future QB a WR1, and he will be throwing to N’Keal Harry, Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne, and Jakobi Meyers. They spent big on TE, landing Hunter Henry & Jonnu Smith while also securing their best receiving back, James White. If they can land Julio Jones like the rumors say, this off-season will have been really good for them.
The AFCE is very young with bright futures for all their teams. Every QB (outside of Cam Newton) is on their rookie deals, and their teams have set them up for future success. Should be exciting times to come if you’re a fan.