With the draft over and the offseason moving into a lull, we’ll continue to assess the state of NFL rosters league-wide and look at every team’s most glaring need. We’ve finished the NFC and are now starting the AFC East with the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo Bills: Cornerback
The Bills’ roster is still one of the better rosters in the NFL despite how the 2022 season ended. It brought some depth issues to the surface, notably the lack of solid offensive line play, pass-catching weapons, and bodies in the secondary. Of course, injuries didn’t help the latter, but the Bills upgraded where they could this offseason.
They drafted – and traded up for – Dalton Kincaid in the first round of the draft and snagged O’Cyrus Torrence at the bottom of the second round, addressing two of the more pressing issues on the roster. Once again, the Bills look like Super Bowl contenders. But they could still use some depth at cornerback.
Tre’Davious White is still one of the better all-around corners in the NFL, but he took some time to get up to speed last year after returning from a torn ACL. Kaiir Elam was the Bills’ first round pick in 2022 and looked good. Investing in another cornerback doesn’t seem like the best course of action, but past White, Elam, and Taron Johnson, there’s maybe not enough depth – especially for a team that loves to play in nickel as much as the Bills.
Regardless of that need however, expect their name to come up early and often as a potential landing spot for DeAndre Hopkins over the next several weeks.
Miami Dolphins: Offensive Line
The well-known weak spot of the Miami Dolphins has long been the offensive line. Whether the Dolphins have been poor at drafting or developing offensive linemen, they’ve struggled to assemble a capable unit over the last few years.
Adding Terron Armstead was a real coup. When he’s healthy and on the field, Armstead is one of the better left tackles in the NFL and instantly makes the Dolphins’ offensive line better. As did the addition of Connor Williams at centre, but most of the Dolphins’ offensive line is still needing improvement. Robert Hunt has proven to be versatile enough to play guard or tackle and probably has a place as the starting right guard – so that leaves Austin Jackson at right tackle and Liam Eichenberg at left guard.
They brought in Isaiah Wynn to compete – potentially for either spot – but giving Tua Tagoavailoa more protection opens up the playbook a little more. That can only be perceived as a bonus.
New England Patriots: Wide Receiver
When was the last time the Patriots had a truly great wide receiver? Does Julian Edelman count? A great slot receiver, but maybe not. If not him, you could even say Antonio Brown, but he only played one game for the Patriots. The point is, it’s been a while.
The Patriots added JuJu Smith-Schuster after he had a good season with the Chiefs in 2022, but how much of his production is down to having Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback? Smith-Schuster has carved out a role as a serviceable slot receiver and will likely mesh well with Mac Jones, but the starting receiver trio is still Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, and Kendrick Bourne. But it doesn’t set the house alight.
The offense finished 24th in EPA last season and 26th in passing success rate. The offensive line struggled, Jones struggled, and the receivers struggled. They need help. Taking a shot on Kayshon Boutte could prove to be worth the risk, but it likely won’t change the quality of the receiving room too much.
New York Jets: Safety
The Jets addressed their biggest weakness by trading for Aaron Rodgers prior to the draft. The roster was too good to be held back by former No. 2 pick Zach Wilson, who was benched in 2022, so an upgrade was needed. The Jets are firmly in the Super Bowl window with Rodgers under centre, and the roster has little to no holes.
The offensive line has the chance to be good if Mekhi Becton comes back and shows that he’s healthy and hungry. They have excellent skill players, the pass rush is solid and the corner duo is among the best in the NFL. It’s hard to find many flaws so we’re nitpicking here and going with the safeties.
Jordan Whitehead was signed in free agency last season and looked good in coverage in his first year with the team and will continue to grow as a part of the defense. He’s versatile enough to play in the box, as a slot corner, or as a split or single-high safety. The Jets added Chuck Clark to the mix too this offseason – another versatile safety. Again this is nitpicking but the Jets could do better than Clark.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: CCS Pictures. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.