2025 NFL Draft Grades By Team - AFC East Draft Reactions
Last year both AFC West and NFC North each sent THREE teams to the NFL playoffs. It was a loaded dog fight in those groups. That wasn’t the case in the AFC East as the Buffalo Bills went 13-4 and no other team had a winning record. The Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and New York Jets obviously have work to do.
That work started this offseason and continued over into the 2025 NFL Draft where these teams had a lot of capital (especially the New England Patriots). There is obviously a lot of work to be done but we might at least be at the stage where some fantasy football assets are entertaining us from the bottom half of the AFC East. Let’s take a moment to look at one key narrative for each team from the offseason and whether or not some of these rookies could impact the fantasy football landscape!
Buffalo Bills - Trusting In Josh Allen
Last year, the Bills decided to move on from Stefon Diggs, a player that was the focal point of their offense, consistently receiving 150+ targets while in Buffalo. Rather than attempt to replace him with another focal point, they decided to spread the ball around in 2024 with no player receiving 100 targets, per Pro Football Focus.
After once again losing in the playoffs, many speculated that they could be in the market for a wide receiver here. But they instead opted to use their first five picks on the defensive side of the ball, banking on their current weapons. Anyone who watched the Bills playoff games with the Ravens and Chiefs understands that anyone could have won those games.
In fantasy football, that leaves the door open for someone to step up. Maybe Khalil Shakir, the target leader from last year, continues to grow. Maybe Keon Coleman, last year’s early second round pick, makes the leap. There are reports that Dalton Kincaid dealt with injuries all of last year so he could bounce back. Joshua Palmer was an expensive free agent acquisition. They even added Elijah Moore this week, who garnered 100+ targets in back-to-back seasons.
Or maybe they just like spreading the ball around by design. These assets should be fairly cheap so it might be worth taking a stab later in drafts though.
New England Patriots - Back To Their Old Ways With Josh McDaniels
For two decades, the Patriots ran a split backfield. They would have one early down bruiser back, like Corey Dillon or LeGarrette Blount. And their pass-catching guy, like Kevin Faulk or James White. After bringing Josh McDaneisl back into the fold and adding TreVeyon Henderson in the second round, it seems like they could opt for a similar set up with Rhamondre Stevenson and Henderson.
That doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t be fantasy relevant. Guys like Blount and White both had RB1 seasons in different roles. Plus teams like the Detroit Lions provide plenty of action for their two backs. The common denominator between those teams led by Tom Brady and the current Lions, however, is that they are good. You’re betting on the Patriots to get back to their winning ways if you are betting on Patriots running backs. Vegas has their over/under win total set at 8.5 so they’re at least expected to be better than last year.
New York Jets - What Kind Of Tight End Will Mason Taylor Be?
On the surface, the situation for Mason Taylor is great. The Jets picked him early at pick 42. And they don’t have many pass-catchers outside of Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall. It doesn’t hurt that Taylor’s father and uncle are both former NFL stars in Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas.
As the title implies, however, the question is about what kind of tight end he wil be. In college Taylor was asked to play inline on ~70% of his plays and stay in to block on 16% of his pass-plays. We’ve seen guys like Drew Sample for the Bengals get picked in a similar spot in the second round to be inline blocking tight ends. We have hope that the Jets use the athletic Taylor differently than LSU did in their scheme but that possibility might make him a bit more of a risky proposition than he seems at face value.
Miami Dolphins - Tyreek Hill’s Wild Ride Takes An Upturn
Tyreek Hill has been no stranger to the headlines. Not only for the things that he does but the things he says. All of that has led to speculation that he could be out of Miami or even out of the league, if his retirement comments carry any weight. But Miami’s actions, both in free agency and the draft, dictate that they expect Hill to be around.
In free agency they did not make a big splash, adding only Nick Westbrook-Ikhine-Ikhine who is likely to be a part-time split end. I say part-time because this team loves to use their fullback and two tight end sets which take the WR3 off the field at times. That often consolidates the snaps among the key pieces which is great news for Jaylen Waddle, Jonnu Smith and, yes, Tyreek Hill. The negative stigma surrounding Hill will always present a high risk, high reward situation though fantasy gamers have derived a lot of value from him so far. Just know that Tyreek’s wild ride could end abruptly at some point the same way it did with a guy like Antonio Brown.
Player News
Panthers signed WR T.J. Luther to a one-year contract.
Luther was on the Panthers’ practice squad last year but didn’t appear in a game. The product of Gardner-Webb will likely just be organizational depth in 2025 even if he were to make the active roster.
Seahawks signed WR Nate McCcllum to a one-year contract.
McCollum went undrafted out of UNC this April, and he worked out with the Giants before ultimately signing on with Seattle. The 5-foot-8 wideout will need to excel on special teams to have any shot of making the roster to open 2025.
Turron Davenport of ESPN reports that Will Levis and Cam Ward are splitting reps in the second phase of the team’s offseason activities.
Titans head coach Bill Callahan did suggest that things will likely change during the next phase of the offseason training activities aka OTAs, but for now, Ward and Levis are getting equal reps. The Titans made Ward the first-overall pick of last month’s draft, and while it’s not unheard of for a highly-drafted quarterback to not begin the season as the team’s starter, it’s very hard to imagine that Ward won’t be the starter for Week 1 of the regular season. This is more of a long-term play than someone who likely has fantasy relevance in 2025, either way.
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said George Pickens is “maturing.”
Pickens is expected to show up for the team’s OTAs. Schottenheimer said he’s been impressed with Pickens since the Cowboys acquired the wideout from the Steelers in exchange for draft compensation. “I see a guy that’s maturing,” Schottenheimer said when asked about Pickens during a Tuesday presser. Pickens comes to Dallas after three up-and-down seasons in Pittsburgh, where he often threw on-field tantrums and delivered a number of low-effort performances when the quarterback wasn’t force feeding him the ball. Dak Prescott said last week that he sees Pickens as “more than a 50-50 catcher” who could be used as much more than a downfield specialist in the Dallas offense.
Bengals rookie EDGE Shemar Stewart is sitting out phase two of the team’s offseason workouts due to a contract dispute.
The Bengals, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, offered Stewart — the 17th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft — a lower training camp bonus than previous 17th selections in the draft. It checks out that the Bengals, long one of the NFL’s cheapest franchises, would lowball an incoming rookie. The Bengals traded up in the draft to acquire Stewart, who recorded just two sacks over his final two seasons at Texas A&M. Widely considered an athletic marvel, Stewart will eventually join a Bengals defense that in 2024 pressured the quarterback at a 23 percent rate, the 11th highest in the NFL.
Titans head coach Brian Callahan said the team’s backfield could be a three-way split in 2025.
Callahan said during a Tuesday press conference that Tony Pollard in 2024 “carried the ball a lot” and that “in a perfect world, we have to have more of an even split with Pollard, [Tyjae] Spears,” and potentially a third back. That third running back could be rookie Kalel Mullings, who was taken with the 188th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. In his two full seasons as a running back, Mullings — a converted linebacker — rushed 221 times for 1,170 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging a solid 5.3 yards per rush and 3.65 yards after contact per rush. The big-bodied Mullings could eventually function as the Titans’ short yardage and goal line back, hurting the fantasy prospects for both Spears and Pollard. Pollard last season saw 62 percent of the team’s carries while Spears had 29 percent of the rushes while missing five games.