AFC East Draft Grades

Overall, I think the AFC East did well drafting.  Though,  I have to say susprisingly the Buffalo Bills did the best out of the four teams.  They got the big defensive tackle out of Alabama Marcell Dareus with the 3rd overall pick in the draft.  I wasn’t overly impressed by either Miami’s or the Jets drafts.  But, New England has multiple picks in the early rounds again for next year and they got one of the top rated lineman in the draft Nate Solder out of Colorado and a corner to play opposite Devin McCourty.

Here are the picks made by each team and an overall assessment of their drafts:

1	3	3	Buffalo	Marcell Dareus	DT	6-3	319	Alabama
2	2	34	Buffalo	Aaron Williams	CB	6-1	195	Texas
3	4	68	Buffalo	Kelvin Sheppard	ILB	6-2	250	LSU
4	3	100	Buffalo	Da’Norris Searcy	SS	6-0	210	North Carolina
4	25	122	Buffalo	Chris Hairston	OT	6-7	333	Clemson
5	2	133	Buffalo	Johnny White	RB	5-10	209	North Carolina
6	4	169	Buffalo	Chris White	ILB	6-3	244	Mississippi State
7	3	206	Buffalo	Justin Rogers	CB	5-11	183	Richmond
7	42	245	Buffalo	Michael Jasper	DT	6-4	394	Bethel (TN)

Marcell Dareus is going to help this defense in a big way.  He was considered by some analysts to be the best player in this draft.  Going third overall, he was the first defensive lineman to come off the board in a very deep draft class at that position.  The Bills second round pick (34th overall) cornerback Aaron Williams will also help this defense that has seen some inconsistent play in the secondary from players like safety Donte Whitner and another early draft choice Ohio State over-rater Ashton Youboty.

On another note, I commend the Bills for not reaching and selecting a quarterback with their first pick.  But, they should’ve at some point in this draft selected a quarterback.  New England selected Ryan Mallett with the 74th pick and he may have been a good fit for the Bills.  I find it hard to believe the Fitzpatrick is the answer at that position (even though he did have a good 2010).  They may still attempt to bring in another veteran through free agency if the lockout ever ends.

1	15	15	Miami	Mike Pouncey	OG	6-5	303	Florida
2	30	62	Miami	Daniel Thomas	RB	6-2	228	Kansas State
4	14	111	Miami	Edmund Gates	WR	6-0	189	Abilene Christian
6	9	174	Miami	Charles Clay	FB	6-3	239	Tulsa
7	28	231	Miami	Frank Kearse	DT	6-4	315	Alabama A&M
7	32	235	Miami	Jimmy Wilson	CB	5-11	185	Montana

I love Miami’s first selection.  Mike Pouncy is certainly ready to start day 1 of the season.  He is of course the twin brother of Maurkice Pouncey of the Steelers who was voted to the Pro Bowl in his rookie season.  They also selected running back Daniel Thomas in the second round to bring some youth at a position they are aging at.

1	17	17	New England	Nate Solder	OT	6-8	319	Colorado
2	1	33	New England	Ras-I Dowling	CB	6-2	200	Virginia
2	24	56	New England	Shane Vereen	RB	5-10	205	California
3	9	73	New England	Stevan Ridley	RB	6-0	223	LSU
3	10	74	New England	Ryan Mallett	QB	6-7	253	Arkansas
5	7	138	New England	Marcus Cannon	OT	6-5	350	TCU
5	28	159	New England	Lee Smith	TE	6-6	269	Marshall
6	29	194	New England	Markell Carter	DE	6-4	252	Central Arkansas
7	16	219	New England	Malcolm Williams	CB	5-10	204	TCU

I like the Patriots philosophy: load up for next year and still meet team needs in the draft.  Selecting an offensive lineman with their first pick is traditional Belichick.  They are going to continue to need to protect Tom Brady.  They got a corner to help bring depth in the secondary in  the secondary in Rawling out of Virginia.  They also selected another corner in the seventh and two running backs, one being Shane Vereen out of Cal who is a very compact runner like current Patriot back Danny Woodhead.  What I liked best was the draftin of 6′7″ Ryan Mallett in the 3rd round who may be the air apparent for Brady, who unfortunately for Patriots fans won’t play forever.

1	30	30	New York Jets	Muhammad Wilkerson	DT	6-5	300	Temple
3	30	94	New York Jets	Kenrick Ellis	DT	6-5	340	Hampton
4	29	126	New York Jets	Bilal Powell	RB	5-10	205	Louisville
5	22	153	New York Jets	Jeremy Kerley	WR	5-09	188	TCU
7	5	208	New York Jets	Greg McElroy	QB	6-2	222	Alabama
7	24	227	New York Jets	Scotty McKnight	WR	5-11	182	Colorado

With the 3oth pick overall the Jets picked up Muhammad Wilkerson out of Temple.  I like this pick because they got value with Wilkerson at this pick as his stock was rising lesading up to the draft.  It also helps them meet a need with veteran Kris Jenkins trying to come back from season ending injury.  In the 4th round the selection of Bilal Powell may prove to be a good pick to give depth long term at the running back position. The same can be said of the selection of Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy in the 7th round.  Mark Brunell has been Sanchez’s backup and he has been in the league for quite some time.

Buffalo:  B

Miami:  C-

New England:  B

New York Jets:   C