AFC East Fantasy Football Bold Predictions

Buffalo Bills: RB James Cook Wins AFC R.O.Y. First of all, Cook comes from an excellent pedigree with Dalvin as his brother. And, he comes from maybe the best running back, producing college in the nation: The Georgia Bulldogs. He is the perfect back for Allen and the Bills offense. He is powerful and surehanded.

The Bulldogs used him often as a receiver out of the backfield. And on that offensively loaded team, he finished the year with 1,012 total yards, (728 rushing and 284 receiving). He made 27 catches on only 32 targets. And he had 11 TDs on 113 rushes, which means he scored a TD once every 10 times he rushed the ball last year. Envision a mini Najee Harris . On a team so loaded with offensive weapons, he’ll be hard-pressed to get over 1000 yards from scrimmage. But in a year with no can’t-miss QB or hyped superstar coming out of the draft, Cook could do enough to snag rookie of the year.

- Cam Giangrande

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Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins lead the NFL in scoring offense in 2022 After a 2021 season that was rife with inconsistency, Tua Tagovailoa finished the year with an eight-game stretch where he completed more than 70% of his passes and was best among quarterbacks in red zone completion percentage. Now add in the prolific pass-catching ability of Tyreek Hill in a presumed safer pocket for Tua to stand behind and the sky is truly the limit for this offense. First-year head coach Mike McDaniel, a disciple of the Shanahan coaching tree, adds to this perfect storm by bringing with him a scheme that has been nothing short of prolific in every NFL city in which it has been implemented. Last year McDaniel's offensive system in San Francisco, featuring a replacement-level Jimmy Garoppolo , finished with the ninth most total yards on the year. That offense will now be manned by a hyper-accurate Tua Tagovailoa who has his choice of track star receiving options in Tyreek Hill , Jaylen Waddle , Raheem Mostert and Mike Gesicki . Needless to say, I will be taking the over on most Dolphins games in 2022 and I like this fins team to finish the year with the highest scoring offense in the NFL.

-Eric Romoff

New England Patriots: The Patriots miss the playoffs, and Bill Belichick “retires” Everything leads to this. A few months ago, owner Robert Kraft gave an interview where he volunteered his unhappiness with the team not winning a playoff game for a few years and lamenting the team’s recent string of bad drafts. This seems like a pivotal year for the team … and its head coach.

At another time, when both Belichick and Tom Brady were in New England, Kraft famously said that they were both “renters” but he was the owner … meaning he and his family would still be running the Patriots long after they were both gone. Well, Brady has been gone for three years now, and Belichick seems to be on fumes as he nears 70 years old.

The AFC is deadly. The AFC East, which the Patriots dominated for the better part of two decades, is now the Bills division. This relegates New England to compete for three Wild Card playoff spots. They will have to outlast the Dolphins, Ravens, Titans, Colts, Raiders, Chargers, Broncos, Chiefs and Bengals. Some of them will win their divisions, but there are enough remaining teams that will be in the hunt that the Pats could be home watching during this playoff season.

If that happens, it is not out of the realm for a Kraft (Robert, or perhaps Jonathan) to make a move. It would be couched as a “retirement,” but make no mistake, if the team misses the playoffs, it will be a termination.

- Cam Giangrande

New York Jets: A healthy Zach Wilson loses his job to Mike White . Based on my view of Wilson, here is the bold prediction. Mike White will take over as starting QB, and not via injury. Coach Saleh cannot be patient with Wilson. He has his own future to be concerned with. A second season without any progress or a glimmer of hope, especially coming off a very productive draft, could lead to Saleh being shown the door.

Any sign of improvement and momentum moving forward should save his job. Something that resembles a 7-10 or better record will most likely be the baseline for the fans, and that isn’t in the cards with Wilson at the helm. Last season when Wilson was out, the team performed better under White. In three starts White led the Jets to a 1-2 record, completing 66.7% of his passes for 953 yards, and the team’s offense was much more fluid and cohesive. Wilson is already set to miss the first few weeks of the season which could hurt his effectiveness when he eventually returns.

The Jets don't have the easiest start to the season. In their first four games, they have a tough matchup against the Ravens, a road game against the Steelers and a game against the defending AFC champion Bengals. The easiest matchup may be against the Browns, but that game is in Cleveland which isn’t an easy place to win. And the next three don’t get any easier. They have a divisional game at home against the Dolphins and then back-to-back on the road against the Packers and Broncos. A 2-5 record at this point is foreseeable, and this is where the switch will happen.

-Cam Giangrande

AFC East Fantasy Football Bold Predictions

Buffalo Bills: RB James Cook Wins AFC R.O.Y.

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