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AFC East

What went right?

The Buffalo Bills are the “new”  New England Patriots and have won the AFC East five times in a row while the rest of the division is tripping over themselves to catch up.   Josh Allen is a one-man band and despite the chaos around him and has evolved into the most reliable fantasy player in the game.  He finished top-two at QB for the 5^th season in a row and seems immune to the perpetual roster fluctuations.  The only constant on BUF was James Cook, who went from two rushing TDs a year ago, to 16 as the Bills became the only team to rush for 30 TDs and pass for 30 TDs in the same season.  Cook had a true breakout season and was as reliable as Allen when the Bills needed a big play, but he was still 19th in running back carries and with two young RBs in the wings, I expect his workload to go down even further next season.    As great as Allen was for fantasy, he didn’t exactly lift all boats as Khalil Shakir was the only WR to have a relevant fantasy season as the WR40.  The trade for Amari Cooper was a bust and Keon Coleman wasn’t quite ready for primetime.  The Bills are set up to dominate the back half of the decade, but after Josh Allen, it remains a crapshoot.  The Bills had a historic offensive season, but in terms of fantasy there is a lot to be desired.  One season can make all the difference and there is a lot to like about the weapons around Allen, but it’s still too early to predict which cream rises to the top.

What went wrong?

The Dolphins were the fantasy darling two seasons ago and nearly matched BUF with their own 30/30 TD season, but this past season went off the rails almost from the jump.  Tyreek Hill got arrested before Week 1 and that also turned out to be one of his only great games of the season.  The MIA offense fell off a cliff, but it could be as simple as Tua Tagovailoa getting another concussion and Tyler Huntley being incapable of running complex quick-strike, pre-snap motion offense.  While the passing offense gets all the press, it was the rushing attack that really was inept.  They went from leading the league with a 5.1 YPC, to 28^th at 4.1.  Raheem Mostert showed his age, but De’Von Achane played every game and while he led league in receptions by a running back by 10, he was under 1000 yards rushing and wasn’t the same kind of dynamic threat as he was during his rookie season.  Everyone deserves a little blame for the terrible MIA fantasy season, but everyone knows the offense ideally runs through Hill and with six games under 30 rec yards, he burned plenty of fantasy teams.  The Dolphins will pivot, adapt and evolve like they do every season, but the WR production went from scoring 37.2 FPPG in 2023 to 22.4 FPPG this past season.  With Hill likely leaving, we finally get to see if Jaylen Waddle is a true WR1 or a WR2 in sheep’s clothing.

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