The downside of the NFL draft being moved back until May: Too many rumors end up coming out heading into draft day. The upside of it being moved: rumors. Rumors are fueling the fire as we count down the days until the draft.
The top-heavy AFC East has plenty of rumors at this time, mainly because all three teams beside the New England Patriots have high draft picks and are all in somewhat rebuilding modes. These are some of the most important rumors, broken down by team, that have come up that could change the way each team in the AFC East approaches the draft.
New England Patriots
The Patriots have the latest first round draft pick out of any other team in their division, but as they showed last year, they still have plenty of weaknesses. Tom Brady can’t do all of it on his own, and New England went into free agency looking to improve their defense, and they did just that by adding Darrelle Revis at corner.
They again made a defensive personnel move on Monday, signing defensive end Will Smith, according to NFL.com’s Albert Breer. This could change New England’s approach heading into the draft. They could still choose to go with defensive tackle Dominique Easley, as our experts have them slated to.
But, the Patriots could feel comfortable about their pass rush now and go offensive line or running back in the first two rounds of the draft. Although Smith missed all of last year, he has recorded a combined 12.5 sacks in the last two years he played in New Orleans (2011 and 2012), but they could still look for young talent on the first day of the draft to be the eventual successor to the aging Vince Wilfork.
Miami Dolphins
It wasn’t a good day for Seantrel Henderson on Monday, who was revealed to having failed a drug test for marijuana at the combine. Although Henderson was allegedly high on Miami’s draft board, he could be completely off now with a number of questions about his off-the-field issues, according to James Walker of ESPN.com.
He was a potential late-round pick for the Miami, but now they will likely look elsewhere in the later rounds and look for offensive linemen earlier in the draft. The Miami Herald’s official draft preview for the team has them looking at either Alabama tackle Cyrus Kouandjio or Zack Martin out of Notre Dame. Martin’s draft stock is rising, so he may not be there for Miami, and Kouandjio has some issues surrounding his knee, but either would fill an immediate need for the Dolphins.
On Sunday, Barry Jackson of The Herald also wrote that the Dolphins could be looking for a receiver in the first few rounds as an eventual replacement for Mike Wallace in the coming years. Jackson says that several players are worried that coaches don’t like Wallace, and that they are looking closely for receivers in either the first or second round.
New York Jets
As always, there’s some weird stuff going on with the Jets. After signing free agent quarterback Michael Vick this offseason (presumably to play ahead of the struggling Geno Smith), Vick told The Star-Ledger that Smith is the team’s starting quarterback.
Two days before that, the team’s general manager John Idzik said he isn’t ruling out drafting a quarterback in the draft, either. But, keep in mind that New York also drafted Smith last year No. 39 overall despite having Mark Sanchez already on the roster.
New York could be a possible landing spot for a late-round quarterback who could sit behind Vick for a year or two, such as Logan Thomas (who, like Vick, went to Virginia Tech).
NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport also reported on Monday that both the San Francisco 49ers and Jets are looking to move up to draft a wide receiver, including Odell Beckham, Brandin Cooks and Marqis Lee. Going wide receiver makes more sense for the Jets.
Vick works as a stop-gap quarterback, and besides the newly acquired Eric Decker, they don’t have anyone at receiver for Vick or Smith to throw the ball to. Lee is going the latest in most mock drafts, so they could try to trade back in the first round, or hold steady and take Beckham at No. 18, which is about an average projected for him.
Buffalo Bills
Finally, we have the Bills, who might actually be further along in their quest for success than the Dolphins and Jets. Buffalo has a strong defense right now to build around, and they have young talent on the offensive side with E.J. Manuel at quarterback, C.J. Spiller in the backfield and a new wide receiver corps. of Steve Johnson, Mike Williams and Robert Woods.
Most recently, Joe Buscaglia of WGR 550 sports radio in Buffalo reported that the Bills are really considering taking the offensive tackle Martin to build up their protection for Manuel and Spiller.
Also, in his fifth version of his mock draft, ESPN’s Todd McShay said the Bills are looking to move up higher than No. 9 to target either Jadeveon Clowney, offensive tackle Greg Robinson or receiver Sammy Watkins (paid subscription required).
If they move up, it would be a clear win-now move for the Bills, who have missed the playoffs each of the last 14 seasons. Watkins would definitely be an exciting pick, but if they can get Martin at ninth, he is just as good of a prospect as Robinson.