8. Buffalo Bills
You can almost feel the excitement coming from upstate New York as the 2020 NFL season looms.
Tom Brady is gone from the AFC East. The Miami Dolphins look to be a season or two away from contending, despite an impressive offseason. The New York Jets might be on the verge of trading away their best defensive player. The path seems to be clearing for the Bills.
There is good reason for the optimism. Coming off a playoff berth in 2019, the Bills have improved on paper in the past few months. They needed another deep threat for quarterback Josh Allen, and they added Stefon Diggs, one of the game’s best deep threats and a supremely talented route runner. They had a need at running back, and they added Zack Moss in the third round, a player reminiscent of Roger Craig. They bolstered their defensive front in free agency, signing Mario Addison and Vernon Butler, and drafting A.J. Epenesa. Perhaps more importantly, they kept safeties Micha Hyde and Jordan Poyer together, and if you want to know how critical they are, just ask Brady himself.
This is a deep roster from top to bottom.
The biggest question facing this team right now, is Allen himself. If the quarterback takes a step forward as a passer, the Bills might end up where their dedicated fans hope they will be: Atop the division.
9. Green Bay Packers
The selection of Jordan Love in the first round gathered the bulk of the headlines, but beyond the fact it gives Green Bay a solid backup quarterback it also gives them their potential QB of the future. To be sure, many – myself included – assumed that the Packers would be adding a wide receiver. But the organization seems to be moving in a different direction, constructing an offense that will mirror what Kyle Shanahan has built in San Francisco. A heavy 21 personnel team that will rely on both the tight end and the fullback/H-Back positions, looking to throw against base personnel packages.
Matt LaFleur perhaps added his own version of Kyle Juszczyk in the draft, when the Packers selected Josh Deguara out of Cincinnati. A player that we here at Touchdown Wire compared to the 49ers fullback prior to the draft.
Now, wide receiver does remain a question mark after Davante Adams. Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard and Equanimeous St. Brown have shown flashes, and the team added Devin Funchess in free agency, but if Green Bay is going to be more of a 21 personnel team, they’ll really just need one from that group to step up.
Running back is also a position of depth, as the Packers sport three solid options there. Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams are the two veterans, but the team added A.J. Dillon in the second round. With Williams and Jones entering contract years, this could be Dillon’s job in the years to come.
On the defensive side of the ball, both Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith return, two of the NFL’s sack leaders in the 2019 season. Kenny Clark is one of the game’s most talented interior defensive linemen, and the secondary is filled with talent, including last year’s first round pick in safety Darnell Savage Jr., who played a more in the box role at Maryland but showed more versatility to his game as a rookie.