Miami Dolphins and the AFC East land high on NFL’s division QB rankings
By Brian Miller
NFL.com released a ranking of every NFL division based on the strength of the quarterbacks in their division. Surprisingly, the AFC East is ranked high.
Naturally, with the way things in the NFL are these days, at least in terms of the media’s hatred towards Tua Tagavailoa, I expected the worst. I expected a rather low ranking for the AFC East even with Josh Allen.
Tua Tagovailoa has a lot of tools and now a lot of weapons but there are still question marks. The media can fall in love with Patriots QB Mac Jones and for the life of me, I’m still scratching my head over how he was a Pro Bowl alternate. Then of course there is Zach Wilson, a high draft pick who has done little so far.
Now, to be fair, I started writing this after I saw where Miami was ranked. More on that in a minute. Then I realized that I should probably go back and read what they actually wrote about Tua before I continued. Here I am, pleasantly surprised…again.
"I like Tagovailoa more than most others seem to; I think with a new coach and play-caller (Mike McDaniel) and upgrades to his supporting cast (including the addition of Tyreek Hill, the best deep threat in the game), the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft will take his game up a notch. – Adam Schein via NFL.com"
The Miami Dolphins and the AFC East are ranked 5th overall by Adam Schein on NFL.com
There are 8 NFL divisions so on the surface, it doesn’t sound like it is all that great and I would probably put the AFC East maybe one spot higher. Schein puts the AFC East at five due to Allen and for what he said about Tua who actually commented on before Jones or Wilson.
The top spot belongs to the AFC West and it is impossible to debate that with any realism given they have Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Russel Wilson, and Derek Carr. That’s a good lineup of QBs in one division.
The AFC North is 2nd and I’m not as high on this division as Schein is. For starters, I’m not that high on Lamar Jackson. He is a great running QB but take that out of his playbook and he becomes a lot less as Miami showed last year. I love Joe Burrow and always have since his days at OSU before transferring to LSU and he is coming off a Super Bowl appearance.
Watson makes the Browns a lot stronger but how much will he play this year? Mitch Trubisky in Pittsburgh? Seems a little high for the North to me.
Another division that I believe is ranked way too high, more than the AFC North is the NFC West which comes in at three. I don’t agree with this ranking at all.
The top QB in that division is Matt Stafford. I agree with that and he lifts the division. I’m not high on Kyler Murray, even less so than Jackson. I’m just not impressed with his consistency. Then you have Trey Lance and Drew Lock. This doesn’t add up for me.
The NFC North is next with Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins holding the division up but Justin Fields and Jared Goff weigh it down. Fields is still young and should get better with a better coaching staff but I think we have seen the best of Goff.
Schein ranks the NFC East as the worst in the NFL and I don’t agree with that either. Carson Wentz isn’t a great QB by any means and Daniel Jones is a long way from being average but if you like Justin Fields then you have to like Jalen Hurts who has looked better. Add Dak Prescott and I think they are one position too low.
The NFC East should be 7th because I don’t think Tom Brady can realistically lift the NFC South out of the bottom. Sam Darnold, Marcus Mariota, and Jameis Winston keep that division down low and actually will give Brady a clear path to the division title in 2022.
One spot behind Miami is the AFC South and this is kind of a push for me. Davis Mills could go either way and Matt Ryan is at the end of his career. Trevor Lawrence is great on paper but has not had an easy NFL transition. Ryan Tannehill may very well be at the top of that group and what does that say?
If I were doing this ranking, I would probably have the Dolphins up one spot to number 4 while moving the NFC West down a spot and the NFC North at five. Regardless, the ranking isn’t bad given the uncertainty of Tua and Jones in my opinion which makes you realize that for the same reasons I might drop one division down, Miami is probably ranked right where they should be.