AFC East Grades for the 2016 NFL Draft; #Bills walk away with the best draft in the East

NFL Draft Diamonds is grading the 2016 NFL Draft.  We are going to give our explanations below the draft class.  Let’s see how the teams did below…

Miami Dolphins

» Round 1: (No. 13 overall) Laremy Tunsil, OT.
» Round 2: (38) Xavien Howard, CB.
» Round 3: (73) Kenyan Drake, RB; (86) Leonte Carroo, WR.
» Round 6: (186) Jakeem Grant, WR; (204) Jordan Lucas, SS.
» Round 7: (223) Brandon Doughty, QB; (231) Thomas Duarte, TE.

• The Dolphins struck gold with Laremy Tunsil. Let’s face it Tunsil should not have fallen out of the top 10. For the Dolphins to sit there and land the best offensive lineman in the draft it was a homerun. The team was then able to land Xavien Howard from Baylor. Howard is a good cornerback with great physical abilities.  I love the first two picks, after that the Dolphins started trying to get fancy. They traded a ton to move up to land Carroo, and they took Kenyan Drake super early.  I give them a B-, only because the first two picks were very solid.  If they did not land Laremy Tunsil in the first this grade would be a D.

Buffalo Bills

» Round 1: (No. 19 overall) Shaq Lawson, DE.
» Round 2: (41) Reggie Ragland, ILB.
» Round 3: (80) Adolphus Washington, DT.
» Round 4: (139) Cardale Jones, QB.
» Round 5: (156) Jonathan Williams, RB.
» Round 6: (192) Kolby Listenbee, WR; (218) Kevon Seymour, CB.

• The Buffalo Bills had me upset after drafting Shaq Lawson from Clemson because they had a monstrous need at linebacker. The team was able to land Reggie Ragland in the second round which made me smile.  Ragland is the best linebacker in the draft and a huge need for the Bills.  The Bills then drafted Adolphus and Cardale from Ohio State who both have tons of upside.  I was not a fan of Jonathan Williams being drafted because the Bills are stacked at the RB position.  But I can be honest, I was upset last year when the team drafted Karlos Williams and that made me look bad.  Overall I give the Bills an A-.  They landed at least 4 players that will contribute in year one.

New York Jets

» Round 1: (No. 20 overall) Darron Lee, OLB.
» Round 2: (51) Christian Hackenberg, QB.
» Round 3: (83) Jordan Jenkins, OLB.
» Round 4: (118) Juston Burris, CB.
» Round 5: (158) Brandon Shell, OT.
» Round 7: (235) Lac Edwards, P; (241) Charone Peake, WR.

• New York Jets had several questionable picks.  They drafted Darron Lee in round one who will be a solid contributor on day one for them. The team then picked Christian Hackenberg. I feel they hit the panic button here, and I am not a big fan.  The team then had several other decent picks. I give the Jets a C- overall. I am not a fan of this draft for them.

New England Patriots

» Round 2: (No. 60 overall) Cyrus Jones, CB.
» Round 3: (78) Joe Thuney, OG; (91) Jacoby Brissett, QB; (96) Vincent Valentine, DT.
» Round 4: (112) Malcolm Mitchell, WR.
» Round 6: (208) Kamu Grugier-Hill, OLB; (214) Elandon Roberts, ILB; (221) Ted Karras, OG.
» Round 7: (225) Devin Lucien, WR.

• The Patriots lost their first round pick for Deflategate and that really set them back.  I was super disappointed in their draft class. Their three best picks were Devin Lucien, Ted Karras and Joe Thuney.  I am not sure what they were thinking about on the rest of the picks.  I give them a D for the draft.  Losing that first round pick killed them this year.