AFC East Draft Breakdown

With the 2010 NFL Draft in the books, FanHouse takes a division-by-division look at how each team fared. Click here to read the rest of the divisional breakdowns.

New England Patriots

Best Pick: Rob Gronkowski, TE, Arizona (2nd round, No. 42 overall): Though he missed the 2009 season because of a back injury, the 6-foot-6 Gronkowski (above) still rated alongside Oklahoma's Jermaine Gresham as one of the best tight ends in this draft. He fills a major need for New England and is a complete tight end who can block, catch and run. It's unusual to see the Pats move up (instead of down) in the draft, but they did it when they felt they needed to leap the Ravens to get Gronkowski.

Riskiest Pick: Taylor Price, WR, Ohio (3rd round, No. 90 overall): Price is fast and athletic, loaded with potential and could develop into an explosive downfield threat for Tom Brady. The problem with Price, and the reason he slipped into the third round, is his reputation as a player who doesn't keep his focus from game to game or even from play to play. Bill Belichick and the New England coaching staff must keep him locked in and develop his potential.

Final Analysis: The Patriots addressed a lot of needs. They feel they got their pass-rushers in Round 2, with Jermaine Cunningham and Brandon Spikes. They picked two tight ends -- Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez -- which will serve them well a year after Brady found himself unusually short on passing game targets. They took Michigan punter Zoltan Mesko, whose name alone makes him worth a pick. First-rounder Devin McCourty is a best-player-available type who can help out immediately on special teams. And they picked up some big uglies for the O-line late. A busy draft as always, but the Pats needed lots of help in lots of areas, and they got it.
New York Jets

Best Pick: Kyle Wilson, CB, Boise State (1st round, No. 29 overall): Rex Ryan picks a nickel corner he can use along with shutdown stars Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie in the secondary, and as a bonus the Jets feel they can use Wilson to return punts. That latter is a key, as they have said goodbye to Leon Washington. And the former is a key as well, because the blanket coverage in the secondary allows Ryan to run all kinds of blitz packages up front.



Share Riskiest Pick: Vladimir Ducasse, OL, Massachusetts (2nd round, No. 61 overall): It didn't look like a risky pick at the time, because it seemed as if Ducasse could just sit behind the Jets' veteran offensive lineman while he learned and developed. But with the release of veteran guard Alan Faneca on Saturday, it appears as if the Jets may have to install Ducasse immediately as a starting guard. And that could get dicey.

Final Analysis: They didn't have a lot of needs, so it's hard to really fault the Jets for not picking up a defensive lineman or more help on the O-line. And they only had four picks, so this wasn't going to be a high-impact draft anyway. What the Jets will remember about this draft is that it completed the reconstruction of their running game. Having let go of Thomas Jones, promoted Shonn Greene to starter and brought in LaDanian Tomlinson earlier in the off-season, they traded Leon Washington, drafted Joe McKnight to replace him and also drafted fullback John Connor to develop behind Tony Richardson. Some might question such drastic changes to a running game that ranked first in the league in 2009, but there's something to be said for staying nimble.

Miami Dolphins

Best Pick: Jared Odrick, DL, Penn State (1st round, No. 28 overall): The Chargers wanted to trade up to get their running back, and the Dolphins were happy to slide down and wait out Odrick, whose ability to play several different positions along the defensive line will play right into the hands of new coordinator Mike Nolan as he revamps the defense.

Riskiest Pick: A.J. Edds, LB, Iowa (4th round, No. 119 overall): The Dolphins seemed to favor four-year college players with intangibles, and Edds (pronounced "EEDS") has plenty of toughness and competitiveness. What he doesn't have as much of as some of the other LBs the Dolphins could have taken here is athleticism. Miami sees Edds as its kind of player and believes it has something to work with, but it remains to be seen whether he has the raw skills to succeed in the NFL.

Final Analysis: The signing of free-agent LB Karlos Dansby left the defensive line as the Dolphins' biggest draft-weekend need, and they addressed it with Odrick and second-round edge rusher Koa Misi. Their pick to watch, though, is fifth-round safety Reshad Jones, a big-time hitter who takes a lot of risks but also makes a lot of high-impact plays. If the Dolphins can turn the tough trick of getting Jones to play under control (i.e., not miss tackles) while not sapping him of his energy, they'll have a monster in the secondary.

Buffalo Bills

Best Pick: Alex Carrington, DE, Arkansas State (3rd round, No. 72 overall): Carrington is a big (6-5, 285), strong defensive lineman who should fit nicely into Buffalo's 3-4 as an end. He won't need to get into the backfield from that spot, but he should be well suited as a space-eater.

Riskiest Pick: Torell Troup, DT, Central Florida (2nd round, 41st overall): They needed somebody for the nose tackle spot in the 3-4 as well, and that's what Troup will give them. He's huge and strong and may well turn out to have been the right pick here. But if he flops, everybody will say they should have taken Terrence Cody instead. Or a quarterback, which brings us to...

Final Analysis: The two things the Bills needed to get out of this draft were a quarterback and offensive line help. They took a running back, C.J. Spiller, in the first round even though that's the position at which they're currently strongest. They waited until the fifth round to take an offensive lineman (project Ed Wang), and they waited until the seventh round to take a quarterback (Troy's Levi Brown, who projects as a backup). They got outbid for the pick they were going to use (and Denver did use) to take Tim Tebow, and they whiffed on a chance to get Jason Campbell from the Redskins for a cheese sandwich. Sure, they filled some defensive needs, but the Bills did nothing this weekend that gives them a chance at finishing higher than fourth in their division.