The AFC East features solid defenses collectively, but only the Pats are a top tier fantasy defense.
1. New England Patriots
The Patriots’ D, and in particular at the linebacker and secondary positions, showed its age in 2008 and wasn’t able to execute coach Bill Belichick’s schemes as well as in years past.
Overall, they finished off the season with only 147 fantasy points.
This year, look for a huge turnaround. The offense should be as good as ever and provide the defense to attack the opposing QB. On top of that, the Pats loaded up on young talent (Chung, Wheatley) in the draft and vets in free agency (Springs) to help out in the secondary and solidify the unit.
And when you add that to a front seven that consists of Vince Wilfork, Richard Seymour, Ty Warren, Adalius Thomas, and Jerod Mayo, you’ve got one of the top fantasy football defenses in the game.
Special teams: Wes Welker handled punt returns in 2008, although he’s not much of a threat to break one.
2. New York Jets
After the Jets went out and spent big bucks in free agency prior to 2008, the moves quickly yielded positive returns as the Jets’ D became one of the better units in the game.
They ended up scoring 195 fantasy points.
A new boss is in town, Rex Ryan, and he was the architect of some of the great Ravens defenses of the past few years. His style is aggressive, and he has the personnel to sack the QB (DE Ellis, DT Jenkins) and force turnovers (CB Revis, S Rhodes, LB Harris, etc).
Special teams: Leon Washington is an explosive returner and good for a few scores per season.
3. Miami Dolphins
The Fins had an excellent inaugural season in the Parcells/Sparano regime, and the defense became more disciplined in carrying out its assignments. Overall, they finished with 197 fantasy points.
We don’t expect the same results this year.
Sure, DE Jason Taylor is back and should provide a decent pass rush opposite LB/DE Joey Porter (17 sacks), plus improvement is expected from second year DE Phillip Merling, but the Fins must now face a first-place schedule as opposed to the last-place one from a year ago.
That’s not a recipe for a repeat performance.
Special teams: Ted Ginn Jr. has emerged as a receiving threat, but his bread and butter is still special teams. Look for at least one score in 2009.
4. Buffalo Bills
The Bills are one of the younger defenses in the NFL is actually pretty solid all around. The issues last season stemmed from a few key defensive injuries and an offense that disappeared after Week 7, thus putting the defense in unfavorable situations.
They finished with 148 points.
Things should improve this year. The young defense (McKelvin, Posluszny, Whitner, etc) is now a year older and better, and the offense, with the addition of T.O., sould put more points on the board, which would allow first-round pick Aaron Maybin and the other front seven to attack the QB.
While their intra-division schedule will be tough, playing a last place schedule should help them pad the stats and make them a nice late-round fantasy sleeper.
Special teams: Leodis McKelvin is a dynamic returner who took one to the house in his rookie season. Expect more of that in 2009.
