Over the past 20 years Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have ruled the AFC East only giving up the division title twice, but how long can he go? Entering the 2019 season at age 42, Tom Brady will most likely not be able to sustain his success for the next 2 years. This begs the question, which young AFC east QB will take over when Brady finally decides to hang up the cleats? We’ll be examining the three second-year QB’s from the Dolphins, New York Jets, and Bills to find out who will take over once the captain of the evil empire is gone.
Josh Allen
The signal-caller for the Buffalo Bills had a surprisingly good season manning an offense that had little to no talent. Allen had some help by having arguably the best defense in the league last year, but he still showed flashes of being a top QB in the league.
Allen put up 2,074 yards, 10 TD’s, 12 interceptions and a 52.8 percent completion percentage last season through the air. On the ground, Allen was a beast racking up 631 yards and 8 touchdowns. Allen’s ability as a dual-threat QB is frightening when you consider he has a 6’5, 240-pound frame and a cannon for an arm, sometimes launching balls over 70 yards downfield.
Allen showed a lot of progressions last year especially after coming back from an elbow injury he suffered Week 6 against the Texans. Allen became a more efficient QB after the injury throwing for an average of 207 yards, 1.33 TD’s and 1.17 interceptions from weeks 12-17 compared to 168 yards, .5 TD’s and 1.25 interceptions weeks 2-5. Josh Allen also played on a team with the ninth highest percentage of dropped passes at 8 percent according to PFF. Josh Allen has a lot of raw talent and can be the next QB up in the AFC East, but he must overcome his accuracy issues and make better decisions.
Josh Rosen
The 10th overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft had a very rough rookie season playing for the Cardinals finishing with the worst record in the league. Although the Cardinals finished with the worst record in the league Josh Rosen showed flashes of being a good starter.
Rosen finished the season with 2278 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and a 55.2 completion percentage according to pro football reference. Rosen came out of college as very fundamentally sound QB with great footwork and flawless mechanics.
Many people look at the Cardinals season last year and assume that Rosen was awful because of their record, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Rosen was surrounded by absolutely no talent and it doesn’t help that the Cardinals were tied for fifth in the league for sacks allowed (52).
Unfortunately for Rosen, he might not be able to become the next QB up in the AFC East because he’s once again on the least talented roster in the league in Miami. The Dolphins are in full rebuild mode and are not committed to Rosen being their franchise QB. Rosen may find himself getting traded around draft time next season again.
The Dolphins are rumored to be in love with star Alabama QB Tua Tagovailola, they will be able to get him as their a favorite to land a top 5 pick this year. For Rosen to replace Brady as the face of the AFC east he must take a massive leap in his second year and become the franchise QB the Dolphins have lacked since Dan Marino.
Sam Darnold
The New York Jets franchise QB had an up and down rookie year passing for 2,865 yards, 17 TD’s, 15 interceptions and a 57.7 completion percentage. Coming out of the draft last year Sam Darnold was seen as the QB with the best chance to succeed in NFL.
The first half of the season for Darnold was very bumpy, he showed that at times he could be great, and other times that he wasn’t ready to play in the NFL. Darnold suffered a foot injury against the Dolphins week 9. After missing 4 weeks because of the injury Darnold came back and finished the season with his best stretch of football.
Darnold had the highest grade over the final month of the season according to PFF, giving Jets fans hope for the future. Darnold’s best traits are his accuracy and his ability to extend plays, which is the reason why so many people were in love with him in college. If Darnold wants to be the next man up he needs to work on his decision making, Darnold was tied for the third-most interceptions in the league this year. Darnold has all the attributes you look for in a QB he just needs to be quicker when making decisions for him to avoid turnovers.
Conclusion
After analyzing these QB’s I’ve concluded that Sam Darnold will most likely be the face of the AFC east when Tom Brady’s reign of dominance is over. Darnold has all the talent in the world and isn’t nearly as raw as Josh Allen is. Darnold spot on the roster for the next couple of years is secure unlike Rosen whose future with Miami after the season is murky. Darnold is the most likely to succeed out of all these QB’s and has a great supporting cast around him to help achieve that. I believe each one of these QB’s will take big strides into becoming better players this year but with all things considered Darnold is the favorite to take over.
Josh Allen 2019 Stats Prediction: 2,978 yards, 19 TD’s and 14 interceptions
Josh Rosen 2019 Stats Prediction:  2,567 yards, 16 TD’s and 14 interceptions
Sam Darnold 2019 Stats Prediction: 3,345 yards, 22 TD’s and 16 interceptions