NFL Draft grades 2016: Bills impress, Patriots tread water in AFC East

With the 2016 NFL Draft now behind us, let's look at where each team stands and how they did with their respective draft hauls. This time, we'll examine the AFC East.

The New England Patriots have ruled the division for over a decade, but if any team wanted to close the gap, this year's draft could be their best chance. The Patriots lost a first-round pick in the DeflateGate saga, while Tom Brady's four-game suspension was reinstated by an appeals court. Combine that with the Patriots' on-field needs (no running game, thin at both wideout and offensive line) and Bill Belichick had quite the challenge heading into this draft.

Rex Ryan is as entertaining as they come, but his swagger didn't translate into wins for the Buffalo Bills. After just one season, it seems like Ryan is already on the hot seat. The Bills' offense is the most watchable it's been in years thanks to the emergence of Tyrod Taylor and Sammy Watkins, but the defense surprisingly regressed under Ryan's watch. Rex set out to remake his defense, releasing disgruntled Mario Williams and finding some talented defenders in this draft.

With a new head coach (Adam Gase) and a quarterback who may-or-may-not be a franchise talent (Ryan Tannehill), the Miami Dolphins are kind of in flux at the moment. That didn't stop them from spending big money on the defense, bringing in Mario Williams and swinging a blockbuster trade for Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso. Whatever plans Miami had for the first round likely got upended when Laremy Tunsil unexpectedly fell to them.

The New York Jets entered the offseason with tons of momentum, coming off a 10-6 season and reassurting their defense as one of the top in the league. However, their offseason has been dominated by the drama surrounding Ryan Fitzpatrick -- talks have gone nowhere for weeks now, and the Jets went into the draft seemingly needing some kind of bargaining chip. More on that later.

The Patriots did what they could, given the loss of a first-round pick. Second-round CB Cyrus Jones should help out the secondary, while OL Joe Thuney is another solid body for the offensive line. The biggest question mark here is taking QB Jacoby Brissett in the third round. He's a long-term project at best and may not even have a future in New England if Jimmy Garoppolo performs well during Tom Brady's suspension. Overall, analysts felt like the Patriots were treading water with this draft -- understandable, given the circumstances, but that didn't improve the draft grades by itself.

The Jets got a quality talent with LB Darron Lee in the first round, but that's not what their draft will be remembered for. In the second round, they took a shot on Christian Hackenberg, who won't help them in 2016 and throws yet another question mark into the QB situation. If Ryan Fitzpatrick still balks at their offer, they're looking at starting either Geno Smith or Hackenberg in Week 1. That's an unenviable position for any team, much less one that went 10-6 and trying to get back into the playoff mix. The Jets' other draft picks fared better among analysts -- third-round LB Jordan Jenkins is a good fit for Todd Bowles' defense, while fifth-round OT Brandon Shell is a potential Day 3 gem should Ryan Clady's injury issues flare up again. However, Hackenberg casts a shadow over this whole class.