Post by Pittsburgh Steelers (Malachi) on Sept 17, 2021 23:22:57 GMT -5
Junior Seau Division Preview: 2020 started off with a bang in the Junior Seau division thanks to the Bills claiming a 1st round bye, the Jags getting the 2nd overall rookie pick, the Dolphins missing the playoffs by a tie breaker and having a point margin over his opponents of less than a point over a 12 game regular season, and the Patriots sneaking into the playoffs on that mentioned tie breaker with the Dolphins and still making it all the way to the LHL Super Bowl. All 4 owners return in 2021 and all 4 look like they could take a step forward as well, so this division could be hectic yet again. Will Travis reclaim the top spot in the division and make a better showing in the playoffs? Will Brian follow up his deep playoff run by claiming the division crown? Will Trey get his 1st playoff berth? Can Derek lead the Jags out of the bottom 5 of the league? That and more in the 2021 LHL Season!
Buffalo Bills (Travis): 2020 Record: 9-3
If you go off my rankings to open the season last year, Travis and this Bill roster over-achieved, but looking back I certainly underestimated the team. Travis had his success in large part from a defense that had 7 players that averaged 10+ points and 2 more nearly reached that mark. On the back of his impressive defense, Travis achieved a 9-3 record and a 1st round bye in the playoffs. The playoffs were not as kind to the Bills as their first and only matchup of the playoffs was against the top scoring team in the league, the LA Chargers. The matchup ended with the Bills being eliminated after just 1 matchup and leaving Travis to wonder what if? Some shake up thanks to things happening outside of football, Travis has made some big changes over the off-season. Two massive trades helped reshape the Bills roster and those trades netted him Ja’Marr Chase (the #1 rookie pick), Jamal Adams, and Baker Mayfield, but did cost him Adam Thielen and TJ Watt. Another trade saw him gain Cole Kmet, but ship away Corey Davis. The impressive trades are where Travis made his mark on his team this off-season as RFA was very quiet for him and the rookie draft was marked by the #1 pick. As Travis looks to defend his division crown and build on a solid 2020 season, Travis will hope new QB Baker Mayfield can be a key piece to a new level of success, and also that DeShaun Watson might see the field this season to utilize him or flip him for roster help. Travis seems to still be searching for that stud RB to lead his unit, but will hope youngsters Ty’Son Williams, Nyheim Hines, or Tony Pollard can establish themselves or that Kenyan Drake or Gio Bernard can unseat the established guys infront of them to become top options for the team. With Noah Fant and Cole Kmet at the TE spot, Travis has two young high upside guys that could be his guys for a long time, if they both stick with their current NFL teams. I saved the best for last on offense, maybe not talent wise, but fun factor, because at WR, Travis has the LSU duo of Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase to lead the way. Behind them is a little concerning, but the players there are also young and will be potential breakout candidates with Ravens duo Devin Duvernay and Tylan Wallace, Quez Watkins, and Josh Reynolds. With the trades made, Travis’s defensive unit as a whole will likely take a step back this season, but does not seem to be a huge cause for concern. The team will be looking to a quartet of DBs to put up a lot of points and those guys are Jamal Adams, Khari Willis, Eric Rowe, and Brandon Jones. Of the 3 units, LB was the one that saw the most change, and will rely even more heavily on Devin White, who is progressing towards that best ILB in the game mark. Behind him will be Logan Wilson, Buddy Johnson, and Derrick Barnes, so the LB core will need work to solidify the defense. The DL could be a question mark as well for Travis, but Josh Allen, Yannick Ngakoue, and Derek Barnett have all had success in the league, so if they find that more times than not, the position should be fine for Travis. Could playing the 5 other division winners this season be a reason that Travis loses his spot atop the division?
Predicted Division Finish: 1st
Jacksonville Jaguars (Derek): 2020 Record: 1-11
Derek and his Jaguars were glad to see the 2020 season come to an end. The team struggled to put up points on a weekly basis and had a number of guys that actually did score good points during the season but missed time throughout the entire season. With the struggles all season, the Jags played to a 1-11 record and grabbed the second overall rookie pick. To try and work his way up the standings this season, Derek made a trade to land Corey Davis, Troy Hill, but it did cost him the pass rusher Josh Allen and Cole Kmet. Despite the trade of Kmet, Derek was able to add one of the most highly touted college prospects I can recall and probably the best TE prospect ever, that being Kyle Pitts. Derek was also able to add the Cardinals newest LB Zaven Collins in the rookie draft. As we look to who can help the Jags this season we have to start with the best QB in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes. The former league MVP will likely be a top 5 QB this season again. It looked like RB was gonna be a position of strength for Derek this season, but well before the season started Cam Akers was lost for the season and it leaves the group with Ronald Jones and DeeJay Dallas, so not a deep group. With the addition of Corey Davis to the WR group, the position is improved in 2021 as Deebo Samuel, Adam Humphries, James Washington, and Scott Miller are all there from 2020 and Deebo will be the lead man of the group. With Kyle Pitts in the fold at TE, Derek is set up for the long haul at the position despite Irv Smith being out for likely the entire 2021 season. Dan Arnold will be a solid enough rotation piece behind Pitts for the season as well. With how hard it was to score points in 2020 for the Jags, the only direction should be up and thanks to some additions and real life NFL moves the group as a whole should take a step forward. The biggest improvement will be at LB as Derek has 5 starters, 4 of them being MLBs. Joe Schobert and Anthony Walker will be the clear best options, but both Damien Wilson and Zaven Collins will provide much needed depth at the position, with Judon also in the mix. Tre'Davious White, Kendall Fuller, Kyle Dugger, Troy Hill, and Tre Boston make up the DB room. With Boston not on a roster yet, the group took a big hit as he was a big scorer for them last season, so Derek will hope White, Fuller, and Dugger can score the points needed to make this group a competitive one. As it stands the leader at DL is Shaq Lawson with Tyeler Davison, Samson Ebukam, and Javon Kinlaw behind him. The group looks like it could struggle at times to score points, so Derek will hope one or two of the group can have a breakout season this year to stop that from being the case. With the last place finish in the division last season, the Jags will square off with the other teams that finished in that spot in their division, so a few more wins this season are very much in reach for Derek.
Predicted Division Finish: 4th
Miami Dolphins (Trey): 2020 Record: 6-6
Trey had an up and down ride in 2020 and it was in large part due to the fact that his point margin on the season was +0.65 points. That number over a 12 week regular season is mind blowing to say the least. On top of that fact, Trey and the Dolphins missed the playoffs to the Patriots due to a H2H tiebreaker. Trey has to wonder what might have been, had his team claimed that playoff spot as Brian’s Pats advanced all the way to the LHL Super Bowl. After a crazy season that was so so close to a playoff berth, Trey had some work to do in the off-season to try and make up that ground. Trey remade his WR room by trading away Chris Godwin, Jarvis Landry, and Nelson Agholar and bringing in Danny Amendola and Terry McLaurin through trades and Anthony Schwarts in the rookie draft. Trey, like the Pats, made a change at QB by drafting Mac Jones in the rookie draft and letting Cam Newton go. Time will tell if taking Mac Jones at 11 was the right choice for Trey and his Dolphins. Thanks to some moves in the actual NFL, the RB room for Trey looks like it will take a step forward this season as Sony Michel goes to the Rams to help that team replace Cam Akers, Jamaal Williams joins fellow Dolphin in the Lions backfield and it appears both Swift and Williams will be utilized with significant roles there. James Robinson looked set to lose work this season, but with Etienne getting hurt for the season, Robinson will likely still see a lot of touches. As mentioned, the WR room has been overhauled and will be led by Terry McLaurin, who could be a top 5 WR this season. Behind him will be Darnell Mooney, Henry Ruggs, and Anthony Schwarts, so Trey will lean heavily on Terry, Mooney, and Ruggs. In 2020, TE was a middle of the road group as Ebron and Jonnu averaged out to the 13th most points per game TE and both are back in 2021, with Jonnu moving to NE. This Miami team might only go as far as it’s defense can take it and it starts at DB with Anthony Harris, Justin Simmons, Denzel Ward, and Bryce Hall. All 4 look set to be productive and will likely make up the best group on defense. It will be hard to ignore the absence of Benardrick McKinney at LB for the Dolphins as now Trey will only have Harold Landry and Kyle Van Noy that seem set to make an impact there. Malik Reed, Josh Uche, and rookie Garret Willow are the depth until McKinney signs somewhere, and those 3 that are on a roster are not lined up to play significant snaps. There are a trio of guys at DL currently for Trey and the position should be an average one and shouldn’t hurt him most weeks. Davon Godchaux, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Romeo Okwara are the 3 that make up the position, and Trey will hope at least one of them will be able to be a huge factor this season. I would give Trey a nice advantage over New England to finish 2nd in the division with Trey being able to play what appears to be the lighter schedule of the 2 teams.
Projected Division Finish: 2nd
New England Patriots (Brian): 2020 Record: 6-6
I would say it was a wild ride for Brian and his Pats in 2020. After opening the season 4-1 and looking like one of the teams to beat, things started to unravel a bit for Brian as he finished the regular season with a 2-5 record. Despite the brutal end to the season, Brian was still able to hold onto the last playoff spot in the AFC spot. Things took another drastic turn then for the Pats as they made an impressive run all the way to the LHL Super Bowl, but eventually falling just short of winning the title. Brian went through enough for 2 or 3 seasons and I am sure will be looking for a much more straightforward season here in 2021. As Brian looks to finish one spot higher this season he did make some moves over the off-season including trading for CJ Mosley and adding Chubba Hubbard and Hamsah Nasirildeen in the rookie draft. Headed into 2021, Brian will once again have a QB that could lead the league in points with Lamar Jackson on the roster. At RB, the Pats have an interesting mixed bag of guys. The lead back will easily be Austin Ekeler, while Ty Johnson and Tarik Cohen(when he gets healthy) will be the most likely best depth behind Ekeler. Brian also has a pair of 49er RBs in Mostert(out for the season) and Jamycal Hasty and the previously mentioned rookie Chubba Hubbard, so the position has a lot of options, but only a couple that will likely be worth playing this season. Like RB, WR is a very crazy group, but has a number of guys to try and mix and match with every week. Allen Robinson and Hunter Renfrow will be the top 2 in the unit and likely be in the lineup every week. Damiere Byrd, Randall Cobb, and Jalen Guyton will provide some depth at the position and TY Hilton will hopefully be a productive WR again once he returns to the Colts lineup. A trio of Blake Jarwin, Chris Herndon, and Donald Parham make up the TE spot for Brian and he will hope that Jarwin can play the entire season and be the TE numerous people thought he would be last season in the Dallas offense. Brian will have a solid LB unit this season thanks to a strong starting duo of AJ Johnson and Eric Wilson. CJ Mosley returns to the field after opting out of the season in 2020 and Brian will hope he returns to form to give him 3 strong options at the position. Nick Kwiatowski, Hamsah Nasirildeen, and Todd Davis round out the depth at LB. Like LB, Brian will have 2 reliable options at DB with Chuck Clark and Kenny Moore, a duo that could end up high on the list of best duos in the league. Damontee Kazee should be solid as well and Cameron Dantzler is there if Brian needs him, but will hope to not rely on him. With only Kenny Clark and Josh Sweat healthy at DL, Brian will hope that duo stay on the field and do well, until Stephon Tuitt can come back into the fold. Despite making it all the way to the LHL Super Bowl, Brian will be able to square off with the other 2nd place finishing teams in from the other teams across the league, so can Brian take advantage of that and make another deep playoff run?
Predicted Division Finish: 3rd
Buffalo Bills (Travis): 2020 Record: 9-3
If you go off my rankings to open the season last year, Travis and this Bill roster over-achieved, but looking back I certainly underestimated the team. Travis had his success in large part from a defense that had 7 players that averaged 10+ points and 2 more nearly reached that mark. On the back of his impressive defense, Travis achieved a 9-3 record and a 1st round bye in the playoffs. The playoffs were not as kind to the Bills as their first and only matchup of the playoffs was against the top scoring team in the league, the LA Chargers. The matchup ended with the Bills being eliminated after just 1 matchup and leaving Travis to wonder what if? Some shake up thanks to things happening outside of football, Travis has made some big changes over the off-season. Two massive trades helped reshape the Bills roster and those trades netted him Ja’Marr Chase (the #1 rookie pick), Jamal Adams, and Baker Mayfield, but did cost him Adam Thielen and TJ Watt. Another trade saw him gain Cole Kmet, but ship away Corey Davis. The impressive trades are where Travis made his mark on his team this off-season as RFA was very quiet for him and the rookie draft was marked by the #1 pick. As Travis looks to defend his division crown and build on a solid 2020 season, Travis will hope new QB Baker Mayfield can be a key piece to a new level of success, and also that DeShaun Watson might see the field this season to utilize him or flip him for roster help. Travis seems to still be searching for that stud RB to lead his unit, but will hope youngsters Ty’Son Williams, Nyheim Hines, or Tony Pollard can establish themselves or that Kenyan Drake or Gio Bernard can unseat the established guys infront of them to become top options for the team. With Noah Fant and Cole Kmet at the TE spot, Travis has two young high upside guys that could be his guys for a long time, if they both stick with their current NFL teams. I saved the best for last on offense, maybe not talent wise, but fun factor, because at WR, Travis has the LSU duo of Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase to lead the way. Behind them is a little concerning, but the players there are also young and will be potential breakout candidates with Ravens duo Devin Duvernay and Tylan Wallace, Quez Watkins, and Josh Reynolds. With the trades made, Travis’s defensive unit as a whole will likely take a step back this season, but does not seem to be a huge cause for concern. The team will be looking to a quartet of DBs to put up a lot of points and those guys are Jamal Adams, Khari Willis, Eric Rowe, and Brandon Jones. Of the 3 units, LB was the one that saw the most change, and will rely even more heavily on Devin White, who is progressing towards that best ILB in the game mark. Behind him will be Logan Wilson, Buddy Johnson, and Derrick Barnes, so the LB core will need work to solidify the defense. The DL could be a question mark as well for Travis, but Josh Allen, Yannick Ngakoue, and Derek Barnett have all had success in the league, so if they find that more times than not, the position should be fine for Travis. Could playing the 5 other division winners this season be a reason that Travis loses his spot atop the division?
Predicted Division Finish: 1st
Jacksonville Jaguars (Derek): 2020 Record: 1-11
Derek and his Jaguars were glad to see the 2020 season come to an end. The team struggled to put up points on a weekly basis and had a number of guys that actually did score good points during the season but missed time throughout the entire season. With the struggles all season, the Jags played to a 1-11 record and grabbed the second overall rookie pick. To try and work his way up the standings this season, Derek made a trade to land Corey Davis, Troy Hill, but it did cost him the pass rusher Josh Allen and Cole Kmet. Despite the trade of Kmet, Derek was able to add one of the most highly touted college prospects I can recall and probably the best TE prospect ever, that being Kyle Pitts. Derek was also able to add the Cardinals newest LB Zaven Collins in the rookie draft. As we look to who can help the Jags this season we have to start with the best QB in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes. The former league MVP will likely be a top 5 QB this season again. It looked like RB was gonna be a position of strength for Derek this season, but well before the season started Cam Akers was lost for the season and it leaves the group with Ronald Jones and DeeJay Dallas, so not a deep group. With the addition of Corey Davis to the WR group, the position is improved in 2021 as Deebo Samuel, Adam Humphries, James Washington, and Scott Miller are all there from 2020 and Deebo will be the lead man of the group. With Kyle Pitts in the fold at TE, Derek is set up for the long haul at the position despite Irv Smith being out for likely the entire 2021 season. Dan Arnold will be a solid enough rotation piece behind Pitts for the season as well. With how hard it was to score points in 2020 for the Jags, the only direction should be up and thanks to some additions and real life NFL moves the group as a whole should take a step forward. The biggest improvement will be at LB as Derek has 5 starters, 4 of them being MLBs. Joe Schobert and Anthony Walker will be the clear best options, but both Damien Wilson and Zaven Collins will provide much needed depth at the position, with Judon also in the mix. Tre'Davious White, Kendall Fuller, Kyle Dugger, Troy Hill, and Tre Boston make up the DB room. With Boston not on a roster yet, the group took a big hit as he was a big scorer for them last season, so Derek will hope White, Fuller, and Dugger can score the points needed to make this group a competitive one. As it stands the leader at DL is Shaq Lawson with Tyeler Davison, Samson Ebukam, and Javon Kinlaw behind him. The group looks like it could struggle at times to score points, so Derek will hope one or two of the group can have a breakout season this year to stop that from being the case. With the last place finish in the division last season, the Jags will square off with the other teams that finished in that spot in their division, so a few more wins this season are very much in reach for Derek.
Predicted Division Finish: 4th
Miami Dolphins (Trey): 2020 Record: 6-6
Trey had an up and down ride in 2020 and it was in large part due to the fact that his point margin on the season was +0.65 points. That number over a 12 week regular season is mind blowing to say the least. On top of that fact, Trey and the Dolphins missed the playoffs to the Patriots due to a H2H tiebreaker. Trey has to wonder what might have been, had his team claimed that playoff spot as Brian’s Pats advanced all the way to the LHL Super Bowl. After a crazy season that was so so close to a playoff berth, Trey had some work to do in the off-season to try and make up that ground. Trey remade his WR room by trading away Chris Godwin, Jarvis Landry, and Nelson Agholar and bringing in Danny Amendola and Terry McLaurin through trades and Anthony Schwarts in the rookie draft. Trey, like the Pats, made a change at QB by drafting Mac Jones in the rookie draft and letting Cam Newton go. Time will tell if taking Mac Jones at 11 was the right choice for Trey and his Dolphins. Thanks to some moves in the actual NFL, the RB room for Trey looks like it will take a step forward this season as Sony Michel goes to the Rams to help that team replace Cam Akers, Jamaal Williams joins fellow Dolphin in the Lions backfield and it appears both Swift and Williams will be utilized with significant roles there. James Robinson looked set to lose work this season, but with Etienne getting hurt for the season, Robinson will likely still see a lot of touches. As mentioned, the WR room has been overhauled and will be led by Terry McLaurin, who could be a top 5 WR this season. Behind him will be Darnell Mooney, Henry Ruggs, and Anthony Schwarts, so Trey will lean heavily on Terry, Mooney, and Ruggs. In 2020, TE was a middle of the road group as Ebron and Jonnu averaged out to the 13th most points per game TE and both are back in 2021, with Jonnu moving to NE. This Miami team might only go as far as it’s defense can take it and it starts at DB with Anthony Harris, Justin Simmons, Denzel Ward, and Bryce Hall. All 4 look set to be productive and will likely make up the best group on defense. It will be hard to ignore the absence of Benardrick McKinney at LB for the Dolphins as now Trey will only have Harold Landry and Kyle Van Noy that seem set to make an impact there. Malik Reed, Josh Uche, and rookie Garret Willow are the depth until McKinney signs somewhere, and those 3 that are on a roster are not lined up to play significant snaps. There are a trio of guys at DL currently for Trey and the position should be an average one and shouldn’t hurt him most weeks. Davon Godchaux, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Romeo Okwara are the 3 that make up the position, and Trey will hope at least one of them will be able to be a huge factor this season. I would give Trey a nice advantage over New England to finish 2nd in the division with Trey being able to play what appears to be the lighter schedule of the 2 teams.
Projected Division Finish: 2nd
New England Patriots (Brian): 2020 Record: 6-6
I would say it was a wild ride for Brian and his Pats in 2020. After opening the season 4-1 and looking like one of the teams to beat, things started to unravel a bit for Brian as he finished the regular season with a 2-5 record. Despite the brutal end to the season, Brian was still able to hold onto the last playoff spot in the AFC spot. Things took another drastic turn then for the Pats as they made an impressive run all the way to the LHL Super Bowl, but eventually falling just short of winning the title. Brian went through enough for 2 or 3 seasons and I am sure will be looking for a much more straightforward season here in 2021. As Brian looks to finish one spot higher this season he did make some moves over the off-season including trading for CJ Mosley and adding Chubba Hubbard and Hamsah Nasirildeen in the rookie draft. Headed into 2021, Brian will once again have a QB that could lead the league in points with Lamar Jackson on the roster. At RB, the Pats have an interesting mixed bag of guys. The lead back will easily be Austin Ekeler, while Ty Johnson and Tarik Cohen(when he gets healthy) will be the most likely best depth behind Ekeler. Brian also has a pair of 49er RBs in Mostert(out for the season) and Jamycal Hasty and the previously mentioned rookie Chubba Hubbard, so the position has a lot of options, but only a couple that will likely be worth playing this season. Like RB, WR is a very crazy group, but has a number of guys to try and mix and match with every week. Allen Robinson and Hunter Renfrow will be the top 2 in the unit and likely be in the lineup every week. Damiere Byrd, Randall Cobb, and Jalen Guyton will provide some depth at the position and TY Hilton will hopefully be a productive WR again once he returns to the Colts lineup. A trio of Blake Jarwin, Chris Herndon, and Donald Parham make up the TE spot for Brian and he will hope that Jarwin can play the entire season and be the TE numerous people thought he would be last season in the Dallas offense. Brian will have a solid LB unit this season thanks to a strong starting duo of AJ Johnson and Eric Wilson. CJ Mosley returns to the field after opting out of the season in 2020 and Brian will hope he returns to form to give him 3 strong options at the position. Nick Kwiatowski, Hamsah Nasirildeen, and Todd Davis round out the depth at LB. Like LB, Brian will have 2 reliable options at DB with Chuck Clark and Kenny Moore, a duo that could end up high on the list of best duos in the league. Damontee Kazee should be solid as well and Cameron Dantzler is there if Brian needs him, but will hope to not rely on him. With only Kenny Clark and Josh Sweat healthy at DL, Brian will hope that duo stay on the field and do well, until Stephon Tuitt can come back into the fold. Despite making it all the way to the LHL Super Bowl, Brian will be able to square off with the other 2nd place finishing teams in from the other teams across the league, so can Brian take advantage of that and make another deep playoff run?
Predicted Division Finish: 3rd
