The AFC East has already given us plenty to talk about at the quarterback position through two weeks. Josh Allen unsurprisingly looks every bit like the player the Buffalo Billsexpect him to be. Geno Smith has helped the New York Jets move the football despite Sunday's disappointing finish. Drake Maye remains an interesting conversation piece.
Then, there's Malik Willis. He's one of the NFL's respected competitors, but how realistic is a Miami Dolphins playoff push? Two weeks is hardly enough time to make sweeping conclusions, particularly with every team still searching for consistency. That said, these rankings are a snapshot of what each quarterback has shown most recently, not a declaration about where the division will finish.
Based on what
we saw during the first two weeks, here's how Jets Wire's AFC East quarterbacks stack up.
1. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen isn't making this particularly difficult. The Bills improved to 2-0 with a 41-31 victory over the Detroit Lions, and Allen accounted for five touchdowns. He completed 20 of 31 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns while adding 69 rushing yards and two more scores.
That performance followed a strong Week 1 showing. It also gives Allen nine total touchdowns through two games. The Bills are putting an enormous amount on his shoulders, and so far, he has responded with the kind of production that makes him difficult to knock from the top spot. He'll again be in the MVP conversation.
2. Geno Smith, New York Jets
Geno Smith's second game with the Jets wasn't perfect, but it's difficult to put much of the 20-17 overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers on New York's quarterback.
He completed 27 of 41 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown without throwing an interception. The bigger issue was that New York couldn't consistently turn its opportunities into points after building a 17-7 fourth-quarter lead.
Smith has now demonstrated two things through two games. First, he can operate efficiently in Frank Reich's offense, and the Jets can move the football with him under center. The next step is turning that production into more points and, ultimately, wins. For this week, however, his play keeps him ahead of the rest of the AFC East's quarterbacks.
3. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Drake Maye didn't have a spectacular statistical afternoon in Week 2, but at least he wasn't as bad as he was in Week 1. The Patriots earned a 20-3 victory over thePittsburgh Steelers.
He completed 14 of 22 passes for 208 yards with no touchdown passes and one interception. New England's defense did most of the heavy lifting, but Maye avoided the kind of mistakes that can turn a winnable game into a problem and helped the Patriots move to 1-1.
There is still a sizable gap between Maye and Allen, but his second-week performance was enough to keep him ahead of Miami's quarterback situation. This is still a work in progress, but the Patriots could do a lot worse than Drake Maye.
4. Malik Willis, Miami Dolphins
Malik Willis and the Dolphins had a difficult afternoon against the San Francisco 49ers, falling 35-13 and dropping to 0-2. There was at least one encouraging moment late, when Willis connected with Ryan Miller for a 77-yard touchdown. It was a spectacular play, but it came well after San Francisco had already established control of the game.
Miami's offense struggled to consistently create opportunities before then. That leaves Willis fourth in this week's rankings, although the Dolphins' situation could change quickly as the season develops. The NFL season is only two weeks old, and there is already plenty of room for these rankings to look different before long.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: AFC East QB rankings: Where does Geno Smith land vs. his rivals?
