Four former NFL quarterbacks believe that the New England Patriots will still dominate the AFC East next season despite the emergence of young quarterbacks in the division. Don Bank, a featured columnist of Patriots.com, talked to former quarterbacks who are now working as analysts in different networks to get their take on the challenge to the Patriots’ reign in the AFC East. In his column, Bank said Boomer Esiason, Phil Simms, Dan Orlovsky and Matt Hasselback all agreed that the Patriots will dominate the division in 2019 behind the 41-year-old Tom Brady.

Earlier, it was perceived that the Patriots will be heavily challenged by the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets, who are all powered by quarterbacks who were picked in the top ten of the 2018 NFL Draft. The Dolphins traded with the Arizona Cardinals for signal-caller Josh Rosen, who was taken as the 10th overall selection last year. The Jets have Sam Darnold, whom they selected third overall, while the Bills will start Josh Allen, the seventh overall pick last year.

Esiason says Patriots still kings of the AFC East

When asked if the Jets, Bills and Dolphins have the chance to narrow the gap between them and the Patriots in the AFC East with the help of their respective franchise quarterbacks, Esiason answered in the negative.

According to Esiason, this will all boil down to the coaching situations in Buffalo, New York and Miami. Esiason said the Dolphins will need to adjust to the system of new mentor Brian Flores, whom they pried away from the Patriots in the offseason. “The Jets’ Adam Gase is in a rebound coaching situation. (Buffalo’s) Sean McDermott is great, but none of them are Bill Belichick,” said Esiason.

In terms of quarterbacks, Esiason said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick still has the edge because of Brady. “But as long as Brady and Belichick are together, the valley between them and the rest of the coaches, especially in the AFC East, is significant,” Esiason stressed. Simms, for his part, said that while these young quarterbacks may help their teams, it won’t be enough to unseat the Patriots from their AFC East throne.

Earlier, Gase declared that he will go after the Patriots' throne, but later retracted his statement.

Young quarterbacks don’t stand a chance

Orlovsky, for his part, said that the young signal-callers of the Bills, Jets and Dolphins won’t have a chance against Brady. While they are good signal callers, Darnold, Allen and Rosen still have a lot to learn, especially when matched up against Brady.

Hasselback echoed Orlovsky’s statement, saying the Bills, Jets and Dolphins cannot challenge the Patriots’ momentum after winning their sixth Super Bowl title. “How about one of those teams has a winning record before we start talking about them challenging the defending Super Bowl champs for the division title?” said Hasselback. The ESPN analyst said that of the three, the Dolphins have the biggest chance of making it to the playoffs through the Wild Card road.