Philadelphia Eagles
This team’s season hinges on the health of QB Carson Wentz. Nick Foles is no longer around to step in and the team just signed 40-year old Josh McCown to be the backup because Nate Sudfeld was injured in the preseason. Whether it’s McCown or Sudfeld backing up Wentz it’s a serious downgrade. The last time Wentz was completely healthy and not coming back from an injury he was an MVP candidate, that’s the guy they need. There is plenty of offensive talent around with WRs Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor and the newly returning DeSean Jackson. TE Zach Ertz is one of the best in the league and his second-year backup, Dallas Goedert, is pretty solid too. The team traded for RB Jordan Howard and he will be more consistent than what they had last year but that’s only if he holds off impressive 2nd round rookie Miles Sanders. Sanders had the unenviable task of replacing Saquon Barkley at Penn St. so he didn’t really stand out but he’s a talented player and is a more well-rounded back than Jordan. The offensive line has plenty of talent; LT Jason Peters, C Jason Kelce and RT Lane Johnson are Pro-Bowl level talents. Also, the team finally drafted a LT prospect to back up the aging Peters who is prone to missing time due to health issues. Rookie LT Andre Dillard has looked good in camp and better protection is music to the ears of Carson Wentz.
The defense should be good even with a few adjustments being made. DT Malik Jackson comes over from Jacksonville and he should give Fletcher Cox a nice running mate inside. DE Derek Barnett will get a lot more snaps with Chris Long retired and Michael Bennett traded. The team brought in some new blood at LB with Zach Brown, LJ Fort and TJ Edwards joining the roster around the steady Nigel Bradham. Avonte Maddox was a revelation last season when he was pressed into action at CB after being a bit of a CB/S hybrid. He’s now the top guy and with Ronald Darby still around and Sidney Jones healthy the team has three solid CBs. Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod are a solid safety duo and Andrew Sendejo was signed to add depth. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has always been a good play caller and he has some talent to work with on the defensive side.
Doug Pederson proved he can coach when he led this team to their Super Bowl win a couple of years ago. The coaching staff has taken a few losses over the last couple of off seasons but Pederson and Schwartz are steady influences. It’s hard to gauge this team until we see Carson Wentz stay healthy for 16 games but I think he does it this year with a better o-line in front of him. The Eagles are just a little bit better than the Cowboys in my opinion but it should be close. The Redskins and Giants aren’t built to put up much of a fight in the division.
Dallas Cowboys
This is an offense built behind a fantastic offensive line, that didn’t quite play up to their abilities last year, with a solid QB and some nice WRs but if Ezekiel Elliott isn’t on the field when the games start to count, all bets are off. QB Dak Prescott is about to become the most overpaid player in the NFL when he gets a new contract. I’m not trying to diss Prescott but a QB who throws for 3800 yard, 22 TDs and 8 Ints, isn’t work over $30 million. Elliott is the centerpiece to this offense and he’s a special talent. The Cowboys are going to pay Prescott because they don’t want to go through finding another QB like they did between Troy Aikman’s era and Tony Romo’s era. Prescott was better last year once Amari Cooper arrived and that’s because contrary to some people’s beliefs, you do need a #1 WR, especially if your QB isn’t elite. Cooper will make Michael Gallup and Randall Cobb better which will help too. The other piece of the puzzle that will really help the offense is having a healthy Travis Frederick at center. He missed last season with an illness and he’s the glue that holds the unit together. Finally, to the delight of every Monday Night Football watcher Jason Witten unretired and returned to the field. He’s an aging TE but he will still be better on the field than he was in the booth.
The defense must overcome some obstacles. DE Demarcus Lawrence isn’t quite healthy just yet and Robert Quinn is suspended to start the year. Former 1st round DE Taco Charlton is fighting for his spot on the roster and they need him to perform. The linebacking corps is built around the newly extended Jaylon Smith and second-year stud Leighton Vander Esch. They are still trotting out Sean Lee’s corpse but his value is in his leadership, not his play. They should really just let that dude retire. The secondary has some issues. Top CB Byron Jones isn’t healthy yet and they need him. Anthony Brown is a solid complement but he shouldn’t be the top CB on the team. Jeff Heath and Xavier Woods are a decent pair of safeties but they don’t exactly strike fear in their opponents.
The big off-season news besides the holdout of Ezekiel Elliott is the promotion of Kellen Moore from QB coach to offensive coordinator replacing Scott Linehan. Moore is quite young and was the back up QB not too long ago. The hope is that his intelligence and ingenuity will lead to a more progressive offense, something a little more creative than Linehan’s. Jason Garrett is still the head coach and as long as he is willing to do what Jerry Jones wants, he probably holds onto the job but he did make the move to Moore because he was feeling some heat with the Cowboys unimaginative offense. Rod Marinelli is still technically the defensive coordinator but Kris Richard, the defensive backs coach, seems to have quite the say in the defense these days. That’s not a bad thing, he just needs a little more personnel help on that side of the ball. The Cowboys should press the Eagles in the division but they are a wildcard team.
New York Giants
The Giants are ever the optimists, just clinging to the hope that Eli Manning has one more year of being a good QB left in him. It’s been a few years since he was one but they can still hope. They finally pulled the trigger on finding who they hope is his replacement when they drafted Daniel Jones. Regardless of whether you believe in Daniel Jones or not (I’m leaning heavily in the not direction) at least the team has finally acknowledged the end is near for Manning. The offense will lean heavily, and I mean Sumo wrestler-sized heavily, on RB Saquon Barkley. Barkley is a generational talent and for now the Giants are seemingly wasting that talent. TE Evan Engram is good player, he would be a better player with a better offense around him. A WR corps led by Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard wouldn’t be terrible but Tate is suspended for the first four games of the season and Shepard was injured in the preseason. The offensive line added RG Kevin Zeitler in the off season but they are still pretty poor at RT and C. LT Nate Solder and LG Will Hernandez are good but the unit still needs work.
The defense is still a work in progress as they transition to James Bettcher’s 3-4 alignment. They hope rookie d-lineman Dexter Lawrence can provide a boost up front. He has the right build for a guy on a 3-man line. The linebackers leave a lot to be desired but keep an eye on OLB Oshane Ximines, he’s a small-school rookie with some solid pass rush skills to build on. In the secondary the team let S Landon Collins walk in free agency but they picked up Jabrill Peppers in the Odell Beckham trade with Cleveland. The team needs two rookies to really step up in the secondary too, Deandre Baker and Julian Love. Baker doesn’t wow with his physical skills but he can cover and Love is much the same way. Janoris Jenkins is a solid starting CB but his play has leveled off the last few years and he’s not getting any younger or cheaper. Baker has the ability to be a #1 CB and the Giants need him to be one sooner rather than later.
Pat Shurmur is in a tough spot. He wants to try to compete with Eli Manning on his last legs and Saquon Barkley on his fresh ones but this team is just not built to compete. They haven’t fully embraced a rebuild but if the team gets off to a rough start, and that’s very likely with an offense without any real threats at WR, the switch to Daniel Jones becomes unavoidable.
Washington Redskins
Washington is so close to embracing a full rebuild, they have a young QB in Dwayne Haskins and young returning RB in Derrius Guice. Haskins was their first-round pick this year and Guice was their second-round pick last season, then he missed the year with a knee injury. Unfortunately, the team seems hell bent on starting Case Keenum at QB and using Adrian Peterson at RB. Peterson was effective last year but it’s time to turn the page. Keenum doesn’t offer the potential that Haskins brings. Yes, Haskins comes with some serious growing pains to live through but at least he brings hope of a brighter future. Josh Doctson finally got cut which leaves Paul Richardson as the top WR but watch out for two rookies, Terry McLaurin and Kelvin Harmon. McLaurin was Haskins’ teammate at Ohio St. so their connection would be instant. Trey Quinn mans the slot. TE Jordan Reed is a fantastic talent who just can’t seem to stay healthy for very long, when he’s on the field he’s awesome, that needs to happen more. The drama of the off season happened on the offensive line. Perennial Pro-Bowl LT Trent Williams is upset with the team due to some mishandling of a medical situation and he’s refusing to play for the team ever again. So far, the team is dug in and refuses to trade him. He’s a major loss and the offensive line can’t afford to not have him at LT. The new LG is former Giants’ bust Ereck Flowers. Flowers has failed at both LT and RT but for some reason the Redskins think he can play LG. As long as they don’t plan to try him at LT, he’s not the worst choice at LG. Center Chase Roullier is okay and the right side of the line is good with Brandon Scherff at guard and Morgan Moses at tackle.
The Redskins defense is a bit of a mystery. The defensive line has solid guys in Jonathan Allen, Da’Ron Payne and Matt Ioannidis but unless Allen really steps up, they aren’t scaring anyone. They needed more pass rush so they took a chance on OLB Montez Sweat in draft after some questions about his healthy made him drop a bit. If it pays off, he’s a huge get as monster pass rusher. The secondary is hoping Josh Norman can stop his slide into mediocrity and that free agent safety Landon Collins can stabilize the back end of the defense. The defense has quite the mix of older guys; LB Jon Bostic, OLB Ryan Kerrigan and CB Josh Norman, and young guys; Allen, Payne and Sweat. The question is, does this team have an actual plan for a rebuild or are they going to just keep spinning their wheels with middling veterans?
Jay Gruden has lasted longer as Washington’s head coach than anyone could have imagined given owner Daniel Snyder’s penchant for changing course randomly. The team needs to embrace the rebuild behind Haskins, Guice, McLaurin, Harmon and others on offense and Allen, Sweat, Payne and even CB Quinton Dunbar who played well last year. Gruden is a good coach and I think he would get the most out of Haskins. This team isn’t going to compete for a playoff spot this year unless something strange happens. Embrace the future and let go of the past.
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