The Eagles and the Cowboys look like the class of this division but they both come with questions too. The Eagles fell apart at the end of last year and they changed both offensive and defensive coordinators in the off season. The Cowboys have massive contract issues hanging over them with Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons still looking for new deals. Also, the offense has many serious issues. The Giants and Commanders are just trying to get their franchises going in the right direction at this point.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles face three major changes on offense. The first one is the new scheme brought in by Kellen Moore who is the coordinator. He’s mostly here to fix the passing offense as it looked broken last season. Jalen Hurts is never going to be mistaken for Peyton Manning but he’s better than he looked last season. With WR AJ Brown, WR DeVonta Smith, TE Dallas Goedert and good pass catching RBs the passing game has all the talent it should need. Speaking of the RBs, that’s another major change. D’Andre Swift is out and they upgraded to Saquon Barkley. Barkley is one of the most gifted RBs in the NFL and while he can be a boom or bust type of runner, he should boom way more behind this offensive line. That’s the final change. C Jason Kelce is retired and it will have a major effect, he was not only the brains of the line but a true leader of the team. They were prepared for this eventuality with Cam Juergens set to move from RG to center but it’s not going to be the same. Luckily, they have arguably the best o-line coach in the league, Jeff Stoutland, and LT Jordan Mailata and RT Lane Johnson might be the best OT tandem in the league.
The defense fell apart last year after Sean Desai took over for Jonathan Gannon who left to coach the Cardinals. It got so bad in the middle of the year Desai got demoted and they turned to Matt Patricia, that only made it worse. Now they moved on from all of that and hired Vic Fangio, the architect of one of the most used defensive schemes in the league. Things can only get better but that doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges. The defensive line loses Fletcher Cox to retirement and that means Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter are going to have to carry the load at DT. They aren’t deep up front. They do have some depth at pass rusher with Bryce Huff, Josh Sweat, Nolan Smith Jr, and Brandon Graham.
They finally decided to address their ILB spot bringing in Devin White from Tampa Bay and Zack Baun from New Orleans. Both guys have something to prove and both guys are upgrades for the Eagles. The secondary was where they needed the most help so they went hard on the reset. They re-signed CJ Gardner Johnson after his year away in Detroit, he’s back and he’s the type of versatile piece they need. They also got lucky in the draft, twice. Somehow, Quinyon Mitchell fell to them in round one and Cooper DeJean fell to them in round two. Mitchell becomes the outside CB opposite Darius Slay and sends James Bradberry looking for a place to stick on the roster (he’s trying to convert to safety). DeJean has incredible versatility that Fangio will find a way to use to his advantage.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys had three very large anvils hanging over their heads this season; the contracts of QB Dak Prescott, WR CeeDee Lamb, and DE Micah Parsons. They got Lamb’s deal done just as they wrap up camp, that doesn’t solve the biggest issue. Prescott can’t be franchised and there are plenty of teams ready to pounce if he hits free agency next spring. Parsons is being a good soldier but if he has another great year his price tag only gets higher. The team did almost nothing in free agency to help the roster and they are going to be counting on some rookies and some very-past-their-prime veterans to hold this thing together.
If Lamb doesn’t show up and hit the ground running this offense is a mess. Brandin Cooks is the next best WR and his glory days are behind him. The running game is going to be in the hands of Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle, that’s not great. If Lamb gets off to a slow start, the offense might have to rely quite heavily on TE Jake Ferguson. The offensive line is going to have rookie Tyler Guyton at LT, at center it’s either rookie Cooper Beebe or Brock Hoffman. This is not ideal. Dak may want to leave if this is the offense they are going to have around him.
The defense has been pretty good the last few years and returns most of its important pieces. The one thing missing is defensive coordinator Dan Quinn who is now the head coach in Washington. Mike Zimmer is returning to coaching as the new DC here and we will see if he can duplicate Quinn’s success. Micah Parsons is a true superstar pass rusher and does other things too but he needs DeMarcus Lawrence to return to form at the other DE spot. Lawrence is 32 so that’s not going to be easy. They also need Mazi Smith to prove he was worth a first-round pick last year, they need him to stop the run. The Smith thing is so unpredictable they signed nearly 36-year-old Linval Joseph just in case, that’s the definition of desperation.
The LB group is pretty suspect with Leighton Vander Esch having to retire due to injury and the only guy they brought in was Eric Kendricks. Kendricks was once a key piece at MLB for the Vikings under Zimmer but that was a while ago. The secondary gets Trevon Diggs back after he missed last season with an injury. DaRon Bland stepped in for him and was truly special, but now he’s injured and will miss 6-8 weeks, that’s rough. Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker return at safety, that position might not be quite as important under Zimmer as it was under Quinn.
New York Giants
The Giants made some upgrades on their offense starting with the line which was overdue. LT Andrew Thomas was the only above average starter last year, he’s actually very good. C John Michael Schmitz is the only other holdover, he struggled last season but he was a rookie playing on a bad line so he gets a pass. Jermaine Eluemunor seems set to take over at RT with Evan Neal being hurt and being terrible. Jon Runyan Jr. and Greg Van Roten are free agents set to start at guard. I don’t think terrible line play was the reason Daniel Jones wasn’t good last year before he got hurt but it didn’t help. They are planning on Jones at QB again and that’s the reason they won’t compete for the division.
WR Malik Nabers was drafted sixth overall to be the #1 WR on this team and he has all the talent to do that, he just needs a new QB to get him there. Nabers, Wan’Dale Robinson, Darius Slayton, and Jalin Hyatt aren’t a terrible group to try to work with at WR, they just aren’t all that accomplished either. RB Devin Singletary was signed from Houston to replace Saquon Barkley, that’s a serious downgrade. They were hoping rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. adds a little pizazz to the backfield as Singletary isn’t all that exciting, then Tracy got hurt in camp. The Giants offense isn’t meant to have nice things.
The defense actually has a chance to be good which is why I’m picking the Giants over the Commanders for third in this division. They traded for Brian Burns to pair with Kayvon Thibodeaux at OLB which should really improve the pass rush especially with Dexter Lawrence up front. Lawrence is one of the best interior defensive linemen in the league and Burns will complement him quite well. The rest of the front seven is solid with Rakeem Nunez-Roches added from Tampa Bay and Bobby Okereke and Micah McFadden at ILB.
The secondary was a problem last year and it didn’t help losing Xavier McKinney in free agency but they should be better overall. Deonte Banks has CB1 potential while they added Dru Phillips in the draft, he could be a steal. S Tyler Nubin is another rookie who should contribute heavily. With the improved pass rush, there shouldn’t be as much pressure on the defensive backs and that should help a lot.
Washington Commanders
Jayden Daniels isn’t my favorite QB prospect but he does have talent and he has talent around him. WR Terry McLaurin is one of the most underappreciated talents in the league, he’s a legitimate WR1 who has never played with a good QB. Daniels will be the most talented NFL QB of his career. Jahan Dotson had a sophomore slump last year and the new regime just traded him to Philadelphia. He’s a talented guy but when your team ships you off to a division rival for a box of hats, that means they don’t think very much of you. RB Brian Robinson Jr. is the type of big, physical back who can be a workhorse and I really like that guy. Austin Ekeler is the perfect complement to Robinson as the pass catching threat who keeps an offense moving. TE Zach Ertz is past his prime so the team may need rookie Ben Sinnott to step up and don’t count out rookie WR Luke McCaffrey who is all of the sudden WR2.
Like I said Daniels has talent around him, what he doesn’t have enough of is talent in front of him. It’s a good thing he’s fast because he’s going to have to run away from pressure. RG Sam Cosmi was solid last season and new C Tyler Biadasz is at least an above average starter. That’s where the good news ends. Rookie LT Brandon Coleman might be starting, he’s going to struggle. He might be good in a couple of years but Daniels might be cooked by then if he’s sacked 80 times a year. LG Nick Allegretti was a backup in Kansas City last season, he should still be a backup. RT Andrew Wylie is passable but not much more. This offensive line is going to make the offense less than sum of their parts.
The defense was bad last year and they are hoping Dan Quinn can bring some of the magic he had in Dallas to turn this unit around. The problem is Dorace Armstrong isn’t Micah Parsons and this team doesn’t have a Trevon Diggs at CB. They signed Armstrong and Dante Fowler Jr. to help the pass rush, they can’t hurt it but they aren’t elite guys. LB Frankie Luvu was a solid pickup but signing Bobby Wagner feels like desperation. S Jeremy Chinn has always been a cool idea in theory but hasn’t ever been as good as people thought he should be, maybe Dan Quinn can turn him into Kam Chancellor but that’s a big ask. Emmanuel Forbes Jr. had a bad rookie year, if Quinn can turn him around that would be amazing. I did like the Mike Sanristil draft pick, that’s guys a player.
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