NFC East Preview

NFC East Preview

As we wrap up these division previews, we are now moving into the juicy ones. The NFC East has some of the highest stakes out of any division with one clear cut contender and two other teams that would like to join that list. These teams will have their work cut out for them as they have to play the formidable NFC West and the ultra competitive AFC East so there will be few free wins to go around. Whoever comes away from this division as a playoff team will be battle tested and ready for January.

Dallas Cowboys

Strengths: If there’s one thing the cowboys have, you can tell by looking at their helmets. When it comes to top end talent there aren’t many teams that can compete with Dallas. They have a top receiver, a top corner, a top guard and the top linebacker. The team has at least one star on each unit in each phase of the game. And there could be more stars in the making. The departure of Ezekiel Elliot may seem like a big loss on paper but it made the Cowboys better. After exorbitant usage to start his career, Elliot seemed to hit a wall a couple of years ago and lost the burst that made him an elite back so the team’s move to feature Tony Pollard will be a move that can only help the team. This move reminds a lot of Austin Ekeler’s rise to fame; after years of biding his time behind the previously established Melvin Gordon, Ekeler started getting worked in situationally and was so dynamic when given the chance it forced the team to move on from their solid back and Ekeler has been a top back ever since. Pollard’s 1,378 total yards and 12 TDs from a year ago were already amongst the top in the league so just imagine what he could do now as the main feature. It is not just the offense that is gaining a new star, the secondary has plugged a big hole by acquiring the proven veteran Stephon Gilmore. He may no longer be playing up his former DPOY level but he is still a top of the line CB2. If you like football for its individual battles, the Cowboys are the team for you having multiple players who will dominate their adversary on a play by play basis.

Weaknesses: All the shine that these stars produce do a great job covering up all the issues that plague this team. The Cowboys are the most top heavy team in the league with lots of low end talent to balance out their stars. It is this lack of depth that will trouble this team all year long. Sure the team has Micah Parsons but who will rise to the occasion when he gets doubled teamed. Yes the team has a great set of corners but when they funnel plays inside will there be someone there to make the play? And their offensive stars cannot be stopped for an entire game obviously but teams have come up with game plans that can severely limit them. So even with their stars constantly making plays this still ends up being a middling team with most of their team statistics settling in the 10-20 range. This type of play is good enough to win games but it won’t be good enough to win the final game of their season. And then there comes the Dak situation. Prescott has been a good NFL QB for basically his entire career but he never seems to be the guy winning the games as he makes the plays he needs to make but never makes the crazy game changing plays resulting in him rarely coming through in the clutch. With this phenomenon being present for the entirety of his career it presents the chicken and the egg question. Was Dak a good QB who made this offense good or is this offense good and it made Dak look like a good QB. I am starting to think it is more of the latter and if that’s the case this team will struggle to win when it matters. Luckily, the team now has backup plans with the underachieving freak athlete Trey Lance now learning and waiting in the wings so it seems this this is Dak’s final year to prove it and who knows this might the the kick in the butt Dak needed to get over that final hump and start winning some crucial games.

Under the Radar X-Factor: Ever since Jason Witten left the team for the first time, the team has lacked a consistent playmaker at the position. Dalton Shultz was heavily involved in the offense but he failed to do much with the ball in his hands. He is in Houston now leaving a vacancy that Jake Ferguson can fit right into. Ferguson may be the playmaker this team has been longing for at the tight end position. While Ferguson was plagued by poor QB play in college, he found his way open on a consistent basis so when paired with a competent QB like Dak, Ferguson could be a matchup nightmare. He has size and speed so expect him to step up big time this season and possibly move his way into the ranks of the few playmaking tight ends.

Verdict: This is a solid but not a great team so expect them to rack up some wins and be in the playoff picture but not much beyond that. 8-10 Wins.

New York Giants

Strengths: The hiring of Brian Daboll was the best move this franchise has made in years. Daboll and his staff are the strength of this team. They do a great job of highlighting their players' strengths while hiding their weaknesses. They even made Daniel Jones look like a competent franchise QB even after 3 seasons of subpar play. If you want to see the instant impact Daboll had, just look at the team's 10 wins from a year ago, all but 1 were one possession games, a hallmark of great coaching. There are still numerous deficiencies on this roster but do not worry Daboll will do a great job of minimizing their impact. Well it is not just the coaching staff that is top of the line for the Giants, they have one of the best D lines in the league. Anchored by interior lineman Dexter Lawrence, this line features players who can play well against both the run and the pass. For all of Lawrence's talent, he may fall to an afterthought this year if 2nd year edge Kayvon Thibodeaux takes the next step forward and becomes the star he seems destined to become. Thibodeaux flashed on multiple occasions last year but failed to produce on a play to play basis as he was still getting acquainted to the NFL. He did finish with just 4 sacks but he still displayed a proclivity to reach the QB with 13 QB hits showing that 4 sack number was a bit unlucky so expect a big jump in his sack numbers this year. While the D line is this team's most talented unit, their most talented player resides on the offensive side of the ball. After a meteoric rookie year, Saquon Barkley looked destined to sit atop the RB rankings for years to come but following a string of injuries, many doubted whether Barkley would ever recapture that rookie form. Last year, Barkley put all those worries to rest, once again looking like one of the best RBs in the league recording 1,650 yards and 10 touchdowns. Although a contract dispute did keep Barkley away from camp, he is back now and he will once again be heavily featured and should put up ridiculous numbers once again. Barkley is not the sole star on this offense either with the team also featuring one of the league's top tackles in Andrew Thomas. A former 4th overall pick, Thomas struggled in his first two seasons but last year he finally put it all together becoming a big asset in both phases of the game and at just 24 years old, Thomas could still be even better.

Weaknesses: For how good Andrew Thomas was a year ago, this O line was still bad. Rookie Evan Neal was a big liability as he adjusted to the league but like Thomas he is still incredibly young and a top draft pick so I am unwilling to outright say he is going to be bad this year. But the rest of the line I have no excuses for. This interior line are capable run blockers but it is their inability to pass block that is a real reason for concern. To top it off this line will be anchored by a rookie center and when a center goes through rookie growing pains, bad things happen. Daboll does have answers for this problem though as he utilizes Daniel Jones' athleticism to move him out of the pocket to give him enough time to get the ball down the field or run for a few free yards. The offense is not rock solid beyond this line either as the receivers leave a lot to be desired. The team did acquire Darren Waller and he will be featured in this offense and may even have a career year, but on the outside there is not much to write home about. The team returns largely the same unit from a year ago along with third round rookie Jalin Hyatt. While Daboll's scheming did get these receivers open on a consistent basis, if this team had a true difference maker on the outside this offense could suddenly become dangerous and maybe Hyatt can be that guy but until they get that pass catcher on the outside this offense will only be middling. The final weakness I will address is not necessarily a proven one but the lack of NFL experience is worrisome. The team will be sending out two rookie corners this season and while first round rookie Deonte Banks was one of the top corners in the draft, he still will have growing pains at some point or another. It is the other corner that will be the biggest liability on this team, the sixth round rookie Tre Hawkins will be thrown right into the fire. Hawkins has enough size to match up with NFL receivers, but he lacks the top end athleticism to not get burned on a consistent basis so expect the team to give him safety help on most plays leaving Banks on more of an island. This is a lengthy list of weaknesses but I am just enamored with Daboll's scheming so I am convinced this will be more of a good team than a bad one.

Under the Radar X-Factor: Micah McFadden had his rookie year cut short thanks to a knee tear, but he has been healthy in camp and looks to have locked up the weak side backer spot. McFadden did struggle a bit in his rookie year but that is to be expected out of a fifth round rookie. But with a year in the system and now that he is fully healthy, he seems to be budding into quite the capable starter. He will be a solid coverage backer showing great mirroring skills in open space so he should be able to handle covering both backs and tight ends. His run defense is a little bit of a question but he will only continue to grow and improve. It is looking like the team got a steal in the fifth round a year ago.

Verdict: High end coaching balances out low end talent. 6-9 Wins.

Philadelphia Eagles

Strengths: Let's just be honest this whole team is a strength. Jalen Hurts may not have the running abilities of Lamar or Fields but he is still great at it. He may not have the passing abilities of Mahomes or Allen but he is still great at it. He is by far the most balanced dual threat QB making him the best you can get in that department and the perfect captain to lead this team to the heights they can reach. They have top end receivers on the outside as well as Dallas Goedert in the middle of the field. A top pair of corners. A D line anchored by two of the best up and coming interior linemen plus the veteran Fletcher Cox, and a deep enough pass rush rotation to keep effective pass rushers firing on all cylinders for the entirety of the game. And a linebacking core that may not feature a lot of top end talent but enough talent to get the job done. But it is one unit that rises to the top of this team, the O line. This O line has mostly been playing together for years now and even though some may call them aging veterans, it looks like this unit is only getting better. The line is the absolute best in basically every measurable metric, it is truly incredible to see a line like this in today's NFL. If you want a fun team to watch this season then look no further than the Eagles.

Weaknesses: This is going to be short and quick. I cannot outright say anything bad about this team. They are built to win and will win A LOT. But if there is one thing, I am not a fan of the RBs this team brought in. Sure Swift and Penny have been good in their limited NFL action, but the team could not have picked a more injury prone duo. Neither have come close to playing an entire season yet and when they are healthy they simply are not durable enough to be relied on for a starter's workload. Regardless of this RB situation, this offense is just too good to fail, so even if they end up having Boston Scott as their lone RB this team could still easily put up 40.

Under the Radar X-Factor: I did hype up the Eagle O line as the most complete and comprehensive unit in the league, but that may not be entirely true. The team did lose RG Isaac Seumalo to Pittsburgh but they had an in-house replacement in Cam Jurgens. I expect that Jurgens will not miss a beat and will end up being an upgrade over Seumalo. Jurgens is as athletic as O linemen get showing great lateral quickness making him a great pass blocker and well as being able to secure the second level in run blocking. While he is a bit undersized, but he can rely on his technique and athleticism to be a consistent producer on this line. 

Verdict: If this team does not come away from this season hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, it can only be viewed as a disappointment. 12+ Wins.

Washington Commanders

Strengths: The Commanders surprised everyone with an 8-8-1 record. The team lacks any real offensive identity but was able to stay in games thanks to a solid defense. This defense is anchored by its D line. Just look at all the draft capital the franchise has poured into this unit, all four starters are former first round picks. All those high draft picks have paid off. The team allowed just 305 yards last year, good enough for third best in the league. Being stout against both the pass and the run, this defense is well built and it finally all clicked once Ron Rivera could fully implement his defense. While this defense did fail to make impact plays, lacking big sack and turnover numbers, the defense took care of their responsibilities, allowing just 20 points per game. The scary part of this defense is that their star Chase Young has been underperforming. Well Young was still working back from a knee tear so it was expected that he would be a step slow, but now he has been fully healthy in camp and is flying around. Young is going to have the monster year that everyone has been expecting from him so every QB and the whole league should be on notice. The defense is definitely the focal point of this team, but the offense does have some weapons on the outside. In Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson, the team has a pair of do it all receivers who can beat just about any corner in the league. McLaurin is a route running ace who always seems to find the soft spots in coverage even when he has a safety over top of him. Dotson may not have the change of direction abilities that make McLaurin so great but he is still an athletic freak that is always open no matter how close the nearest defender is thanks to his next level ball skills. The plus points of this team are more than solid, there just are not that many plus points especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Weaknesses: Sam Howell just ain't the guy. He does feature plus athleticism but he is not a true NFL QB. In Howell's one game on NFL experience he failed to find a consistent rhythm going just 11-19 for 169 yards. He displayed an inability to make proper reads and get the ball out of his hand in a timely manner. With this tough schedule, there is just no way Howell comes away from this season looking good. He will more than likely not even last half the season as the team's starter. I just feel bad for McLaurin and Dotson having to toil away a year of their primes with the QB disaster that will ensue. A good rushing attack is a young QB's best friend but this team is lacking in that department as well. They have two young backs who have been good in camps and practices but when it comes to game time they routinely fail to produce. Both backs failed to top the middling 4 ypc mark showing the mediocrity this offense is plagued with. A big factor in this mediocrity is the O line. While the O line is not a complete disaster, they struggle to get push and open holes on a consistent basis and do not do a great job in pass pro making an already jumpy Howell even more vulnerable to sacks and turnovers. The organization did bring in some new linemen to try to patch some of their holes but the guys they brought in are not the type of difference makers needed to overhaul this unit and stop the bleeding. This team is going to be a hard one to watch as even with a solid defense, the sloppy offensive play will be pitiful.

Under the Radar X-Factor: A former receiver converted to tight end, Cole Turner offers a blend of size and athleticism needed to be a playmaking TE at the NFL level. While a receiver at Nevada, he failed to separate from corners, but once he was moved inside he was able to use his size and athleticism to be a producer for the Wolfpack. Now in his second year in the league, Turner is fully integrated in the offense and should have plenty of opportunities to produce.

Verdict: This team is only as good as their QB. 4-6 Wins.