NFC East Division Preview
By: Michael Higgins
(Image courtesy of Kevin Jaira/USA Today Sports)
The NFC East was an unexpectedly tough division in 2022. With breakout seasons from both the Giants and the Eagles, while the Commanders were in the playoff race until the last couple weeks of the season. All of the teams in the division have only improved throughout the offseason, the title is truly up for grabs.
The Commanders have been in some state of purgatory for a few seasons now. The QB situation is somewhat of a revolving door and due to their not-so-terrible record, they were knocked out of the running for a top QB in this past draft. Taylor Heinicke signed with the Atlanta Falcons, and it seems imminent that Carson Wentz will move on from Washington, leaving Jacoby Brissett or Sam Howell as the starting QB for the Commanders. Either QB will have solid weapons around him to create a league average offense at worst. Brissett fits this offense and system better than Heinicke as he is more productive when working within a system and reducing the frequency of improvisation. The defense of the Commanders is where things get dicey. The defensive line has star talent, consisting of players that will price themselves out of the Commanders’ market. The secondary is thin and performed as one of the worst in the league in 2022. They will have a tough time competing with the high-flying offenses in the division.
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The Giants took a step forward in 2022 and skipped a few years in the rebuild process. By no means was Daniel Jones an MVP candidate, he is the quarterback going forward even if he did get overpaid. The Giants also doubled down on improving their passing game by drafting IOL John Michael Schmitz and WR Jalin Hyatt. The Giants have an anchor on the blindside in Andrew Thomas, but the interior of the line was a liability in both the run and pass game. Giving Daniel Jones more time to make reads and manipulate the pocket will go a long way, Schmitz is a big step in the right direction. Hyatt has real speed that can test the top of a defense. While Daniel Jones’ playstyle does not incorporate a ton of throws 25+ yards down the field, the speed and versatility within pre-snap motion is something the Giants desperately needed. Their defense has retained most of its core while also adding Maryland CB Deonte Banks in the first round of the draft. The roster only improved during the offseason and their competitive window has seemingly become wide open.
The Dallas Cowboys… THIS IS THEIR YEAR!!!! Just kidding. They are going for it all this year and made some offseason trades that should vault them into contention status. Acquiring WR Brandin Cooks from Houston and CB Stephon Gilmore from Indianapolis for next to nothing is a huge step up from the 2022 season. Cooks provides Prescott with a different skill set than what was previously on the Cowboys. Amari Cooper was such a sharp route runner and knew how to find those soft spots in the defense, Cooks will be able to fill that role. Defenses will no longer be able to solely focus on slowing down Ceedee Lamb, or else Cooks will eat them for lunch. The Cowboys running game will, for the first time, go into the year completely centered around Tony Pollard. Pollard has displayed that he is a starting running back in the NFL but the Cowboys were reluctant to completely bench Ezekiel Elliott. Pollard now has free reign to grow throughout offseason workouts and prepare to be a bell cow. The Cowboys will be looking to close the gap between them and the Eagles with big-time moves on both sides of the ball.
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The Eagles have been put in a tremendous spot by GM Howie Roseman. Not only did he accelerate their rebuilding process by drafting well for years on end. The team is coming off of a Super Bowl appearance and had two first round picks, both of which they got value for each pick. Both Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith look to take the torch from Eagles’ legends Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham in the coming years. The Eagles have the defensive versatility to play a variety of money packages due to the positional flexibility of most of their guys. They will not be a team that will thrive off of hoping they can find a mismatch against their opponent, but instead they will create those mismatches themselves. At the beginning of the offseason, it looked as if the Eagles were going to lose a lot of key pieces on both sides of the ball, but almost all of them returned. They released Darius Slay but brought him back, re-signed James Bradberry, got Jason Kelce to come back another year, thus keeping their core together. They have built a winning culture in a very short time and are looking to be a force in the NFL for a long time.
The NFC East has become one of, if not the, toughest division in football. With all teams heading towards their prime, with the exception of the Commanders, it is not easy to predict how things will shake out in 2023.
