Team Needs: NFC East

Washington Redskins

The Skins finally showed some fiscally responsibility and used the draft to help fill out their roster (instead of overrated and expensive free agents). It will be interesting to see if Daniel Snyder can show the same restraint once again considering their season didn’t exactly go well. Jason Campbell really looked impressive for the first half of the season, but fell off the map in the second half. I think he’s still long term solution for them, but they need to address the OL in order to keep him healthy. Injuries hit this unit hard, but they also have not had the depth they should have for some time. LT Chris Samuels keeps making the Pro Bowl for reasons unbeknownst to me, as he definitely isn’t playing at a Pro Bowl level. To me, it would be best to move Samuels to RT and extend his career while looking for a long term replacement at LT. The problem with this is that I’m not sure the right prospect will be available when the Redskins pick 13th overall. It may be a better idea for this team to address the OL from the second round onward. This team realistically needs at least one starting caliber guard, another center, a right tackle, and potentially a back up at both guard and tackle. The only other major need for this team falls on the defensive line. The acquisition of the Jason Taylor did not turn out as well as they would have expected, and with Taylor’s age, DE needs to be very high on the priority list. This team is also very thin at DT, so taking a stab and getting an impact undertackle like Peria Jerry would also be a very good move. Having active and talented DT’s helps free up the ends to get more one-on-one blocking opportunities. DeAngelo Hall played very well for this team after being released from the Raiders. But he only signed a one-year contract, so this position will need to be addressed. Even if Washington does re-sign Hall, they need to get a corner by round three for depth. Late round LB’s to address the special teams is probably the only other thing this team needs. The Redskins are talented, but they suffer from being a murderer’s row of a conference.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys are the Redskins of a couple years ago. Jerry Jones thinks bringing in all of these expensive superstars will be enough to win him a championship. Nothing could be further from the truth. TO has once again worn out his welcome, and it’s clear that he is the source of issues on this team. But with his talent, I don’t see Jerry Jones giving up on him yet. It’s funny that owners like Jones don’t learn from the Patriots and Steelers of the world. It’s not about one player, it’s about everyone sacrificing for the greater good of the team. You can’t win with a team full of ‘me’ guys like Roy Williams (the wide receiver), TO, and Pacman Jones. Pacman is gone, now it’s time for TO to go, and then Williams becomes more reasonable to deal with. With no first or third rounder after the Williams trade, the Cowboys will have to be very careful with what little picks they have. Their OL looked very old by the end of the year. Flozell can’t keep up with speed rushers off the edge anymore, and I think he either needs to move to RT or inside to LG. They re-signed Marc Colombo for some odd reason, so I guess LT and LG are the two spots that need to be addressed. Safety is an issue as the other Roy Williams showed he’s a liability in coverage and really needs to consider a move to LB to extend his career. With their first pick in the second round, the Cowboys would be in good position to take a guy like Alabama’s Rashad Johnson or Missouri’s William Moore. Getting some youth and depth at ILB will need to be addressed this off-season as well, but can be done so in the later rounds. I think the Cowboys have the talent to once again be good, but all of the prima donnas will ultimately be the reason they do not go far in the playoffs.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles made an improbable run of barely sneaking in to the playoffs, then coming up one game short of playing in the Super Bowl once again. There are three basic elements that make the Eagles a team to beat every year: McNabb, the Jim Johnson led defense, and Brian Westbrook. If all three of those pieces remain intact and healthy throughout the year, the Eagles will be in the thick of the playoff race ever year. I don’t know why I am even putting down a ‘team needs’ section for Philly. With Andy Reid in charge, it’s almost a given this team will draft some big offensive or defensive lineman. The Eagles made the smart trade with the Panthers last year and now have some ammo to make moves or improve their depth. Both their OT’s are free agents and getting up in age. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them let John Runyan walk, but they will more than likely make an attempt to resign Tra Thomas at the LT spot. Massive RG Shawn Andrews can move out to RT, and OG Max Jean-Gilles can take over his spot at RG. It makes sense and uses the pieces they have in place and trust. But with the depth of the offensive tackle position in this draft, it would not surprise me to see them grab someone with one of their two first round picks. In fact, I think that of all of the teams with multiple first day picks, Philly is the most likely to move up near the top part of the first round. If one of the top rated OT’s starts to slip in to the 6-10 range, it makes economic sense for one of those teams to take picks 21 and 28 and let the Eagles move up for the player they want at the salary number. If Philadelphia stays put, TE and OT have to be the two biggest needs for this team. A top notch TE like Brandon Pettigrew should be there for the picking and he’d make an awful lot of sense for this team even with the emergence of Brent Celak in the postseason. A big RB to compliment Westbrook and to take a bit of the load off od his shoulders would be a huge plus as well. If a Beanie Wells slips like I think he may, it would be awfully hard for the Eagles to pass him up even if he isn’t the biggest need they have. If not in the first, then a Shonn Greene of Iowa in the second would make a lot of sense. Wide receiver seems to have been a problem for this franchise for some time, and I still think they need a more consistent compliment to promising rookie DeSean Jackson. Might that be via a trade with Arizona for Anquan Boldin? It’s a possibility, and it would make a lot of sense. If they don’t get a veteran, I would expect that they look at addressing this position within the first three rounds.

New York Giants

I’m shocked the Giants defense was able to play up to the level it did after losing Strahan to retirement and Umenyiora to season ending injury early. Justin Tuck is the real deal, and he proved to be a force without the benefit of others taking away a second blocker. With a healthy Umenyiora, Tuck, and keeping Mathias Kiwanuka at DE, this defensive line will once again be very dominant. If only they could get another OLB to help upgrade this front seven? What’s that you say? Yes, I agree, Ohio State’s James Laurinaitis would fit perfectly as their first round pick! And instead of me blabbing on about what I think the Giants need, here’s what a die hard Giants fan friend of mine has to say about them:

I think that the Giants have a lot of big decisions to make in the off-season. A huge one is whether or not they should bring back Burress. I personally think that what he did was immature and downright stupid, but coming from purely a performance standpoint, I think that he is an excellent receiver and needs to be on the team. It seems like the offense almost fell apart towards the end of their season, and while they did win games without him, I think all in all they needed him. Dominick Hixon is an OK receiver but he still misses a lot of easy but important passes. Another is resigning Jacobs. I don’t think this should be a question, he is a valuable asset to the team and I don’t want to see him go. I think that the Giants will make the right decision on that one. They are keeping Bradshaw on board and presumably getting rid of Ward which I can live with. It will split up “Earth Wind and Fire” but some things are unavoidable.

Thanks to Alex Crawford for those words of wisdom. There is nothing better than the diehard fan’s perspective of the team, and I have to agree with him as well. I think the Giants need Plex for their offense to be effective, but I don’t think they will stomach him for another year. So that means they need to look early for that same type of receiver (Hakeem Nicks of UNC), or see what Arizona wants for Boldin. I know Bolding and Burress are different receivers, but both are what you would consider ‘game changers’. Another corner and some depth along the OL can be addressed I the later rounds. Other than that this team looks to be in shape to compete for the NFC title for another few years.