The Fantasy Points staff recently welcomed NFL Films legend Greg Cosell and NFL Insider Adam Caplan to talk about the NFC East as part of our Virtual Pow-wow Series. We highly encourage you to check out the entire conversation by accessing our Livestream archives.
Cosell and Caplan joined John Hansen and company to break down the NFC East from front to back to help us get a deeper understanding of every roster heading into the summer. Hansen has been holding these closed-door meetings with Cosell and Caplan for the last 15 years. The Fantasy Points staff is proud to let the public peek behind the curtain for the first time ever during these exclusive Livestreams! Here are the notes I compiled from the NFC East, and I included my biggest fantasy takeaways for each team.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys are as talented at the skill positions as any team in the league. They added a lot to the RPO game last season. New HC Mike McCarthy will bring his ideas from West Coast offenses to the table, but OC Kellen Moore is still going to run the offense. They have small concerns along their offensive line with C Travis Frederick retiring and with their WR depth behind their top three options.
Greg said they’ll be shifting and using motion with CeeDee Lamb in the mix because he can lineup anywhere on the field. They’ll look to do what the 49ers did last season to create more free access releases for their wide receivers.
Amari Cooper can line up everywhere, Michael Gallup will be the primarily an X receiver, and Lamb is best in motion. Greg thought Gallup could develop into a #1 WR and a quality X receiver coming out of Colorado State. Jarwin can also detach from the formation
Scott said Amari Cooper has been much better in the slot, averaging 2.37 yards per route run out of the slot.
Blake Jarwin is a very dynamic weapon, and he should be a red-zone weapon this season. He’s far more athletic than Jason Witten. He was a free agent coming out of Oklahoma State but Greg thought he was a draftable player. He adds another dimension to this already potent offense.
McCarthy is going to run 11 personnel quite a bit as he did in Green Bay. Graham said the Packers ranked in the top six in 11-personnel usage every season in 2012-18. It could lead to fewer stacked boxes for Ezekiel Elliott this season and it could lead to more efficiency for him if teams start playing more nickel defense against their heavy 11 personnel. If defenses stay in their base defense to slow down Zeke, the Cowboys will throw the ball more on early downs. Moore showed last year that his focus is a little more on throwing the ball than we were used to seeing under previous Jason Garrett regimes.
Greg loved Trevon Diggs coming out of Alabama, but Anthony Brown and Chidobe Awuzie should be the outside CBs to start the season with Jordan Lewis playing in the slot. Brown has been up and down during his career, and Awuzie could eventually move to safety. The way to beat them is to throw at them.
At his core, Mike Nolan is a little more aggressive than we’ve seen from Rod Marinelli. They’ll use more designed pressures.
Brolley’s Fantasy Takeaways
I’d recommend getting pieces of the Cowboys offense anyway you possibly can. They could challenge to have the league’s best offense this season, and they’re shaky defense figures to have them pressing on the gas for 60 minutes most weeks. Opposing defenses are going to have to pick their poison going against the Cowboys next season when they’re in 11 personnel on early downs. They’ll either take their chances slowing down Ezekiel Elliott with nickel defenses or they’ll hope that Dak Prescott won’t carve up their base defense with his outstanding trio of receivers. Either way, this Cowboys offense figures to put up massive yardage and point totals once again this season so get your pieces of this offense when you can.
I was ready to go all-in on Blake Jarwin as one of my favorite TE2 picks, but I backed way off after CeeDee Lamb fell into the Cowboys’ laps during the draft. I’m still having a tough time getting there with him since he projects to be the #4 receiver and the #6 weapon in an offense with a bunch of players who command the rock, but he still has the profile of a player I like to target. He’s an ascending young player with big-play ability who’s finally getting his chance to play in one of the league’s best offenses. Jace Sternberger has a similar profile, and he’s one of my favorite TE2s. Jarwin may need an injury in front of him to fully break out, but at least the Cowboys receiver depth chart is top-heavy.
New York Giants
Greg likes Daniel Jones and he thought he played well last season. He was efficient and tough in the pocket but his fumbles have to be cleaned up. He played well considering their O-line wasn’t great and their receivers weren’t healthy last year. Jones wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger as a thrower and he had pocket toughness — stood in the pocket and delivered.
Jason Garrett will bring more formation diversity. Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard are slot receivers, but they have to be on the field at the same time. Darius Slayton showed flashes of being a meaningful vertical receiver. He’ll be the X receiver like Michael Gallup was last season under Garrett. Evan Engram is a game-breaker at TE, but he needs to stay on the field. Garrett will bounce around to 11 and 12 personnel.
Garrett is a better offensive mind than he gets credit for, and he knows how to use his personnel. He’s also good working with quarterbacks, and he’s going to work hard on cleaning up Jones ball-security issues
Scott thinks Tate is underrated all the time because he’s elite after the catch. Shepard has struggled on the outside and Tate should get most of the slot opportunities.
Dion Lewis didn’t play well last season. He’s the handcuff right now, but Adam wouldn’t be surprised if Wayne Gallman pushes him for the role.
Kaden Smith doesn’t move really well, but he’s a big target if Engram can’t stay healthy again.
Graham wants all the Giants skill players this season. Saquon Barkley came back too early from his ankle injury. This defense is going to stink and it’s going to force them to throw a bunch. Their offense is undervalued for fantasy right now.
Cornerback DeAndre Baker is having some problems with the law now. They brought in DC Patrick Graham to scheme pressure because they couldn’t create pressure last season. Greg thought they made a great pick to get Xavier McKinney. They theoretically have two safeties with similar skill sets in McKinney and Jabrill Peppers. McKinney could play more in the slot. This isn’t a higher level defense, but they should improve as the season goes along. They could play more man-to-man coverage with Graham and Joe Judge’s backgrounds with the Patriots.
Brolley’s Fantasy Takeaways
- I’ve drafted Daniel Jones as my first QB the most in my early best-ball drafts this spring with his 10th-round ADP, and our meeting did nothing to tamp down my excitement for the second-year player. Jones turned the ball over a ton as a rookie (23 times in 13 games), but he had to deal with a decimated skill group behind some shoddy pass protection. This offense has the potential to take a big step forward in Year Two under Jones, but they will need to get on the same page quickly under new OC Jason Garrett.
- I would think twice about using a draft pick on Dion Lewis if you’re looking to handcuff your Saquon Barkley pick at 1.02. The Giants signed him to a just one-year deal, and he’ll be in a camp battle for the #2 spot with Wayne Gallman.
Philadelphia Eagles
Carson Wentz is a big physically imposing QB. He can make big throws and make second-reaction plays, but he’s probably always going to be a guy that misses a few throws that he should make. Wentz has an aggressive mindset, and the Eagles didn’t have the players to play that way last season. The Eagles have the players now after they loaded up on speed during the draft. They’ll be more aggressive with intermediate and vertical throws.
A coach from another team told Adam that Jalen Reagor is one of the most physically gifted receivers at his size that he’s seen. Reagor can line up everywhere and he’s a playmaker. His hands are a bit of an issue.
The Eagles may have the fastest WRs outside of Kansas City’s wide receivers, but they’re also very young at the position. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside was hurt last year. John Hightower should’ve been drafted higher. They wanted to get a veteran in the mix so they traded for Marquise Goodwin. Alshon Jeffery is very questionable to be ready for Week 1.
The targets in this offense are still going to run through tight ends, and they’ll play a lot of 12 personnel once again. Dallas Goedert was never completely healthy after suffering a calf injury early in training camp. He played through the injury for essentially all of last season. Zach Ertz is great against zone coverage and Goedert is the better player against man coverage and after the catch. The additional speed down the field should open things up for Ertz and Goedert in the middle of the field this season.
Adam predicts Ertz, Reagor, and DeSean/Goedert will finish as the top-three in targets this season. DeSean doesn’t command targets.
Miles Sanders is a very good receiver, and he’s going to be featured even more in the passing game this season, but he won’t be a workhorse back with an Ezekiel Elliot level of carries. Greg really liked Sanders’ tape coming out of Penn State, ranking just behind Josh Jacobs last year.
Adam thinks Sanders will get 15-18 touches per game, with 12-14 carries and 3-5 catches. He ran by defenders a bunch last year, and he cleaned up his ball-security issues from college. They still want a power runner to finish the game with a lead and to give Sanders a breather early in games. They’re looking at Carlos Hyde and Devonta Freeman. Corey Clement hasn’t looked the same since 2017.
Greg thinks Sanders could push for 90-100 targets this season after getting 63 with a limited role in the first half of the season.
Adam thinks Nate Sudfeld will be #2 QB this season but Jalen Hurts is the backup of the future. Wentz wasn’t on the injury report at any point last season, but the Jadeveon Clowney cheap shot knocked him out. They were looking to sign Joe Flacco six weeks ago before he needed neck surgery.
Greg said in an ideal world the Eagles don’t want to use Hurts, but they’re also fascinated by what Lamar Jackson did last season. Hurts fills both a backup role and he can be a package player. Hurts had an up-and-down college career. He perceived pressure a lot because of his excellent secondary reaction skills. Hurts has a lot of work to do to be an NFL quarterback, but he’s improved every year of his career.
Adam thinks Darius Slay will travel with top WRs this season. They were planning on shadowing if they traded for Jalen Ramsey last season. Jim Schwartz coaches to the talent that is given to him. This defense is built on the pass rush and they should get to the quarterback this season. They’re relying on their front four to speed up opposing quarterbacks.
Brolley’s Fantasy Takeaways
Miles Sanders’ fantasy value is going to get hurt when the Eagles seemingly do the inevitable and sign an early-down thumper, but it could create a great buying opportunity for us. He’s currently being drafted toward the beginning of the second round in BestBall10s, but we’ll likely see his ADP drop a bit. If that happens, a running back like Austin Ekeler will likely be drafted in front of Sanders this summer. Ekeler, like Sanders, is also typically being drafted in the early second round. Ekeler is facing a similar type of playing-time situation next to a couple of early-down runners in a far worse environment with QBs Tyrod Taylor/Justin Herbert and HC Anthony Lynn. Sanders receiving potential has yet to be maximized while Ekeler will be facing a severe regression with Philip Rivers gone.
Carson Wentz is going to put together a massive season in the near future. He plays with an aggressive, downfield approach and he now has the speed at WR that plays to his strengths. He already had a potentially elite receiving back in Miles Sanders and a pair of stud TEs at his disposal. I’m going to continue to draft Wentz aggressively until his massive season comes.
I won’t have any Zach Ertz shares this season if he keeps getting drafted ahead of Mark Andrews in the top-50 picks. Dallas Goedert played through a calf injury throughout the 2019 season, and he may soon be the better weapon in this passing attack with Ertz entering his 30s this season. The Eagles also significantly improved their WR corps during the draft this season. The new WRs could help him make bigger plays in the middle of the field if safeties have to account for their speed on the perimeter, but it will also trim down his target share.
Washington Redskins
Dwayne Haskins showed incremental improvement last season. He doesn’t have quick feet but his movement in the pocket improved as the year went along. Haskins lost some weight this off-season, which should help his second-reaction movement in the pocket this season. Kyle Allen knows the offense but the talent is with Haskins
Terry McLaurin has dynamic quickness and speed. He showed the vertical speed at Ohio State, which initially put him in the Will Fuller category. McLaurin showed he was more than that last season He has instant acceleration on shorter routes like Henry Ruggs in this year’s draft. McLaurin even lined up at X at times last season, which Greg didn’t see happening when he came out.
McLaurin didn’t put up a lot of production in college, but he put himself on the map with his Senior Bowl. They have no one else to depend on at receiver.
The Redskins told us what their offense is going to be based on their off-season decisions. This is going to be a run-based offense that will go through Derrius Guice and Adrian Peterson. They need to figure out how to use Gibson. Scott Turner called plays for Christian McCaffrey last season, and they could use Gibson in similar ways. Greg saw Gibson more as a slot receiver coming into the league. He’s a big guy with a wide-catching radius.
They may be going to a run-heavy approach, but they have potential concerns on the left side of this O-line with Cornelius Lucas and Wes Schweitzer. Lucas is a big man (6’8”), but he's a journeyman player on his fifth team since he came into the league in 2014. Saahdiq Charles was a first-round talent but he lacked execution at LSU.
Greg thinks the Redskins are going to have a much better defense than people think. It’s going to be the strength of this team. The Redskins are going to be an old-school team. They’re going to control the ball with the running game, they’re going to play strong defense, and they’ll see if they win games late by keeping games tight until the fourth quarter.
Brolley’s Fantasy Takeaways
Terry McLaurin showed massive potential last season, especially when he played with veteran QB Case Keenum. Unfortunately, he’s stuck in the worst pass-game environment heading into the 2020 season. The Redskins are going to operate a run-based attack with the worst quarterback duo in the league between Dwayne Haskins and Kyle Allen. McLaurin will be fed targets as the focal point of this passing attack since they don’t have a viable second receiver on their roster, but they may not be quality looks. I’ll be getting some shares of McLaurin this summer in case he continues his ascent and/or Haskins takes a leap in his second season, but I can’t go all-in on him because his quarterback play could drag him down.
Antonio Gibson is the perfect late-round running back to target in both best-ball and re-draft formats. He has an incredibly wide-range of outcomes with a potentially huge ceiling and a rock-bottom floor, but I’m always looking for upside options late in drafts. The Redskins will be trying to figure out how to get him involved in some capacity every week, and we’ll see if his rarely used explosive traits from college will translate to the NFL. The Redskins want to run the rock every week, and Gibson has a path to significant touches with 35-year-old Adrian Peterson and injury-riddled Derrius Guice leading the Redskins RB depth chart.
