Biggest remaining needs for each NFC East team

Continuing my series on the biggest positional needs for each NFC team after free agency and the draft, I'm taking a look at all four teams in the East. Once again this can be a starter or some depth at a position. Here we go:

Dallas Cowboys – No. 1 wide receiver

I think I was one of the few guys out there who didn’t pick the Cowboys to go to the playoff last year. I also told everybody to pump the breaks a little on quarterback Dak Prescott. He had a phenomenal rookie campaign and I still believe he should be their guy going forward, but he is a QB who needs to see his receivers run open and get the ball to them, instead of throwing them open with his arm.

I loved watching him at Mississippi State because of his leadership and heart, but there is a reason he fell to the fourth round – his arm talent is average and he has yet to prove he can beat man-coverage consistently. That doesn’t mean he can’t be successful in this league, but with the uncertainty surrounding Ezekiel Elliott I didn’t think they would make it to the postseason and I still believe he needs a go-to target he trusts to win one-on-one matchups.

Even though he didn’t seem to have a great connection with Dez Bryant and number 88 didn’t create separation based on pure athleticism anymore, Dallas didn’t replace the X receiver. I thought they got extremely lucky in the draft, with Colorado State’s Michael Gallup and Boise State’s Cedrick falling right into their lap, in the third and sixth round respectively. Allen Hurns and Deonte Thompson are solid free-agent acquisitions, especially with a suspension looming for Terrance Williams.

However, none of those guys is ready to be true number one receivers. I think Gallup will start at X, Hurns slides in at Z and Cole Beasley makes for a security blanket in the slot, but I don’t think any of those guys or the players on the depth chart are ready to be the go-to receiver when it’s 3&8 and the Cowboys desperately need a first down.

New York Giants – Right tackle

Sorry, but I’m out on Ereck Flowers. After I heard reports on how he was working his butt off last offseason, I hoped he would develop into a quality tackle for the G-Men, but he was miserable on the left side and was embarrassed by the Lions’ Ziggy Ansah on national television early on in the season.

Now he is in his feelings because the Giants signed a cornerstone left tackle in Nate Solder and moved him to the opposite end? Give me a break, man. With the draft acquisitions of Penn State running back Saquon Barkley and UTEP guard Will Hernandez, they immediately boosted their rushing attack in a major way.

Odell Beckham Jr. will be back healthy to go with an excellent young slot receiver in Sterling Shepard and the dynamic tight-end Evan Engram. This offense has some firepower now and while they haven’t done anything to replace Brandon Marshall as their big-bodied wide receiver, I think it’s the third-year right tackle that could hold them back.

Defensively, they might be forced to rely on rookies at outside linebacker, now that they have converted to a 3-4 base scheme under new defensive coordinator James Bettcher, and nickelback, but I think they will be aggressive and creative on that side of the ball no matter what.

Realistically speaking some more cover-guys might be a higher priority when I look at their roster, but I’m too annoyed by a young offensive tackle, who shows up late for the workouts he desperately needs, because he is upset with the organization for bringing in a new blindside protector for their 37-year-old signal-caller.

Philadelphia Eagles – Power back

After winning a Super Bowl trophy without their starting quarterback, left tackle, middle linebacker, third-down back and top special teams players, and then improving their roster, there’s not much the Eagles are lacking in their personnel. Their offensive and defensive lines are ridiculous, they have weapons on the perimeter and inside, they get their first glimpses at cornerback Sidney Jones, who they drafted out of Washington coming off an Achilles surgery and they resigned linebacker Nigel Bradham, who I thought was a top ten off-the-ball linebacker last season.

The only people they lost that might actually hurt them are in their coaching staff, as former QB coach John DeFilippo was hired as the offensive coordinator of the Vikings and Frank Reich took the head coach vacancy with the Colts, once Josh McDaniels left them hanging high and dry. If I had to point out a position they could use some help at, it would be a power runner.

LeGarrette Blount is off to Detroit and the Eagles are loaded with smaller running backs. Jay Ajayi can run through some people and impose his will, but he is not the hammer Blount was for them, and behind him, they have Corey Clement, Wendell Smallwood, Darren Sproles and Donnel Pumphrey, who are all smaller, shiftier guys and will have their roles in the passing and return game.

The Eagles just signed Matt Jones, who I never understood the hype around to kind of give them a similar body, but if one guy on this roster can give them anything like that, it’s undrafted free agent Josh Adams in my opinion. The former Notre Dame back doesn’t show very good vision or creativity in the open field, but if you let him run downhill on gap-schemes, he has the speed and leg-drive to make an impact.

Washington Redskins – Offensive line depth

This has been kind of a weird offseason for Washington. First, they traded a third-round pick and a promising young cornerback in Kendall Fuller to the Chiefs for quarterback Alex Smith. This signaled that they were done with the Kirk Cousins saga, as he became a very rich man soon after.

I don’t think this team got better at the position and thinking that they had to give up quite a bit for an older signal-caller, dealing with a team in Kansas City that already had their future guy sitting behind him, was pretty confusing to me. In the draft, they surprised me once again when they decided to select Alabama defensive lineman Da’Ron Payne ahead of guys like Tremaine Edmunds, Derwin James and Jaire Alexander.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the big fella a lot, but I thought all of those three were better positional prospects. However, with Orlando Scandrick coming over from Dallas, Fabian Moreau, who I would have had as a top 50 prospect last year if he was healthy, and D.J. Swearinger leading the secondary, I think they are okay with what they have.

They could have used an upgrade at MIKE, but let’s go back to the offense. Terrell Pryor was ineffective for Washington before going on IR, so they replaced him with Paul Richardson and Josh Doctson should emerge as one of the bright young talents at the position. More importantly, second-round steal Derrius Guice gives them a workhorse at RB.

The Redskins had about 900 different offensive line combinations last season and all they added this offseason was one offensive tackle in the draft. The starting five is looking strong, but they should be cautious. I like Geron Christian, who they selected out of Louisville in the third round, but he is more of a developmental prospect and if they have similar bad luck up front this season, they are doomed.