NFL DRAFT NEEDS: NFC EAST

The NFC East was the NFC Beast last season. The Eagles, Cowboys and Giants battled all year long and the Commanders were competitive. The Eagles made a significant jump from a Wild Card participant in 2021 to Super Bowl participant in 2022. That upward trajectory was given a major boost on Draft Night 2022 when they traded for AJ Brown. The Cowboys had another double digit victory season, but still haven’t played in the NFC Championship Game since January of 1996. Will the Cowboys ever get out of their own way? The Giants came out of nowhere under the first year tutelage of Brian Dabol. Daniel Jones was efficient and Saquan Barkley was resurgent. Their playoff spot in 2022 has put lofty expectations on the 2023 version. The Commanders were very competitive but they still did not resolve their QB situation.

I have laid out the current state of each franchise in the NFC East below. We’ll review their current issues, draft needs and draft prospect targets for their first draft selection in 2023. The Eagles have 2 First Round selections, but I could see them trading down from 30th Overall. The Cowboys and Giants are in Win Now mode, so they could trade up. The Commanders have multiple needs, so they could be in line to trade down and collect more picks.

If you are looking for positional rankings of the draft eligible players on offense and defense, we have you covered at Spinnable Sports. You can also find my Top 105 NFL Draft Prospects and Mock Draft 2.0: 3 Round Mock Draft in the same spot. The Irrational Confidence Podcast (@IRConfidencePod on Twitter) will be dropping our Live Mock Draft Episode very soon. You can find The Irrational Confidence Podcast on any podcast platform as well as the Spinnable Sports YouTube Channel.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES:

CURRENT ISSUES:

• SUPER BOWL HANGOVER?
• REPLACING MILES SANDERS AND CJ GARDNER-JOHNSON
• CAN LANE JOHNSON HOLD UP AT RT FOR ANOTHER YEAR?
• GETTING JALEN HURTS SIGNED TO A LONGTERM EXTENSION
• LOSING YOUR OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR & DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

TEAM DRAFT NEEDS:

• RB
• OT
• S
• EDGE
• WR

TARGETS FOR 1ST RD SELECTIONS:

• RB. BIJAN ROBINSON. (TEXAS)
• OT. PARIS JOHNSON JR. (OHIO STATE)
• EDGE. NOLAN SMITH. (GEORGIA)
• EDGE. MYLES MURPHY. (CLEMSON)
• OT. BRODERICK JONES. (GEORGIA)

DALLAS COWBOYS:

CURRENT ISSUES:

• HAVEN’T PLAYED IN THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME SINCE JANUARY 1996
• LACK OF #1 TE
• RB DEPTH
• HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE OF DAK PRESCOTT AND THE OFFENSIVE LINE
• JERRY JONES STILL TOO INVOLVED IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE ROSTER

TEAM DRAFT NEEDS:

• WR
• TE
• OL
• DL
• RB

TARGETS FOR 1ST RD SELECTION:

• WR. ZAY FLOWERS. (BOSTON COLLEGE)
• WR. JOSH DOWNS. (UNC)
• TE. DALTON KINCAID. (UTAH)
• TE. MICHAEL MAYER. (NOTRE DAME)
• TE. DARNELL WASHINGTON. (GEORGIA)
• OT. DARNELL WRIGHT. (TENNESSEE)
• C/ OG. O’CYRUS TORRENCE. (FLORIDA)
• RB. BIJAN ROBINSON. (TEXAS)

NEW YORK GIANTS:

CURRENT ISSUES:

• DEPTH AT WIDE RECEIVER
• 1 YEAR WONDERS OR READY FOR SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS?
• WAS LAST YEAR AN ABERRATION OR SIGN OF TRUE GROWTH FOR DANIEL JONES?
• DEPTH ON DEFENSE
• SALARY CAP CONSTRAINTS…PER OverTheCap.com, THE GIANTS ARE 30TH IN CAP SPACE, WITH $2.29 MILLION AND ARE ACTUALLY $653,731 OVER THE CAP IN TERMS OF EFFECTIVE CAP SPACE.

TEAM DRAFT NEEDS:

• WR
• OL
• DL
• LB
• CB

TARGETS FOR 1ST RD SELECTION:

• WR. ZAY FLOWERS. (BOSTON COLLEGE)
• WR. JOSH DOWNS. (UNC)
• WR. JALIN HYATT. (TENNESSEE)
• C / OG. O’CYRUS TORRENCE. (FLORIDA)
• CB. DEONTE BANKS. (MARYLAND)
• CB. KELEE RINGO. (GEORGIA)
• CB. CAM SMITH. (SOUTH CAROLINA)
• CB. EMMANUEL FORBES. (MISSISSIPPI STATE)

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS:

CURRENT ISSUES:

• CURRENT OWNERSHIP (WORST OWNERS IN AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS)
• UNPROVEN QUARTERBACK IN SAM HOWELL
• LACK OF TALENT IN THE SECONDARY
• CAN CHASE YOUNG RETURN TO 2021 DOMINANCE AFTER MISSING 2022 DURING SURGERY RECOVERY?
• CAN ERIC BIENIEMY DEVELOP SAM HOWELL AND THIS OFFENSE
• SALARY CAP RESTRAINTS…PER OverTheCap.com, THE COMMANDERS ARE 29TH IN CAP SPACE WITH $2.4 MILLION AND ARE ACTUALLY $1.1 MILLION OVER THE LIMIT IN EFFECTIVE CAP SPACE

TEAM DRAFT NEEDS:

• CB
• S
• LB
• EDGE
• OL
• QB
• WR

TARGETS FOR 1ST RD SELECTION:

• CB. DEONTE BANKS. (MARYLAND)
• CB. KELEE RINGO. (GEORGIA)
• CB. CAM SMITH. (SOUTH CAROLINA)
• EDGE. TYREE WILSON. (TEXAS TECH)
• EDGE. MYLES MURPHY. (CLEMSON)
• S. BRIAN BRANCH. (ALABAMA)
• QB. WILL LEVIS. (KENTUCKY)
• QB. ANTHONY RICHARDSON. (FLORIDA)

This is the fifth installment of my draft need odyssey through the 8 NFL divisions. The next installment will be the NFC North, followed by the NFC South and NFC West. If you’re looking for the AFC, checkout Spinnable Sports.