Biggest remaining needs for each team in the NFC

NFC East

Dak Prescott

Dallas Cowboys – Linebacker depth

Man, that Cowboys roster is just loaded. While there is no way I would give Dak Prescott 30 million a year because of all that talent around him looking to get paid eventually, they should be considered as serious contenders in the NFC simply because of how that starting 22 looks like.

It would include one of the top offensive lines if Travis Frederick is back healthy, easily a top five running back in the league, now a true number one receiver making things easier for all those other guys, an aggressive defensive line, one of the best cornerback duos out there and an absolute phenomenal trio of linebackers.

That combination of Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch and Sean Lee might be the best in the league, but we already know Lee will miss time eventually, as he always does and Dallas has no obvious next guy up. They have lost both Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson to the Chiefs these last two years and their depth chart behind their starting three looks pretty thin.

Justin Lillard-March and Chris Covington look to be the two true stand-up backers they would carry with them on gamedays, with the first of them not even reaching 30 tackles in five years on four different teams and the second making just one stop all year as a rookie.

Even though two of their defensive linemen from last year are now out of the league, I think the Cowboys made enough additions via free agency and the draft to sustain that type of pass rush, but if one of their three LBs goes down, they will have to do some reshuffling again.

New York Giants – Outside receiver

I don’t want to beat a dead horse and point out the obvious, but since I see this as the Giants' biggest need, I think I should mention what they got out of trading Odell Beckham Jr. to Cleveland. Considering that Olivier Vernon for Kevin Zeitler deal was pretty much done and would have been a separate trade otherwise, this is what the Giants got in exchange for one of the most talented receivers of all time – Clemson D-tackle Dexter Lawrence at 17th overall, Old Dominion edge rusher Oshane Ximines at 95th overall and third-year safety Jabrill Peppers.

Are you kidding me? Don’t get me wrong, I really liked Lawrence coming out, but the Giants just drafted a nose tackle last year in Dalvin Tomlinson and they have also got B.J. Hill if they wanted to use him in more of a penetrating role. I think Ximines was a guy who you could see really work on his craft, but he is kind of a segmented mover without any athletic traits that stand out. And I’m a big fan of Jabrill Peppers, but they basically had the same player in Landon Collins, who they got some big trade offers mid-season and ended up giving up for nothing.

All these Dave Gettleman plans seem to make no sense and with the selection of Daniel Jones sixth overall, who I didn’t even have among my top 100 for the draft, that only puts the cherry on the cake. So now Big Blue is in serious need of an outside receiver, because they have two slot guys in Sterling Shephard and Golden Tate, who I also like a lot but now take up a large amount of money for primarily inside receivers.

The other guys are Bennie Fowler, Cody Latimer and first-round bust Corey Coleman. None of those guys really threaten teams vertically, although I have to say I don’t see Manning throwing the ball more than 20 yards frequently anyway.

Philadelphia Eagles – SAM linebacker

The same way I predicted that the Eagles would win double-digit games ahead of the 2017 season, I thought they would take a step back last year because of the health of Carson Wentz, major losses among the coaching staff and better competition in their division. They obviously did decline, but somehow they still managed to win a playoff game on the road in the Windy City thanks to that double-doink field goal miss.

There won’t be any Nick Foles magic this year with him signing for Jacksonville, but Wentz should be fully healthy again and I’m back on the Eagles bandwagon, because I still see a very talented team. They just added a first-round offensive tackle who will eventually replace Jason Peters and at least gives them a capable backup this year, another big-bodied target for their quarterback in Stanford’s J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, their group of running backs is really improved and despite some losses on the D-line, acquiring Malik Jackson should keep them equally disruptive.

Last year I struggled to make sense of their cornerback depth chart, but with the way Avonte Maddox stepped up late in the year, having Sidney Jones live up to the potential as a first-round prospect before tearing his ACL at the Washington pro day a little more than two years ago. However, the one spot I see a need for improvement is at strong-side linebacker.

Nigel Bradham and Zach Brown should be an excellent combination for those other two positions, but Kamu Grugier-Hill’s name only ever came up when he made some cocky comments ahead of their game against the Cowboys last season.

Given how much NFL teams use sub-packages and only leave two LBs on the field anyway, I usually wouldn’t worry about that third guy, but in a division with the Cowboys, Redskins and Giants, you need to be able to stop the run.

Washington Redskins – Boundary cornerback

I was ready to hype up the Redskins for the juggernaut they have built on defense, one of the dominant offensive lines when healthy, getting my number two quarterback in the draft without moving up at all and grabbing some playmakers around him. However, once again Washington is the most unlucky team when it comes to injuries, as they just lost linebacker Reuben Foster for the season due to a torn ACL during a walkthrough in practice.

It is unbelievable to think of what they have endured these last few years, especially on the O-line, but also with Alex Smith suffering that horrific leg injury and now a highly talented young linebacker, whose career has been marked by accusations and being banged up. So that means they are not nearly as dynamic at MIKE as they were with Foster, but that defense is still loaded with two other Bama boys plugging up the middle, one of the most underrated players in the league in Ryan Kerrigan taking a size/speed freak in Montez Sweat under his wing, Landon Collins now coming over from the division-rival Giants and Josh Norman talking trash, even though he seems to be better at that than covering guys.

However, when I look at their roster I see a bunch of slot corners with Fabian Moreau, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Greg Stroman and seventh-round pick Jimmy Moreland from James Madison. All those guys have either been nickelbacks in the league or have the skill-set to be better in that role. The guy I expect to move outside is Moreau, which would make inside backer the biggest need once again.