Top 10 NFC East Players for 2020

Despite being one of the weakest divisions in the NFL, the NFC East does have some good talent. Sure, the division’s two alpha dogs, the Eagles and the Cowboys, employ most of those really good players, but there are also few on the Giants and Washington rosters (though you have to squint to see them).

Compiling a list of the top 10 players in a sport like soccer is difficult because each job is tasked with doing very different things. How does a center compare to a corridor? Or a precipitator for a quarterback? PFF helps with some of its ratings, but those are not gospel.

All things considered, here is my pick for the top 10 players in the NFC East. You certainly will not agree with this list. (Don’t forget to check the podcast version of this topic on BGN Radio!)

1. Lane Johnson – OT – Philadelphia

I was back and forth between Johnson and the guy immediately following on this list, but at the end of the day, the offensive tackle is a bit more crucial to the offense than an inside guard, and Johnson is one of the best, if not the Better, right tackle in football. Last year, in 759 offensive snapshots he allowed a loot and committed five penalties throughout the season, with a PFF rating of 88.8. And now, with Brandon Brooks out of season with a ripped Achilles, Johnson’s ability to anchor the right side of the line will be even more difficult with Matt Pryor likely taking over directly to his left. Lane Johnson is the best player in the NFC East gang.

2. Zack Martin – OG – Dallas

It was initially going to put Martin at the top of the list, given his status as one of the game’s elite offensive guards. He played 1,114 snapshots, allowed zero sacks and committed only two penalties throughout the season. His PFF rating of 88.1 was slightly lower than Johnson’s, and his ability to produce in the running game made him a very close second. Martin is a stud.

3. Fletcher Cox – DT – Philadelphia

Cox had just 3.5 sacks last year, which was obviously not as good, but he also spent most of the offseason and the first part of the regular season dealing with a toe injury he suffered in the divisional round. against the New Orleans Saints. last year. He was supposed to have Malik Jackson rushing the passerby by his side to ease the pressure, but Jackson missed it in Week 1 of the season. Now, Cox has Jackson back, and the team added another internal pass racing specialist at Javon Hargraves. Between getting a little more help and being completely healthy to start the season, Cox should respond with a one-year career, and when he does, he will re-establish himself as a potential Defensive Player of the Year.

4. Saquon Barkley – RB – New York

A year after leading all NFL players in scrimmage yards (2,028), Barkley missed three games due to injury, but still finished with 1,441 scrimmage yards and 1,003 yards rushing, including this ridiculous run against the Eagles at Week 17.

Barkley manages to scare every defense while playing on a team that has almost no players anywhere else. Runners have been devalued in recent years, but Barkley is easily one of the top five players in the NFC East.

5. Jason Kelce – C – Philadelphia

Please don’t withdraw, Jason. Never.

Kelce played 1,163 snapshots last year, committed three penalties, allowed two sacks and had a PFF rating of 81.0. His ability to get on the field in the running game and help diagnose defenses with Carson Wentz makes him an invaluable offensive member of Doug Pederson, the No. 5 player in the division.

6. La’El Collins – OT – Dallas

If Lane Johnson is the best offensive tackle in the NFC East, Collins is right behind him. His PFF rating of 86.4 is outstanding and he gave up just two sacks and committed just five penalties on 1,000 shots last season, protecting Dak and opening running lanes for Elliot. Dude is a stud and will remain one for a long time. If you have it higher on your list, I wouldn’t blame you.

7. Darius Slay – CB – Philadelphia

Last week I was asked if the Eagles have the best secondary in the division and the answer is surprising, yes. The main reason for this is the addition of Slay, the only true No. 1 cornerback in the division. The former Detroit Lion star is Philadelphia’s first true closing corner since Asante Samuel, though Samuel didn’t close receivers as much as the big plays more often than most. Slay should be able to block the opposing team’s best weapon, the only person in the NFC East capable of doing so.

8. Gerald McCoy – DT – Dallas

McCoy is a professional bowler six times, but has not done so in the past two years. He finished with five sacks last season, one and a half more than Cox, but it was still his lowest total in seven years. He’ll turn 32 this year and will certainly be a force inside the Cowboys’ D-line, but he’s slightly behind Cox in the division’s tackling hierarchy.

9. Ezekiel Elliott – RB – Dallas

It’s a very close race between Elliott and Barkley as to who is the best running back in the NFC East, a division that, with Miles Sanders, has three very talented running backs. In terms of pure talent, Barkley is better, but if you had Elliott ahead of Barkley for the fact that he led the league in rushing yards in two of his four years and totaled 1,777 yards of scrimmage last year, he couldn’t blame you. If I started a team and needed a runner, I’d take Barkley, but Elliott would be very close.

10. Carson Wentz – QB – Philadelphia

I felt that no article involving the Eagles and Cowboys would be complete without some sort of Carson vs. debate. Dak, and I wanted to put one of the QBs at No. 10 on the list and I chose Wentz. Honestly, I debated it in my head for quite some time. Prescott has been remarkably consistent in his four years and has been less injury prone. That is just the honest truth. But Wentz, in 2017, demonstrated that he has the ability to play at a level similar to the MVP and, for the last month of last season, he outplayed Prescott as the two fought for the division title, with Wentz having far less help. in skill. stalls.

Again, if I had to choose one of these two QBs to start my franchise, I would choose Wentz, but it’s a very, very close decision. Wentz has been inconsistent since the 2017 season, but if both players had the same talent as a wide receiver, and if Wentz had the benefit of a dynamic game for his entire career, as Prescott has, the gap between these two would not be so close as things are.

Just lost

Leading runner DeMarcus Lawrence was hard to get off this list, as were greats Amari Cooper and Prescott. Cooper likely would have been included in the top 10, but faded late last year due to injuries, and his home / highway splits are cause for concern. But he’s clearly the best wide receiver in the division, and as for Prescott, I almost put him at number 10 instead of Wentz.

You will notice that Washington has no top 10 players. That is one of the reasons they chose No. 2 in the NFL Draft this spring. I wanted to put Chase Young in the first round of the list, because I think he will have an immediate impact as an advantage runner, but it was difficult to have him ahead of some of the more experienced players on this list. Ryan Kerrigan has been a beast for nine years and has almost also made it into the top 10, but his 5.5 sacks last season indicate that his years as an elite runner are behind him.

Terry McLaurin hardly missed it too. His 58 catches for 919 yards and 7 touchdowns as a rookie indicate that great things await him, and he could overtake Amari Cooper as the best scorer in the division at the end of this season.

New York should improve a lot this year, but when you look at their roster, there isn’t a ton of elite talent. We’ll see what Daniel Jones does in his second season, and first-round pick Andrew Thomas could be an impact offensive tackle in the league for years, but he’s a rookie and he has to prove it first. Wide receiver Darius Slayton showed some promise and sparkle in his rookie season, but he’s clearly not a top-10 player in the NFC East yet.

And there were several Eagles players who also deserved consideration. If the forecasters are correct and their production run at the end of the season is an indication, Miles Sanders could be in for a very big season like the Birds bell. Closed ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert move away from each other, slightly silencing the value of the others, but they are the two best closed ends in the division. And Brandon Graham continues to be one of the most underrated players in the NFL, and he bounced very well with 8.5 sacks last year in his 31-year season.

What do you think of my list? Leave a comment in the section below.