Unless you are the type of person who felt the need to care deeply that DeSean Jackson was not at last week’s Redskins OTA’s, then early June marks the start of what is traditionally the quietest time of year for NFL news.
Sounds like it might be time to stir up some controversy then.
Presenting the Redskins Capital Connection All-NFC East 53 man team!
Click here to see the team full-size
This team has been put together by taking into account previous years form, as well as giving some consideration to future potential. With this in mind, no rookies are listed as starters on this team. Rookies who have made the team are denoted with an asterisk, and if they light the world on fire in 2015 have every chance of leapfrogging whichever player is starting ahead of them.
It is important to note that two of the NFC East teams (Dallas and New York) play a 4-3 style defense, whilst the other two (Washington and Philadelphia) play a 3-4 style. This obviously makes it a little difficult to fit certain players into certain positions, as the skill set and body type requirements between a 4-3 DT and a 3-4 NT are obviously different, just for one such example. Therefore, for the sake of completing this task we have chosen to proceed with a 3-4 defense, however we are still plugging in 4-3 players where they deserve to be starters regardless of their base scheme. The moral of the story here is essentially; don’t spend too much time over-complicating the differences between schemes. The best players have gotten a spot on the team regardless.
Now, let’s take a closer look at each position group.
Secondary
It is a sad and telling indictment on the 2014 NFC East cornerbacks that the two starting outside corners on this team, Byron Maxwell and Chris Culliver, are both in their first years with their new teams. Regardless, both seem set to be the clear top 2 corners in the NFC East this year. Brandon Boykin is a great corner working out of the slot for Philadelphia, and earns his starting slot spot here.
Outside of Malcolm Jenkins at Free Safety, you could make arguments for any of the other safeties around the NFC to get a roster spot. It’s a position group that in the NFC East is either filled with unknown entities (Jeron Johnson, Landon Collins) or known quantities who just aren’t that great (Barry Church, Earl Wolff). We’ve given the starting Strong Safety spot on this team to former Seattle Seahawk Jeron Johnson, but if Landon Collins can demonstrate talent and capability at the position, it wouldn’t take much at all for him to be considered the best SS in the division.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Prince Amukamara and Bashaud Breeland are all the backup corners for this squad, and all have demonstrated an ability to play decent football as starters. Breeland especially showed flashes of high potential in 2014, famously locking down Dez Bryant in the Redskins upset victory over Dallas.
Linebackers
Some difficult decisions to be made at this position group, given the diversity of talent and the mix of defensive schemes that are present in the division. Both Connor Barwin and Ryan Kerrigan essentially have to make this team, as both are downright studs. However, both also play the Left Outside Linebacker position in a 3-4 scheme, meaning one of them would have to jump over to the Right side. We have moved Barwin, but really you can flip a coin here.
Inside Linebacker is a tricky position to evaluate in the NFC East. Sean Lee has shown enormous talent, but his durability is of huge concern to Dallas, having only played 17 out of a possible 48 games in the last 3 seasons. Including him in this team may be contentious given that fact, however there really isn’t any other Inside Linebacker we’d have starting at the position over him. Opposite Lee at the other Inside Linebacker spot is Keenan Robinson, who showed in 2014 that he has a fantastic combination of size, speed, and football smarts. Anyone who didn’t watch many Redskins games last year would no doubt take umbrage at his inclusion as a starter on this team, but watch for him to have a breakout year in 2015.
Rolando McClain was an excellent free agent signing for the Cowboys last year, and played well above expectations. If he can stay healthy and focused, there’s no reason to suggest he won’t back that up in 2015. Similarly, Eagles fans will be expecting big things from Kiko Alonso, who looked brilliant as a rookie, only to end up tearing his ACL and missing a large chunk of time. If he returns health in 2015, he should be a solid player.
Defensive Line
Here is where the difficulties that result from trying to mix 3-4 and 4-3 players into one team are the most prominent. Jason Pierre-Paul is elite, but probably a bit under-sized to play a traditional 3-4 DE type of role. That’s why we warned not to spend too much time over-complicating the differences between schemes. Pierre-Paul belongs on this team.
At the Defensive Tackle spot, given that this is a 3-4 team we’re building, we’ve gone with newly signed Redskins Nose Tackle Terrance Knighton over New York Giants Defensive Tackle Johnathan Hankins. Hankins had a very nice 2014 campaign, notching up 7 sacks and impressing all who watched him. But Terrance Knighton is, well… huge. Whilst he’s not the type of player who will put up big statistics in terms of sacks and tackles, what he does do is make his team mates jobs on the defensive line significantly easier; he creates holes, collapses pockets, and in general is a man-mountain. Fletcher Cox, entering his 4th season in the pros, should work exceptionally well sandwiched in between Kerrigan and Knighton.
Randy Gregory is an interesting proposition for this exercise; an undisputed 1st round talent who slid due to off-field concerns, he has the potential to be an explosive and dynamic pass rusher for a Dallas Cowboys defense that needs one.
Demarcus Lawrence, Stephen Paea, and Jason Hatcher are all starters for their respective teams in the NFL, and are versatile and capable backups for this All-NFC East team.
Receivers
Most of the NFL world seems ready to anoint Odell Beckham Jr as the next Randy Moss, but after only 12 games as a pro, we’re not ready to give him a starting outside Receiver slot over Dez Bryant and DeSean Jackson, both of whom are bona fide stars. That said, Beckham Jr’s rookie season campaignwas impressive, and as such he earns himself the starting Slot Receiver spot.
Both Victor Cruz and Pierre Garcon had 2014 seasons that were sub-par compared to their best seasons, but both have demonstrated an ability to be absolute game changers when they are on song. Terrance Williams and Jordan Matthews round out a receiving corps that should be able to put up big scores against any defense.
Offensive Line
Finally it’s Dallas’ time to shine. With three starting Offensive Linemen on this All-NFC East team, Dallas fans can take pride in knowing that their young and elite OL corps is truly the envy of so many other NFL teams.
Philadelphia fans, however, are justified in feeling that their Offensive Line isn’t getting the respect it deserves in the shadow of their division rivals. Evan Mathis, Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce and even Jason Peters (who narrowly missed out on making this team) are all stars in their own right.
For Dallas, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin all make this team as starters, and have had to beat out lofty competition such as Trent Williams to do so.
Rookies Brandon Scherff (Redskins) and La’el Collins (Cowboys) make this roster as backups, because both demonstrate the potential to be downright stars.
Tight End
Jason Witten feels like he’s been in the NFL for decades at this point, so it may surprise some to learn that he’s ‘only’ 33 years old. He’s also still a step above any other Tight End in the division.
Both Jordan Reed and Larry Donnell have shown that they are capable of making big plays, with only injury concerns holding back Reed from taking the next step into competing for the starting spot in this team. No such injury concerns for Donnell, who has played all 16 games in the last two seasons.
Running Back and Fullback
The Running Back position is a juxtaposition of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ in the NFC East. The Eagles poached 2014 rushing yards leader Demarco Murray from Dallas, and also had the temerity to add former Charger Ryan Mathews as well. Dallas, on the other hand, appears to be heading into season 2014 with Darren McFadden atop their depth chart, and similarly in New York, Shane Vereen and Rashad Jennings appear to be competing for the #1 spot on their depth chart.
As we’ve noted on this site previously, Alfred Morris is a reliable and talented workhorse of a Running Back, and is firmly entrenched as the #2 on this team.
Darrel Young is arguably the most under-rated Fullback in the entire NFL. He has a combined 9 touchdowns both on the ground and in the air in his last two seasons, and his ability to be a pass catcher out of the backfield is enormously valuable.
Quarterback
New York Giants fans may feel a bit disgruntled at the prospect of two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning being overlooked, but Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo really is the best pure QB in the NFC East. He is deserving of the starter role on this team.
If Robert Griffin III can ever recapture the magic of his 2012 Rookie of the Year winning season, then he would jump straight back in to the conversation here. Unfortunately, he needs to prove it on the field before that conversation can occur.
Special Teams
When the Cowboys paid Kicker Dan Bailey approximately $48 zillion dollars, they knew that they were locking in one of the most reliable Kickers in the NFL.
Punter Tress Way burst on to the scene in 2014, and there was more than one Redskins game last year where convincing arguments could be made that he was the best Redskins player on the field. A sad fact for Redskins fans last year, but an encouraging fact that now they appear to have unearthed a gem at the position.
Long snappers are tough to evaluate; as long as they don’t botch a snap, then they succeed at their job. That said, only one NFC East Long Snapper demonstrated an extraordinary amount of toughness and resilience by breaking his arm in the first quarter of a game, and playing out the remainder of that game. Therefore, Nick Sundberg gets the spot on this team.
Who missed the cut?
Given the nature of this type of exercise, assembling a team of stars from the entire NFC East, naturally there are going to be some pretty high quality players that don’t make the team. Here are a few who were close, but ultimately missed out;
- DAL – Greg Hardy
- NYG – Steve Weatherford
- PHI – Jason Peters
- PHI – Bennie Logan
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