The first full-attendance training camp session for the Eagles is coming up on July 26. Now is as good a time as any to take a peek around the Division and assess how our team’s offense compares to the star power personnel rankings of our NFC East competition.
It’s all theoretical at this stage, of course, as unexpected things are bound to happen to all four teams in the division. But deciding what players you think deserve to be All-NFC-East honorees might spark some entertaining late summer conversation.
Just to kick it off, here is a section of a recent sportswriters poll taken by 24-7 Sports— I’ve left out the All-Defense team and focused only on the Offense. You can look at their All-Defense poll results here if you wish.
Remember the debate surrounding Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott? Wentz has taken a commanding lead after an amazing sophomore season.
Second Team: Alex Smith (Washington Redskins)
Second Team: Saquon Barkley (New York Giants)
Second Team: Sterling Shepard (New York Giants)
Second Team: Mike Wallace (Philadelphia Eagles)
With Jason Witten out of the picture and into the Monday Night Football booth, Ertz takes the mantle as the best receiving tight end in the division.
Second Team: Jordan Reed (Washington Redskins)
Williams beat out Jason Peters in the poll mainly because Peters is coming back off a knee injury at age 36. But Williams himself had offseason knee surgery, too.
“Certainly the most athletic tackle in the NFL, Williams will hope his offseason knee surgery doesn’t slow him down. Judging by video of him beating Adrian Peterson in agility drills, that doesn’t seem to be a concern.” – Kyle Tasman (Washington Redskins on 247Sports)
Second Team: Tyron Smith (Dallas Cowboys)
“Making this list as a rookie might say something about the state of the left guard position in the NFC East, but don’t be fooled to think Hernandez got in here by default. In 2016, he earned the highest overall grade Pro Football Focus has ever handed to an offensive guard at the collegiate level.
“Hernandez is a pro-ready mauler with a nasty attitude who should immediately transition to the NFL similar to how Zack Martin did in his first season with the Dallas Cowboys after dominating the competition at the highest collegiate level (The Senior Bowl).” – Dan Schneier (New York Giants on 247Sports)
Second Team: Stefen Wisniewski (Philadelphia Eagles)
Second Team: Jason Kelce (Philadelphia Eagles)
Controversial poll result? Maybe…I thought Brandon Brooks had a better year in 2017. But the writers like Zack:
“After a failed attempt in 2017 to settle the terms of a new deal with the veteran guard, the Dallas Cowboys again faced an offseason with him as their financial headliner as no one in their right mind wants to see such a talent walk out the door. For his part, he routinely stated Dallas is where he wants to be. He tripled down on that after the conclusion of the 2017 regular season and admits there was progress made in the contract talks before the two sides tabled the discussions for a revisit this offseason. Now locked into a monstrous extension for a total of seven years at $93 million, he’s entering the season free of distraction. And that spells bad news for those who line up in front of him, considering he’s only allowed seven sacks in 67 starts.” – Patrik Walker (Dallas Cowboys on 247Sports)
Johnson is coming off an All-Pro season in 2017 and where he asserted his dominance was his greatness amongst the competition he faced at right tackle: Ryan Kerrigan (twice), Justin Houston, Jason Pierre-Paul (twice), Joey Bosa, Von Miller, DeMarcus Lawrence (twice), Michael Bennett, and Khalil Mack. The group combined for 86.5 sacks in 2017, Johnson didn’t allow a single one to any of those players.
Second Team: Morgan Moses (Washington Redskins)
There’s fuel for debate in some of the poll results above, but I accept it as a decent starting point for gearing up as a fan. I think the NFC East is going to be a tough, close fight for the Eagles in 2018. If we have to endure getting overlooked at some key offensive positions on any random preseason poll, that’s okay with me. That kind of thing can help us to keep our “prove it” edge.
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