May 11, 2026
At this point in the offseason, NFL rosters are pretty much set, at least in terms of players expected to make any kind of reasonable impact. And so, let's take a look at the NFC East, and determine who has the best players at each position. We'll start with the offense.
Prescott threw for at least 1,300 more yards than any other quarterback in the NFC East in 2025:
| NFC East QBs | Comp-Att (Comp %) | Yards (YPA) | TD-INT |
| Dak Prescott, Cowboys | 404-600 (67.3%) | 4,552 (7.6) | 30-10 |
| Jalen Hurts, Eagles | 294-454 (64.8%) | 3,224 (7.1) | 25-6 |
| Jaxson Dart, Giants | 216-339 (63.7%) | 2,272 (6.7) | 15-5 |
| Jayden Daniels, Commanders | 114-188 (60.6%) | 1,262 (6.7) | 8-3 |
Prescott led the NFL's second-ranked passing offense and the seventh-ranked scoring offense. Unfortunately for Prescott, his team's defense was arguably the worst in the NFL. The argument against Prescott is of course that he has never actually made any noise in the playoffs, and only has some monster statistical seasons on his résumé.
Jalen Hurts is a quarterback who actually has won something, but he had a down year in 2025, and did not put his running ability to use like he has in the past.
Meanwhile, Jayden Daniels, our first team quarterback last year, had a miserable season. He posted a 45.9 QBR in the games he played in, after a 70.6 QBR rookie season. In addition to his regression in play, Daniels suffered an assortment of injuries.
• He was on the Commanders' injury report Week 2 with a right wrist injury.
• He missed a pair of games in Weeks 3 and 4 against the Raiders and Falcons with a knee sprain. He returned to play Week 5 against the Chargers, but remained on the injury report for three weeks.
• In Week 7 against the Cowboys, Daniels injured his hamstring in the third quarter and did not return. He missed the Commanders' Week 8 game against the Chiefs.
• Against the Seahawks Week 9, Daniels suffered a gruesome elbow injury while the Commanders were down 38-7 with 7:29 left in the game. He missed the next four games.
• On Week 14 against the Vikings, Daniels returned to the lineup, and he promptly re-injured his elbow while getting shoved to the ground during a pick-six.
His spot on the the NFC East team heading into 2026 is simply unjustifiable after his 2025 season, even if he still possesses a high ceiling.
And then there's Jaxson Dart, who did some encouraging things as a rookie, but does not yet have a sample size big enough for this conversation.
Second team: Jalen Hurts, Eagles
Barkley was the best player in the NFL in 2024. His stats fell off significantly in 2025, which was to be expected, but he still ran for 1140 yards even in a down season.
Javonte Williams probably had the best season in 2025 among the NFC East backs, as he carried 252 times for 1,201 yards and 11 TDs, but not so much that he should unseat Barkley.
Second team: Javonte Williams, Cowboys
Lamb and Nabers both had down seasons in 2025. Lamb missed three games with an ankle injury, and later suffered a scary-looking concussion. Nabers suffered a torn ACL and meniscus Week 4, and missed the rest of the season. He should be ready for 2026 training camp. But I think we can agree that they are the two most talented receivers in the division, right?
My third receiver is DeVonta Smith, a legitimately great player who has unselfishly played a supporting role to Brown the last four seasons. He was better than Brown last season, and in my opinion it wasn't particularly close. He is poised to be the focal point of the Eagles' passing attack in 2026.
A glaring omission in my first-team offense is George Pickens, who had a monster season in 2025, catching 93 balls for 1,429 yards and 9 TDs. However, in their Week 14 loss to the Lions, the Cowboys needed Pickens to be the guy after Lamb had to leave with a concussion. And how did he respond? He ran lazy routes, and just generally looked disinterested. He was called out for his poor effort both nationally and locally. And then in Week 15, he kind of no-showed again, making 3 catches on 6 targets for 33 yards. I just don't trust him. 🤷♂️
Terry McLaurin makes the second team after a down year following his training camp hold-in. My sixth receiver is Eagles rookie Makai Lemon, who only gets in because there aren't other good options.
(And obviously, we're anticipating that A.J. Brown will be traded after June 1.)
Second team: George Pickens, Cowboys; Terry McLaurin, Commanders; Makai Lemon, Eagles
Tight end is a relatively weak position in the NFC East heading into 2026. Goedert gets in on the strength of his 11 TD season in 2025, but he wasn't the same guy as a blocker last season.
Second team: Jake Ferguson, Cowboys
Johnson missed almost half the season with a Lisfranc injury, but when he was healthy he was still the all-world player he always was. His inclusion was easy.
At the other tackle spot, it was a toss-up between Laremy Tunsil and Jordan Mailata. I thought Mailata had a good season, but he wasn't as dominant as he was in 2024, so I gave Tunsil the nod.
Andrew Thomas had a good season for the Giants, but a lack of durability has been a recurring theme.
Second team: Jordan Mailata, Eagles; Andrew Thomas, Giants
Landon Dickerson was always an easy inclusion here, but he struggled through a tough 2025 season in which his body took a beating. The two Cowboys guards have passed him in the NFC East pecking order, in my opinion.
Second team: Landon Dickerson, Eagles; Sam Cosmi, Commanders
Cam Jurgens made the Pro Bowl in 2025, but he shouldn't have as he had a bad season. Like Dickerson above, Jurgens played through a back injury that he suffered during the 2024 season that never fully healed in time for the 2025 season. We'll see if he can return to form.
Cooper Beebe isn't exactly a world beater for the Cowboys, but he's solid enough and there's reason to expect a jump in play as he heads into his third season.
Second team: Cam Jurgens, Eagles
We'll give two points for first-team nods, one point for second-team. Good? Good. I mean, who cares?
| Team | First-team | Second-team | Totals |
| Cowboys 🥇 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| Eagles 🥈 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
| Commanders 🥉 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Giants | 1 | 1 | 3 |
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