By Totals 4 U
Dallas Cowboys (13-3 regular season, 0-1 playoffs). Head Coach Wade Phillips retains the key players that earned the NFC’s top seed in the 2007 Playoffs, but free agent losses of S Keith Davis, CB Nate Jones, CB Jacques Reeves, and RB Julius Jones have created some needs on the depth chart. Safeties Ken Hamlin (franchised) and Roy Williams will anchor the defensive backfield (18th-best at 233.0 pass yards allowed per game in ’07), and Dallas has secured the rights to CB Adam Jones with a 4th round pick to Tennessee. Plus they will certainly add talent in this weekend’s draft. Owner/General Manager Jerry Jones holds both the 22nd and 28th picks in the first round. Most mock drafts having the Cowboys taking Arkansas RB Felix Jones to pair with RB Marion Barber (204 for 975 and 10 TD) - who did not sign an offer sheet with another team and will return - as he did with Darren McFadden. The Boys have not selected an offensive player in the first round since 1997, and if they stay put, Arizona CB Antoine Carson or Kansas CB Aquib Talib are possibilities, as is Tennessee State CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, if they move up.
QB Tony Romo (4211 yards, 36 TD, 19 INT) and WR Terrell Owens (81 for 1355 and 15 TD) led the league’s 4th best passing attack last year. But the organization has made inquiries about adding a big name wide out through trade rather than draft. WR Terry Glenn comes off two knee surgeries and those first round picks could grab a player like Cincinnati’s Chad Johnson, Detroit’s Roy Williams, or Arizona’s Anquan Boldin. LT Flozell Adams has been resigned to guard the pocket and TE Jason Witten (96 for 1145 and 7 TD) also returns to an offense that finished second to only the Patriots with 28.4 points scored per game. Dallas’ 17-21 playoff loss to the Giants last season marked the 11th consecutive season without a post-season win for the world’s most valuable sports franchise.
New York Giants (10-6 regular season, 4-0 playoffs). With a Super Bowl win comes attention from league for your personnel, and Coach Tom Coughlin’s defensive crew (9th ranked overall with 326.8 yards per) took plenty of hits with FS Gibril Wilson (Oakland), DT William Joseph (Oakland), LB Kawika Mitchell (Buffalo), and LB Reggie Torbor (Miami) taking the free agent train out of town. To fill the hole at safety, General Manager Jerry Reese picked up Sammy Knight from Jacksonville, tendered a restricted free agent offer to their starting SS James Butler. Plus they have a young hitter in CB Corey Webster that could make the move. Linebacker presents a bigger problem. The acquisition of Texan LB Danny Clark is a start, and young LB Gerris Wilkinson may be ready for a starting job, but if Tennessee LB Jerod Mayo is still available at the 31st pick, the Giants would grab him in a New York second. Arkansas State’s S Tyrell Johnson, Miami-Fla S Kenny Phillips, Arkansas DT Marcus Harrison, and North Carolina DT Kentwan Balmer are also certainly also possibilities in the first round.
36-year old DE Michael Strahan (57 T, 9 sacks) still hasn’t let the team know if he’ll return, but the biggest news in the Big Apple is the possible trade of 4-time All Pro TE Jeremy Shockey. The Saints and Seahawks are interested with 2nd round picks to offer, while Green Bay and Miami (he lives in Miami) also seem good fits. Miami’s 32nd selection overall might be enough and would give the Giants back to back firepower in the draft, while other teams would have to add a need position player for Reese to jump. If Shockey gets dealt, 2nd year pass-catching TE Kevin Boss (started last 6 games) and 2nd year blocking TE Michael Mathews (played in every game last season) get the call, plus TE Darcy Johnson returns from missing 2007 while rehabbing his surgically repaired knee. DE Justin Tuck, K Lawrence Tynes, RB Derrick Ward, and G Rich Seubert have all been resigned, while QB David Carr has been added from Carolina.
Washington Redskins (9-7 regular season, 0-1 playoffs). QB Jason Campbell improved enough last season, with 2700 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 11 picks before tearing a knee in Week 14, to boost the Redskin passing game to #15 in the league at 226.4 yards per game. But he faces another challenge this season. The knee is fine, but new Head Coach Jim Zorn’s West Coast Offense will be Campbell’s 7th new system in eight years of college and pro football. A new passing game requires new personnel, as incumbent receivers 5’10” Santana Moss, 5’10” Antwaan Randle El, and 6’0” James Thrash don’t fit the size profile for the West Coast, so disgruntled Bengal Chad Johnson is a possibility, and selections in the draft are a necessity. Owner Daniel Snyder and departed Coach Joe Gibbs spent years paying for overpriced free agents with top draft selections – leaving a grand total of seven picks in the top four rounds over the last four years – but this season the cupboard is full with nine selections including the 21st overall. Oklahoma’s Malcolm Kelly, Texas’ Limas Sweed, and Michigan State’s Devin Thomas all fit the bill for a big target, while an aging offensive line (all five starters and top two backups are all at least 30 years old) will also certainly get attention.
33 regular season sacks and 91.2 rushing yards allowed per game were decent numbers, but age at defensive line is also a problem, so ends Calais Campbell of Miami-Fla, Phillip Merling of Clemson, or Derrick Harvey of Florida could be heading to the nation’s capitol, as could tackles Sedrick Ellis of Southern Cal or Kentwan Balmer of North Carolina. FS Reed Doughty looks able to handle the job opposite of SS LaRon Landry, vacated by the deceased Sean Taylor, while the Skins will make do with CB Fred Smoot while CB Carlos Rogers rehabs from the knee surgery that cost him nine games in 2007. Not great and not young, but Washington returns all 22 starters that won four straight to end the regular season.
Philadelphia Eagles (8-8 regular season, missed playoffs). Andy Reid’s crew failed to reach the playoffs last season, but they did finish with three consecutive wins and the numbers reveal a squad still among the best in the NFC. 250.3 yards passing and 123.4 yards rushing per game were good enough to rank 4th in the entire league. QB Donovan McNabb (19 TD, 7 INT, and 3224 yards in 14 games) has taken plenty of heat, but he did spread the ball around extremely well with WR Kevin Curtis (77 for 1110 yards and 6 TD) and WR Reggie Brown (61 for 780 yards and 4 TD) putting up strong numbers, while still getting 368 offensive touches for RB Brian “The Weapon” Westbrook (1333 yards/7 TD rushing, 771 yards/5 TD receiving). While Philly fans scream for a Big Time receiver, the Eagle’s offensive need is offensive tackle. T Jon Runyan (34) and T William Thomas (33) are in their second decade in the pros, with Vanderbilt’s Chris Williams and Pittsburgh’s Jeff Otah possibilities at the 19th selection of this weekend’s draft.
An overall defensive ranking of 8th (230.4 pass, 95.8 rush) was dragged down by defensive backfield injuries to SS Sean Considine (missed final eight games), FS Brian Dawkins (missed six games), and CB Lito Sheppard (missed fourteen games last three years) with a major shuffle underway. CB Will James is gone to the Bills and Sheppard will likely follow as soon as this weekend. CB Assante Samuel (16 INT last 2 years) enters via free agency, S J.R. Reed and nickel back Joselio Hanson have been resigned, and more help will come from the college ranks. Sitting pat gets a player like Miami-Fla S Kenny Phillips in Round 1, while moving up could grab a cover/return monster like Troy CB Leodis McKelvin. DE Jevon Kearse and LB Takeo Spikes have been cut, but the Eagles have depth at their positions, plus with eleven selections in the draft, they will get plenty more.
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