With the NFL draft having already come and gone we have an idea of the what the rosters will look like come Week 1 in September. That means we can start to examine the odds of who will win the division.
Because of that, we can start to make some reasonably educated conclusions about which team will win each division.
For now, we’re going to look at the NFC East, which was ruled by the Philadelphia Eagles last season as Carson Wentz led the way before being injured late in the season and Nick Foles taking over to eventually capture the Super Bowl title.
Below, we’ll rank the teams in order in which they’ll finish in the upcoming season with odds and projected record attached.
All odds are courtesy of BetDSI Sportsbook.
1. Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) Odds: -145
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Eagles are pretty solid favorites here.
Heck, they won the Super Bowl with a backup quarterback.
Coming into this year, they’ll have Wentz back along with basically the same team as last year, too.
In the draft, they were able to pick up some notable players in tight end Dallas Goedert to help replace to loss of Trey Burton and Josh Sweat, a fourth-round pass rusher who will serve well as a rotational lineman for the team.
Outside of the New York Giants (who we’ll get too shortly), the NFC East isn’t as potent a division anymore.
Expect Wentz and that entire squad to come back looking to repeat this upcoming season.
They’re not going to be easy to stop.
2. New York Giants (11-5) Odds: +500
As you can tell, I’m a fan of the Giants and what they can do this upcoming season.
Look, last season was a farce. A mirage, really. This team is not that bad.
We all know about the plethora of internal issues involving former head coach Ben McAdoo and the players, but let’s not also forget that the Giants lost a pretty sizable chunk of their offense, too.
Without Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard, and Brandon Marshall, it’s going to be pretty hard to win games.
Not to mention the offensive line was in shambles. When you have Ereck Flowers starting at left tackle, nothing good can come of it.
But, as we head into this season, the Giants have done well in reloading their roster.
For the offensive line, they addressed it by bringing in former New England Patriots left tackle on a large contract to protect veteran Eli Manning’s blindside and in the draft.
They also addressed the left guard position by bringing in UTEP product Will Hernandez early in the second-round.
But of course, let’s talk about the biggest coup—running back Saquon Barkley.
The Giants have had some great receivers over the years, but the running back position has suffered.
In fact, no Giants running back has run for 1,000 yards since Ahmad Bradshaw did it back in 2012, rushing for 1,002.
Barkley is going to add a whole other level and wrinkle to this offense.
Under new head coach Pat Shurmur, expect the Giants to be right back in it again.
This could be Manning’s final season and they have a fairly decent shot of winning the division should anything happen to the Eagles.
3. Dallas Cowboys (8-8) +290
I’m surprised the Dallas Cowboys have better odds than the Giants. There’s more to dislike about this team than like.
Sure, they have Ezekiel Elliott and their offensive line, but there are so many question marks about this passing game and their secondary that it’s going to be tough for them to win ball games.
With the release of Dez Bryant, the Cowboys are down to Allen Hurns, Cole Beasley, Terrance and rookie Michael Gallup as the immediate passing options from the wide receiver position.
Also, veteran tight end Jason Witten hung up the cleats recently, leaving them with a hole at tight end, too.
The secondary has been shaky, but this defense will rely on their linebacking corps of Jaylon Smith, Sean Lee and rookie Leighton Vander Esch along with their pass-rushing machine Demarcus Lawrence to get the job down.
Again, there are things to like with this team, but in this division and in this conference, they’re not going to be able to compete with the best teams.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will need to rely heavily on his legs and the legs of Elliott to get it done. He’s not the passer everyone thinks he is and without Bryant, it could be even worse.
4. Washington Redskins (7-9) +615
Like the Cowboys, there are definitely some bright spots with the Washington Redskins, but not nearly enough to crown them anywhere near division champions.
From the quarterback position, they definitely regressed going from Kirk Cousins to Alex Smith.
Smith isn’t a bad quarterback by any means, but Cousins is just, well, better.
In the draft, they addressed the interior defensive line to help with run stuffing by drafting Da’Ron Payne in the first and they brought in a stud running back of their own in Derrius Guice.
Run stopping is going to be crucial in a division with Jay Ajayi, Ezekiel Elliott, and Saquon Barkley.
The Redskins secondary did improve some with the addition of Orlando Scandrick, but the safety position needs to be addressed.
Sure, Troy Apke was brought in through the draft, but don’t expect a huge impact right away.
Finding a consistent pass rush will be important for the Skins, too.
The offense has some youth and potential, but it won’t come anywhere near as productive enough to compete with a team like the Eagles.
However, it will be interesting to see how Smith and wide receivers Josh Doctson, Jamison Crowder and Paul Richardson jive.
But that’s it—expect the division to finish like this: Eagles, Giants, Cowboys, Redskins.
Stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
