Dallas Cowboys young secondary not yet beasts of NFC East

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ARLINGTON, TX – SEPTEMBER 10: Landon Collins #21 of the New York Giants and B.J. Goodson #93 of the New York Giants try to stop the run by Ezekiel Elliott #21 of the Dallas Cowboys in the first quarter of a game at AT&T Stadium on September 10, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

New York Giants (gold medal)

Eli Apple, Janoris Jenkins, Curtis Riley, William Gay, Landon Collins, Darian Thompson, Michael Thomas, B.W. Webb

The Giants have two big time playmakers in their defensive backfield, one at each level. In Janoris Jenkins, the Giants have that dude. The guy who plays with tons of swag, backs up his talk and produces. Twice, Jenkins has led the league in return touchdowns and in six years, has 16 total interceptions.

If Eli Apple ever reaches his potential, pairing with Jenkins could make for a formidable duo. Alas, Apple is having a hard time in New York. Rumors of issues with teammates and erratic play has his young career already at a crossroads. This may be his last chance with the team.

With Collins patrolling the back end, the Giants have, unquestionably, one of the top five safeties in all of football. In just three seasons, he already has eight interceptions, four sacks, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Add to that three straight seasons with 95+ tackles and Collins is literally all over the place.

Riley and Thompson add some young talent along with the solid yet not spectacular Gay to the mix giving the Giants good depth. All of this adds up to the first gold medal that Big Blue earns in our series.

Next: Cowboys 15 best first-round picks of all-time

With just one unit left to evaluate, here is the most up-to-date leaderboard

Philadelphia Eagles – 16
Dallas Cowboys – 14
New York Giants – 10
Washington Redskins – 9

Come back Sunday as we finish out our review and see which team sits atop the division from a talent standpoint.

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