Dallas Cowboys linebackers are cream of the NFC East crop
By Tyrone Starr
In a very weak class, the Dallas Cowboys linebackers are head and shoulders above the rest of the division.
Welcome to part seven of my positional review within the NFC East division where we rank each team’s specific units against each other. With just a few positions remaining, the wealth of talent that the Dallas Cowboys possess has them in a nice lead as we head into the home stretch.
The Cowboys offense got the team out of the blocks fast. The quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and offensive line all earned top spots against their fellow NFC East counterparts. Even though the tight ends and defensive line did not show out as the best of their groups, they, too earned points to further help the overall score.
Today we move from the front four to the group in the middle of the defensive alignment. For the NFC East, it is quite possible that the division houses the worst grouping of linebackers in all of football. If not for a highly decorated veteran nearing the end of the road, there would be a huge dearth in accolades for the remaining players in this group.
Before we get to breaking down the NFC East linebacking corps, here is how teams earn points for their roster. Each position will earn five points to the best group, three points to second place, and one point to third. We’ll start off with the fourth-place team who will get no points.
Philadelphia Eagles
Nathan Gerry, Jatavis Brown, Alex Singleton, Duke Riley, T.J. Edwards, Shaun Bradley
This entire group does not have one single player that has been in the league for more than four years. Going with the youth movement is not necessarily a bad thing as long as you have an anchor of sorts. The Eagles have no such anchor.
None of their projected top six linebackers were drafted higher than the third round. None has ever registered 100 or more tackles in any given season. Gerry, Brown, and Riley are the only three who have ever been a full-time starter at any point in their short careers. All three of which only did so for just one season.
Maybe Philadelphia knows something that the rest of us do not. Until proven wrong, however, not only is the unit the worst in the division, but it could also be the worst in the NFL.