It’s Training Camp Tuesday! In their penultimate division recap, the Ballers check in on the NFC East, host of the reigning Super Bowl Champion (Philadelphia Eagles), reigning Rookie of the Year (Jayden Daniels), and everyone’s favorite NFL personality, Jameis Winston. As with every division, there are great storylines to follow in this division in 2025: Can the Eagles continue rolling and make a third trip to the Super Bowl in four years? Can Jayden Daniels deliver the Commanders their first division title since 2015? How does a healthy Cowboys team fit into this new world order? When will the Broadway show about the life and times of Jameis Winston be produced? The intrigue is palpable.
A reminder that we are up to three shows a week now – tune into The Fantasy Footballers Podcast on all of your devices!
To take an even deeper dive into fantasy players in the NFC East, make sure to check out the full array of the UDK’s tools available to make your fantasy team a champion!
Let’s Get Divisional!
Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
Player Additions: RB AJ Dillon, TE Kylen Granson, TE Harrison Bryant, WR Terrace Marshall Jr
Player Subtractions: RB Kenneth Gainwell
Rookies: QB Kyle McCord (Round 6)
2025 Vegas Projected Win Total: 11.5
2024 Offensive Snapshot:
| POSITION RANKS | RUN/PASS AVG | TGT BREAKDOWN | ||||||||
| TEAM | PLAYS/G | QB | RB | WR | TE | RUN% | PASS % | RB TGT% | WR TGT% | TE TGT% |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 66.5 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 20 | 56% | 44% | 17% | 63% | 21% |
The Eagles’ fate rests on the shoulders (and quads) of Saquon Barkley. The Eagles were #1 in rush percentage and dead-last in passing percentage in 2024, largely thanks to the efficiency and dominance of Saquon’s remarkable 2024 season. Barkley amassed career-highs in attempts (345), yards (2,005), YPC (5.8), and TDs (13) in his first season behind Philadelphia’s #1 PFF-rated offensive line. The biggest question facing this offense is how Saquon will perform following such a large workload. The offensive line is once again ranked as PFF’s #1 unit for 2025, but history hasn’t been overly kind to reigning RB1s. Only three times in the last 10 years has the RB1 finished inside the top-10 at the position the following year (Devonta Freeman – RB6 in 2016, Todd Gurley – RB1 in 2018, Alvin Kamara – RB9 in 2021).
The Eagles have a very condensed target tree in the receiving game, with WRs commanding 63% of targets in 2024, compared to 17% for RBs and 21% for TEs. A.J. Brown’s 34.4% target share was second only to Malik Nabers in 2024. Devonta Smith was targeted 28.6% of his routes as well, making the Philadelphia duo one of the most targeted pairs in the league. Brown (WR18) and Smith (WR30) both missed three games to injury, which caused them both to fall outside of WR1 status in 2024. The Ballers have Brown ranked as WR9 and Smith ranked as WR24 heading into the 2025 season. When healthy, these are both lineup locks.
Jalen Hurts has been a locked-in QB1 for the last four seasons, and the Ballers don’t see that changing this year. He’s a consensus top-5 pick, along with Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Jayden Daniels. With at least one more year of tush-pushing, Hurts has both a safe floor and the highest of high upsides. With a tough schedule to start the season (DAL, @KC, LAR, @TB), we may even see more passing from this team in games that project to be shootouts.
Washington Commanders (12-5)
Player Additions: WR Deebo Samuel, K Matt Gay
Player Subtractions: WR Dyami Brown, WR Olamide Zaccheaus, WR Jamison Crowder, QB Jeff Driskel
Rookies: WR Jaylin Lane (Round 4), RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt (Round 7)
2025 Vegas Projected Win Total: 9.5
2024 Offensive Snapshot:
| POSITION RANKS | RUN/PASS AVG | TGT BREAKDOWN | ||||||||
| TEAM | PLAYS/G | QB | RB | WR | TE | RUN% | PASS % | RB TGT% | WR TGT% | TE TGT% |
| Washington Commanders | 64.8 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 48% | 52% | 16% | 63% | 22% |
The Commanders were the surprise story of the NFL in 2024, winning eight more games than they won in 2023 and cruising past their 6.5 projected win total en route to a 12-win regular season and a run to the NFC Championship game. Worth noting, however, is that only one of their 12 regular-season wins came against a playoff team.
The most intriguing player on this roster is easily QB Jayden Daniels. Finishing as QB5 in his rookie season, he provides tremendous rushing floor with Kliff Kingsbury-juiced high passing upside. He’s a consensus top-5 QB pick this year and in the conversation for QB1 in dynasty. The Ballers expect a second-season jump for Daniels similar to those of Kyler Murray (QB5 to QB2), Lamar Jackson (QB11 to QB1), or Justin Herbert (QB7 to QB2).
The Commanders brought in Deebo Samuel to provide versatility and a true #2 option at WR, alongside the resurgent Terry McLaurin. The expectation is that Deebo handles the underneath, over-the-middle routes and adds a wrinkle in the rushing game, while McLaurin continues to take the top off defenses. After dealing with putrid QB play his entire career, McLaurin’s upside was finally unlocked in 2024, as he tallied a career-best 13 TDs. That number will be tough to duplicate if he receives the same workload as last year (only 113 targets). Regardless, it’s critical that the team gets a new deal done with Terry McLaurin sooner rather than later, in order for this team to make another run in 2025.
The RB room doesn’t have a true fantasy RB1, but Brian Robinson has been a steady and efficient rusher and a useful goal-line back thus far in his career. In 2024, he tallied seven TDs inside the 10-yard line, as many as Jonathan Taylor. Austin Ekeler handles most of the receiving work out of the backfield. He led all RBs with 100+ touches in average yards per touch (6.5), bolstered by his receiving profile. Even in his age-30 season, he’s still a worthy flex option in 2025. Rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt is a wild-card 7th-round pick who missed almost all his 2024 college season due to eligibility issues. He showed a lot of promise early in his college career, and it will be interesting to see if the Commanders can get anything out of him this season.
Dallas Cowboys (7-10)
Player Additions: WR George Pickens, RB Javonte Williams, RB Miles Sanders
Player Subtractions: WR Brandin Cooks, RB Rico Dowdle, RB Ezekiel Elliott, RB Dalvin Cook
Rookies: RB Jaydon Blue (Round 5), RB Phil Mafah (Round 7)
2025 Vegas Projected Win Total: 7.5
2024 Offensive Snapshot:
| POSITION RANKS | RUN/PASS AVG | TGT BREAKDOWN | ||||||||
| TEAM | PLAYS/G | QB | RB | WR | TE | RUN% | PASS % | RB TGT% | WR TGT% | TE TGT% |
| Dallas Cowboys | 64.9 | 25 | 29 | 6 | 23 | 39% | 61% | 14% | 64% | 22% |
The Cowboys are in a real soul-searching season, as they have a lot of questions to answer and a lot to prove in 2025. Dak Prescott returns after missing the final nine games of the 2024 season; the team added WR George Pickens as a bona fide WR2 next to CeeDee Lamb; the defense was a train wreck, especially when Micah Parsons was injured; and the offensive line lost All-World Guard Zack Martin to retirement. The division has gotten tougher with the emergence of the Commanders, and questions abound as to how this team will respond.
The deficient defense should lead this team to pass the ball A TON, and Dak Prescott has seemingly been forgotten in some fantasy circles. When healthy, he consistently performs as a QB1, and that should continue with the addition of Pickens. New Head Coach Brian Schottenheimer represents a continuation of the offensive scheme that has produced the eighth-most and third-most pass attempts over the last two seasons.
George Pickens has finally been freed from Pittsburgh and has a chance to shine as WR2 for a pass-first Dallas offense. He’s being undervalued in fantasy drafts and has the potential to outproduce his fantasy projections. Jason likes him most at WR27, and the Ballers are projecting 1,000 yards and 5-6 TDs this season.
The RB room is still a big question. The Cowboys blew up their entire 2024 room and brought in veterans Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, and then drafted Jaydon Blue in the fifth round. The expectation is that Williams gets first crack at RB1 duties, and the Ballers think he is also being underdrafted (ADP: RB36, Ballers ranking: RB31). Jaydon Blue was an electric back for The University of Texas; his upside is intriguing, but the draft capital is less-than-inspiring. This should be an interesting room to follow all season.
New York Giants (3-14)
Player Additions: QB Russell Wilson, QB Jameis Winston, WR Zach Pascal
Player Subtractions: QB Drew Lock, QB Tim Boyle
Rookies: QB Jaxson Dart (Round 1), RB Cam Skattebo (Round 4), TE Thomas Fidone (Round 7)
2025 Vegas Projected Win Total: 5.5
2024 Offensive Snapshot:
| POSITION RANKS | RUN/PASS AVG | TGT BREAKDOWN | ||||||||
| TEAM | PLAYS/G | QB | RB | WR | TE | RUN% | PASS % | RB TGT% | WR TGT% | TE TGT% |
| New York Giants | 62.5 | 27 | 31 | 17 | 31 | 40% | 60% | 16% | 73% | 12% |
Brian Daboll’s win totals have dropped from nine to six to three in his first three seasons as the Giants’ Head Coach. This may be his last chance to turn things around in New York, but they hold the hardest schedule in the NFL in 2025. They are currently favored in only one game (New Orleans in Week 5). Hitting on first-round QB Jaxson Dart would go a long way to get Daboll off the hot seat, but he’s going to have to rely on a few controversial veteran QBs to start the season.
The Giants signed Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston this offseason, in one of the more head-scratching offseason moves in the NFL. Wilson projects to be the Week 1 starter, but Winston is #1 in our hearts. Wilson provides limited fantasy relevance in this offense but could be serviceable as a backup or bye week fill-in in SuperFlex leagues only. Dart is a stash-and-hold dynasty QB who may get some work later in the season. If Winston ever gets a chance to start, he’s a legitimate bye-week consideration with occasional week-winning performances.
The RB room added Ballers’ fave Cam Skattebo at the beginning of the fourth round in this year’s draft. Tyrone Tracy was a pleasant surprise and finished as RB25 last year, but the Ballers don’t project there to be much value in this backfield this season. They believe Skattebo can succeed in the NFL, but are skeptical he will be overly successful with this team in this situation. He’s worth a late-round stash in fantasy drafts, and Tracy projects as a flex option to start the season.
The WR room starts and stops with Malik Nabers. He finished second in the league (behind only Triple Crown winner, Ja’Marr Chase) with 170 targets. He turned those targets into 109 catches for 1,204 yards and seven TDs, which was good enough for WR7 on the year, despite missing two games. Nabers is a stud, no two ways about it, and he’s going to get his stats regardless of who starts at QB. We’d all lose our minds if the Giants decided to start Jameis Winston at any point this season. A guy can dream, right?!
Who wins the NFC East?
The Ballers are unanimous in their rankings of this division.
Everyone agrees the order will be: Eagles, Commanders, Cowboys, Giants
from Fantasy Footballers Podcast https://ift.tt/wu50kEO
No comments: