Commanders: Ranking the NFC East secondaries for 2022

We conclude our look at the NFC East position groups with the defensive backfields. I recently wrote that I expect the Washington Commanders secondary to be better than people expect in 2022. Now let’s look at the rest of the division.

Commanders: Ranking the NFC East secondaries for 2022

1. Dallas Cowboys

Dallas responded to their train of a season in 2020 by retooling quite a bit, especially on defense. That was most apparent at the safety position. Last year, they brought in three veteran safeties. New defensive coordinator Dan Quinn got Demontae Kazee to come with him from Atlanta. Longtime Viking Jayron Kearse came in to play strong safety. And talented, but oft-injured Malik Hooker arrived from Indy. Kazee has moved on, and a rejuvenated Kearse and Hooker look to hold down the back end of the Cowboys defense this season. Former starter Donovan Wilson, one the few holdovers from 2020, is on hand to provide solid depth, as are rookies Israel Mukuamu (sixth roud) and Markquese Bell (undrafted).

Third-year corner Trevon Diggs is the highest profile player in the secondary. Diggs earned All Pro status in 2021 with his league-high 11 interceptions. He is a gambler, and he can be beaten at times, but he is a dynamic playmaker. Anthony Brown, the other main holdover from 2020, is the veteran second corner. I suspect Brown’s days may be numbered as the Cowboys, like the Commanders, are stockpiling long athletic corners and safeties. Brown is a smaller, quicker player. He’ll be fine, until a player like Kelvin Joseph is ready to take over.

Jourdan Lewis a pretty good slot corner, which gives Dallas a solid core of young veterans in the backfield. Having Micah Parsons and a healthy DeMarcus Lawrence rushing the passer doesn’t hurt.

2. Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia has also largely revamped their secondary in the past couple of years. Unlike Dallas, they tend to prefer smaller, quicker corners (as they do at linebacker), and they have a solid number one corner in Darius Slay. In 2021, Steven Nelson was their second corner, but he has left after one season for Houston. When the Giants, in a cost-cutting move, waived James Bradberry, Philly scooped him up. I always thought Bradberry was somewhat overvalued when he was with Carolina, and I’m content that Washington did not pursue him. But then his rep suffered too much with New York over the past two seasons. Paired with Slay, he should give the Eagles a very solid top two corners. Throw in Avonte Maddux in the slot, and the Eagles are strong. They also remain high on Riverdale Baptist’s Zech McPhearson, their 4th round pick in 2021.

The situation at safety is less certain. Veterans Anthony Harris and Rodney McLeod are gone. In their place, Philly turns to Marcus Epps and the hard-hitting Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. Gardner-Johnson is a very talented player, but so far, he has been more known for his fights than for his on-field play. I mean, lots of safeties get into scuffles with opposing players (Washington fans fondly recall the days of Brandon Meriweather and D. J. Swearinger), but CGJ may be most famous for being punched by his own teammate – Michael Thomas – when he was with New Orleans. Kind of fits in Philly, doesn’t he?

4. New York Giants

I’ve been waiting throughout this entire series to write something nice about the Giants. Well, this isn’t the time, but it’s the best I can manage. The Giants do not appear to have a good secondary. But at least they seem to be building towards one. They have walked away from high-profile vets like Bradberry, Logan Ryan and Jabril Peppers (the first two each played more than 1,000 defensive snaps for the team in 2021; Peppers was hurt for a good part of the year). In their place, they have Adoree Jackson, and a whole bunch of young guys.

Jackson is a good corner. And they are very hopeful that 2020 2nd round pick Xavier McKinney will turn into a do-everything safety. Strong safety Julian Love is steady-if-unspectacular, while second corner Aaron Robinson remains the biggest concern. Behind them, they have a bunch of young draft picks who will most likely get a chance to prove their worth in the next year or two. Over the last four draft cycles, the Giants have chosen seven defensive backs in rounds 1-4, including two this past season. A few of these guys need to pan out.

Once again, The Giants bring up the rear in the rankings. I think Philadelphia has a steadier collection of players, but it’s hard to ignore the Trevon Diggs factor in Dallas. I put Dallas, Philly and Washington at 1,2,3 in the division, but the difference between them is miniscule.

And now, the Special Teams addendum.

I can’t rate special teams at this point. Sure, I can rate kickers and punters. Washington and Dallas have the two best punters in Tress Way and Bryan Anger. The Giants – surprise, surprise – have the worst in Arryn Siposs. The Eagles have the coolest – with the coolest nickname – the Scottish Hammer, Jamie Gillan.

But the Giants and the Eagles have the best kickers in Graham Gano and Jake Elliott. Washington is third with Joey Slye. Dallas’ Brett Maher – who I assume will be their kicker – is last. As of this writing, Dallas does not have a kicker on their active roster.

It’s very difficult to evaluate the other parts of special teams until you seen them in action. So much of the return and coverage game is dependent on young, often new, guys, as well as a sense of emphasis and cohesion. So I’ll leave that one for now. That’s enough analysis for one week.