Ranking the Commanders' defense and special teams against NFC rivals in 2023

Commanders position groups vs. NFC East - ST

OK – I’m not going to rank the special teams in the NFC East. It’s impossible.

The Dallas Cowboys might be the best, which is surprising based on what a train wreck their special teams were in 2020. But they have turned it around and now boast the best return man in the division in KaVontae Turpin, along with above-average coverage units.

They also have a very good punter in Bryan Anger, though I read recently that Dallas would like to find a younger, cheaper alternative. But the Cowboys will be relying on Trystan Vizcaino as its placekicker this year, and anyone who remembers his catastrophic season with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021 - when he missed one-third of his extra points - can’t be very confident.

The New York Giants are a photo negative of Dallas. Graham Gano remains the best kicker in the league, but almost everything else about the G-Men – from punter Jamie Gillan to whoever they get to return kicks to their coverage teams – is mediocre at best.

This mirrors the Philadelphia Eagles, who have the other quality placekicker in the division in Jake Elliott but probably have the weakest punt unit in the NFC East. Last year, punter Arryn Siposs and his coverage team were among the worst in the league.

The Washington Commanders round it out – kind of like Dallas. They boast the best punter in the division and have solid coverage and return units. But a huge question mark at kicker, where Michael Badgley will challenge incumbent Joey Slye.

Slye has a bigger leg. Badgley is steadier. Neither one is among the best in the league.

So I’m calling the special teams one giant push. No one gets an advantage. Therefore, based on my own propriety analysis of these totally subjective rankings, I make both Dallas and Philadelphia the best in the division, barely edging out the Commanders.

The Giants are clearly in fourth, more due to the number of questions they have than to an overall lack of talent. The fun part comes in a couple of months when I check back on this at mid-season and see just how right or wrong I was in these rankings.