Wake Up Washington | Get to know our new draft picks.
NFC East check-in: Most, least improved position groups post-draft
The 2024 NFL Draft is in the books, meaning teams have mostly completed their most significant roster moves for the season. With that in mind, here’s a look at the most and least upgraded position groups for each NFC East team.
Dallas Cowboys
Most improved position group: Offensive line
Here’s what Cowboys executive vice president and COO Stephen Jones told reporters after taking three offensive linemen in the 2024 NFL Draft:
“I think from an offensive line standpoint, obviously when you lose two really good football players in (center) Tyler Biadasz and (left tackle) Tyron Smith, we came in here looking to improve the offensive line to go along with a good young group that we already have.”
Losing Pro Bowl players is never good, but the Cowboys did pretty well in drafting their replacements. First-round pick Tyler Guyton is raw but highly athletic. The 6-foot-7, 327-pound offensive lineman actually took snaps as an H-back as a freshman at TCU and could play either tackle position in 2024.
Cooler Beebe, a third-round guard and two-time Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year, can play all five positions and will likely be the team’s new center. Dallas’ offensive line may not match last year’s stats, but it’s light years ahead of its pre-draft model.
Least improved position group: Running back
So the team replaced Ezekiel Elliott with Tony Pollard in 2023 only to replace Pollard with Elliott in 2024? Pollard had 1,005 yards for the Cowboys while Elliott had 642 yards and a career-low 3.5 yards per carry with the Patriots last season.
Texas RB Jonathan Brooks would have been a nice fit but went earlier than expected to the Panthers before the team’s second-round pick.
New York Giants
Most improved position group: Wide receiver
New York’s 2,886 passing yards were second-fewest in the NFL last season. Darius Slayton, the team’s leading receiver, ranked 46th among NFL pass-catchers with 770 yards in 17 games.
The Giants’ passing game has nowhere to go but up, and first-round pick Malik Nabers should give them a boost.
According to Pro Football Focus, Nabers averaged 3.64 yards per route run in 2023, tops among wide receivers in the draft. He averaged 17.6 yards per catch while forcing 30 missed tackles to earn first-team All-SEC honors. He’ll earn his share of double coverage next season, but his 4.35 speed should open things up for young receivers like Jalin Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson.
