The streak continues. No team has repeated as NFC East champions since 2006. I believe that streak is definitely safe in 2024, as the 12-win Dallas Cowboys have zero chance to win the division.
There is but one playoff team here. The Philadelphia Eagles have the best roster and most stable situation by multitudes over three raging dumpster fire franchises. One such dumpster fire, the Washington Commanders, are in the process of extinguishing the flames. The Cowboys and Giants continue to drop buckets of gasoline, calling it “progress” or “all in” with a straight face.
This division has some fantasy stars, to be sure. They are bright and will elevate dynasty fantasy football rosters for years to come. It doesn’t have to be pretty. One might need to hold their nose while holding a steaming diaper at arm’s length with contract disputes and a dire lack of supporting cast members. In the East, there are beasts and leasts. Here is the game plan. Check out our dynasty draft primer for the NFC East.
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Dynasty Draft Primer: NFC East
Check out our dynasty fantasy football draft outlook for each team in the NFC East.
Philadelphia Eagles
Jalen Hurts is fine. He was QB2 in 2023 despite tossing a career-high 15 interceptions. His legendary center and “Shove Brother,” Jason Kelce, has retired, but I’m not worried. The Birds are absolutely loaded everywhere on the roster. The team paid both AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith and signed Saquon Barkley to run behind a still-stellar offensive line. There is a sliver of a buy window on Hurts, so jump on it and reap the benefits for years to come.
Barkley has to be elated to have escaped Big Blue and their putrid offense. He always deserved so much better and this is a perfect landing spot to enter his second stanza. The whole RB by committee thing doesn’t apply here. Kenneth Gainwell and rookie Will Shipley aren’t stealing any meaningful snaps from Barkley. He is one of the most well-rounded, reliable players at his position in the game. Though most dynasty managers flee from “old” RBs like a zombie horde, this is one of the few who can contribute elite production through a multiyear championship window.
This receiving corps is top-heavy, but that top is so good. Brown and Smith are each elite producers in fantasy and compliment one another perfectly in this offense. Hurts has excellent rapport with both weapons, as evidenced with the stability in their production throughout last season. Rookie newcomers Johnny Wilson and Ainias Smith are intriguing prospects who are worth a stash on the taxi squad. Parris Campbell is still a desperation play in deeper leagues when attrition has us grasping at healthy bodies to plug into the flex spot.
I cannot advocate drafting tight end Dallas Goedert. He is neither elite nor an exciting prospect on the rise. He is lukewarm bath water or plain white rice. Will he have a couple TE1 games each year? Sure, but it likely won’t be worth the agony of guessing when and where. Albert Okwuegbunam is here to maybe make the team and pay off on all the preseason hype that burned us two years ago in Denver. Cj Uzomah is also here, but his prowess is mostly in blocking. Grant Calcaterra will also fight for a roster spot. The TE position isn’t of great importance in this passing game except as a chain mover and certainly not in the red zone.
Washington Commanders
The Jayden Daniels era is underway in our nation’s capitol. The Heisman Trophy recipient from LSU has a lot of Lamar Jackson to his game, perhaps with poorer spacial awareness and instincts when on the run. Daniels has a lot of potential in the fantasy landscape, especially if his illustrious passing success follows him into the league. He will have good receivers and a solid offensive line. One major hindrance to his initial development is his tutelage under career failure, Kliff Kingsbury. The Commanders’ newest offensive coordinator has never had success at any level, especially as a professional. My hesitation to acquiring Daniels in dynasty is 100 percent due to coaching concerns.
I think we put too much stock in youth at RB in dynasty. While it is preferred to load up on low-mileage guys who haven’t yet been dinged up, players like Austin Ekeler are falling too far down the board. The overcorrection opens a buy window on competing dynasty rosters where Ekeler’s receiving acumen is still a great asset in a predominantly PPR landscape. Brian Robinson is a decimal-aggregate plodder, but so was James Conner in Kingsbury’s unimaginative vanilla scheme. If you’re into three yards per carry and maybe 10 goal line touchdowns, he’s your guy.
The Commanders finally have a glimmer of hope in doing right by Terry McLaurin, who has dragged his incredible tool box through the swamp for years gathering rust with terrible QB play. Daniels is a fearless passer and will love the big windows opened up by Scary Terry. Jahan Dotson is also a much better technician than the stats have reflected through his two NFL seasons. I thought Washington really reached on Luke McCaffrey, but he obviously has a chance to log a high snap share in the slot. Dyami Brown is a vertical threat and not much else. The rest of these guys can stay on the wire.
Check your dynasty rosters right now. Zach Ertz is not only alive, but he’s due to start Week 1 for the Commanders. Yes, he’s old and crusty. He can also still play and score touchdowns. Ben Sinnott is presumably the future, but is getting severely overdrafted by dynasty managers far and wide. John Bates is still here, but I can’t quit Cole Turner. He would be my bet to hang around and surprise some folks in 2024.
Dallas Cowboys
A lame duck head coach heads into 2024 with a lame duck QB. Dak Prescott will eventually be the highest-paid QB in the NFL, but the Cowboys front office has continued to prove and reaffirm their incompetence. His offensive line is worse this year. The running game looks to be headed for the basement and his No. 1 receiver should hold out for his own earned contract extension. Prescott was an underpriced smash value this past offseason, but now I shudder to think his free fall still hasn’t hit bottom. This team is going nowhere.
Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott‘s charred remains spearhead the stone worst RB room in the NFL. I suppose Dowdle could be rostered in an extreme version of Zero-RB purism, but Elliott’s illustrious run of viability has long since curdled. Jerry Jones sat on his hands in the Bahamas when free agency opened. He didn’t bother to call Derrick Henry or Aaron Jones (or anyone). Deuce Vaughn was a nice story, but is not going to ever grace a starting dynasty lineup. Royce Freeman was the earth-shattering signage. Jerry must have been dreaming about that 2017 Oregon Ducks team. The stench is unbearable in this group.
CeeDee Lamb should absolutely refuse to play until he gets his just desserts. He was the best WR in the NFL this past season and shouldn’t have to quibble with a senile shrew. Brandin Cooks is still a solid WR with game-to-game upside, especially since the passing volume will need to be prolific. After him is kick returner KaVontae Turpin and three men named Jalen (Cropper, Tolbert, and Brooks). Ryan Flournoy is worth a deep stash on the taxi squad, but this group is well below acceptable without Lamb.
I love tight end Jake Ferguson. He is a gritty competitor with a telekinetic connection to Prescott. He might have a gargantuan future ahead of him in fantasy just from the lack of viable options in the receiving game around him and Lamb. Luke Schoonmaker was a horrendous second-round pick, but is still a really good football player who can be held on deeper dynasty rosters.
New York Giants
I still like Daniel Jones as a late-round QB in fantasy. His knee injury will be fully healed by September and I expect the Giants to let him run wild and free like before. Danny Dimes is like a more mobile Jameis Winston. He might flail and fail as a professional QB, but the fantasy returns are still somehow satisfactory. The offensive line might not be as bad as in years past and there is reason for optimism with Brian Daboll at the reins. Drew Lock is a really strong backup who can start and produce if pressed into action.
The gaping chasm left by Barkley’s departure to rival Philly has been patched with Devin Singletary, who was quite a bit more impressive than anyone expected him to be in Houston. He isn’t flashy, but can certainly produce alongside incumbent Eric Gray. Gray has serious big play firepower if he can stay healthy.
That famous meme with the supercar under the mobile home awning is Malik Nabers in this Giants receiving corps. The first-round pick from LSU is pure, unfiltered excitement on the field. Whether he can succeed in this offense really will depend on QB play, so let’s all hold hands and pray for Jones or Lock to step it up.
The collection of receivers, young and old, behind Nabers still warrant some roster consideration in dynasty. Darius Slayton is long in the tooth, but finds a way to make us remember him each year. Isaiah Hodgins has done some good things over the past two years, as has Wan’Dale Robinson. The latter is a really fun gadget player with great chops from the slot. Allen Robinson and Isaiah McKenzie are here to try and extend their careers, but I wouldn’t touch them in dynasty anymore. It’s a long shot, but I still have eyes for Bryce Ford-Wheaton. He got hurt last season and will need to show out in camp to stick around.
Will tight Darren Waller retire? Probably. He hasn’t yet, but I’m staying away. Daniel Bellinger and rookie Theo Johnson are plenty fine as late round options for TE depth. There is no need to chase the Oakland glory days with the guy who blew it with Kelsey Plum.
Dynasty Draft Advice
- Fitz’s Dynasty Draft Primers
Dynasty Rookie Draft Advice
- DBro’s Dynasty Rookie Draft Primers
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