2019 NFL Draft Aftermath: Winners and Losers from the NFC East
Each year, the NFL Draft creates a massive shockwave, impacting the roles for many players throughout the league. Sometimes the draft can be good for an established player but most of the time it’s a scary situation because it means there will be more competition for a spot in the starting lineup.
A lot happened in this year’s draft that impacted the NFC East. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers.
Dallas Cowboys
Round 2 – Pick 26 (58): Trysten Hill, DT Central Florida
Round 3 – Pick 27 (90): Connor McGovern, G Penn State
Round 4 – Pick 26 (128): Tony Pollard, RB Memphis
Round 5 – Pick 20 (158): Michael Jackson, CB Miami FL
Round 6 – Pick 41 (213): Donovan Wilson, S Texas A&M
Round 7 – Pick 4 (218): Mike Weber, RB Ohio State
Round 7 – Pick 27 (241): Jalen Jelks, Edge Oregon
Winner – Michael Gallup, WR
This year’s draft class was stacked with talent from top to bottom at the wide receiver position. Dallas needed to add depth at wide receiver, and this was the year for them to get their guy. The investment would be minimal to get a quality player who could fill a role for the team.
The water in the pool must have been a bit too cold to the touch when they tried dipping their toe in the water, because they haphazardly tried to address their need by selecting Tony Pollard, a running back who can also play in the slot, in the fourth round. The team needs speed on the outside to help stretch the field. Emmanuel Hall would have been a perfect fit for the team, but they neglected to snag him with their later picks nor pick him up as a UDFA.
Last year, the Cowboys passed the ball on just 56.6 percent of their offensive possessions, making them of the most run-heavy offenses in the league. They also implement three wide receiver sets just 58.1 percent of the time. Another talented wide receiver added to the mix would just muddy the waters for Gallup’s fantasy value. Combine that with Amari Cooper’s 24 percent target share and his 32 percent air yard share, and there would be even less opportunity for Gallup to make an impact in fantasy leagues.
All-in-all, the fact the Cowboys skipped out on drafting a receiver will allow Gallup to grow more within the offense. He should be the team’s steady WR2. Gallup is safe for now and as long as he develops his skill set, he should be safe for a long time.
Loser – Tavon Austin, RB/WR
This will more than likely be Austin’s final year as a Cowboy. His contract will expire at the end of this season and I highly doubt Dallas will re-sign a 30-year-old running back wide receiver hybrid who doesn’t play a large role in the offense.
Pollard is a multipurpose running back who not only can take carries out of the backfield but can lineup in the slot as a wide receiver. He can be dispersed on end-a-rounds and slip out of the backfield to catch screens and check downs. His versatility will add another dynamic to the offense.
Unfortunately, he’s going to eventually take work from Austin who possesses a similar skill set. These two players will battle it out during training camp, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Pollard starts taking work from Austin as early as this year. Last year, Austin caught just eight passes for 140 yards and rushed the ball six times for 55 yards. He’s not an integral piece to the offense, making him easily replaceable.
Austin is not a lock to make the team this year and it appears his days in Dallas are numbered. He should at least hit free agency next off-season, if not before week one kicks off. Whether he’s on the team or not, he’s more than likely not going to be rostered in dynasty.
Philadelphia Eagles
Round 1 – Pick 22 (22): Andre Dillard, T Washington State
Round 2 – Pick 21 (53): Miles Sanders, RB Penn State
Round 2 – Pick 25 (57): JJ Arcega-Whiteside, WR Stanford
Round 4 – Pick 36 (138): Shareef Miller, Edge Penn State
Round 5 – Pick 29 (167): Clayton Thorson, QB Northwestern
Winner – Carson Wentz, QB
Injuries have been the major story surrounding Wentz the last couple of years. With there being some uncertainties regarding his ability to stay healthy, the Eagles might have felt compelled to draft another quarterback as an insurance policy. Honestly, this wasn’t the right quarterback class for them to make such a move, but it still wasn’t out of the arrange of outcomes.
Instead, the Eagles waited until the fifth round to draft a quarterback. They selected Clayton Thorson, a developmental prospect from Northwestern. He has some good traits but he will need to do a complete overhaul of his game if he wants to even sniff the field.
As of right now, Wentz’s job is safe and they currently don’t have a quarterback on the roster who is a threat to take his job if he experiences another bad injury. He’s 100 percent ‘the guy’ in Philadelphia. There’s zero competition for his job and the Eagles are confident that he can be the team’s starting quarterback for a very long time.
Loser – Jordan Howard, RB
Howard has only been with the team for about a month and is already a draft casualty. The Eagles drafted Miles Sanders with their first second-round pick. Philadelphia isn’t heavily invested in Howard considering they only needed to send a 2020 sixth round pick via trade to the Bears to acquire his services. This makes him easily dispensable and since the sunk cost is low, their hand won’t be forced to make him the starting running back.
Sanders is one of the top running backs in this year’s draft class. He’s athletic, can run between the tackles and can catch the ball out of the backfield. All of his skill sets suggest that he can be a three-down back at the NFL level.
Howard is not a slouch, he’s more than capable of earning the starting job if he plays to his potential. However, the added competition doesn’t make things better for him either. No matter what, he should at the very least, lose some touches to Sanders.
Philadelphia split the workload between five different running backs last year with Josh Adams leading the charge with 120 carries. Add Sanders and Howard to the mix and there’s a potential we could see a frustrating committee led by either back. Due to draft capital invested, expect Philadelphia to favor Sanders but don’t be surprised if they ride the hot hand.
Washington Redskins
Round 1 – Pick 15 (15): Dwayne Haskins, QB Ohio State
Round 1 – Pick 26 (26): Shaquan Sweat, Edge Mississippi State
Round 3 – Pick 13 (76): Terry McLaurin, WR Ohio State
Round 4 – Pick 10 (112): Bryce Love, RB Stanford
Round 4 – Pick 29 (131): Wes Martin, G Indiana
Round 5 – Pick 15 (153): Ross Pierschbacher, C Alabama
Round 5 – Pick 35 (173): Cole Holcomb, LB North Carolina
Round 6 – Pick 34 (206): Kelvin Harmon, WR North Carolina State
Round 7 – Pick 13 (227) Jimmy Moreland, CB James Madison
Round 7 – Pick 7 (253) Jordan Brailford, Edge Oklahoma State
Winner – Derrius Guice, RB
Guice didn’t go 100 percent unscathed from the draft. The team did draft Bryce Love in the fourth round but Love projects as a complementary piece and it should be Guice’s job to lose. Washington spent a second-round pick in last year’s draft to acquire Guice’s services. After a falling quite a bit, the Redskins had to pull the trigger because he became a massive value on day two of the draft. All signs were pointing to him being the team’s feature back before he tore his ACL in the preseason, ending his rookie campaign.
He should receive every shot to earn the starting job this off-season which means it’s his job to lose. Love could step in if he goes down with another injury, but Love should be the lightning to Guice’s thunder going forward. If anything, this makes for a very interesting running back duo. As long as he remains healthy, we should see Guice handling a large market share of the touches out of the backfield for the Redskins.
Loser – Josh Doctson, WR
Doctson caught just 44 of his 78 targets last year for 532 yards and two touchdowns. After just 1,100 yards and eight touchdowns during three seasons, the Redskins needed to make a change. On top of drafting Haskins in the first round, they also took multiple stabs at wide receiver. The team is dedicated to repairing their passing game.
The team drafted Terry McLaurin in the third round. He’s a speedster who played with Haskins at Ohio State. Even though he’s a mid-round pick, he will get every opportunity to compete for targets this season. McLaurin will eventually be the team’s deep threat which will inevitably steal the spotlight from Doctson.
Kelvin Harmon was thought of as one of the best wide receivers in the draft, but the Redskins was able to snag him in the sixth round. His fall in the draft was unprecedented but it doesn’t mean he lacks talent. He’s also going to compete with Doctson for snaps out of the gate. Harmon is a late round pick, but there’s currently a lot of ambiguity in Washington’s wide receiver corps and he could easily carve out a role within the offense.
Right after the draft, the Redskins notified Doctson that they won’t be honoring his fifth-year option for 2020, indicating that his tenure in the Nation’s capital is coming to an end.
New York Giants
Round 1 – Pick 6 (6): Daniel Jones, QB Duke
Round 1 – Pick 17 (17): Dexter Lawrence, DT Clemson
Round 3 – Pick 32 (95): Oshane Ximines, Edge Old Dominion
Round 4 – Pick 6 (108): Julian Love, CB Notre Dame
Round 5 – Pick 5 (143): Ryan Connelly, LB Wisconsin
Round 5 – Pick 33 (171): Darius Slayton, WR Auburn
Round 6 – Pick 7 (180): Corey Ballentine, CB Washburn
Round 7 – Pick 18 (232): George Asafo-Adjei, T Kentucky
Round 7 – Pick 31 (245): Chris Slayton, DT Syracuse
Winner – Sterling Shepard, WR
The Giants avoided taking a stab at the wide receiver position until the fifth round of the draft. They drafted Darius Slayton from Auburn. He’s a highly athletic vertical threat and he could make a living stretching the field for the Giants. Even though Slayton has the intangibles to make an impact, it’s not enough for him to steal targets away from Shepard or even Golden Tate. Shepard should be locked in as the team’s WR1.
Make no mistake, this year’s wide receiver class is deep with talent. Even after trading away Odell Beckham, the Giants neglected to take advantage of the talent at wide receiver this year. With every round that passed in the draft, Shepard was in danger of losing target volume. Though the team decided to look the other way and not draft a talented pass catcher and use their draft capital to build the defense.
Loser – Eli Manning, QB
The fact that the team allows him to strap up and take the field on a weekly basis is a major victory for him. Considering that the Giants spent the sixth overall pick on Daniel Jones is a testament that the team feels like Manning’s tenure is almost over. No matter how you feel about the pick itself, there’s going to be a change at quarterback somewhere down the line.
Dave Gettleman wants to start Manning for the next 30 years, but the fans and the media are not going to allow him to ride off with Manning into the sunset if he continues to be ineffective as the team’s starting quarterback. It looks like the Giants are possibly getting their ducks in a row for life without Manning.
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