NFL NFC East - Half Season Quarterback Report
The NFC East might just be the worst division in the history of the NFL and one of the main reasons for this has been the inconsistent QB Play all 4 teams have surprisingly experienced over the first 8 games, let’s take an in-depth look at each team's Quarterback situation to see whether any of them are worth the long term investment.
NFL NFC East - The Washington Football Team
Let’s address the elephant in the room, Ron Rivera has little to no faith in Dwayne Haskins and can we really blame him? Haskins, the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft future was thrown in the air when the majority of the top brass that believed in him and selected him was cleansed this offseason as part of Washington's efforts to rebrand as an actual stable franchise.
Let’s grade Haskins rookie season against his fellow draft peers so we can truly understand what a miss this pick was;
Haskins performance was dreadful, he is literally a few steps behind all his peers. To be fair Haskins walked into the worst situation of all his peers but early on he showed us he isn’t the type of QB who can overcome dysfunction(which you know is the whole purpose behind a Franchise QB but I digress).
Kyle Allen has outperformed him greatly under the same conditions this season and looks like a potential okay to good game manager. Rivera loves Allen and brought him over from the Panthers.
At worst, Allen is a bridge QB to the guy and at best he can be the game manager for whatever Rivera ends up building. Haskins still has great potential if he can find himself in a situation similar to what he had at Ohio State. Maybe he can get his career back on track and hopefully one of the contenders like Steelers acquire him, let him sit for a year or two and have him take over when he's ready.
NFL NFC East - The New York Giants
Daniel Jones(take away the turnovers) is just okay, his arm is okay, his IQ is okay, his performance on both charts is just okay and that’s why his future in New York is in question. Say what you want about Eli Manning but in big moments he always gave his team the belief they could get a win, Eli’s clone is yet to replicate that feeling with his team.
Joe Judge came up under Bill Belichick and Nick Saban and he must fully understand “okay” doesn’t really put you in the best position to win. To Danny Dimes credit, Pat Shurmur and Jason Garrett are considered Vanilla playcallers and despite the absence of his biggest weapon in Saquon Barkley, he has still kept the team competitive in the last 4 games (Cowboys, Redskins, Eagles and Buccaneers)
You can win with Danny Dimes but what’s his ceiling? 9-7? Multiple super bowls? It’s all up in the air but he is solid now and could possibly develop into a high end game manager. You can definitely build a strong team around him e.g. strong run game and stout defense
NFL NFC East - Philadelphia Eagles
Carson Wentz has come full circle and it’s horrible. Wentz career arc goes; very promising rookie, MVP Candidate, high end game manager to a guy on a terrible contract who might be replaced.
Wentz's high point was truly special but he has never returned to that level of play. The departure of Frank Reich has greatly offset his development and his offensive pieces are breaking down in front of his eyes. Wentz is worth the long term investment for the simple fact that he showed 3 years of consistent good play before a sudden decline this year.
The Eagles have concerns over his injury history and it is justified, but Wentz has shown actual Franchise QB ability by carrying a sub par Eagles team into the playoff’s last year. Wentz is the biggest question mark in the division. Is it easy to move from a first round pick who flamed out in his 2nd season but one who was an MVP candidate in the previous season? Not so much.
The Eagles are cap tied to Wentz for a long time and they might as well give him one more chance with a stable lineup to see whether the step down in form this year is an anomaly or a trend.
NFL NFC East - The Dallas Cowboys;
Prescott is the inverse of Wentz his career arc went full circle but in a positive way it goes; ROY, high end game manager, questionable future, high end game manager and finally stat stuffer.
Dak Prescott always puts up numbers, but sadly that always doesn’t add up to wins for his team and this was before his ankle got nuked. As the Cowboys continue on their never ending march to a top 5 pick they will have the opportunity to replace an expiring contract injured QB with a young promising QB who breathes new life into the franchise.
Prescott stats suggest a franchise QB while the eye test shows a game manager being asked to do too much.
Conclusion
Someone once said if you're questioning whether your QB is good or not he's probably not, it’s completely possible that none of these QB’s are in the division in 2022.