How Commanders Roster Stacks Up in NFC East Division

The Washington Commanders are looking to shock the NFC East Division, and just might have the roster to do it.

The Washington Commanders haven’t had a lot of supporters in recent years, and that’s no real secret. 

Even some Commanders fans themselves have found it difficult to throw their time and money behind their beloved burgundy and gold, but that all changed this season.

Now, there’s been an awakening of sorts, leading to Washington selling every seat in FedEx Field for its Week 1 opener against the Arizona Cardinals.

While the local populace is walking with more confidence than ever, the national outlook is still dim. 

So we set out to grade each facet of the Commanders roster to see where we think this team stacks up against their NFC East Division foes, and just how possible it is we see a D.C. uprising in 2023. 

Here are the results in order of last year’s divisional standings.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Overall GPA: 2.9 (1st)

Offensive GPA: 3.6

Defensive GPA: 2.6

Special Teams GPA: 2.5

The defending champs get an immediate boost to their overall grade point average (GPA) with ‘A’s from their quarterback, receivers, and offensive line. 

Where they fade a bit is in their linebacker and safety groups full of mostly new faces that automatically grade out as ‘C’s because of the relative unknown they’ll bring to the field this season. 

The lowest unit GPA here comes from special teams as a new punt returner and punter with fewer than 30 kicks landing inside the 20 last year torpedoes the group.

Meanwhile, if Philadelphia can get better than average performance from its unproven groups, then it’s likely we’ll see this team fly to the top of the division once again.

Eric Hartline, USA Today

DALLAS COWBOYS

Overall GPA: 2.7 (3rd)

Offensive GPA: 2.8

Defensive GPA: 2.8

Special Teams GPA: 2.5

Where many Cowboys fans are going to take immediate offense to these grades is at quarterback with Dak Prescott drawing a ‘B’. 

From his career history, however, Dallas has proven it can with win Prescott, just not because of him. And that keeps you from an ‘A’ every time in our book. 

Beyond that, the Cowboys grade out as having the second-best defense in the division looking to get better than average play out of their linebackers to try and claim the top spot at the end of the year.

NEW YORK GIANTS

Overall GPA: 2.56 (4th)

Offensive GPA: 2.8

Defensive GPA: 2.4

Special Teams GPA: 2.4

We broke our own rule here and gave the Giants an ‘A’ for their tight end group despite the fact we haven’t seen Darren Waller in regular season action for the team yet.

That decision was made more out of respect for Waller than anything, and the belief that his down year was more about the Las Vegas Raiders downward spiral than it was this player’s. 

It’ll be for nothing, however, if New York’s offensive line featuring left tackle Andrew Thomas as it’s only major confidence point doesn’t come together in-season.

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS

Overall GPA: 2.85 (2nd)

Offensive GPA: 2.8

Defensive GPA: 3

Special Teams GPA: 2.75

The surprise of this exercise might be Washington coming in 2nd in the NFC East - although we tried to do these grades with no preconceived notions in our minds. 

That being said, Washington having the highest graded defense helps, but so too does having the only ‘A’ punter in the division in veteran Tress Way. 

Of course, some would argue having a ‘B’ quarterback is more valuable than an ‘A’ punter, and we’d likely agree. 

But the report card doesn’t grade on a curve, leaving some need to understand the weight of each group beyond the static GPA format presented here.

As alluded to earlier, all new additions whether they be free-agents, trades, or rookies, were defaulted to ‘C’ grades until we get a chance to see them perform with their new teams with something tangible on the line. 

Except for Waller - again, our apologies if that offends. 

As it goes for every team, if those relative unknowns shine then they’ll bring the whole class up. But if they falter, well, the results could be just as serious in the other direction. 

And then there’s coaching, which is not weighed here because they aren’t part of the roster. 

That extra credit can go a long way, and certainly will as the Commanders, Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants fight their way through the NFL season.

For full position group grades and breakdowns check out this episode of the Locked On Commanders podcast.