NFC East

CeeDee Lamb will serve as the Dallas Cowboys' top wide receiver in 2022 after the franchise traded Amari Cooper to Cleveland this offseason, and the current Browns receiver believes his former teammate is up to the challenge.

"CeeDee's been ready," Cooper said Friday during an appearance on 96.7 The Ticket, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. "Again, it's just about opportunity. I think if Kellen [Moore, the offensive coordinator] decides to feature him, he's definitely ready to step up. CeeDee is a playmaker."

With Cooper in Cleveland and Michael Gallup recovering from a torn ACL, Lamb will need to be Dallas' unquestioned leader in the passing game.

But while Cooper was considered the Cowboys' No. 1 receiver last season, Lamb actually eclipsed his numbers. The second-year wideout caught 79 passes for 1,102 yards, both of which led the team, and six touchdowns, which ranked second behind Cooper's and Dalton Schultz's eight. For comparison, Cooper caught 68 passes for 865 yards.

It's no surprise that the Cowboys were comfortable with relying on Lamb as their No. 1 receiver this coming season.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy also addressed Lamb's readiness for the role while speaking with reporters last month:

“CeeDee’s clearly at the top of the list. You got to get the ball to your playmakers. Ball distribution is a constant focal point for us when we talk offensive football. We talk about how many touches we want the perimeter players to have every game. Clearly whoever plays the flanker position is going to be in a primary situation where he’s going to be the number one read in a lot of progressions. He’s definitely ready for that opportunity.”

Dallas selected Lamb 27th overall in the 2020 draft. During his rookie season when Dak Prescott played only five games, the Oklahoma product caught 74 passes for 935 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for 82 yards and a score.

Beyond Lamb, the Cowboys can turn to James Washington, Simi Fehoko, Jalen Tolbert and Noah Brown out wide.

However, if Gallup misses the beginning of the season, the Cowboys will likely also rely more on Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard in the running game.

The team finished the 2021 season first in the NFC East with a 12-5 record but was eliminated with a wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Dallas is hoping to make a deep playoff run for the first time since they won Super Bowl XXX in 1996.

First-year general manager Joe Schoen knows he has a challenge ahead of him. The New York Giants were plagued by injuries a year ago, beginning in training camp. Saquon Barkley was never at 100 percent in 2021, while players like Kadarius Toney, Sterling Shepard and Daniel Jones all missed time.

By December, New York led the NFL in players on injured reserve. Schoen is well-aware that staying healthy will be a focal point during training camp and beyond.

"As roster attrition sets in, that's stressful, because there's 90 guys on 32 rosters, there's only so many players out there at each position that can still function in a camp," Schoen said, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. "It's always very stressful for me."

Stress over player health—a concern for all 32 NFL GMs—isn't the only sort Schoen will face this season, though. He and new head coach Brian Daboll are tasked with turning around a franchise that hasn't been above .500 in the last five years.

The Giants have also had losing campaigns in eight of the last 10 years.

Even granted good roster health, Schoen and Daboll are unlikely to find a quick fix in New York. The same is true for New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas. Like the Giants, the NFL's other New York franchise has finished below .500 in eight of the past 10 seasons.

The Jets haven't been to the playoffs since 2010. Rex Ryan was the head coach. Mark Sanchez was the quarterback. Both are now employed as television analysts and have been for some time. That should give you an idea of just how long it's been since the Jets were relevant.

It's been a long time since the NFL has seen consistent quality football from either of its Big Apple franchises, and that's a problem for the league. But 2022 could mark the start of a New York resurgence.

Brighter Days Are on the Horizon

On paper, the Giants and Jets are both better than they were a year ago. While neither franchise went overboard in free agency, both made smart moves and had strong draft classes that can build the foundations for bright futures.

The Giants added two foundational players in offensive tackle Evan Neal and pass-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux. With other young standouts such as Andrew Thomas, Leonard Williams, Azeez Ojulari and Dexter Lawrence on the roster, the Giants should be strong in the trenches.

The Giants further bolstered their line by adding Jon Feliciano and Mark Glowinski in free agency.

With strong offensive and defensive fronts, the Giants could be surprisingly good if running back Saquon Barkley returns to Pro Bowl form this season. That's an unknown, of course, but the Penn State product is at least healthy going into camp after a 2020 torn ACL and ankle injury last year.

"Saquon Barkley looked fresh upon his return, saying he feels like he can 'trust' his knee again and 'not think about it,'" Dan Salomone of the team's website wrote during minicamp.

The Giants also have an intriguing, if largely unproven, receiver group that features Kenny Golladay, Toney, Shepard and rookie Wan'Dale Robinson. If that group clicks, Big Blue could be a force.

The Jets, meanwhile, added four potential franchise players at the top of the draft, landing cornerback Sauce Gardner, receiver Garrett Wilson, pass-rusher Jermaine Johnson and running back Breece Hall.

"You could argue that the Jets got the best players in this draft class at three of the four most important positions in the game," Doug Farrar of USA Today wrote.

The Jets have a promising collection of skill players that includes Wilson, Hall, Elijah Moore, Denzel Mims and running back Michael Carter.

Douglas took a targeted approach to free agency, too, adding a pair of pass-catching tight ends in Tyler Conklin and C.J. Uzomah plus guard Laken Tomlinson. With Tomlinson in the fold, Gang Green has three first-round picks—along with Mekhi Becton and Alijah Vera-Tucker—on the offensive line.

Of course, neither franchise can be considered a legitimate contender until it solves its quarterback position. The Jets are perhaps in a better place there, if only because we've seen less of Zach Wilson than Jones.

Wilson was a borderline disaster as a rookie in 2021, finishing with nine touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 69.7 quarterback rating. However, his physical upside is tremendous.

Cornerback D.J. Reed said of Wilson, per Jack Bell of the team's website:

"I remember him out of BYU, a baller. He did some crazy stuff at BYU—off balance, cross shoulder, on one play he jumped over a dude to make a throw. His arm strength is phenomenal, he can throw out routes from the other hash. His arm strength and accuracy are really elite, I think."

A vastly improved supporting cast should put Wilson on the right trajectory. Think of Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who showed incremental growth in his second season before exploding as a Pro Bowler in 2020. Those signs of growth are what Jets fans could start to see from their quarterback this season.

The Giants largely know what they have in Jones, which is a similarly gifted quarterback who hasn't yet reached his potential. Since the Giants declined Jones' fifth-year option, the 25-year-old Duke product is entering a make-or-break fourth season.

On the positive side, Daboll helped make Allen the star quarterback he is. He may unlock similar potential from Jones. If he cannot, the Giants will at least be able to move on and take another crack at finding their franchise quarterback.

One way or another, Big Blue should get clarity on Jones' future in 2022. That would be good for the long-term growth of the franchise.

Why a New York Resurgence Would Matter

Here's where we point out that the Jets and Giants don't actually play in New York City. MetLife Stadium, which the two franchises share, is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey—a fact that even became the basis for a lawsuit filed this year by local fans demanding that "New York" be dropped from the franchises' names.

However, the Jets and Giants are part of the New York television market, which is the largest city in the country by a considerable margin.

According to World Population Report, New York has more than 8.6 million residents, more than twice the population of America's second-largest city, Los Angeles.

The National Football League is in the business of making money, and good football in New York is good for business. It helps raise advertising revenue, sell tickets and sell merchandise. Loyal fanbases will keep the revenue streams open, but the league would likely prefer the Jets and Giants to be national brands.

Consider the fact that the Jets and Giants combined for just eight wins in 2021 and eight the previous season. Yet, they had a combined five nationally televised games in 2021 and will have four in 2022—pending late-season flexing.

There will be multiple times this season when a Jersey-based team is one of only two playing. The NFL doesn't want those games to be ones fans are eager to pass on.

Having quality football in those marquee matchups is also good for many fans, especially those who are starved for NFL action and will consume just about any product the league offers. It will benefit no one if, for example, the December 22 Thursday night matchup between the Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars is a snoozefest.

And the AFC East and NFC East are more interesting divisions when the Jets and Giants are respectable.

The AFC East sent the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills to the postseason in 2021. Its NFC counterpart sent the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. The Miami Dolphins were a nine-win team that could be a threat after adding head coach Mike McDaniel and star receiver Tyreek Hill. The Washington Commanders won their division two years ago and added quarterback Carson Wentz this season, who is at least an improvement over Taylor Heinicke.

Those races will be a lot less fun if the Giants and Jets can be automatically pegged as irrelevant. They largely have been over the last decade, but that should change this year.

Setting Realistic 2022 Expectations

Let's be perfectly clear. The Giants and Jets aren't going to suddenly find success just because it's good for business, ratings or the fans. It's going to take work, patience and, most likely, time.

Yes, we saw the Cincinnati Bengals come out of nowhere to win the AFC last season. However, the Bengals caught lightning in a way that rarely happens in the NFL—they also found a star quarterback in Joe Burrow and emerged from an AFC North ravaged by injuries and inconsistency.

This is what Giants and Jets fans need to keep in mind. This season could be the start of turnarounds in New York, but it's unlikely to see either franchise challenging for a Super Bowl. There are too many uncertainties and a high degree of difficulty. The NFC East and AFC East each sent two teams to the postseason last year. There will be no easy path in either division.

This isn't to say that neither New York team will make the playoffs. One of our NFL experts picked the Giants to win their division.

Overall, though, this year will be about improvement and addressing major questions.

Will Wilson show enough growth to earn the Jets' confidence entering 2023? Will Daboll revitalize Jones' career and erase the Giants' biggest question mark? Will next offseason be the one in which the Jets and Giants start really building instead of rebuilding?

We're going to get answers in 2022. Meanwhile, the Jets and Giants should inch closer to respectability and winning records. Most importantly, we should see good, solid football from both franchises this season.

For New York fans, casual fans and the NFL as a whole, that will be a wonderful place to start.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is confident heading into training camp after working hard during the offseason.

"A couple of weeks out and I'm in the best shape that I've ever been in," Prescott said Saturday. "So, it's time to ramp it up and get going."

Though this has become a common sentiment for veteran athletes heading into any season, Prescott genuinely believes it after working with a personal trainer:

"I got a PT in the offseason - someone I've worked with throughout the last year. I've paid him, made him full-time, my guy. Whether it's vacation or not, he comes with me. We work on these movements and stretches. I feel like, since the injury, I've trained more functional than I ever have. So, I see it in my body, I see it the way I move and how the ball is coming out."

The 28-year-old is heading into the second season of his four-year, $160 million contract with the Cowboys.

Prescott led the Cowboys to an 11-5 record in 2021, totaling a 104.2 quarterback rating, 4,449 passing yards and a career-high 37 passing touchdowns.

It was a strong bounce-back season after missing all but five games in 2020 because of an ankle injury. Health issues still followed him in 2021, missing the preseason because of a shoulder injury, while a calf issue limited him down the stretch.

Prescott also struggled in the playoffs, completing just 53.5 percent of his passes with a 69.3 rating as the Cowboys lost 23-17 to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Wild Card Round.

The two-time Pro Bowler is preparing to lead the team deeper in the playoffs this season, which will require improved consistency and durability. He already said during minicamp that he was closer to full strength compared to recent years.

"This is the healthiest I've been in a long, long time," Prescott told reporters in May.

The effort to improve his movement and conditioning should also help him as he enters 2022 with high expectations.

Jason Kelce may be in the twilight of his career, but he's still a bonafide superstar.

Coming off another All-Pro campaign, the Philadelphia Eagles center was voted as the eighth-best interior lineman in the NFL and the league's second-best center in a poll of coaches and executives conducted by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

Kelce earned his fourth first-team All-Pro selection and was named to his fifth Pro Bowl in 2021 after a dominant season that saw him commit just four penalties and allow only one sack.

The 34-year-old considered retirement in the offseason before deciding to return to Philadelphia on a one-year, $14 million contract. He will be expected to serve as the anchor of the Eagles' offensive line as they try to build around Jalen Hurts.

If Kelce keeps playing the way he did last season, there's no reason to expect a retirement soon.