Apr 26, 2012; New York, NY, USA; New York Giants fans react to the Giants selection of Virginia Tech running back David Wilson (not pictured) as the 32nd pick in the 2012 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-US PRESSWIRE

The NFC East has been a tough division lately, with 3 teams in the playoff hunt year after year. , and one team with 2 Lombardi Trophies in 5 years. So, how did they all do in this years draft? I would say very good. With each team addressing needs and getting players that will address those needs immediately.

The Washington Redskins may have made the biggest splash by drafting QB Robert Griffin III. He will make the Skins a better team immediately with the offensive threat he poses. They followed that up with selecting QB Kirk Cousins. Some think a strange pick, but will keep pressure on both QB’s and competition always brings out the best. Two offensive guards in Josh LeRibeus who could become a starter and Adam Gettis who will provide depth. They selected RB Alfred Morris, a quick back able to find creases in the zone run scheme, that will give RG3 another option. LB Keenan Robinson will look to be a nickle backer. The two DB’s Richard Crawford and Jordon Bernstine will provide depth in the secondary and help against their passing oriented division foes. Grade A-.

The Dallas Cowboys went to work on providing help to a defense that was vulnerable to the pass, prone to giving up leads, and was one of the contributing factors leading to their late season collapse. They traded up to pick CB Morris Claiborne, arguably the best DB in this years draft. They continued the defensive trend with OLB/Pass Rusher Kyle Wilber and SS Matt Johnson. Both of whom should help against big plays. They took TE James Hanna late to help an aging Jason Witten and WR , a big physical receiver, Danny Coale that will probably make the team on special teams but could help Romo and the passing attack.  Grade B.

The Eagles also were defensive minded early on. DT Fletcher Cox will be able to take up the middle in the wide nine. ILB Mychal Kemdricks and DE Vinny Curry were both players the Eagles couldn’t pass on. Both are athletic players that seem to never quit on a play. Reid got to pick a QB, Nick Foles is a heavy footed QB that Reid probably wants to use  to show everyone he can make a good passer out of anyone. CB Brandon Boykin is a little small for CB at 5’9″ but can also play slot receiver. Maybe an Edelmann type player. The two linemen, OT Dennis Kelly and OG Brandon Washington look to be backups but work their way into starters in the future. RB Bryce Brown should fit nicely into Philly’s offense. Grade B.

The Super Bowl Champion NY Giants addressed needs. RB David Wilson and WR Rueben Randle will replace two departures to free agency and will fill in nicely. Jayron Hosley can help with depth and covering the slot receiver. He could also split return duty with Wilson on special teams. TE Adrien Robinson will provide help in what could be the thinnest position the GMen have. If he can step up his game, this pass catching TE could see a lot of snaps. OT’s Brandon Moseley and Matt McCants both have good size and physical attributes but figure to be developmental players and may earn a spot as a back up. Markus Kuhn is undersized for a DT., but has talent and could make it as a backup in one of the many ever changing defensive line rotations. Grade B-.

2012 should once again be a very competitive race for the NFC East Division Champs. But I think Big Blue will rise to that challenge and capture yet another Division title.

1. Beck finished last season with 80 completions out of 132 attempts, 858 yards, two passing touchdowns and four interceptions.
2. The Redskins just drafted two QBs, No. 2 overall pick Robert Griffin III, and Kirk Cousins from Michigan State.

The Skins are obviously looking for a fresh start and considering all the QB issues they’ve had over the past few seasons I think it is a good idea. Some people are saying that since Cousins won 27 games as a starter for three years at Michigan State that drafting him as the backup QB could be setting the stage for another QB controversy. I get the sense that the Redskins front office, and the fans, are ready to stick with one talented QB, Robert Griffin III, and watch him develop over several years.  I would say that RG3 would need to have a really terrible first year to bring on a QB controversy.

Now I was totally blindsided by Jerry Jones moving up to the 6th pick to get LSU CB Morris Claiborne for his new and improved Cowboys secondary. In my defense this is Jerry Jones, the most unpredictable Owner/General Manager in the NFL. Claiborne is a 6″ tall cover corner. The only knock on him is that he is a reluctant tackler enabling WR like Victor Cruz and Desean Jackson to potentially get a lot of yards after catch (YAC).

I had the Giants picking Boise State RB Doug Martin but in this trade happy Draft (so far 9 trades in the First Round), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded into the 31st spot and grabbed Martin. This left the Giants with the next best RB on their board which was Virginia Tech RB David Wilson. The difference between Martin and Wilson is quite simply this, Martin is a consistent back where as Wilson is an explosive back that can break a big play at any given time in a game.

All in all I am now officially against Mock Drafts because with the new Rookie pay scale, trades are free flowing and teams in the upper half of the draft are no longer concern if “we can afford to pay this player”.

This tells me the Eagles are in love with Fletcher Cox, DT out of Mississippi State who is a Top 10 projection. Worst case scenario for the Eagles is they stay at 16th loose Barron (to Cowboys) and Cox and draft Michael Brockers, DT out of LSU which really is not that bad of a choice. Now if the Cowboys do not get Barron (whether he is drafted higher or the Eagles make a move for him) well they have a lot of other needs on Defense with emphasis on the D-line. Courtney Upshaw, DE out of Alabama may still be available. So could Nick Perry, DE out of USC or South Carolina’s OLB Melvin Ingram who can cause some chaos in Rob Ryan’s blitz happy scheme.

Now the Giants, holding the last pick and a team that sticks to the philosophy of best available player. Okay I am going to get opinionated here; to all those Coby Fleener TE from Stanford supporters, not happening. The Giants signed Martellus Bennett, Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin saw something in this TE that made them believers (maybe to a degree). That being said I can see the Giants drafting a TE like Ladarius Green from Louisiana-Lafayette, Deangelo Peterson, TE, LSU or Michael Egnew, TE, Missouri in Rounds 3 or 4. As for the OT Mike Adams (Ohio State) believers, not happening either. The G-Men have not drafted a OT since 1999 and are staunch believers they can find a good OL in the later rounds and develop him within the organization. Now add to this the rumors of Adams being a “work hard when he feels like it guy”. Does that sound like someone Coughlin would put up with?

So who should it be? The Mel Kipers and Todd McShays of the Draft World will never be able to predict how a draft will go and who will move up or down. Now if Kendall Wright, WR from Baylor happens to move down to 32 grab him. He will open the Giants Offense even more and make Cruz and Nicks look that much better. Now I have been a supporter of RB Doug Martin (Boise State) he is a good runner between the lines and is great in pass protection, receiving and YAC (yards after catch). But we don’t know who will be there at 32, we don’t have that crystal ball. One thing we do know if there is a highly rated DE at 32, well enough said.

Nov 8, 2009; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (left) and San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers talk prior to game at Giants Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Take a look at this brief off-season quarterback carousel just so that you can understand where I’m coming from:

• The Indianapolis Colts cut Peyton Manning so they can draft Andrew Luck.
• Peyton Manning signs with the Denver Broncos after putting the NFL on a three year waiting list. Wait, what? It wasn’t three years? Sure seemed like it.
• The St. Louis Rams got a fortune in return from the Washington Redskins so they can take RG3 right after the Colts select Luck.
• Matt Flynn signs with the Seattle Seahawks after being Aaron Rodgers’ backup.
• Jason Campbell leaves Oakland after having his starting job taken away and signs with the Chicago Bears to become Jay Cutler’s backup.
• Kyle Orton does the same thing and goes to backup Tony Romo in Dallas after starting for two teams last year: the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos.
• Denver Broncos’ third string QB Brady Quinn moves to Kansas City to become that team’s newest backup QB.
• Chad Henne left the Dolphins to challenge for the starting QB job with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
• The New York Jets brought in Drew Stanton to be Mark Sanchez’s new body double.
• David Garrard comes back to the league after a one year absence to join the Miami Dolphins.

We have backups becoming starters, starters becoming backups, rookies being drafted presumably to start from day, guys out of the league for a year and one of the greatest QBs to ever play in the NFL cut for a player to have never played a down of professional football before. Confused yet? That’s because it is confusing to keep track of which quarterback is on which team now in the new quarterback driven NFL.

With the signing of Manning to the Broncos there is now another starting quarterback that could be had for the right price: Tim Tebow for a 5th round pick, presumably. The two teams with a most glaring need at a QB, if the 49ers don’t bring back Alex Smith, that is, are the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins. You have to include Miami because a Matt Moore/David Garrard combo doesn’t scare anyone.

The Browns were never in the hunt for Manning but aren’t enamored with incumbent QB Colt McCoy and lost out on the RG3 sweepstakes. The Dolphins went all in on Manning but came back empty handed; then their second choice Flynn spurned them for the Seahawks. That leaves the potential of either one of those two teams signing Alex Smith, he of the 49ers, who has no idea of his job status thanks to the Peyton Derby, and the aforementioned Tebow.

Plus there are other potential first round quarterbacks besides Luck and RG3 that could be taken by the Browns or Dolphins like Ryan Tannehill or Brandon Weeden, both of whom, if you ask me aren’t worthy of being selected in the top ten of the draft but might be taken that early because the Dolphins (picking 8^th overall) and the Browns (picking 4^th overall) won’t have any choice other than dangling a future first round draft pick in order to trade back into the latter part of the upcoming 2012 NFL Draft.

By my calculations we might have a total of 11 teams with a new starting QB/quarterback question marks entering next season:

-Redskins – RG3, Vikings – Ponder/Webb?, Jaguars – Gabbert/Henne? Or maybe even Tebow?, San Fran – Smith/Kaepernick/Josh Johnson?, Arizona – Kolb/Skelton? Cleveland – McCoy?, Seattle – Flynn/T-Jax? Titans – Locker/Hasselbeck?, Indy – Luck, Miami – Moore/Garrard? and Denver – Peyton Manning.

11! That is a ridiculous amount of turnover at the most important position in football.

Now you can see why I’m pretty happy that the Giants have Eli Manning and we didn’t have to put up with the Peyton circus and the revolving game of quarterback musical chairs that teams like the Redskins and Dolphins plus players like Tebow and Smith have had to put up with this offseason. Heck, the Giants are even keeping their back-up QB David Carr.