2012 NFL Draft: Today's War Room Thoughts for Every NFC East Team, 2/10 Edition

New York Giants: A Tight Situation at Tight End

Jake Ballard: ACL tear. Travis Beckum: ACL tear. Giants tight end position: as stretched as the ligaments in the aforementioned player's knees.

Could the Giants be in the market for a tight end in the draft?

Bleacher Report draft guru Matt Miller mocked Georgia tight end Orson Charles to the Giants in his most recent mock draft, and it seems like a good fit. At 6'3" and 241 pounds, he's not exactly the biggest blocking tight end, but he can throw a block if he needs to and has great seam-stretching ability.

As pointed out previously on the blog, Ballard is a restricted free agent. According to Brian McIntyre of Mac's Football Blog, that means the team can tender him for somewhere between $1.26 and $2.74 million.

The money isn't the issue here, though. The bigger issue is whether Ballard and Beckum can get  healthy in 2012, if at all. The value of a tight end down the middle became evident in the regular season, when Eli Manning went to Ballard in several key situations. Ballard came up big when called upon, especially against the Patriots in Week 9.

If the Giants are also going to lose wide receiver Mario Manningham to free agency, they'll need to add receiving threats other ways. As great as Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz are, this is simply a spread-attack league. The more downfield threats Eli has, the better off the Giants are.

Dallas Cowboys: Getting Defensive of the Current Defensive Backs

The 2012 NFL draft seems like a perfect time to draft a defensive back in the first round. The Cowboys have had a need there for years, but they didn't take a defensive back until the fourth round last year. 

But pump the breaks on that. There may be better value in the second round of cornerbacks. Wes Bunting of National Football Post says that cornerback may be the deepest position in the draft this year.

Could the team really enter the season with Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins as the starters? Why not? It's plausible, or at least says Josh Ellis of DallasCowboys.com, who told his followers today on Twitter that Scandrick and Jenkins should be the starting cornerbacks in 2012.

With help from our friends at Pro Football Focus, we find that there is odd statistical evidence for the two: While neither have been particularly impressive, both have improved. 

Jenkins improved from 2010 to 2011, but he had a 122.6 passer rating in 2010, according to Pro Football Focus, the fourth-worst in the NFL that season. His 88.5 passer rating against him in 2011 is better, though not impressive by any stretch.

Ellis supports his thesis in a later tweet by adding that if Scandrick can't cut it as a starter, at least there will be a second-rounder to come in and replace him.

Washington Redskins: Another Year of Rex Grossman Is out of the Question

Imagine a scenario, if you will, where the Redskins are unable to acquire Peyton Manning in free agency and are unable to trade up to get Robert Griffin, III.

Where do the Redskins go from here?

The Redskins have plenty of needs they could fill with the No. 6 pick in the draft. LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne would be a great fit if he falls out of the top five. He's the best man cover corner in the class, and at 6'1" with top-end speed to cover some of the SEC's best receivers, his skills look prime to translate to the NFL.

There aren't any true first-round quarterback prospects other than Griffin and Andrew Luck, and if the Redskins miss out, they could land one of the various second-round prospects. Whoever they get, whether it's in the draft or free agency, they must find a way to bring an end to the Rex Grossman era.

One look at the numbers is all you need to tell you why.

A potential second-round fit at quarterback may be Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill. His mobility will be a favorite trait of Mike Shanahan, but he has limited experience at quarterback and even less experience taking snaps from under center. If the Redskins end up with a project quarterback, perhaps the Grossman era isn't over in Washington.

Redskins fans cringe at the thought. 

Philadelphia Eagles: Taking the Second Level to the Next Level

Middle linebacker is the biggest need for the Eagles heading into the offseason, and in a rare turn of events, there are several solid prospects that could be first-round fits.

The Eagles have tried furiously as of late to find fits at linebacker, and they've used five picks on the position in the past two years. Further analysis shows, though, they're not quite investing the resources they need to in the position. Two were fourth-round picks (Keenan Clayton in '10, Casey Matthews in '11), one was a sixth-rounder (Brian Rolle in '11) and the other two were taken in the seventh round (Jamar Chaney in '10, Greg Lloyd in '11).

Despite the picks, linebacker is still a position of need, especially in the middle. Chaney has been a disappointment this season, missing 11 tackles and getting lost in coverage all too frequently (67.2 percent completions against him, according to Pro Football Focus). It's time to pull the trigger on a top-end talent.

Arizona State's Vontaze Burfict, Boston College's Luke Kuechly and Alabama's Dont'a Hightower all look like fits in the scheme that are worth a first-round pick. The Eagles have drafted for need as of late, and this is a spot where need meets opportunity.

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