Top 10 Positional Battles Across The NFC East

The NFC East is one of the NFL's best divisions, so it's no wonder that a division with an abundance of talent has such great positional battles in camp every year.

All four teams have gone through some personnel changes in some respect. The Eagles sent franchise QB Donovan McNabb to the 'Skins, the Giants cut loose long-time leader Antonio Pierce, and the Cowboys released some of the age from their offensive line.

Each team will have multiple players vying for one spot, so let's delve into the 10 most intriguing positional battles within the division.

Philadelphia Eagles—SAM Linebacker

There is a heated battle for the SAM linebacker position currently going on in Eagles camp, with the culprits being Akeem Jordan and Moise Fukou, as well as Alex Hall seeing reps at the position.

Akeem Jordan is the front runner for the starting gig simply because he had a great off season and the coaches are impressed with his dedication and work ethic.

Fukou will not go away, and has even been taking reps at defensive end, but he is still a candidate for the job at SAM.

The Eagles have a sure fire battle for the SAM linebacker spot going on, and the main culprits are Akeem Jordan and Moise Fokou, with Alex Hall also vying for a spot.

Jordan has been the standout so far in camp, which should come as no surprise given he had a terrific offseason in OTAs and at mini-camp.

Jordan is definitely the front-runner, but Fokou won't go away.

Philadelphia Eagles—Left Defensive End

Juqua Parker and Trent Cole are both very fantastic defensive ends. Cole's ability should keep him on the field, but Parker had better be looking over his shoulder.

Brandon Graham—rookie first round pick from Michigan—has been everything the Eagles hoped for. He is exploding off the ball and making plays and making his case to be a starter right away.

For now, Graham is listed as the backup left defensive end, but that could change at a moment's notice.

New York Giants—Middle Linebacker

This one is pretty obvious. With Antonio Pierce facing career questions with a neck injury and just an overall slowing down, the Giants were forced to go in another direction.

The team took the fans by surprise a bit when talks began to surface about possibly signing All-Pro Linebacker Keith Bulluck of the Titans.

So he should be the starter, right? Wrong.

Jonathan Goff started camp with the first string and Keith Bulluck was nipping at his heels as the second stringer.

It is hard to believe the Giants would sign Bulluck and have him be the backup, but he will still have to earn whatever playing time he gets.

New York Giants—Right Defensive End

This is probably the most talked-about positional battle among the New York media simply because the story has the most intrigue.

At the end of last season, Osi Umenyiora voiced his disdain for having to come off the bench and threatened to retire if he was not back in the starting lineup in 2010.

Unfortunately for the media (and fortunately for the Giants), he has backed off those statements and looks forward to whatever playing time he earns, and he plans to be the best player he can be.

Mathias Kiwanuka isn't one to just back down, either, but you can be sure he will be whatever the team wants him to be. He has always embraced his role for the team, whether it was switching to OLB or coming back to defensive end when Osi was lost for the 2008 season.

One thing that is certain: both players will get near-equal amounts of playing time, no matter who is the actual starter.

New York Giants—Left Offensive Tackle/Guard

This one was left sort of open-ended because it depends mainly on the player pictured above.

Will Beatty—2009 second round pick—has been doing well in camp and is giving the coaching staff fewer reasons to leave him on the bench.

Especially considering that LT David Diehl, whose natural position is left guard, has been great for the Giants, Beatty coming in to the LT spot would make the left side of the line very formidable.

This positional battle lost a little of its luster when LG Rich Seubert broke his hand in practice last week, but he still suited up with a splint on his hand and is determined to keep his spot for the time being.

Dallas Cowboys—No. 2 Wide Receiver

This was probably the one that you thought "I better see the Roy vs. Dez battle on this slide show" when you read the title.

The most talked-about positional battle in the division, and maybe even the NFL, is the one taking place between overwhelming disappointment Roy Williams and fan-favorite Dez Bryant.

There was already a rift between the two when Bryant wouldn't participate in a little rookie hazing and carry Roy's pads, instead focusing on more important things, like jogging around the field and high five-iing his adoring fans.

Bryant has since said the dispute was a misunderstanding, but I can't help but take away a sense of entitlement coming from Bryant, as if to say he should have the No. 2 spot without having to prove it.

That may be the case, but Williams would have him think otherwise.

This battle may have to drag into the season due to Bryant's high ankle sprain that will keep him out for most of the preseason, but make no mistake—this is a battle that will take place long after training camp.

Game on.

Dallas Cowboys—Running Back

Although there hasn't been a clear-cut starter named at running back for probably half of the teams in the NFL, Felix Jones is looking to take a stranglehold in Cowboys camp.

Jones has been an explosive force in the Cowboys' backfield ever since getting out of Darren McFadden's shadow during his Arkansas days. Most would agree he has been the better of the two.

It is hard for anyone to come up with reasons why Jones should not be the No. 1 guy.

This battle extends beyond just the starting position as well. Marion Barber is a beast when healthy, but his running style just doesn't allow him to always be so.

Tashard Choice played very well last season when given the opportunity, and he won't sit quietly behind the two backs for long. He is too good to ride the bench. 

Some would often say this is a good problem to have—three outstanding running backs—which is true so long as they can all stay on the field.

Dallas Cowboys—Inside Linebacker

With Keith Brooking getting up there in age and the Cowboys spending a second round pick on Penn State LB Sean Lee, an instant positional battle was born. 

After sitting out some of camp with a quad injury, Sean Lee has come back and impressed the coaching staff, and it might not be long before he gets a shot with the first team to show what he can do.

That being said, Keith Brooking is still a fantastic player despite his age, so he won't go quietly.

Not to say he would complain, but he would work his you-know-what off to keep his job.

Washington Redskins—Running Back

Hard to believe the Redskins scooped up two discarded former Pro Bowl backs and there might actually be competition for Clinton Portis' job.

Actually, it's not.

Portis has been an absolute workhorse for the Redskins, and his legs just might be giving out on him. He had the worst season of his career, only playing eight games and rushing for fewer than 500 yards.

Larry Johnson has not been the same player since running behind practically a Hall of Fame offensive line in 2005 and 2006. After consecutive 1,700-yard seasons, he has failed to break the 1,000-yard mark, also failing to play a complete season.

Last year was his worst yet, when disputes with his team forced them to let him go and he was picked up by the Bengals, only to not be re-signed with them at the end of the season.

Willie Parker was usurped by Rashard Mendenhall and never given his opportunity back after being hurt for most of the past two seasons. He had fewer than 100 carries for the first time since his rookie year and never saw the end zone.

Can these three former All-Pro players coexist? They better if they want to succeed. One thing that will help is that Mike Shanahan's zone running scheme is ingenious.

Washington Redskins—Nose Tackle

Another candidate for most talked-about training camp story has been that of Albert Haynesworth not passing a conditioning test, missing 10 days of camp.

Although he has since passed the test and joined his teammates on the field, showing no ill signs of his knee injury, he is still expected to be the second-string nose tackle.

$100 million is a pretty expensive backup.

However, Mike Shanahan has made it pretty clear he doesn't care who he is or how much money he makes—he is there to make the team the best it can be, and right now Albert Haynesworth is not on the first team defense for that very reason.

"I haven’t really had the chance to spend a lot of time with him. He probably doesn’t like me very much right now. But I’m not here to be liked. I’m here to get him to play, and hopefully he will play at very high level," said Mike Shanahan.

Very admirable of you, Mike, but I doubt the guy writing the checks is going to sit back for long without saying anything, behind closed doors or otherwise.