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The 2011 season was not the most, well, beastly season in NFC East history. It was the first time in a full, 16-game season that no team in the division won at least 10 games, and for much of the year the talk around the division was that it wasn't what it used to be.

Buncha baloney if you ask me. Even forgetting for a second that an NFC East team won the Super Bowl, this division still does one very important thing better than any other: rush the passer. The NFC East's 181 sacks led all NFL divisions in 2011, and by quite a bit. (The AFC North, which had three playoff teams, was second with 160). The Eagles tied for the league lead with 50. The Giants tied for third with 48. The Cowboys tied for seventh with 42, and the Redskins tied for 10th with 41.

Look deeper, into the film-based, number-crunching stats from Pro Football Focus -- stats that take into account more than just sacks when evaluating the extent to which teams rushed, hassled and affected opposing quarterbacks, and the division still rules. The Eagles rank No. 1 in PFF's 2011 team rankings, the Cowboys No. 3, the Giants No. 6 and the Redskins No. 9. No division prizes this critical aspect of the game more than the NFC East does, and it shows up in the numbers.

So, as we slug our way through a slow news month in the NFC East, I thought it'd be a good idea to check in on the pass rushes of our four teams and see how they're doing -- what they've done to get better or worse, what their 2012 prospects look like from this far out and yes, how they rank against each other. You guys asked for more polls, and I promised I'd listen, so there's one right here for you to vote on. After you finish reading, of course. I'm addressing them in order of how many sacks they got in 2011, in case you're wondering how I decided. Seemed fair.

Philadelphia Eagles

Key contributors: DE Trent Cole, DE Jason Babin, DT Cullen Jenkins. PFF ranked Cole the No. 1 overall 4-3 defensive end in the league last year. Babin ranked 10th overall and third in pass rush, finishing third in the league with 18 sacks. Jenkins ranked as the No. 4 pass-rushing defensive tackle, and Derek Landri was No. 10. Defensive line coach Jim Washburn and defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, each of whom is entering his second season in his current position with the Eagles, believe the front four is responsible for the pass rush. And while they got a lot of publicity for how wide they like to line up their defensive ends, they like to get pressure from the defensive tackles as well.

Newcomer: DT Fletcher Cox. The Eagles traded up in the first round to pick Cox because they believed he could be an impact pass-rusher from one of those interior spots right away. They need to toughen up against the run, and that will have to be part of Cox's game. But what appealed to them was his ability to get to the passer. Rookie linebacker Mychal Kendricks could conceivably factor in here too, but the Eagles don't ask their linebackers to rush very much in the new scheme.

Stock watch: UP. The addition of Cox, as well as the possible return to full health of Mike Patterson and 2010 first-round pick Brandon Graham, give the Eagles incredible depth at a position at which they were already very strong in 2011. It's possible they'll rush the passer even better in 2012.

New York Giants

Key contributors: DE Jason Pierre-Paul, DE Justin Tuck, DE Osi Umenyiora, DE/LB Mathias Kiwanuka. No one's roster goes as deep as the Giants' does in terms of star-caliber defensive ends. Pierre-Paul was fourth in the league with 16.5 sacks in just his second NFL season. Umenyiora had nine in just nine games. Tuck turned it on at the end and in the playoffs, and Kiwanuka is a defensive end playing linebacker. The Giants believe a strong pass rush is their heritage and their key to being an annual contender.

Newcomer: DT Marvin Austin. The Giants didn't really bring in anyone this offseason who looks like a 2012 pass-rush contributor, but their 2011 second-round pick missed all of last season due to injury, so we'll call him a newcomer. The Giants would like to get more help from inside. Linval Joseph was their best pass-rushing defensive tackle in 2011, according to PFF's rankings. A healthy Austin could be a difference-maker.

Stock watch: DOWN. Not by much, but a little, because of the loss of reliable, underrated reserve DE Dave Tollefson. If Tuck and Umenyiora have injury problems again, or if Umenyiora holds out, they could get kind of thin at defensive end pretty quickly without Tollefson there to fill in this time. Now, this is the Giants, and they'll probably figure it out. The addition of linebacker Keith Rivers could allow them to move Kiwanuka back to end in case of injury. But it's worth pointing out that they did lose a somewhat important piece of the pass rush and didn't replace him.

Dallas Cowboys

Key contributors: LB DeMarcus Ware, LB Anthony Spencer, DE Jason Hatcher, NT Jay Ratliff. There's no one like Ware, who rang up another 19.5 sacks in 2011. That's nearly half the team total, and the conventional wisdom says he needs more help. But PFF ranked Spencer its 11th-best 3-4 outside linebacker in the pass rush and Hatcher as its eighth-best 3-4 pass-rushing defensive end. Add in Ratliff, who can generate pressure up the middle, and the Cowboys look better in this area than we tend to think.

Newcomer: DE Tyrone Crawford. Dallas' third-round pick is looked at by many as a project, but as one that can eventually help with the pass rush whether he ends up as a 3-4 end or standing up as an outside linebacker. Whether he can help in 2012 remains a question, but the Cowboys didn't see a first-round or second-round pass-rusher they liked better than Spencer, so they focused on the secondary instead and picked up some down-the-road guys for the pass rush.

Stock watch: EVEN. They're bringing back basically the same group, and while there's a theory that the improvements at defensive back will help the pass rush by giving it extra time to get sacks, we have yet to see that in action. Spencer must play with more aggressiveness if this unit is to take a step forward into the upper tier with the Eagles and Giants.

Washington Redskins

Key contributors: LB Brian Orakpo, LB Ryan Kerrigan, DE Stephen Bowen. The Redskins' pass rush is all about those young outside linebackers, and they are fearsome. But with only 16.5 sacks between them in 2011, their numbers have a ways to go to get into the big-time stratosphere we're talking about in the NFC East. PFF did rank Orakpo fifth and Kerrigan ninth among pass-rushing 3-4 OLBs in 2011, so they do a lot of things well in that area. Bowen had six sacks and DE Adam Carriker came up with 5.5.

Newcomer: DE Jarvis Jenkins. Just as we did with the Giants, we'll go with a 2011 second-round pick who missed his rookie season due to injury. Jenkins may not be a pass-rusher, but adding him to the defensive line rotation could help free up more room for the linebackers and maybe help the other linemen get to the passer more often as well.

Stock watch: EVEN. This is really all about how much and how quickly Orakpo and especially Kerrigan continue to develop as elite pass-rushers. They've both shown flashes of incredible raw ability, and they have to continue to hone their craft so they can play at the level of the other pass-rushers in their division. Ware, Cole, Pierre-Paul and the rest of these guys are setting a high bar, and the Redskins know they have to have their own pass-rush monsters if they want to hang with them year in and year out.

Every Saturday, we do this mailbag thing, where I go through and take questions -- one for each team, generally. This week, I have to say, the mailbag's a little thin. I know it's been a slow week, but those happen. I still need the questions. Step up your game, mailbaggers! (Just kidding. You guys know I love you no matter what. And reading through some of these mailbag questions, I really mean no matter what.)

James from Blacksburg, Va., is a Virginia Tech student and a fan of cornerback Jayron Hosley, the third-round pick of the New York Giants. He's enjoying the publicity Hosley is getting as a candidate for the nickel cornerback spot with the Super Bowl champs, but he wonders if it's not fairer to assume that second-year cornerback Prince Amukamara (last year's first-round pick) should be expected to take a bigger 2012 leap than Hosley.

Dan Graziano: Yes, James. People tend to be prisoners of the moment, and for that reason this year's picks seem more exciting at this point than maybe last year's do -- especially when last year's is someone like Amukamara, who didn't make the kind of impact fans might have expected him to make as a rookie. But assuming he's over his foot problems, and given a full season and offseason in a Giants organization that likes to stress player development, yes, I would expect Amukamara to make a major leap forward and have a better chance of contributing on defense this year than Hosley should in his first year with the Giants. Just the way things work there. Also, by the way, I was covering the Yankees in March of 2008 when they went to play that game at Virginia Tech. Loved the campus. Beautiful, with all of the "Hokie Stone" buildings. That was a special day.

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Mark from Bossier City, La., is "concerned the Dallas Cowboys did not do enough to address their weaknesses in the interior of both their lines," and says he thinks specifically of the way the Cowboys were dominated on the interior of the offensive and defensive lines in the two late-season games against the Giants that effectively cost Dallas the division title.

DG: Yeah, I think your concern is legitimate, Mark. On the defensive side, they remain committed to Jay Ratliff at nose tackle (as opposed to moving him to defensive end), and the big problem with Ratliff is the way he wears down late in the season. If someone like Josh Brent can take a step forward and give Ratliff more of a breather earlier in the year, they might get to December with Ratliff still playing his best. Part of the problem in those two Giants games was that Ratliff was banged up. As for the offense, they like the two guards they drafted last year -- David Arkin and Bill Nagy -- and they specifically targeted free agents Nate Livings and Mackenzy Bernadeau this year. So while, as you point out, Livings and Bernadeau don't come with the most stellar resumes, there's something about both guys they think can work for them. They believe that something will emerge in training camp from the deep mix of guards they've brought in over the past two offseasons, and they might be right. My issue is that I think center was their biggest problem last season, and I don't know yet whether Nagy or Bernadeau can be an upgrade over Phil Costa if they decide Costa's still not good enough.

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Jeff from Gainesville, Va., wrote in with a number of questions, but the one I'm going to address is about the Washington Redskins' running back situation. Jeff thinks that, with Tim Hightower still unsigned and Roy Helu and Evan Royster each entering just his second season, that it looks as though two or three backs will share the load and perhaps rookie Alfred Morris will move to fullback.

DG: Not sure what the plans are for Morris, but I agree that you can expect to see a couple of different backs rotate in and out of the "starting" role for the Redskins in 2012. Mike Shanahan's record on this front makes that an easy prediction. I know that they consider Hightower the most complete back of the bunch and the preferred starter if he re-signs and proves healthy. But there's plenty they like about both Helu and Royster, and at various times this year I'd expect to see either or both of them as a major factor. As any fantasy football player will tell you, there's no way to know from week to week which Shanahan back to expect.

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Alex from Iowa wants to know if Philadelphia Eagles rookie wide receiver Marvin McNutt could be "Jason Avant 2.0," since "he's slightly bigger and faster with the possibility that he can develop even better hands."

DG: Sure, Alex. While Avant's been a valuable contributor at times over the past couple of years, he has yet to seize an opportunity to jump up to the next level when injuries/suspensions/whatever have thrust those upon him. They obviously see something they like in McNutt, and I believe that the Eagles' wide receiver picture behind DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin is wide open. I would not be surprised if a rookie got and took advantage of an opportunity to earn significant playing time, especially considering that tight end Brent Celek might be needed more as a blocker due to the injury to left tackle Jason Peters.

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That's this week's mailbag, but we can do better. By Wednesday of next week, I want to be looking through this mailbag and seeing so many questions that I have to do a midweek mailbag as well as a weekend one. Maybe a video one, too. Remember those? Let's go, folks. Keep the questions coming!

We have an occasional conversation on here about whether the Dallas Cowboys will or should consider moving nose tackle Jay Ratliff to defensive end. But this is not, apparently, a topic that gets discussed among the members of the Cowboys' coaching staff. Calvin Watkins, off of a recent conversation with defensive line coach Brian Baker, reports that moving Ratliff to end is not something that is being considered:

Baker said to keep Ratliff fresh during the season taking him off the field on some first and second downs might work because the team has confidence in the abilities of Josh Brent and Sean Lissemore to play some nose tackle.

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Jim Rogash/Getty ImagesThe Cowboys plan to limit Jay Ratliff's playing time in order to keep him fresh.

"He will take all the third downs unless somebody proves they're a better pass rusher inside," Baker said. "Until that happens, if he's getting a little worn we'll save him for third down."

So the priority, we are left to assume, is that interior pass rush. The Cowboys fear that moving Ratliff to end would deprive them of the inside rush and make their pass rush easier to defend since teams would know where it's coming from. And that's fair enough, I guess, as a theory.

But if the concern about Ratliff is whether he wears down as the season goes along, how can they so stubbornly rule out the idea of moving him farther from the middle of the line? Wouldn't a more healthy Ratliff, rushing from an end spot, be of more value through the course of the season than a banged-up one playing only on third downs in December?

And if the concern about the pass rush is at all rooted in the fact that Ratliff and DeMarcus Ware draw double-teams, wouldn't it make some sense to play Ratliff at the end spot opposite Ware's side, thereby moving one of those double-teams farther away from the other and opening up some room for someone else to get through the line from the interior?

As many of you are fond of pointing out, I am not a football coach, and I fully understand that there may be complicated answers to my simple questions. And as I said, I'm willing to concede the point that the interior pass rush is not something on which the Cowboys should simply give up. But for the sake of Ratliff himself, and for the sake of his ability to help the team as much as possible, there would seem to have to be a better solution than "keep him at the nose and just don't play him as much once he starts getting hurt." No?

Have the Dallas Cowboys really fixed their defense?

I'll give them cornerback. With the free-agent signing of Brandon Carr and the surprising trade up in the first round of the draft to pick Morris Claiborne, the Cowboys have worked hard to make sure that this year's starting cornerbacks will be much more difficult for Giants fullbacks to jump over. Assuming Claiborne is the instant-impact guy he was drafted to be, he, Carr, Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick make one of Dallas' weakest 2011 units a 2012 strength.

But questions remain at other places on a defense whose total system failure was the sole reason the Cowboys lost four of their last five games and the division title. Is Brodney Pool an upgrade over Abram Elam at safety? Can they get reliable production from that other inside linebacker spot from the combination of Dan Connor and Bruce Carter? Will Anthony Spencer be a more effective pass-rusher? Do they have a plan for limiting the wear and tear on nose tackle Jay Ratliff, to help him maintain a high level of performance throughout the second half of the season?

The Cowboys' active and productive offseason has done nothing to directly address the pass rush. There is a theory that the improvements at cornerback will help the pass rush, since better coverage of receivers could give the men up front more time to get to the passer. And that may well be true. But any and all improvements the Cowboys have made on defense remain theoretical until we see that defense on the field. Last year, the party line in Dallas was that the defensive personnel were good and had underachieved and would improve in the first year under new coordinator Rob Ryan. That turned out not to be the case, and now some of the personnel have been changed. But it remains up to Ryan to put it together as a cohesive unit more capable of stopping opponents than the 2011 version was. Right now, we're taking the Cowboys' word that the new faces are dramatic enough upgrades to pull that off. But aside from the money spent on Carr and the high draft position of Claiborne, there's little outside evidence to support it. More could have been done to improve at safety, outside linebacker and defensive line, and it was not. Although Ryan may be able to make it all work, it's hard to feel too certain about it on May 3.

Things didn't work out exactly the way I planned for the Dallas Cowboys in the ESPN blogger mock draft Monday. Yes, the Eagles traded up to No. 7 to take Fletcher Cox, a player the Cowboys like a lot. But for the Cowboys I decided not to get into such excitement. First of all, they don't have the cushion the Eagles have with two second-round picks. And second of all, they need to add depth all along the roster, so I decided that if they traded they'd come away with more picks rather than fewer.

As the draft wound on into the middle of the first round, I was thinking my top Cowboys target, Alabama safety Mark Barron, would be there at No. 14. So when James Walker of the AFC East blog called on behalf of the Patriots and offered a first-round pick (No. 27 overall) and a second-round pick (No. 48), I said no. James pointed out that each side of the deal added up to exactly 1,100 points on the NFL draft trade value chart, and for a second I thought we should make the deal just based on that coincidence alone. But I held off, thinking Barron would fall to 14.

Little did I know, James was also talking to Mike Sando about the Seahawks' No. 12 overall pick. James offered Mike both of the Patriots' first-round picks (No. 27 and No. 31) for the No. 12 pick and a fourth-rounder (N0. 106). Guess I should have asked James for more, because that's a steal for Sando, who happily gave up the No. 12 and began making plans for what to do with his two first-rounders. James moved up to 12 and took Barron for the Patriots, and I started fielding offers for the No. 14 pick.

No one was interested, though, so when 14 rolled around, I took the player I believed would be the highest on the Cowboys' board at that point -- LSU defensive lineman Michael Brockers. What I like about Brockers for the Cowboys is that he's a more polished, NFL-ready prospect than is Dontari Poe (who would fall all the way to the Steelers at No. 24!) and that he's versatile enough to play any spot on the Cowboys' defensive line. He can play inside as a defensive tackle alongside Jay Ratliff when they line up in 4-3 sets. He can play end in a 3-4 (and allow them to move on from Kenyon Coleman or Marcus Spears if they so choose). He can spell Ratliff at the nose when and if they decide to move Ratliff outside. I just felt as though he'd appeal to Rob Ryan as a guy who could do a lot for him -- and do it right away -- in a defense that relies on constantly changing looks and fronts.

I thought about Poe, and Quenton Coples, and Stephon Gilmore, and Dre Kirkpatrick, and Courtney Upshaw. But in the end, I believe that, of the post-Barron choices, Brockers was the one that fit the Cowboys the best.

(NOTE: Stanford guard David DeCastro was also gone, at 11 to the Chiefs, but as you know I believe the Cowboys should be focused on defense in this round. And probably all of them.)

So what do you think, Cowboys fans? Did I get it right? Did I pick the wrong guy? Was I wrong to turn down the Patriots' offer? I eagerly await your feedback.

Sitting here, looking out my window on a Wednesday morning, wondering how it is that April is colder than March was, and chewing on some links.

Dallas Cowboys

If the Cowboys don't take safety Mark Barron in the first round but still want to use the draft to add depth at that position, Oklahoma State's Markelle Martin is a possible option in the second round or the third. Here's Bryan Broaddus' analysis of Martin's prospects at ESPNDallas.com

As for that first round, Nick Eatman thinks drafting a nose tackle such as Memphis' Dontari Poe would offer the advantage of effectively upgrading two positions at once. We talked about this earlier in the week with regard to Mississippi State's Fletcher Cox -- a guy who could start at defensive end but also spell or eventually replace Jay Ratliff at nose tackle. Someone with the versatility to help at multiple positions on the line and allow Rob Ryan to mix and match fronts. Makes some sense.

New York Giants

Jonathan Goff, who's attempting to come back from the ACL tear that cost him the 2011 season, could be the next member of the Giants to leave for another team via free agency. He was in Miami on Tuesday to visit with the Dolphins, and also has visited the Browns. If Goff leaves, the Giants' middle linebacker spot could go to one of last year's rookies. It's also been suggested that they might move Michael Boley inside to that spot.

Brandon Jacobs' contract with the 49ers isn't for much more money than the Giants were offering him, but as Mike Garafolo points out, the timing wasn't right for a deal between Jacobs and the Giants.

Philadelphia Eagles

Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha spends part of his offseason taking high school students on college tours in different parts of the country.

Jonathan Tamari has five questions facing the Eagles in advance of the draft, which is 15 days from now. Included is a question about how much pressure Andy Reid is really under and whether that will affect decisions made during this year's draft.

Washington Redskins

Robert Griffin III was in Washington to meet with the Redskins on Tuesday, and Andrew Luck is there today for the same reason. I was thinking about a blog post on this Tuesday, but not sure how much there really is to say. I imagine that every team, if they could, would have pre-draft visits with every single player they know they might possibly draft in the first round. By hosting Griffin and Luck, that's what the Redskins are doing.

Shortly after the news broke that they'd agreed to terms with free-agent safety Madieu Williams, the Redskins announce that they'd also signed cornerback Leigh Torrence, a former Redskin who adds depth at the position and makes me think they're about done making additions to the secondary. In fact, once they get London Fletcher locked up, it looks as though the remainder of their offseason and their draft can be spent focused on offense -- the line in particular.

In the absence of news, I believe we can just talk about the draft as much and as often as we want for the next 17 days. I assume you all agree. I assume this without asking, because I feel as though I have my finger on the pulse of the readership of this blog.

To that end, we have this from the Dallas Cowboys' official site on something Jerry Jones said about Victor Butler and the pass rush at the NFL owners meetings a couple of weeks ago. Jerry says the team is high on Butler as someone who can help the pass rush in 2012:

"There's some concern with setting the edge with him, but as far as the pass rush we know we can get plays out of Butler. He had the highest ratio of successful plays for the time he played on our defense when he was in there."

That last part of the quote is hard to read and harder to understand, but my initial thought on Butler is that he's a guy that had a great preseason in 2011, and if he was going to help the pass rush, Rob Ryan should have been able to find ways for him to do so last season. It's not as though Anthony Spencer was racking up the sacks and there was no way to take him off the field. If they really believed Butler was a key to unlocking a better pass rush, I believe we would have seen him do that. So I'm not sure how much stock we should put into this offseason talk about Butler from the team's owner.

I still think the Cowboys will look, if they can, to upgrade the pass rush via the draft. Calvin Watkins wrote Monday morning that the Cowboys see guys like Quintin Coples, Melvin Ingram and Courtney Upshaw as too similar to Spencer to make them worthy of a first-round pick. That's an interesting bit of insight and a useful look into the Cowboys' thinking as the draft approaches, and it makes me think that their main reason for drafting one of those guys (if they did) would be the fact that Spencer is only signed for one more year.

If I had the blogger mock draft to do over again, I think I'd give Mississippi State defensive tackle Fletcher Cox to the Cowboys. He'd help the pass rush right away, whether from the nose tackle or a 3-4 defensive end position. He'd allow them some flexibility in the short term and the long term, especially as it pertains to the idea of moving Jay Ratliff to end. They haven't wanted to do that so far, but adding a strong interior pass-rushing presence like Cox would allow them to move all of their linemen around and find ways to maximize everyone's production and alleviate wear and tear on Ratliff and others. That may be the best draft solution to the pass rush -- a guy who can help right away at a position where they need depth and who can also develop in the system and help down the road, even if they continue with Spencer at the outside linebacker spot.

Todd McShay's got a new mock draft up. It actually went up yesterday, but I was busy filling up the blog with live stuff from the owners meetings. So today, exactly four weeks from the draft, I present to you Todd's latest two-round mock draft . It's Insider, but you know I like to take care of you guys.

Washington Redskins

Round One, pick 2: Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor

Round Two: No pick

Not too much to pick apart here. The only way the first part of this changes is if the Colts take Griffin at No. 1, in which case the Redskins will take Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. And the only way the second part changes is if they trade up into the second round to grab a guy they like there. The Redskins traded their second-round pick to the Rams as part of the trade for the No. 2 overall pick.

Dallas Cowboys

Round One, pick 14: Fletcher Cox, DT, Mississippi State

Round Two, pick 45: Amini Silatolu, G, Midwestern State

Interesting first-round choice, especially with Mark Barron and Courtney Upshaw on the board. I'm thinking the Cowboys want a pass-rusher here, and that Upshaw would be hard to pass up. But as Todd points, out, Cox can help the pass rush from the inside, and would allow the Cowboys to run more four-man fronts or move Jay Ratliff outside sometimes. A guard in the second round? I guess maybe, but they did draft two guards last year and sign two earlier this month.

Philadelphia Eagles

Round One, pick 15: Mark Barron, S, Alabama

Round Two, pick 46: Devon Still, DT, Penn State

Round Two, pick 51: Ronnell Lewis, OLB, Oklahoma

I was surprised to see Todd give the Eagles a safety here. They have picked safeties early in several recent drafts and likely want to keep giving Nate Allen and Jaiquawn Jarrett opportunities. I've been thinking they add a veteran safety in free agency, but if they don't, Barron looks like a good value pick at 15. As for the second-round selections, both would add depth at positions where the Eagles need it. I wonder, as many are wondering these days, if the Eagles might use one of their second-round picks on a quarterback to start grooming Michael Vick's eventual successor.

New York Giants

Round 1, pick 32: Lavonte David, OLB, Nebraska

Round 2, pick 63: Mitchell Schwartz, T, California

If the Giants came out of the first two rounds with a linebacker and a tackle, I'd have to think they'd be thrilled. And if David is still there at 32, he's the kind of value pick the Giants wouldn't be able to pass up.

We had our chat. Always one of the most fun parts of my week. If you weren't there, I definitely wish you had been. So much so that I hereby provide you with a quick recap of some of the highlights.

Derek (work): Jeremy Maclin flying a bit under the radar for next year? Dude was really sick last year. He looked like a top 5 WR two years ago. Giant leap forward in 2012-13?

Dan Graziano: Yeah, I think people underrate this aspect of the DeSean Jackson situation. Maclin was drafted in the first round. The Eagles see him as a guy who can be a No. 1 WR, and they drafted him in part because they weren't sure about Jackson's long-term future in Philly. He was extremely sick this time last year, and it's fair to assume his performance and health suffered as residue of his offseason issues. I believe he's a serious bounce-back candidate.

Mark (Oregon): Isn't saying the Eagles will take a giant leap forward a bit like saying the Redskins need to cowboy up?

DG: You just blew my mind.

Peter (North Hollywood): There hasn't been much talk about Paul Soliai from Miami and where he might end up. With his size wouldn't he be a great fit for Rob Ryan's D? That would give the Cowboys a chance to move Jay Ratliff to Anthony Spencer's side which should make them both better. (Even though the Joneses insist on watching Ratliff break down year after year at the nose)

DG: Peter, I saw this raised recently on the Cowboys' web site, and I think I posted on it. I think it's a great idea. I think moving Ratliff to end to help the pass rush and getting a more traditional massive NT like Soliai for the middle makes complete sense for Dallas, and while I haven't seen or heard any indication that they're considering it, I agree with you that they should.

LaRon Landry (Louisiana): With the Redskins placing the franchise tag on Fred Davis, what does this mean for my future in Washington? Could an eventual release become more of a reality or can the front office and I agree on a incentive laden contract?

DG: I think you'd really have to be willing to take a tiny little guarantee and heavy incentives to return to Washington. And I think your name value alone will get you bigger offers elsewhere, from teams that haven't grown frustrated with your ability to get on the field.

Drew (London): Do you think that the Giants are considering starting Mitch Petrus full time? He looked pretty good filling in last season.

DG: I know they like Petrus long-term, but I don't think they know yet whether he'd be ready to start next year. They like the way Kevin Boothe played, and with Chris Snee likely to bounce back, they have a lot of depth at those interior OL positions. Means they can play David Diehl at RT if they don't get anyone for that spot.

Dave (PA): Which coach has the best sideline expression in the NFCE? I'm split between Coughlin and Shanny.

DG: Haha. Very different expressions, for sure. Both more fun than the Andy Reid angry walrus or the Jason Garrett robot. Mike Shanahan's is a classic, but I love the raw emotion you get with Tom Coughlin. Put me down for Tom C.

We do this every week. We're going to do it again next Tuesday, in the final hours before the start of free agency. That should be legen... wait for it...

...

dary.

Morning. Sorry things kind of tailed off yesterday afternoon, but it was 58 degrees here, and let's just say I felt like the clubs you see in the predictions videos needed to be temporarily relocated. Ironic, no, that this is brought up here? In the links?

New York Giants

Ohm's position-by-position review takes a look at wide receivers, which is a group that got a well-deserved "A" on Ohm's report card. He addresses the Mario Manningham free-agency situation and suggests that Ramses Barden would be first in line for the opportunity to replace Manningham should the latter leave.

I found it interesting to read that former Giant Harry Carson has decided not to run for Congress as a Democrat in the district in which I personally reside. It's a shame. I almost certainly would have voted for him. But Harry says he wouldn't be able to do it with the same passion with which he played football, which I guess is a good reason.

Philadelphia Eagles

Geoff Mosher writes that the people who run the Eagles' front office are under more pressure and more scrutiny from fans than they've ever been before as they head off to Indianapolis for the scouting combine.

The Steelers may end up losing wide receiver Mike Wallace due to their salary-cap situation. Wallace is a restricted free agent who'll be tendered, but teams would be able to get him for a first-round pick if they structure their offer sheet correctly. Sheil Kapadia discusses what this means for the DeSean Jackson situation -- namely, that it'd be tougher for the Eagles to trade him with another outstanding deep threat like Wallace on the market.

Dallas Cowboys

Stephen Jones says he views Jay Ratliff as a nose tackle. Not sure whether that means they're scrapping the idea of moving him to end or if Jones is just saying this because that's the way the roster is constructed right now. Jones also says he thinks the Cowboys have plenty of leaders in the locker room and that Ray Lewises don't grow on trees. That'd be one big tree.

Randy Galloway writes that the most important "leadership" development in the Cowboys' locker room would be an improvement in that area by head coach Jason Garrett. Fair point, especially as it works off of Garrett's bungling of the end of the Arizona game and the days that followed. Garrett is, as we've said here many times, a young head coach who's doing this for the first time. Improvement and growing pains are to be expected in many areas. By the way, Garrett's scheduled to address the media Thursday in Indy. Yeah, we'll have something off of that.

Washington Redskins

Redskins offensive lineman Kory Lichtensteiger recalls an NFL team official asking him, "When was the last time you smoked crack?" during a scouting combine interview. It's one of the neat details in Rich Campbell's combine advance.

Dan Steinberg is trying to track everything everyone in the world is saying about Peyton Manning and the Redskins. In this latest entry, we find that Lorenzo Alexander opposes the idea because he doesn't think Manning's neck is healthy enough (fair), that Torry Holt opposes the idea because he thinks Mike Shanahan's offense requires a mobile quarterback who can get out of the pocket (baloney, it worked 10 times better with Rex Grossman than with mobile John Beck in 2011, and Holt's is an unsupported, clichéd claim) and that Clinton Portis loves the idea as long as Manning's healthy. Yeah. That's me, on the same side of the debate as Clinton Portis.

We had our weekly chat Tuesday, and if you missed it, that's just too bad for you. A mere recap of a few of the highlights is a poor substitute for the glory that is the chat itself. But I offer it anyway, because I understand that not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to experience these things first-hand. You had work, school, nap, whatever. You forgot. Whatever the reason, I'm disappointed, but I'm here for you.

Alex from NY asked about Texas A&M's Ryan Tannehill as a possible quarterback solution for the Washington Redskins at No. 6 in the draft.

Dan Graziano: He's a wild card. Converted WR who I think made 30 college starts at QB. Can he move all the way up to No. 6 pick territory between now and April 26? He's not there yet, from what I've seen, but he could be this year's Christian Ponder -- a guy who goes much sooner than anyone expected because of the importance placed on that position. Long time between now and the draft. I always go back to two years ago, when at this point Mark Sanchez was a late first-rounder but the Jets traded all the way up to 5 to pick him on Day One.

Gobizzle from D.C. wanted to know whether the Dallas Cowboys might finally move Jay Ratliff to defensive end from nose tackle this offseason.

DG: I believe it'd make sense to move him out there. If they can't upgrade over Anthony Spencer at OLB, which is a possibility, they'll need playmakers on the ends. I'd look for a big, monster NT to eat up blockers and let Ratliff do his more athletic thing on the edge.

Luke M from NJ asked whether offensive line or defensive back was a more important position for the New York Giants to address this offseason.

DG: I think the line is more important, since they have last year's first-round pick, Prince Amukamara, as well as possibly Terrell Thomas in the DB mix. The line is aging, Kareem McKenzie is a free agent, David Diehl won't be there forever... they need to be thinking about what their line will look like for the next half-decade or so.

Mike from New Lisbon asked whether the Philadelphia Eagles would fire Andy Reid if they failed to reach the Super Bowl this coming season.

DG: I don't see how they have to reach the Super Bowl. What if they have the year the Packers just had -- go 15-1 and lose in the playoffs? Can you fire a coach off of that?

And then Person from DC helpfully pointed out that the Chargers once fired Marty Schottenheimer off a 14-2 season that included a first-round playoff exit, so it does happen.

DG: It does. And it could. My point is that the Eagles have to have a great season, but that you can have a great season and still not reach the Super Bowl. Also, I think there were some personality conflicts in San Diego with Schottenheimer and management.

Again, we do this every Tuesday. Next week, please do drop by.

We have discussed, at great length here, the Dallas Cowboys' offensive line and their offseason needs at guard and center. But ESPNDallas.com's position-by-position series stops today on the other side of the ball, with the defensive line and a look at what needs to improve there. Tim MacMahon believes the line's problems in 2011 were its lack of involvement in the pass rush. There seems to be talk every year of moving Jay Ratliff from nose tackle to defensive end to help with the pass rush, and Bryan Broaddus' take here makes me wonder if that might not be the worst idea in the world:

Ratliff made the Pro Bowl which surprised me. I like Ratliff and respect the way he played, but there were times where he was clearly better than the centers that he was playing against and he didn't always take advantage of the matchup. Ratliff doesn't always face double teams. Where Ratliff struggles the most is when he gets worn down. That's why guys like [Josh] Brent and [Sean] Lissemore are key to keeping him as fresh as possible. I like the nose men on this team but the front office needs to find some upgrades at end to give the defense a chance.

So why not move Ratliff out there? Surely, he wouldn't object to a course of action that results in him wearing down less. He does like to get after the passer, and as great as he's been as a Cowboy, he's not a traditional, massive, two-blocker-eating 3-4 nose tackle. Lissemore has 20 pounds on him and Brent has 35. Wouldn't it make sense, if either of those guys can handle the position, to go bigger in the middle and spring Ratliff out to end where his athleticism could be a more consistent asset?

This idea started to make sense to me when I read this piece from Nick Ellis on Monday, about the idea of the Cowboys pursuing someone line Paul Soliai as a more traditional 3-4 nose tackle if the Dolphins switch to a 4-3 and let him walk. Lissemore and Ratliff look like playmakers, so why not use them more on the outside and let someone like that do the dirty work against the center and guards? I always thought 3-4 defensive ends existed to clear room for pass-rushing linebackers. But if they can't upgrade from Anthony Spencer and either have to bring him back or go with a substandard option on that side opposite DeMarcus Ware, they're going to need some people on the line who can get to the quarterback. Me, I wouldn't want those people being swallowed up in the middle.

Good morning from New Jersey, where the links are checking Indiana weather forecasts and deciding what they need to pack.

New York Giants

The seeds of Victor Cruz's brilliant season were sown in Hoboken last summer, when Cruz was able to get something pretty close to one-on-one time with Giants quarterback Eli Manning at players-only workouts during the lockout. Here's Ohm Youngmisuk with Cruz's funny retelling of his reaction to seeing 'Eli Manning' pop up on his cell phone in the dead of summer.

Somewhere along the line there popped up this idea that 65-year-old Giants coach Tom Coughlin might retire if the Giants win him a second Super Bowl. I don't know where it came from, and Coughlin himself denied it when asked Sunday night. Giants guard Chris Snee, who's married to Coughlin's daughter, also says he "highly" doubts it, and I don't get any sense at all from anyone connected with Coughlin or the Giants that it's a remote possibility. The man doesn't exactly have a lot of hobbies or off-field interests. And if it were me, I'd cash this run in for a new three-year contract extension. Personally, that is.

Philadelphia Eagles

Eagles tight end Brent Celek was in a car accident Thursday. He was not injured, but the driver of the car in which he was riding is being charged with driving under the influence, which means Celek made a big mistake getting in the car. Celek agrees, and promises to use better judgment in the future.

And hey, someone found Andy Reid! He was at a 76ers game, and he actually did an interview. Sadly, the folks from Sixers.com failed to ask Reid about the Eagles' defensive coordinator situation, DeSean Jackson, Michael Vick or anything else football-related. So we continue to wonder on a lot of issues.

Dallas Cowboys

Calvin Watkins' first offseason mailbag for ESPNDallas.com takes up the issues of why Orlando Scandrick got a contract extension, what the Cowboys should and will do in free agency, and whether Jerry Jones would ever consider hiring a GM. (Hint: You already know the answer to that last one.)

Rainer Sabin answered questions at the Dallas Morning News, too. Guess it's a mailbag time of year out in Big D. Rainer looks at Bruce Carter's 2012 prospects and the chances of moving Jay Ratliff from nose tackle to defensive end.

Washington Redskins

It has been 20 years since the Redskins' last Super Bowl title, which upsets me because I remember well being a sophomore in college in Washington and that shouldn't be 20 years ago. Anyway, the Washington Post got some of the folks involved to share their memories from that Super Bowl season.

London Fletcher said "I hope so" when asked whether he believed he'd be back with the Redskins next year, and he left it at that. Mike Shanahan has called Fletcher a priority in free agency, and I imagine the team will want to address his situation as soon as possible. But for now, Fletcher is enjoying his week as a Pro Bowler in Hawaii.

Friday was the five-year anniversary of the last game Bill Parcells coached in the NFL -- a playoff loss to the Seahawks that most people remember as the game in which Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo fumbled the snap on a fourth-quarter field goal that would have won the game. Todd Archer spoke with Parcells, who's now an ESPN analyst, about his time in Dallas and the way he looks back on it when he watches the Cowboys play now. Specifically, Parcells spoke of the players he brought in who remain. Those include Romo, DeMarcus Ware, Jay Ratliff, Miles Austin, Jason Witten and others:

A few years ago, one of Parcells' picks was telling a non-Parcells pick how the coach would make them run a sprint to the fence at training camp as punishment if things weren't going well. The non-Parcells pick said he never would have let a coach do that to him.

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Tim Heitman/US PresswireMany of the players Bill Parcells brought to Dallas when he was head coach are entering the downside of their careers.

That tough-talking player is no longer a Cowboy, but it spoke to the difference in mentality that seeped into the locker room not long after Parcells left.

"Most of them are pretty talented," Parcells said of the players who remain. "You don't play for that length of time in the league without being talented. But I'd like to think that maybe I helped them get started and put a little foundation in a few of them that maybe helped them go forward. That's the only thing you can hope for. I'm not saying I did, but I'm just hopeful."

The Cowboys went 13-3 in the year following Parcells' departure, but they lost to the New York Giants in the playoffs and have had ups and downs since. They were division champs two years ago and lost in the divisional round to Minnesota, bottomed out last season when they started 1-7 and head coach Wade Phillips got fired, and were looking good this season in first place at 7-4 before a 1-4 finish and two losses to the Giants kept them out of the playoffs once again.

Parcells says in the story that the 2007 playoff loss doesn't seem that long ago, but in a lot of ways it kind of does. Romo will be 32 when next season begins. Ware and Witten will be 30, and Ratliff will be 31. Not old, by any stretch, but no longer young enough to make you feel like unlimited potential lies in front of this core group. When Parcells left five years ago, he believed he was leaving behind a group of players on which championship teams could be built. It hasn't happened yet, and considering the number of obvious needs with which the Cowboys enter this offseason, their fans could be forgiven for starting to wonder if it'll happen before the "Parcells guys" get too old.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- If you're wondering whether your favorite injured New York Giants or Dallas Cowboys player will be active for Sunday night's NFC East title game, the answer is yes.

Giants wide receivers Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham and defensive end Osi Umenyiora all will dress for and play in tonight's game. Umenyiora missed the past four games with an ankle injury. Manningham missed last week's game and several others during the second half with a knee injury. And Nicks missed some practices last week with a hamstring injury. But as they said they would be, all are healthy enough to play in a game that decides the division champion.

Likewise, Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, who bruised his throwing hand last weekend in a loss to Philadelphia, will start the game. Nose tackle Jay Ratliff and linebackers DeMarcus Ware and Sean Lee also are active in spite of injuries that limited them during the week.

The Giants will still be without tight end Jake Ballard, who has a knee injury. And wide receiver Ramses Barden is a surprise inactive. He is not injured, so it appears Barden is being held out because he hasn't been playing well lately. Bear Pascoe will start at tight end in place of Ballard, with Henry Hynoski starting at fullback in place of Pascoe. The Giants also announced that Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul will be the starting defensive ends, which means Umenyiora technically will come off the bench.

For the Cowboys, the only surprise inactive is cornerback Frank Walker, who's healthy but also hasn't played well lately. With Walker and injured safety/special teamer Danny McCray inactive, the Cowboys are very thin in the secondary against a Giants passing offense that had its way with them three weeks ago in Dallas. Dallas is also without punter Mat McBriar, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday with a foot injury.