Unlike the usual list of expected breakout players this is a look at players that their teams need to break out this season. It's the NFC East's turn.
Philadelphia Eagles
Sidney Jones, CB
Perhaps I'm picking Sidney Jones because he was one of my favorite players in the 2017 NFL Draft. He likely would've been a first round pick if not for an achilles injury at his Pro Day. The Eagles thought enough of his pre-injury talent to select him in the second round. 2017 was essentially a redshirt season. Last season, Jones looked like a player coming back from an achilles injury and a season off. He has the talent to be one of the better corners in the league and the Eagles could definitely use an influx of talented play in the secondary.
New York Giants
Receivers-Sterling Shephard, Golden Tate, Cody Latimer
For the past few seasons, the Giants receiver group was all about Odell Beckham Jr. Now, it's this pieced together group. Sterling Shephard has always been productive while playing in the shadow of others (Beckham). Golden Tate has made an impact at each of his stops. Cody Latimer has never quite lived up to his second round draft status. He gives the Giants the size that Shepard and Tate don't. Throw in tight end Evan Engram and the Giants can actually field an intriguing group of pass catchers. Running back Saquon should routinely loosen up the coverage. If the offensive line can protect Eli Manning/Daniel Jones the Giants offense might be much better than many think. But they need this pieced-together receiver group to keep defenses from ganging up on Barkley runs.
Dallas Cowboys
Amari Cooper, WR
Some will say that Amari Cooper has already broken out. That he broke out with the Oakland Raiders. That he has already broken out with his new team. When he's on, he's one of the most dangerous receivers in the league. Despite all of the explosive things that Cooper has done on the football field I can't shake all of the oblivious things that I've seen him do. He drops way too many passes. While with the Raiders, I once saw him drop three consecutive passes in the end zone. It was as if Derek Carr was throwing the football at a wall. As mind-numbing as that three-play fiasco was a play he didn't make last season with the Cowboys. He had fumbled the football. While he was on the ground, the LIVE football was right there in front of him. Between his arms. It looked like he was looking right at the LIVE football yet he did nothing to secure it. Perhaps he assumed that it wasn't a fumble and that he had dropped the pass as he had done so many times before. Even then, the normal reaction for a football player with any sort of on-field awareness is to secure a loose ball. Amari Cooper has the talent to be one of the best receivers in the league. In my opinion, he won't be the player that he has the talent to be until he stops dropping the football, until he's always aware of the game around him. The Cowboys need him to make big plays every time he has the opportunity to do so. Not just when he happens to catch the football.
Washington Redskins
Derrius Guice/Adrian Peterson, RBs
Rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins might be the better pick. I'm going with the running backs Derrius Guice and Adrian Peterson mostly because their breakout will be a tremendous benefit to a rookie quarterback. This time last year there wasn't supposed to be a running back combo in Washington. Guice was drafted to be the main ball carrier. He tore his ACL before the season and the Redskins brought in Peterson. The future Hall of Famer responded with another 1,000-yard season. The team now has two backs that can soften a defense with their physical running. One is coming off a knee injury. The other is 34 years of age. Right now, each is better as a tandem than they are alone. The Redskins need a breakout from their running backs to ease the transition of a rookie franchise quarterback.
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