Pro Football Focus stacks the most complete rosters from top to bottom, with Super Bowl contenders leading the way.
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Dallas Cowboys
Biggest strength: Micah Parsons came into the league as a rookie last season and made a legitimate case for not just the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year but also Defensive Player of the Year. He was PFF's highest-graded off-ball linebacker and one of the most effective pass-rushers in the NFL when defensive coordinator Dan Quinn opted to use him as an edge rusher. The Randy Gregory loss in free agency is going to hurt Dallas up front, but few teams can send two pass-rushers as talented as Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence after opposing quarterbacks. Parsons' ability to fill multiple roles at a high level depending on where he's needed most in a given situation provides a lot of flexibility to the Cowboys on defense.
Biggest weakness: As good as Lawrence has been up front for the Cowboys over the past five years, the rest of the defensive line has some concerns. Dallas' defensive tackles combined for a 33.1 PFF run-defense grade last season (30th in the NFL), and the only real addition to the group this offseason was fifth-round pick John Ridgeway. The Cowboys are relying on younger players such as Neville Gallimore and Osa Odighizuwa to take a step forward in 2022.
X factor for 2022: Cornerback Trevon Diggs became one of the most polarizing players in the NFL last season due to his boom-or-bust, risk-taking play style. Diggs' 1,016 passing yards allowed into his coverage in 2021 led the NFL, but he was still a valuable component of the Cowboys' better-than-expected defense because interceptions are such high-leverage plays, and Diggs came away with 11 of them. The question now becomes how replicable those results are this season.
Philadelphia Eagles
Biggest strength: If they don't have the best offensive line in the NFL entering the 2022 season, the Eagles are near the top of the list. Jordan Mailata emerged as one of the top young left tackles in the league last season, ranking second (behind only Trent Williams) in PFF grade (91.2) when lined up there. In addition to Mailata's development, Lane Johnson remains one of the league's top right tackles entering his 10th NFL season, and center Jason Kelce is coming off a first-team All-Pro appearance in 2021.
Biggest weakness: The James Bradberry addition alongside Darius Slay and Avonte Maddox eliminates a lot of the questions surrounding the cornerback position, but safety remains a potential weak point on defense. Anthony Harris has earned two consecutive sub-70 PFF grades after being one of the highest-graded safeties in the league across the 2018-19 seasons in Minnesota. The Eagles will be relying on Harris, K'Von Wallace, Marcus Epps and and recent addition Jaquiski Tartt to elevate their play in 2022.
X factor for 2022: While the Eagles have done a good job of bolstering this roster over the past year, they'll go only as far as Jalen Hurts takes them. Hurts showed real signs of progress in his second season out of Oklahoma last year, as he finished the season ranked 14th out of 32 qualifying quarterbacks in overall grade -- a performance that offered real value on a rookie deal. However, his 45.3 PFF grade in their postseason loss to the Buccaneers highlights the issues that the Eagles will run into late in the campaign against defenses that force Hurts to beat them if he doesn't take another step forward in 2022.
New York Giants
Biggest strength: It's not surprising to see the former Bills' brain trust invest in the defensive line in its first draft with the Giants, given how the Bills have attacked the position over the past few years. The Kayvon Thibodeaux addition to a defensive front that already had Leonard Williams, Dexter Lawrence and 2021 draft pick Azeez Ojulari gives New York a nice collection of talent that can defend the run and get after opposing quarterbacks. Thibodeaux's 23% pass rush win rate ranked ninth among FBS edge rushers with at least 250 pass-rushing snaps in 2021.
Biggest weakness: New York's once-deep secondary has thinned considerably over the past year. Two important veteran starters from last year's group are gone in James Bradberry and Logan Ryan. Safety Jabrill Peppers also is elsewhere. That probably will push second-year cornerback Aaron Robinson to the outside as the favorite to replace Bradberry. Robinson earned a 58.4 PFF coverage grade in 170 coverage snaps as a rookie while splitting time between the slot and outside. Rookie safety Dane Belton also will have an opportunity to earn a starting job in a thin group.
X factor for 2022: Wide receiver Kadarius Toney has had an eventful first year-plus in the NFL, including being at the center of trade rumors earlier this offseason that have since died down. When he was on the field as a rookie last season, Toney looked like the dynamic playmaker the Giants drafted him in the first round to be. He was one of just 15 wide receivers in the league to average over 2 receiving yards per route run on at least 100 routes. The issue seems to be him staying on the field. Toney sat out OTAs following a minor arthroscopic surgery that he had on a knee this offseason.
Washington Commodes
Biggest strength: The four former first-round selections who make up Washington's starting defensive line remain the strength of this roster entering this season. Jonathan Allen has the fourth-highest PFF pass-rushing grade among interior defensive linemen over the past two seasons, and the return of a healthy Chase Young and Montez Sweat is no small addition to the Commodes' defense. The only concern is if injuries strike again, particularly on the interior after Tim Settle and Matt Ioannidis went elsewhere in free agency this offseason.
Biggest weakness: Washington's linebacker corps is among the worst in the league on paper. Recent first-round selection Jamin Davis (46.8 PFF grade last season) underwhelmed in his rookie season. The Commodes need more out of him in Year 2 as well as the rest of this linebacker unit that ranked 30th out of 32 units across the league last season.
X factor for 2022: Curtis Samuel joined Washington last season off a career year with the Panthers in 2020, when he caught a career-high 77 passes for 851 yards while tacking on another 200 yards on the ground. Unfortunately, Samuel wasn't able to carry over that momentum into last season with Washington, as injuries limited him to just five appearances on the year. The Commodes will be hoping that he and Jahan Dotson offer more support to Terry McLaurin than he has received across the first three years of his career.
