Fantasy Football Stock Watch: Risers and fallers in the NFC East

Taking temperature of the fantasy football stock for big names in the NFC East.

Recently, in our Fantasy Football Rookie Stock Watch, we addressed the NFL Draft‘s impact on the incoming crop of fantasy football prospects. Today, we analyze the impact on incumbents on NFL rosters in our team-by-team breakdown of the NFC East.

Before we examine the fallout of free-agent signings and draft selections on the fantasy football landscapes of the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins, let’s keep one thing foremost in mind: the trenches.

Offensive line play has a large, yet understated, impact on the performance of skill position players, yet it is a key element that is often overlooked by many fantasy football enthusiasts and analysts.

Among the notable changes up front made by NFC East teams: the Cowboys lost longtime center Travis Frederick to retirement and the Redskins finally dealt left tackle Trent Williams. Meanwhile, the Giants took tackle Andrew Thomas in Round 1.

While adding talent is obviously a net positive for any team at any position group, offensive line continuity is an overlooked asset. That said, only five NFL teams have kept their units more intact than the Cowboys and Eagles:

While the net of this information may be of some concern to those invested in Redskins’ skill position players, it seems neutral at worst for those who own shares of Giants. Meanwhile, this gives reason to be even more bullish on the fantasy prospects of Eagles and Cowboys; we start our analysis with the latter.