NFC Notes: Bears, Cowboys, Giants, Lions, & Redskins

Bears

• According to Jeff Dickerson, “the door is wide open” for Ego Ferguson now that the Bears have released Ray McDonald.
• Dickerson mentions that the Bears had too much talent last year to produce a record of just 5-11.
• With this in mind, and the offseason additions they made, Dickerson thinks Chicago will end up with a 7-9 or 8-8 record.

Cowboys

• Todd Archer seems to think Joseph Randle will have the best chance of the Cowboys’ running backs to end as the main option in 2015.
• Despite having another year under his belt, Archer doesn’t anticpiate TE Gavin Escobar‘s role changing much.

Giants

• According to Dan Graziano, the Giants’ competition for the safety position along side of Landon Collins is “wide-open.”
• Graziano mentions that Cooper Taylor, Nat Berhe and fifth-round pick Mykkele Thompson are all in play at safety.
  Graziano points out that the Giants offensive line during this week’s practice consisted of Ereck Flowers at left tackle, Justin Pugh at left guard, Weston Richburg at center, Geoff Schwartz at right guard and Marshall Newhouse at right tackle.

Lions

• Michael Rothstein hasn’t heard anything that would suggest the Lions are actually in the trade market for defensive tackle help, despite rumors that have been circulating.
• According to Rothstein, the Lions would most likely need to have major concerns about two of their defensive tackles — Haloti Ngata, Tyrunn Walker, Gabe Wright and Caraun Reid — to consider improving their defensive tackle depth.
• Rothstein can see the Lions’ offensive line unit overachieving in 2015.
• In fact, Rothstein expects first-round G Laken Tomlinson to a have solid first year in the NFL.

Redskins

• John Keim of ESPN views Spencer Long as the favorite to replace recently released G Chris Chester.
• Keim adds that Arie Kouandjio would have to be very impressive to unseat anyone as a starter.
• Even though some teams thought first-round pick Brandon Scherff was better suited as a guard in the NFL, Keim writes that if he fails, it won’t be because his arms are 5/8 of an inch too short.