Based on who is currently under contract and from what little we saw vs Atlanta, he is my initial guess at the 53 man roster. QB 1. Chad Henne 2. Matt Moore 3. Pat Devlin RB/FB 1. Reggie Bush 2. Daniel Thomas 3. Lex Hilliard 4. Nic Grigsby 5. Lou Polite WR 1. Brandon Marshall 2. Davone Bess 3. Brian Hartline 4. Clyde Gates 5. Roberto Wallace 6. Phillip Livas TE 1. Anthony Fasano 2. Charles Clay 3. Dedrick Epps OL 1. Jake Long 2. Richie Incognito 3. Mike Pouncey 4. Vern Carey 5. Marc Colombo 6. Lydon Murtha 7. Nate Garner 8. Joe Berger 25 Offensive players DL 1. Kendall Langford 2. Paul Soliai 3. Randy Starks 4. Tony McDaniel 5. Ronald Fields 6. Jared Odrick 7. Phil Merling LB 1. Cameron Wake 2. Karlos Dansby 3. Kevin Burnett 4. Koa Misi 5. Jason Taylor 6. Jason Trusnik 7. AJ Edds 8. Ike Alama-Francis 9. Austin Spitler DB 1. Vontae Davis 2. Sean Smith 3. Yeremiah Bell 4. Chris Clemons 5. Benny Sapp 6. Jimmy Wilson 7. Nolan Carroll 8. Reshad Jones 9. Nate Ness 25 Defensive players K Dan Carpenter P Brandon Fields LS John Denney 3 Specialists
That's the roster I'm hoping for at this point. I really hope it'll be Devlin as the #3, I like Epps more than Mastrud and Shuler, and I love what I saw from Livas. Obviously the TD was great, but had he kept his feet a couple of earlier times (almost looked like he was just too amped up and tripped himself up) he could have possibly scored earlier.
It's not a bad list MC... The bolded players are guys who I'd put on the bubble list. Rank them as 44th to 53rd in terms of how safe they are. And then list guys 54 thru 63 who are capable of moving up: CB Will Allen. If he's healthy he has to be better than Ness S Tyrone Culver. His experience is a plus, although he is currently the odd man out at safety. WR Marlon Moore. He plays ST's and he's quite good at it. If we keep Livas, I reckon we'd keep Moore too. QB Kevin O'Connell. Him and Devlin would be interchangeable at that 3rd qb position atm. Since Devlin is PS eligible, we could release O'Connell only to bring him back so we could stash Devlin on the PS later. TE Jeron Mastrud. TE Brett Brackett G John Jerry NT Frank Kearse DE Rob Rose DE Ryan Baker * those last six guys, strange things happen when you get to the 53 sometimes, you overload on a certain position because you know you have quality guys there, particularly the d line. Nothing wrong with keeping 8 instead of 7. 8 o linemen is certainly plausible. Injuries would certainly change that. Garner, Berger, Carey and Long are all coming back from injuries last year.
Mostly agree, Clean. Think one of Hilliard or Grigsby get cut though. Not thrilled with what we have at TE but that's not the point of this thread. Seeing it listed like that in the 53 man roster just reminds me though. You know, this is a pretty talented roster. If this staff can't win 10+ games with them, I'm almost certain the staff who replaces them *will*.
We usually keep 4 RBs. Last year it being Brown, Williams, Cobbs and Hilliard. I'm seeing Grigsby as a backup for Bush, and Hilliard as a backup for Thomas, as for how they would be used. IMO, it comes down to Grigsby or Sheets for that role and Grigsby was more impressive against Atlanta and more hungry on STs. I think with 2 smaller speed backs in Bush and Grigsby, we may see the workload more divided than usual among 4 RBs to keep them all fresh.
I agree with you on the bubble guys for the most part. If Carey does not improve we may see a surprise cut there, with Garner starting at RG and Jerry making the roster. Usually we have kept 9 OL on the 53, so 8 is light. We would make two inactive for every game before and with 8, just one. Whether we keep Devlin as #3 or try to get him on the PS may depend on the conviction they have toward him. They probably remember what happened when they tried that with Moore in Dallas. Once bitten, twice shy, and all that. Marlon Moore did look good on STs, though I suspect Grigsby could fill his role with little drop off, if any at all. He also looked good out there. I'm not optimistic about Allen health wise. I think Ness is better in coverage than Culver, so that is why I put him as the last DB. It does have us with 6 CBs and only 3 safeties, though I recall us doing that before.
Probably wouldn't cut Carey. Just restructured him (right?). Might make sense to send him back to tackle and give Garner the nod while cutting Columbo.
There's a good chance Carey moves to RT, I don't see why not really. All the team needs is a left guard and they'd be fine with Incognito at RG.
Yeah, I'd cut Berger too. Plenty of quality but older guards available if you're willing to pay...and we've got the cap room. I'd sooner see Spears than Spitler. Why even put Devlin on a 53, he's practice squad. You know how this regime likes to keep a few spaces open to churn the roster with surprise cuts at the end. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ness, Sapp, or Carroll cut as well.
He was a captain on Friday. WTF happened to him last year, before that, I thought he got robbed by not making the pro-bowl.
I like that list. My only question mark is Lou Polite. I'm wondering if he makes the team this year. I think they like Clay's versatility and can run more single back this year.
I don't think you rule out two fullbacks, it's a lot more common than people think to keep two. Polite probably needs to pick it up some for that, though.
Still not too confident with the RBs behind Thomas and Bush. Wish we would have picked up another vet, but we'll see. I have heard that the coaches are pretty high on Kevin O'Connell, so I see him beating out Devlin since he could go to the practice squad. I do have a question though, if any of you can answer it. Wouldn't Devlin have to clear waivers before being placed on the practice squad? If that is the case, I think the Dolphins keep him, because I think someone would pick him up if that is the case.
Yes, Devlin would have to clear waivers first before getting to the PS. Although, once you get him to the PS, another team can sign him to their active roster. That is a different process where a player can simply choose not to sign and rather remain on the PS. Sounds funny, but some players prefer to stay with their original team for various reasons.
