QB (2) Dak and White. Either Rush or a new QB goes to the PS. We need the spots this year and can’t afford to keep 3. Rush simply doesn’t have the arm
RB (3) Zeke, Pollard and Weber. Sadly the DJax experiment comes to an end. Chubb stays on the PS for depth
FB (1) Olawale. Didn’t think he would be back and then he got a 3 year deal. Hoping this means Moore figures out ways to use him
TE (3) Witten, Jarwin and Schultz. No more Rico. Hopefully our youngsters continue to develop. Otherwise we might be spending a high pick on this position next year. I also think Moore will spread it out more, so a 4th isn’t needed
WR (7) speaking of spreading it out, doing so gives us 7. Although it could be six if the team thinks they can get one of the new kids thru waivers. Tempted to cut Austin but I think he makes it
Cooper, Gallup, Cobb, Brown, Wilson, Austin, one of the new kids. Just don’t see how Hurns can make the cut. And thankfully we will see the last of Leonir
OL (9) this group is subject to trade if someone calls during the summer.
Tyron, CWill, Beard, Zack, Collins, McGovern, Looney, Fleming, Hyatt
DL (9) getting to be a stout group
DLaw, Crawford (one more year), Taco, Hyder, Collins, Woods, Covington, Hill, Quinn
If Gregory gets reinstated I think they might carry 10 can cut from somewhere else. Even with 10 some real good talent might get cut. Hopefully we can do some trading
LB (6) LVE, Smith, Lee, Thomas, Covington, March-Lillard. This group could easily be 5 if they go longer elsewhere
CB (5) Jones, Chido, Brown, Lewis, Jackson.
S (4) Woods, Iloka, Heath, Wilson.
ST (3)
This actually comes out to 52. Hmmm
I think that's as close as you can get pre training camp.
Injuries all come into play but no way to predict those.
LB
They've kept 7 LBs every year since going back to the 4-3 except 1 year when Rolando McClain was set to return from suspension after 4 games.
QB
Agree. Either White is ready to be #2 or he'll never be ready. No point keeping both Rush and White, IMO.
FB
Agree. Olawale is expected to get more snaps as a RB which could cause them to only carry Zeke and Pollard; although, I think it is most likely that Weber makes it.
WR
I agree that they won't carry 7 WRs all season but I wouldn't rule out that they have 7 after the initial cuts. Last year they cut veteran Deonte Thompson, then moved Brown to IR then immediately re-signed Thompson. As a veteran Thompson was not subject to waivers; therefore, they likely told him they would immediately re-sign him. This year they could do something similar if a WR has an injury issue, except the veteran cut and re-sign could come from a different position.
I also don't see how Hurns makes the cut. He made perfect sense to start last season because they didn't have Cooper and Gallup was a rookie; however, now they do have Cooper, Gallup has starting experience and Cobb is more versatile than Beasley.
RB
I'm always amazed at the talent level of players that don't make it in the NFL. D-Jax is big, fast and closer to being a legit NFL RB than the vast majority of people in the world, except the 100 or so players that will make NFL rosters at RB this year.
OL
Hyatt will have to really impress in training camp to make it. Normally, UDFAs can be retained on the PS unless they wowed in the pre-season.
TE
I wouldn't be surprised to see Rico make it as the 4th TE.
I think looking at the path of some other college basketball players (Jermey Parnell, etc..) that carved out a career in the NFL
it should have been the expectation that Rico wouldn't contribute much until about year 4. Last season was basically equivalent to a normal player's rookie year with Rico's first 2 years being the equivalent of other player's college football experience.
Safety
Darian Thompson (6-2, 212) has a shot, IMO. He started 17 games over 2 years with the Giants including all 16 games in 2017. He played FS there which means he has some coverage ability but also has the size to move to SS.
CB
Agree. They are not going to trade Lewis away for a bag of beans like many are projecting. He was solid last season in the 2 games where he was the 3rd CB (Brown and Awuzie both missed 1 game). Also it was a luxury to have a solid 4th CB as the Dime DB against the Saints/Kamara.
DLine
By far the hardest position to estimate in regards to the roster. Gregory likely misses at least the first 2 games; therefore, he's not an issue for the initial cut to 53. I strongly believe that at least 1 additional young player will make the roster (Armstrong or the draft pick Joe Jackson most likely options).
If Collins stays healthy during the pre-season, as well as Woods, Covington and Hill then I don't see Crawford at DT.
At DE DLaw and Quinn are the starters. I don't see them dumping Taco. That means either Crawford or Hyder is the 4th DE and the other one is in competition with younger players for the 5th spot. If they keep 10, then either Crawford or Hyder could be considered the 5th DT and a young player would get the 5th DE spot. If they only keep 9, then it seems that Crawford and Hyder could be in competition for the 9th DL spot. It would save 6M to keep Hyder over Crawford. Marinelli loves Crawford but Stephen Jones loves cap space.
