We better have a good special teams squad with all these guys being kept. Any injury issues and we are really done for. Zero depth everywhere.
I don't know about not having good depth.
Depth can be looked at as what you need in case of injuries, but in today's NFL it can also be looked at as who you bring in for a rotation or who you bring in for substitutions in different packages in order to match up with the other team. While injuries can worry any team, I do like who we can bring in to match up and who will work in a rotation.
Sure, we only have 4 CB's on the roster, but those 4 are good. Scandrick and Webb are more than solid 3rd and 4th corners. Webb truly is a talented player and once he started getting comfortable in the NFL, he started playing well and making some plays. Scandrick, of course, is a really solid player and very good in the slot. So, if a team trots out 4 WR's, we are good. Of course, we won't be using 4 corners very much, but when we do, we will have one of the best 4 that any team can put out there IMO. Putting Webb on the teams 4th best WR sounds pretty good at this point.
Now, if we have an injury, like you said, we will clearly have to bring in a guy like Moore or Pellirin off the practice squad, but that is no big deal. Without injury though, we have very good backups behind Carr and Claiborne.
At LB, I actually like Sims and Holloman a lot as backups. Heck, Sims might beat out Durant to become a starter and make Durant a backup. Either way, I like the depth at SOLB. If Lee goes down, then Durant will go to MLB and Sims will play on the strongside. Holloman shows a whole lot of promise and could be a starter as soon as next season if he continues along the path he's been on so far. All athletic players who can be used in a variety of ways.
So, if one of Carter, Lee, Durant goes down, then Sims or Holloman comes in and we're good to go. I like that depth there. If more than one guy goes down, then we will still be ok with those two backups, but they'll have to bring in another player off the street to then be backups, but there are a lot of teams that would have to do that if they lost 2 of their 3 starting LB's. Lucky for us, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a guy to play LB in this 43. One of the benefits of this defense.
At safety, if Allen or Church goes down, then Wilcox will get his shot sooner than later. The good news is that Wilcox is a very talented player and is learning quickly. He will most likely be a starter next year, and I wouldn't feel too badly about him starting sooner than that. Heath obviously showed the team a lot and they like him. Hopefully we won't have to see him very much this year, but they do like his athleticism and smarts. Don't really want to see Frampton out there, and definitely don't want to see McCray, but they are there if we need them. Frampton might not be too bad though.
The top 3 are very solid though and without injury, they are the only 3 we should see on anything other than special teams. Wilcox is such a thumper that they could use him almost as a nickle LB if that's what they wanted to do. He offers a lot of versatility back there.
The DL depth does concern me. Once Ratliff comes back, I will feel better, but until then, I'm going to be holding my breath at this position. The DE's are very good with Ware and Spencer, and really, I think Selvie, Edgar Jones, and Wilbur are fine in a rotation. If any of the backup DE's have to start for a number of games though, I'd worry.
The DT's appear thin. Hatcher and Hayden are ok starters but Cohen and Bass worry me some if they have to start any games. They are decent rotational players IMO, but not as your starters.
So the DL depth does worry me a little.
TE depth is fantastic. Keeping Smith was a good idea IMO, because he adds some toughness and strength if you want to put that on the line of scrimmage. He can also catch if you ask him to. Plenty of athleticism at this position. Matchup nightmares up and down the position.
OL depth is ok, but not great. If Leary is back and Free is at RT, then we have Parnell as a swing guy, which is fine. If Leary isn't and Free is playing G with Parnell as the starting RT, then I have almost no faith that Weems can play T in the NFL at this point.
The good news is that Leary should be back with Free playing RT and Parnell as the swing guy.
Costa is a very good backup C. Clearly not exactly what you want as a starter, but very solid as your guy off the bench.
Arkin is fine as a backup IMO. He's improved a lot and wouldn't kill you if he had to play. We also can play Frederick and Costa at G in a pinch, so there would have to be a boatload of injuries before we'd run out of guys inside.
Overall, not terrible depth on the OL.
We have a good backup QB.
The RB position is in really good shape. Dunbar will be the third down back and Murray will be the starter. If Murray goes down then Randle and Tanner will take up his slack. I expect Randle and Tanner to get some carries even if Murray is healthy. Good group.
The WR's group is very good IMO. The top three of Dez, Austin, and Williams is a very good starting group. Very few teams can trot out that kind of talent in a 3 wide set. Harris and Beasley are slot guys who play a definite role and are good at it. I couldn't be much happier with the WR's and would put this group up against just about any around the league.
So, as a whole, I think we have some good depth on this team. Really, I only see one position that has me concerned and that is the DL... and that will worry me less once we get Ratliff back.
In today's NFL, depth is a concern for everyone, and matching up against opponents is something that all teams have to think about. Frankly, I think the team did very well in putting the roster together, keeping the best players where you can and not letting somebody hit the street that you wanted to keep on your squad. Putting a 53 man roster together is a delicate matter sometimes, and I can't really fault the team for doing what they did with all the positions.
