mgteich

FOURTEEEN FRONT RUNNERS
Personally, barring injury, I think that all of the following 14 players are heavy favorites to make the Game One 53-man roster.

NT Wilfork, Brace
DE Warren, Wright
DL Lewis
ILB Mayo, Guyton, Spikes, McKenzie
OLB TBC, Burgess, Woods, Ninkovich, Cunningham
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And I also think that there are ten heavy favorites for secondary positions.
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BOTTOM LINE (1-2 open roster spots)
There are a couple of open spots and lots of guys ampeting for them. perhaps Pryor and Warren and Crable are the binkies here for those spots.

italia44

Nice,as usual,mgteich.....The OLB competition has become fascinating to me.I think this is going to come down to which of the OLB's can play behind TBC at ROLB(rolb and lolb are not interchangable)

Let's say that Cunningham is a slow starter.....who play's behind TBC?

Burgess can't.....Woods lacks instinct..Ninkovich interrests me...he's bulked-up,is smart and BB liked him inside the 10 yd line,last year.

Crable is such a wild-card,here...if healthy,you just have to keep him......ergo,imho,Burgess and Pierre Woods are in trouble.

kurtinelson

Think so? I'm pulling for him, but I think there is a very good chance that his injuries have been what have saved him from being cut the last 2 years.

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mgteich

I suggested 1-2 open roster spots on defense. Those could go to the 6th DL (G Warren, Pryor or Deaderick) and the 10th LB (Crable).

I just don't see Burgess or Woods being replaced by Crable. In fact, what you are suggesting that we need a backup for Banta-Cain. If Ninkovich or Cunningham can't preform that tole, then Ninkovich could be the one in trouble, but I don't think so.

italia44

That's why I said wild-card.....forget the 2yr injury for a moment.....who of this group at LOLB,would you want to see as a "cover" linebacker:

Burgess,Guyton,Ninkovich,Woods and Crable....In a base 3-4,we need a LOLB with coverage skills.
I'm hoping it's Crable,because of talent,that's all.

patsfan13

I would move Brace to DE and Add Pyror to the front runner group at NT.

Crable is my binkie on the front 7. Love to see him healthy and see what he can do.

__________________
"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

AndyJohnson

Why is Lewis ahead of Warren a clear cut decision? They seem to come in about equal in competition.
I don't think Woods is a certainty by any stretch of the imagination nor is Ninkovich. Crable certainly has more raw ability than either, so it would not be an upset at all if, providing he stays healthy (insert joke here) he is ahead of both.

I would change it to:
Locks: Wilfork, Warren, Brace, Wright
and 2 of Warren, Lewis, Pryor, Deadrick or someone else. I don't see any favorites yet, because you have either older vets or youngsters who have never or barely played, and both could be a reason to be left on the outside looking in.
Locks: TBC, Cunningham, Burgess
and 1 or 2 of Ninkovich, Woods, Crabel and again I see no clear favorite because there is one known commodity and where he sets the bar is not very high.

mgteich

A) I have Lewis ahead of the rest because I think that he is a much better player.

B) I do indeed that Ninkovich and Woods are current "frontrunners" over Crable. You state that if Crable is healthy and plays up his talent level that he could be ahead of both Woods and Ninkovich. OK, I agree. But I certainly don't think that this is a likely occurence. I therefore think that Crable has a long way to go, and that Woods and Ninkovicha re frontrunners at the moment.

AndyJohnson

A) OK. I would think he is more in the group than ahead of, but I accept your p.o.v.
B) You could look at it the other way too, in that it is unlkely those guys would be ahead of a healthy Crable. I don't know that I'm ready to say his injuries are inherent or more than bad luck (I tend to think most players injuires are a matter of luck, not an inherent quality or lack of it). My point is that its hard for me to consider a player the forntrunner when the trailer is very likely to supplant him if both stay healthy. Arguably Woods and Ninkovich have as much chance of getting injured as Crable does, unless you are saying you think Crable is a malingerer or a wuss or not tough enough to play in the league. I don't know whether that is your opinion or not. Again, I would throw them into a group, and probably include Murrell as well and expect 1 or 2 to make the squad but I'm not ready to put any of the 4 far ahead, since all have their warts. Put it this way, it wouldn't be hard for a decent OLB to make the team over Woods or Ninkovich to whom so far decent would be a complement.

mgteich

We disagree with regard to Woods. We agree with regard to Ninkovich and Crable.
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WOODS
I see him a one of an 8-10 linebacker grouping with a couple of roles to play, including special teams. I think he does what has been asked of him and is well deserving of a roster spot. What we have is a backup linebacker and a top special teamer without question marks. We know what we get when we put Woods on the field. And as you have pointed out, Belichick is fine with starting Woods opposite Banta-Cain.

NINKOVICH
I agree that he could easily be beaten out. He just seems to be ahead of others at the moment. However, I do not feel at all strongly about Ninkovich and would be fine if he didn't make the squad.

CRABLE
Two major injuries cannot be ignored. Crable is not a 5-10 year veteran with a couple of recent injuries. He is a player who has never contributed because he has been unlucky enough to have been injured twice. I believe that success in such a case is rare. Yes, Crable could be the one who comes back, against long odds, and succeeds are two injuries at the beginning of his career. I'm rooting for him. I just don't think that his chances are equal to those of Ninkovich. Hopefully, in two months, Crable will be the frontrunner instead of Ninkovich.