Lots of Competition For Roster Spots

[mgteich]

Obviously, injuries can happen, but this roster is looking as strong as any, other the 2004 roster. And I do expect another free agent or two to further improve the roster.

MG’s ROSTER AS OF MAY 4

OFFENSE (24)
QB (3) Brady, O'Connell, Gutierrez/Edleman/Hoyer/fa
RB/FB (5) Taylor, Faulk, Morris, Maroney, BJGE/fa
WR (4) Moss, Welker, Galloway, Lewis
TE (3) Watson, Baker, Smith
OT (4) Light, Kaczur, LeVoir/O’Callaghan/Britt, Vollmer
OG/C (5) Mankins, Koppen, Neal, Hochstein/Yates, Ohrnberger/Bussey

DEFENSE (23)
DL (6) Wilfork, Seymour, Warren, Green, Wright, Brace
OLB (4) Thomas, Crable, Banta-Cain, Woods
ILB (4) Mayo, Guyton, Bruschi, McKenzie
CB (5) Butler, Bodden, Springs, Wheatley, Wilhite
S (3) Meriweather, Sanders, Chung
DB (1) Williams/Spann/Richardson

SPECIALISTS (3)
K (1) Gostkowski
P (1) Hanson
LS (1) Ingram/Hodel

COMPETING FOR THE LAST 3 ROSTER SPOTS (3)
Smith, Aiken, Ventrone, Slater, Alexander, Redd, Pryor, Richard, fa

STARTING THE SEASON ON THE PUP LIST
WR (1) Tate

 

[BradyManny]

Obviously, injuries can happen, but this roster is looking as strong as any, other the 2004 roster. And I do expect another free agent or two to further improve the roster.

MG’s ROSTER AS OF MAY 4

OFFENSE (24)
QB (3) Brady, O'Connell, Gutierrez/Edleman/Hoyer/fa
RB/FB (5) Taylor, Faulk, Morris, Maroney, BJGE/fa
WR (4) Moss, Welker, Galloway, Lewis
TE (3) Watson, Baker, Smith
OT (4) Light, Kaczur, LeVoir/O’Callaghan/Britt, Vollmer
OG/C (5) Mankins, Koppen, Neal, Hochstein/Yates, Ohrnberger/Bussey

DEFENSE (23)
DL (6) Wilfork, Seymour, Warren, Green, Wright, Brace
OLB (4) Thomas, Crable, Banta-Cain, Woods
ILB (4) Mayo, Guyton, Bruschi, McKenzie
CB (5) Butler, Bodden, Springs, Wheatley, Wilhite
S (3) Meriweather, Sanders, Chung
DB (1) Williams/Spann/Richardson

SPECIALISTS (3)
K (1) Gostkowski
P (1) Hanson
LS (1) Ingram/Hodel

COMPETING FOR THE LAST 3 ROSTER SPOTS (3)
Smith, Aiken, Ventrone, Slater, Alexander, Redd, Pryor, Richard, fa

STARTING THE SEASON ON THE PUP LIST
WR (1) Tate

Good stuff - I think you've identified some of the fiercest camp battles, QB spot #3, and depth at the OG, OT, OLB & DB positions. I'd still give Dave Thomas a chance to make the roster though.

It is going to be another interesting camp, I just hope that all the guys who don't stick wind up on the PS (if eligible) and not on the Chiefs or Broncos roster.

 

[maverick4]

Watson is done

 

[Sicilian]

I'd still give Dave Thomas a chance to make the roster though.

It's going to be real hard for him unless he becomes a special teams demon. I think Watson is as good a receiver as him (in an offense that doesn't rely on the TE to be a receiver) and clearly a better blocker. The other guys they brought in through FA or trade for a reason. Unless we want to carry 4 TEs or move him to WR, he's a longshot IMO.

 

[crowell33]

In the Levoir, Britt, O'Callaghan derby my bet is on Levoir. He's a Charlie Weiss Notre Dame guy I believe, so he should be familiar with the system. The fact that he started back to back wins for us at tackle in 2008 may also give him a leg up.

 

[JSn]

OLB - that position still looks needy when laid out this way. That said, I think Redd has a shot. Game-action means a lot, and he got a bit last year.

 

[Wheelssps]

I think that either OLB or TE might get an extra roster spot over the three QB this year. It seems that the QB's are young enough that they could stash one away on the practice squad and just keep two on the 53 man. Of course there may also be a veteran QB brought in to blow that up, so who knows.

 

[jmt57]

So, to take MG’s ROSTER AS OF MAY 4 a step further, here is who appears to be in, who appears to be out, and who appears to be on the bubble as of right now.

OFFENSE (24)
QB (3)
- In (2): Tom Brady, Kevin O'Connell
- ?? (1): Matt Gutierrez, Julian Edleman, Brian Hoyer
RB/FB (5)
- In (4): Fred Taylor, Kevin Faulk, Sammy Morris, Laurence Maroney
- ?? (1): BenJarvis Green-Ellis
WR (4)
- In (4): Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Joey Galloway, Lewis
- Out: Sam Aiken, Edelman
TE (3)
- In (1): Chris Baker
- ?? (2): Ben Watson, Alex Smith, David Thomas
- Out: Tyson DeVree, Brad Listorti
OT (4)
- In (3): Matt Light, Nick Kaczur, Sebastian Vollmer
- ?? (1): Mark LeVoir, Ryan O’Callaghan, Wesley Britt
- Out: Damane Duckett
OG/C (5)
- In (3): Logan Mankins, Dan Koppen, Stephen Neal
- ?? (2): Russ Hochstein, Billy Yates, Rich Ohrnberger, George Bussey
- Out: Al Johnson, Dan Connolly, Ryan Wendell, Jermail Porter

DEFENSE (23)
DL (6)
- In (6): Vince Wilfork, Richard Seymour, Ty Warren, Jarvis Green, Mike Wright, Ron Brace
- Out: Le Kevin Smith, Kenny Smith, Titus Adams, Myron Pryor, Darryl Richard, Porter
OLB (4)
- In (4): Adalius Thomas, Shawn Crable, Tully Banta-Cain, Pierre Woods
- Out: Vince Redd, Angelo Craig
ILB (4)
- In (4): Jerod Mayo, Gary Guyton, Tedy Bruschi, Tyrone McKenzie
- Out: Eric Alexander, Antonio Appleby
CB (5)
- In (5): Darius Butler, Leigh Bodden, Shawn Springs, Terrance Wheatley, Jonathan Wilhite
- Out: Mike Richardson
S (3)
- In (3): Brandon Meriweather, James Sanders, Patrick Chung
- Out: Raymond Ventrone, Antwain Spann, Marcus McClinton
DB (1)
- ?? (1): Tank Williams, Spann, Richardson
- Out: Jamar Love

SPECIALISTS (3)
K (1)
- In (1): Stephen Gostkowski
P (1)
- In (1): Chris Hanson
- Out: Tom Malone
LS (1)
- ?? (1): Jake Ingram, Nathan Hodel

COMPETING FOR THE LAST 3 ROSTER SPOTS
- ?? (3): DT Le Kevin Smith, WR Sam Aiken, S Raymond Ventrone, WR Matt Slater, ILB Eric Alexander, OLB Redd, DT Myron Pryor, DT Darryl Richard, and the odd men out of the OT, OG/C, and DB roster battles.

STARTING THE SEASON ON THE PUP LIST
- ??: WR/KR Brandon Tate


Players slated to not make the roster (unless they make one of those last three spots) that are also currently among the top 51 on Miguel's cap page: Al Johnson, Sam Aiken, David Thomas, Eric Alexander, Le Kevin Smith, Damane Duckett, Dan Connolly, and Russ Hochstein or Billy Yates. They would be repalced by Gary Guyton, BJGE, Patrick Chung, Ron Brace, Darius Butler, Sebastian Vollmer, Tyrone McKenzie, Rich Ohrnberger or George Bussey, and two additional players to reach a total of 53.


In regards to possible candidates for the Practice Squad, I believe that would be limited to the twelve draftees (Chung, Brace, Butler, Vollmer, Tate, McKenzie, Ohrnberger, Bussey, Ingram, Pryor, Edelman, Richard), five recently signed undrafted free agents (Appleby, Hoyer, Love, McClinton, Porter) and Wendell, Malone and Craig. As far as I know the rest, such as Listorti, DeVree and Adams are not eligible - but perhaps somebody else can verify.

 

[Urgent]

I agree that Thomas is likely out, but not a slam-dunk. He's certainly got as much of a chance as, say, Britt, and would note him as Alex Smith/Dave Thomas.

I would guess that in the "last three spots" competition, there is some categorization.

LeKevin Smith/Pryor/Richard are presumably looking at the seventh DL spot. Hard to imagine an eighth, and given injuries and the level of talent on the 80-man, probably want a seventh. I give Smith the big edge.

There are usually nine LB's, so Redd/Alexander/Appleby is another good competition. Don't forget Appleby, who as a college 3-4 ILB has a decent shot here. Also, I'm not so sure Crable & TBC are clearly above Redd, given a year in. Crable has a better college resume, but Redd is bigger and faster, played ST, and back-up OLB last year. Redd is bigger, faster, and younger than TBC. I wouldn't be shocked to see Thomas/Woods/Crable/Redd on the roster, with Alexander and TBC competing for the 9th LB/ST spot. Of course, I'd be delighted with Thomas/Taylor/Woods/Crable/Redd, losing TBC & Alexander.

Aiken/Ventrone/Slater sets up a competition for the last spot, an almost solely-ST role, like Je'Rod Cherry and others. That's wide open.

 

[mgteich]

Do you prefer Wendy? or DeVree? or Listorti? Why?

Watson is done

 

[mgteich]

I agree with your assessment of LeVoir. LeVoir and Vollmer could very well be our tackles of the future.

In the Levoir, Britt, O'Callaghan derby my bet is on Levoir. He's a Charlie Weiss Notre Dame guy I believe, so he should be familiar with the system. The fact that he started back to back wins for us at tackle in 2008 may also give him a leg up.

 

[mgteich]

Redd might get one of the last three positions, one of which is usually the 5th OLB.

OLB - that position still looks needy when laid out this way. That said, I think Redd has a shot. Game-action means a lot, and he got a bit last year.

 

[Fencer]

I'd still give Dave Thomas a chance to make the roster though.

Similarly LeKevin Smith.

 

[mgteich]

Redd might get one of the last three positions, one of which is usually the 5th OLB.

OLB - that position still looks needy when laid out this way. That said, I think Redd has a shot. Game-action means a lot, and he got a bit last year.

 

[AzPatsFan]

I would like to look a the offensive line depth with some discussion

First the tackles. Th incumbent starters are Light at LOT and Kaczur at ROT. Reserve starters have been O'Callaghan a former 5th at ROT and Levoir a UDFA by ST Louis at ROT. The backup starters are Wesley Britt a 5th round pick, and Levoir as well.

Now we add Volmer and Duckett to the mix in the off season. I expect that Vollmer a second round pick will be groomed as a ROT. I would guess that Duckett, and O 'Callaghan are in danger of losing a job. The competition to backup Light, are Levoir and Britt. If SeaBass captures Kaczur 's job than Kaczur becomes a wild card and a backup at LOT as well as inside at Guard. At the end of the day I expect that Kaczur and Vollmer are the ROT candidates and Light and Britt/Levoir battle it out as LOT backup. O'Callaghan and Duckett lose out.

Inside at Guard, The starters are Mankins, a first rounder, Neal a UDFA but a champion NCAA wrestler, and Koppen with the prime backup Hochstein. Two of the three have made the Pro bowl and Neal is the most mobile G in the league. No one is better as a pulling Guard. The guys in battle are Hochstein, Yates, Orhnberger, Johnson and Bussey, Connolly, and Wendell. Bussey, Ohrnberger, Connolly, Wendell have PS possibilities. When all is said and done, I think Yates has been shown to be unsatisfactory and replaceable. Hochstein remains as the prime backup, Ohrnberger may win the second backup. Bussey, Connolly, and perhaps Wendel survive on PS. Johnson and Connolly lose out. If Seabass beats out Kaczur at ROT, Kaczur leaps to the head of the class as a reserve Guard too.

Age is not really a question yet but Neal is 32 and Light is 31, both in their prime, but perhaps its time to groom successors.

What say you?

 

[mgteich]

I listed LeKevin Smith as having a chance at one of the final three roster spots. Two of the three are usually a 5th WR and a 5th OLB. The last could be, and has been, at almost any position. Personally, I would like to carry a 7th DL this year.

I just don't see Dave Thomas making the squad unless Watson is traded, or there is an injury.

If I were to choose the final three now. I would choose Smith, Alexander and Slater. Of course, I would like to see us upgrade the LB's with an addition.

Similarly LeKevin Smith.

 

[Fencer]

I listed LeKevin Smith as having a chance at one of the final three roster spots.

Missed that. Sorry.

I agree that this is a year for 7+ DL. It's unlikely that more than one of Wilfork, Seymour, or Green will be re-signed this offseason, or that more than two will eventually stay with the team, so depth is desirable.

 

[Rob0729]

With Pioli in KC and McDaniels in Denver, the Pats may have some decent trade bait at the bottom of the roster. With both those clubs looking for 3-4 defensive players, I can see several of the players in the front seven potentially traded away for conditional draft picks.

 

[crowell33]

I would like to look a the offensive line depth with some discussion

First the tackles. Th incumbent starters are Light at LOT and Kaczur at ROT. Reserve starters have been O'Callaghan a former 5th at ROT and Levoir a UDFA by ST Louis at ROT. The backup starters are Wesley Britt a 5th round pick, and Levoir as well.

Now we add Volmer and Duckett to the mix in the off season. I expect that Vollmer a second round pick will be groomed as a ROT. I would guess that Duckett, and O 'Callaghan are in danger of losing a job. The competition to backup Light, are Levoir and Britt. If SeaBass captures Kaczur 's job than Kaczur becomes a wild card and a backup at LOT as well as inside at Guard. At the end of the day I expect that Kaczur and Vollmer are the ROT candidates and Light and Britt/Levoir battle it out as LOT backup. O'Callaghan and Duckett lose out.

Inside at Guard, The starters are Mankins, a first rounder, Neal a UDFA but a champion NCAA wrestler, and Koppen with the prime backup Hochstein. Two of the three have made the Pro bowl and Neal is the most mobile G in the league. No one is better as a pulling Guard. The guys in battle are Hochstein, Yates, Orhnberger, Johnson and Bussey, Connolly, and Wendell. Bussey, Ohrnberger, Connolly, Wendell have PS possibilities. When all is said and done, I think Yates has been shown to be unsatisfactory and replaceable. Hochstein remains as the prime backup, Ohrnberger may win the second backup. Bussey, Connolly, and perhaps Wendel survive on PS. Johnson and Connolly lose out. If Seabass beats out Kaczur at ROT, Kaczur leaps to the head of the class as a reserve Guard too.

Age is not really a question yet but Neal is 32 and Light is 31, both in their prime, but perhaps its time to groom successors.

What say you?

Don't rule out Vollmer as a left tackle. He is extremely athletic. His measurables ( 6'7" 312, 5.08 40 yard dash, 37 inch vertical, ) are as good as the tackles drafted in the top 10 picks of the first round. Vollmer allowed exactly one sack in over 600 pass attempts last season while playing at left tackle.

 

[crowell33]

Don't rule out Vollmer as a left tackle. He is extremely athletic. His measurables ( 6'7" 312, 5.08 40 yard dash, 37 inch vertical, ) are as good as the tackles drafted in the top 10 picks of the first round. Vollmer allowed exactly one sack in over 600 pass attempts last season while playing at left tackle.

For comparison sake Jason Smith 5.09 40 yard / 34 inch verticle, Eugene Monroe, is 5.18 40 yard / 28 1/2 vertical and Oher 5.34 40 yard / 30 1/2 vertical. Andre Smith 5.25, 5.33 40 yard, 25 inch vertical.