Final Roster Predictions

[Mr. Scot]

A little premature with one game yet unplayed, honestly. But since Gantt has already thrown his out there, why not?

So here's mine, with notes and predicted game day inactives. Spaces where no player is named mean that I believe we'll acquire someone else for that spot from elsewhere after final cuts.

ACTIVE ROSTER

QB Jake Delhomme

QB Josh McCown

QB Matt Moore (I)

Not a lot of explanation needed here. I just don't see us getting any outside replacements anywhere on the QB depth chart.

RB DeAngelo Williams

RB Jonathan Stewart

RB Mike Goodson

FB Brad Hoover

FB Tony Fiammetta

While I believe they'll keep five backs, I don't necessarily believe all five will be active on gameday. The obvious choice for deactivation would be Fiammetta since Goodson would be needed for returns (and as insurance for Stewart). In the above scheme though, I have all five active.

The wild card here is Stewart's health, which at this point no one knows for sure about. If, God forbid, Stewart had to be put on IR, then I believe Birmingham or an outside pickup would take the number three role and likely be inactive on gamedays.

WR Steve Smith

WR Muhsin Muhammad

WR Kenneth Moore

WR Dwayne Jarrett (I)

Haven't previously bought into the notion that Dwayne Jarrett would be kept and deactivated, but I acknowledge the possibility now. Mike Goodson essentially becomes the fourth receiver on game days in that setup. I had us keeping a fifth (inactive) receiver who would be deactivated instead, but it's clear now that there are greater need elsewhere.

TE Jeff King

TE Gary Barnidge

TE Dante Rosario (I)

Although I have him listed here, I could still see Rosario being out via trade or release. But whether its him or someone else in the third TE spot, I believe they could be inactive because while the team loves its two tight end sets, Fiammetta could conceivably fill the reserve role.

If, on the flipside, they choose to activate all three TEs, then it's Fiammetta who sits. The likelihood of Fiammetta being active or inactive could depend somewhat on whether the third TE is Rosario or a scrub.

C Ryan Kalil

C Justin Geisinger

G Travelle Wharton

G Keydrick Vincent

G Mackenzy Bernadeau

G Duke Robinson (I)

T Jordan Gross

T Jeff Otah

T ------------ (I)

This is where I start to differ from Gantt. I kept Geisinger, but not Schwartz. I have him replaced by an outsider. Gantt has it flip-flopped from me. Could go either way, I think, but I picked the guy with a little more experience and versatility. Robinson sits because unlike the other backups, he only plays one spot.

DT Damione Lewis

DT Louis Leonard

DT ------------

DT Corvey Irvin (I)

DE Julius Peppers

DE Tyler Brayton

DE Charles Johnson

DE Everette Brown

DE Hilee Taylor

I still think we'll end up with one more DT. Whether Leonard starts and new guy rotates or new guys starts and Leonard rotates depends a lot on who new guy is. I kept Hilee Taylor and activated him over Irvin because Brayton can also play tackle. Truthfully, it could just as easily be Taylor who sits (if he indeed stays).

MLB Jon Beason

MLB Dan Connor

SLB Na'il Diggs

SLB James Anderson

SLB Jeremy Leman (I)

WLB Thomas Davis

WLB Landon Johnson

So why seven linebackers? Because we have two guys that went through the entire preseason with health concerns. If not for that, I probably would have let go of Anderson because, as has been mentioned, Johnson costs more to cut than to keep and Leman would have been cheaper at a spot that could easily have been deactivated anyway.

SS Chris Harris

SS Quinton Teal

FS Charles Godfrey

FS Dante Wesley

FS Sherrod Martin (I)

Yes, I also believe - obviously - that we'll be using Wesley and Martin as safeties. You may or may not like it, but it does make some sense as opposed to parting with a draft pick in Martin or Munnerlyn or a decent backup in Wilson.

CB Chris Gamble

CB Richard Marshall

CB C.J. Wilson

CB Captain Munnerlyn

Definitely keep Munnerlyn, but I'm not handing him the nickel slot yet. With that said, in both talent and versatility I believe he's proved himself more worthy of activation than Sherrod Martin (at least for now).

P Jason Baker

K John Kasay

K Rhys Lloyd

LS J.J. Jansen

Like QB, not a lot to say here. However, I still think if a decent LS becomes available via cuts that Jansen could be replaced.

As far as special teams duties, I see it like this:

PR Captain Munnerlyn, Kenneth Moore

KR Mike Goodson, Dante Rosario (if active, otherwise K Moore, maybe Jonathan Stewart if healthy)

H Jason Baker (McCown could see some work here too).

PRACTICE SQUAD:

QB Hunter Cantwell (maybe)

RB Decori Birmingham

WR Marcus Monk (maybe)

OL Patrick Brown (or possibly Keith Gray)

OL -------------

DL Marlon Favorite

LB Mortty Ivy (maybe)

CB -------------

Could see outside cuts will fill as much as half of the practice squad.

In this scenario I bid goodbye to Nick Hayden, Geoff Schwartz, Larry Beavers and a host of scrubs. As mentioned above, there are more than a few spots where I'm wavering (pretty much everywhere except QB, punter and kicker) but this is what I'm going with for the moment.

Feel free to post your own.

(or just rip mine, if that makes you feel better)[/i

[d-run]

I think it looks good as far as players. As far as activations go, I would switch Fiametta and Rosario like you alluded to. Rosario would offer more offensivelly and ST wise. Also, I would consider activating Leman instead of Johnson for ST.

[KillerKat]

Wow, your's is like mine. Except I didn't do that active/inactive thing.

[Mr. Scot]

I think it looks good as far as players. As far as activations go, I would switch Fiametta and Rosario like you alluded to. Rosario would offer more offensivelly and ST wise. Also, I would consider activating Leman instead of Johnson for ST.

Both are options I've considered.

[Captroop]

I think it looks good as far as players. As far as activations go, I would switch Fiametta and Rosario like you alluded to. Rosario would offer more offensivelly and ST wise. Also, I would consider activating Leman instead of Johnson for ST.

this

[Mr. Scot]

For all his failure to justify his contract, Johnson is still appreciably faster than Leman. That's where I have trouble with that idea. Leman certainly has a nose for the ball in plays, but ST really needs faster guys.

Worth remembering that any number of things could happen in tonight's game that upset the apple cart.

[Sultan33g]

Great post rep if i didnt give it to u already...we shall see come sunday

[KillerKat]

Still pisses me off that you cut down to 53 players and still can't use them all on game day.

[Mr. Scot]

The league has discussed going to a 55 man roster. If they were to do that, I believe the active number would go up to 48.

[Sultan33g]

Still pisses me off that you cut down to 53 players and still can't use them all on game day.

agreed

[KillerKat]

Why is it that you can't use them all? What is their reasoning behind it?

[Mr. Scot]

Why is it that you can't use them all? What is their reasoning behind it?

Keeping depth equal on both sides.

Let's say the Panthers go into a game with five guys injured while the Bucs only have two. The Bucs then have an in-game advantage because they'd be deeper. Yes, it may only be a slight advantage, but it's still an advantage.

By setting the number of inactives higher than average (eight, with the third QB being "special") the league is generally able to avoid a situation where one side or the other has an advantage in raw manpower.

(that, plus less time accumulated for inactive guys allows them to fiddle with contract numbers)

[jasonluckydog]

Looks good

[crunkpanther]

This looks right on the money IMO except at DT.

I also think there's another DT who isn't yet on the team, but I think there's a good chance we keep five.

Mainly, I definitely think we'll have more than three active on game days.