Final Roster Predictions by position

[MHS831]

I try to do one of these prediction threads every year before roster cuts and remarkably, I have never been wrong.*

DEFENSE (25)

CB (5):  I am very concerned about our CB depth. Henderson looks disinterested and afraid to make contact, and nearly every opposition completion seemed to be the man Taylor was covering.  I sense the Panthers could surprise us by  cutting one of them--and pick up a cut player or two from other rosters. Neither Henderson nor Taylor are 25 yet, but it is time to show what their primes will look like. Troy Hill will probably get a roster spot.  So who knows how this will play out.  I will list the CBs as:  Horn, Jackson, Hill, Henderson, Taylor--but mark my words--after watching the tape, this could change if a decent player from another team is cut!

S (5):  Bell, Woods, Chinn, and probably Franklin are in.  Jammie Robinson (S) was not that impressive, imo--and he (Jammie) and Eric Rowe could be the odd man out if they keep only 4 S, but with Chinn's flexibility to play many positions, I think they keep Robinson but he is not activated on game days for a while.  Rowe is cut.

DL (4): The DL has been a bit disappointing, but the starters have not played a lot.  Brown, Tuttle, D. Williams, and Anderson are locks.  I think Stallworth played surprisingly well.  I do not think Raequan Williams or Stallworth, however, will make the roster.

OLBs (6): I look at the "pass rushers" in one group and the edge setters in another group (assuming they can get to the passer as well): Pass rushers: Burns, Haynes, and Barno. (Loving what I am seeing from Barno).  They are locks.  The "edge setters" are Justin Houston, Gross-Matos, DJ Johnson, and Eku Leota.  IMO, Leota outplayed Johnson, but they will keep Johnson.  I expect someone to go to IR or the Practice Squad because I do not see the Panthers cutting either without bringing them back.  Leota could make this roster--which would mean Johnson is cut or put on IR.  I doubt that happens, but it will be interesting to see what they do-if they keep Leota, Johnson will go to IR.  If they keep Johnson, Leota might be safe on the PS--but I doubt it.  He had a really solid preseason. 

ILBs (5):  Luvu, Thompson, and Grugier-Hill are locks. but after that? Deion Jones--probably.   Brandon Smith has special teams skills, but at LB, he is a wash, imo.  Wooten seemed to play well, so I could see him getting the roster spot.  Not sure about the others--I think the ILB play was not good.  Bumper to PS is almost a given, but my long shot prediction here is that Brandon Smith is cut and Wooten makes the roster. 

OFFENSE (25)

QB (3):  Do we keep 3 on the 53-man roster?  I think we do--While Corral sucked last night, he is basically a rookie, and he has had a decent preseason.

RB (3):  Sanders, Hubbard, and Blackshear are locks.  I really like Brown, but he could be the odd man out.  With Shenault possibly running some RB, we would not need to carry 4 RBs.

WR (6):  With Injuries to Byrd, Marshall, Chark, etc, this is hard to project for opening day.  Byrd is probably cut.  Chark, Theilen, Mingo, Shenault, Marshall, and Smith are likely to make the team. Wims, Jennings, and Wright have a shot to make the roster if someone else goes to IR.

TE (4):  Hurst and Thomas are probably locks, but Tremble seems to have fallen off.  Ricci, on the other hand, offers the team a type they do not have in the others.  Sullivan, in my opinion, is cut, and Tremble and Ricci could make this roster.  If they go with only 1, it is a coin flip, because Ricci had a good preseason while Tremble struggled at times.  I think they keep both, however, but Ricci is the better receiver, and we have a QB who needs targets.

OL (9):  Ikwonu, Christensen, Bozeman, Corbett (later), Zavala, McCray, Moton, Erving, Mays.  With so many players able to play multiple spots on the OL (Christensen, Mays, McCray, Erving, etc).  DiRenzo and maybe Coleman will be placed on the PS.  Jordan, Brown, and McCray (when Corbett returns) will be cut.

*except when I was.  Seriously, usually my final prediction is wrong by 3-4 players--but injuries etc. make predicting this difficult.

I am sure i missed a player or something like that--so there is a margin of error here, but I feel fairly confident with this--have at it.

[Basbear]

not having the players listed first hurt my 3rd grader brain.

byrd will have an injury settlement, imo. 

they have to know corrals value by calling around, last night hurt him to the point where they may risk cutting and signing to PS. 

i think OL mccray makes it, only if colbert is not 6 weeks away via PUP IR. hes too known to campy and can play all 3 IOL spots

the DL and OLB, are totally unknown to me.....no idea where they plan to play most of the guys here. besides burns and brown, i dont even know whos starting much less their backups. 

[MHS831]

1 minute ago, Basbear said:

not having the players listed first hurt my 3rd grader brain.

byrd will have an injury settlement, imo. 

they have to know corrals value by calling around, last night hurt him to the point where they may risk cutting and signing to PS. 

i think OL mccray makes it, only if colbert is not 6 weeks away via PUP IR. hes too known to campy and can play all 3 IOL spots

the DL and OLB, are totally unknown to me.....no idea where they plan to play most of the guys here. besides burns and brown, i dont even know whos starting much less their backups. 

Good points.  I can't wait until my brain gets a third grader rating!! 

[carpanfan96]

Raequan is the starting NT.   They will keep at least 5-6 dl. Need to be able to rotate as you don't want anyone playing 50-60 downs at dl. Most 3-4 teams run between 6-9 DL on the 53 roster. With 8-10 LB between outside and inside. Example the Steelers ran 7 DL and 8 LB last year. 

 

Coral is probably cut. Dunno where the rest of the spots come from.  

[tukafan21]

In no world is Johnson a candidate to be cut, traded multiple picks to move up and take him in the 3rd when they knew he'd also be a project, he's not going anywhere that quickly.

[TheCasillas]

You can’t just put a player on IR if they are not injured…. The NFLPA are cracking down hard on teams now for putting players on IR for non-season ending injuries 

[BeenPounding]

My prediction.....

Offense - 25

QB (3) - Young, Dalton, Corrall

RB (4) - Sanders, Blacksheer, Chuba, Brown

TE (3) - Hurst, Tremble, Thomas - Don't be surprised if Thomas is let go in favor a a vet FA addition.  This is one of our weakest positions.

WR (6) - Chark, AT, Mingo, TMJ, Laviska, Smith - Don't be too surprised for a FA addition here either.  Detroit has a few guys who looked good at this spot that could be on the chopping block.  Smith is not big enough to be a long term help here.

OL (9) C- Boz, RG - Zaliva, RT- Moten, LG - Brady, LT - Icky, Mayes, Jensen, Irving, McCrary Corbet to PUP - Look for a LT addition to take the place of Irving

Defense - 25

DL - (5) Brown, Tuttle, D. Willams, R. Willams, Anderson

Edge - (6) Burns, Huston, Haynes, DJJ, Barno, YGM/Leota - I think we ship YGM off in a trade, if not Leota is cut

ILB - (4) Shaq, Frankie, Jones, KGH

CB - (6) Horn, DJAX, Chin, Hill, Henderson, Taylor

S - (4) Bell, Woods, Franklin, Jammie

Specialist - (3)

JJ, Eddie, Boom-Boom Heckler

Practice Squad - 

Brandon Smith, R. Wright, Kobe Jones, Derek Wright, Jennings, Deonte Brown, Wooten, Ricky Lee, Sullivan, Lots of pick-ups to round it out.

Maybe Denzil Mims or Greedy Williams

Edited August 26, 2023 by BeenPounding

[vorbis]

Byrd already has an injury settlement. he's off the roster/IR.

[Smithers]

Byrd has already reached a deal with the team on an injury settlement.  He’s gone 

[BeenPounding]

I would love to see if Steven GIlmore is cut from the Lions, he showed out last night  I'd add him to the 53 over Taylor Jr.  Antione Green could be available, he has speed and more size than Smith.  Dazz Newsome is also available.

[KillerKat]

Heres mine. I usually average about 5 misses though.

OFFENSE:
WR: Terrace Marshall Jr - #DJ Chark# - Laviska Shenault Jr.
LT: Ikem Ekwonu - #Cameron Irving#
LG: Brady Christensen
C - Bradley Bozeman - Sam Tecklenburg
RG: *Chandler Zavala* - Cade Mays
RT: Taylor Moton - #Justin McCray#
TE: #Hayden Hurst# - Tommy Tremble - Ian Thomas
WR: #Adam Thielen# - *Jonathan Mingo* - Shi Smith
QB: *Bryce Young* - #Andy Dalton# - Matt Corral
RB: #Miles Sanders# - Chuba Hubbard - Raheem Blackshear

DEFENSE:
LE: #Shy Tuttle# - Henry Anderson
NT: #DeShawn Williams# - #Raequan Williams# 
RE: Derrick Brown - #Taylor Stallworth#
LOLB: #Justin Houston# - Yetur Gross- Matos - *D.J. Johnson*
LILB: Shaq Thompson - #Deion Jones# 
RILB: Frankie Luvu - Brandon Smith - #Kamu Grugier-Hill# 
ROLB: Brian Burns - Marquis Haynes 
LCB: Donte Jackson - #Eric Rowe# - #Troy Hill#
RCB: Jaycee Horn - C.J. Henderson 
SS: #Vonn Bell# - Jeremy Chinn - Sam Franklin
FS: Xavier Woods - *Jammie Robinson*

SPECIAL TEAMS:
K/KO: Eddy Pineiro
P/H: Johnny Hekker
KR: Raheem Blackshear - Laviska Shenault Jr. - Chuba Hubbard
PR: Raheem Blackshear - Shi Smith
LS: J.J. Jansen 

* = Draft Pick
# = Free Agent / Trade
() = Undrafted Free Agent

Edited August 26, 2023 by KillerKat