QB(3): Dalton, Campbell, McCarron
Breakdown: Nothing to see here really, if we could slip AJ McCarron to the PS, that would be great. But the reality is that the chances of that working are slim. Therefore, we keep three on the 53.
HB(4): Gio, Hill, Burkhead, Peerman
Breakdown: Everybody says Lawfirm and Burkhead are in for a battle, I think this may be the year of the young man in Cincinnati, Burkhead wins out. He contributes on ST and can fill a role in the RB rotation. Peerman is our ST captain and I feel he's not god awful when he touches the ball either.
TE/FB(4): Gresham, Eifert, Smith, Hewitt/Charles
Breakdown: That fourth spot is the one to watch at this position. Ryan Hewitt a UDFA FB, out of Stanford vs Orson Charles, the forever athletically talented, but 0 production. I believe if Hewitt can be the H-back that Hue wanted Orson to be, and Orson still acts like a fish out of water coming out of the backfield, I think Hewitt makes the 53.
Something to watch is whether they even try Orson as a FB/H-back again, maybe It's Smith v. Orson, and Hewitt v. Nakita Whitlock, a converted DT out of WF. If Whitlock is to have any chance he must contribute heavily on ST, and show natural ability I. The backfield (catching, blocking, etc..).
WR(6): Green, Jones, Sanu, Cobi, Tate, Whalen/Wright
Breakdown: This guy Cobi Hamilton is big time, all you hear is about this guy making plays, my dream for him would be to take the KR duties but that's unsure. Tate makes the 53, with his annual probowl campaign in the preseason. Whalen vs Wright comes down to ST, hopefully the kid can beat out the inncumbent.
OL(8): Whit, Zeitler, A. Smith, Bodine, Boling, Pollak, Newhouse, Hawkinson
Breakdown: The team is clearly trying to force feed the center job to Russell Bodine who is obviously a willing recipient. We will see if he can take it by the throat.. If not insert Pollak and put Boling in at guard, speaking of Boling, I hope he doesn't get his job just handed back to him.
Pollak has played well and deserves a fair battle at winning the LG job next to Bodine. Also, I feel as though having a career C by trade, he's been stuck behind high caliber centers so he's played guard mostly in the NFL. Having him next to the rookie could be beneficial having a second set of eyes and someone who knows the ins and outs of the calls.
DL(9): Dunlap, Geno, Hunt, Peko, Clarke, Gilberry, Thompson, Still, Geathers/Moch/Montgomery
Breakdown: In a perfect world, Geathers looks old and slow, Moch realizes potential, and we get more young cheap weapons to terrorize offenses with. This is Bengaldom though, and the allegiance to Geathers is strong throughout the organization.
LB(5): Tez, Vinny, Lamur, Maualuga, DiManche/Flowers
Breakdown: Stacked group but one wear there are not many slots available, with Mays being a Hybrid S/LB, 5 true LBs is plenty. My feeling is Flowers goes to the practice squad and DiManche holds on to his spot based on ST play.
CB(6): Hall, Newman, Pacman, Dre, Dennard, Hampton/McCaleb
Breakdown: The real battle here is probably McCaleb vs Hampton for a spot on the PS, even though CLH is suspended for two games, I see him continuing to be a solid corner and teams contributor throughout TC.
S(5): Nelson, Illoka, Mays, Williams, Manning
Breakdown: As I stated above Mays is a hybrid and Manning will fill a void left by Chris Crocker. Manning is a versatile safety who can slide down a play slot corner which is a very good thing to have if Leon needs to be in a pitch count situation.
K: Mike Nugent
P: Kevin Huber
LS: Clark Harris
Practice Squad
James Wilder Jr.
Overview: As many of you will see filling out the bottom of the roster was largely dependent on ST contributions. About 40 of these names were easy to come up with, the bottom 13 were a teeth grinding experience. I remember a day when I felt like we head a bunch of players for ST, now I'm stressing over players on the bottom of the depth chart getting hurt. We have the most talent in the AFC and can play with anybody.
Who Dey!