Bpk
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I know we're only at first cut-downs, but today's cuts are really no-brainers anyways. These are guys who were a looooong shot to make the team. With the cut-down to the 53 man roster less than a week (and only one preseason game) away, here's who I think could remain on the team for the start of the season.
Wide Receiver #1(see also WR#2 position)
No. 1* Chris Chambers
No. 2 Derek Hagan
No. 3 Gibson
(Gibson's come on in games, replacing Frank Murphy imo)
Left tackle
No. 1 L.J. Shelton
No. 2 Damion McIntosh
Left guard
No. 1 Jeno James
No. 2 Tony Pape (after Toledo, who’ll be #2 at both guard spots)
Center
No. 1 Rex Hadnot
No. 2 Wade Smith
Right guard
No. 1 Bennie Anderson
No. 2 Joe Toledo
(this is our biggest OL problem, so hopefully Bennie improves, or Toledo learns fast and takes over)
Right tackle
No. 1 Vernon Carey
No. 2 Anthony Alabi
(happy about both these guys)
Tight end
No. 1 Randy McMichael
No. 2 Justin Peelle
(with the talent at WR and on the D-Line, we can't afford to keep three TE's and lose someone more skilled at another position)
Quarterback
No. 1 Daunte Culpepper
No. 2 Joey Harrington
No. 3 Cleo Lemon
Running back
No. 1 Ronnie Brown
No. 2 Sammy Morris
No. 3 Kay-Jay Harris
(Travis Minor might sneak in here instead of Kay-Jay because Travis is great on special teams coverage and can return kickoffs. Still, Kay-Jay runs ruthlessly, is younger, has put in a year on the developmental squad and as Saban showed by cutting Ed Perry the longsnapper to develop John Denny last year, Saban is willing to suffer short term pain to develop a young player for long term benefit)
Fullback
No. 1 Darian Barnes
(again, Beasley would stick if we could afford 2 roster spots for FB's but I don't believe we have that luxury. Since Barnes has improved his hands, and Beasley isn't the eptiome of hard working, body crushing blows that he used to be, I think we go with youth here. They're comparable, but Barnes is less likely to be injured.)
Wide receiver
No. 1 *Marty Booker
No. 2 Wes Welker
No. 3 *Marcus Vick
(with all the talk about getting Vick QB reps, and Mularkey's love of gadgets, not to mention the surprisingly decent showing Vick has had in camp and pre-season games as a WR, Vick sticks. Welker, a 110% guy and special teamer stays for sure.)
DEFENSE
Defensive end
No. 1 Jason Taylor*
No. 2 David Bowens
Defensive tackle
No. 1 Vonnie Holliday
No. 2 Kevin Vickerson
(tough call here, giving Vickerson Zgonina's spot. Nick has said time and time again that the line is too old for his liking. Zgonina, with his high motor and ability to play inside AND outside at DT and DE, as well as long snapping, is really tough to let go, but long term he is worth more to us if traded for a draft pick. This lets a youth movement begin on the line. Vickerson needs the reps, and can learn from Traylor, Holliday and Wilkinson.)
Nose tackle
No. 1 *Keith Traylor
No. 2 Big Daddy Wilkinson
No. 3 * Fred Evans
(Evans has been a pleasant surporise. Like Vickerson, he injects badly needed youth into the the line so we can have a future.)
Defensive end
No. 1 Kevin Carter
No. 2 Matt Roth
Weak-side linebacker
No. 1 Channing Crowder
No. 2 Derrick Pope
(Pope by default, and for special teams)
Middle linebacker
No. 1 Zach Thomas
No. 2 Mike Labinjo
(Labinjo has practised decently, though never blown my socks off. He makes the team because our LB talent is only as deep as the starters, essentially. Next year the Phins have to get Capers more help at LB in his 3-4.)
Strong-side linebacker
No. 1 Donnie Spragan
No. 2 Sedrick Hodge
(I think Newman goes, despite being a pass rush specialist, because I have seen him look lost over and over again in preseason games. Especially in Pass Coverage. Also, he couldn't manage to get around a third string LT in the Jax game and that was without the LT even touching him. Not impressive. Maybe he saves his job with a great performance in the last preseason game.)
Cornerback
No. 1 Will Allen
No. 2 *Michael Lehan
(Nick seems intrigued by Lehan, though we've seen very little of him due to injury. I'll trust Nick, since he probably knows his DB's better than any other area of the team.)
Cornerback
No. 1 *Travis Daniels
No. 2 Andre Goodman
No. 3 *Eddie Jackson
(Eddie Jackson, ditto to Lehan. Eddie has been alternately great then lost. An interception in one game, then two pass interference calls the next. I wouldn't cry if he were cut.)
Strong safety
No. 1 Travares Tillman
No. 2 Yeremiah Bell
No. 3 Deke Cooper
(Bell stays for his special teams, especially since we lost flyers like Gilmore from last year. Cooper has not been impressive, but hey, who ever said a third string guy vying for a nickleback or backup safety spot was going to be impressive?)
Free safety
No. 1 Renaldo Hill
No. 2 Jason Allen
(Hill has played well. JA is gifted, but looks like he'll need a month or two to understand the system. He's a rookie, and missed a lot of camp, AND this is a very tough system to learn, even for the vets. In the long run, though, we may have the luxury of trying to decide where to move Hill or Allen to get both of them starters positions.)
Kicker
Olindo Mare
Punter
Donnie Jones
Long Snapper
John Denny
Wide Receiver #1(see also WR#2 position)
No. 1* Chris Chambers
No. 2 Derek Hagan
No. 3 Gibson
(Gibson's come on in games, replacing Frank Murphy imo)
Left tackle
No. 1 L.J. Shelton
No. 2 Damion McIntosh
Left guard
No. 1 Jeno James
No. 2 Tony Pape (after Toledo, who’ll be #2 at both guard spots)
Center
No. 1 Rex Hadnot
No. 2 Wade Smith
Right guard
No. 1 Bennie Anderson
No. 2 Joe Toledo
(this is our biggest OL problem, so hopefully Bennie improves, or Toledo learns fast and takes over)
Right tackle
No. 1 Vernon Carey
No. 2 Anthony Alabi
(happy about both these guys)
Tight end
No. 1 Randy McMichael
No. 2 Justin Peelle
(with the talent at WR and on the D-Line, we can't afford to keep three TE's and lose someone more skilled at another position)
Quarterback
No. 1 Daunte Culpepper
No. 2 Joey Harrington
No. 3 Cleo Lemon
Running back
No. 1 Ronnie Brown
No. 2 Sammy Morris
No. 3 Kay-Jay Harris
(Travis Minor might sneak in here instead of Kay-Jay because Travis is great on special teams coverage and can return kickoffs. Still, Kay-Jay runs ruthlessly, is younger, has put in a year on the developmental squad and as Saban showed by cutting Ed Perry the longsnapper to develop John Denny last year, Saban is willing to suffer short term pain to develop a young player for long term benefit)
Fullback
No. 1 Darian Barnes
(again, Beasley would stick if we could afford 2 roster spots for FB's but I don't believe we have that luxury. Since Barnes has improved his hands, and Beasley isn't the eptiome of hard working, body crushing blows that he used to be, I think we go with youth here. They're comparable, but Barnes is less likely to be injured.)
Wide receiver
No. 1 *Marty Booker
No. 2 Wes Welker
No. 3 *Marcus Vick
(with all the talk about getting Vick QB reps, and Mularkey's love of gadgets, not to mention the surprisingly decent showing Vick has had in camp and pre-season games as a WR, Vick sticks. Welker, a 110% guy and special teamer stays for sure.)
DEFENSE
Defensive end
No. 1 Jason Taylor*
No. 2 David Bowens
Defensive tackle
No. 1 Vonnie Holliday
No. 2 Kevin Vickerson
(tough call here, giving Vickerson Zgonina's spot. Nick has said time and time again that the line is too old for his liking. Zgonina, with his high motor and ability to play inside AND outside at DT and DE, as well as long snapping, is really tough to let go, but long term he is worth more to us if traded for a draft pick. This lets a youth movement begin on the line. Vickerson needs the reps, and can learn from Traylor, Holliday and Wilkinson.)
Nose tackle
No. 1 *Keith Traylor
No. 2 Big Daddy Wilkinson
No. 3 * Fred Evans
(Evans has been a pleasant surporise. Like Vickerson, he injects badly needed youth into the the line so we can have a future.)
Defensive end
No. 1 Kevin Carter
No. 2 Matt Roth
Weak-side linebacker
No. 1 Channing Crowder
No. 2 Derrick Pope
(Pope by default, and for special teams)
Middle linebacker
No. 1 Zach Thomas
No. 2 Mike Labinjo
(Labinjo has practised decently, though never blown my socks off. He makes the team because our LB talent is only as deep as the starters, essentially. Next year the Phins have to get Capers more help at LB in his 3-4.)
Strong-side linebacker
No. 1 Donnie Spragan
No. 2 Sedrick Hodge
(I think Newman goes, despite being a pass rush specialist, because I have seen him look lost over and over again in preseason games. Especially in Pass Coverage. Also, he couldn't manage to get around a third string LT in the Jax game and that was without the LT even touching him. Not impressive. Maybe he saves his job with a great performance in the last preseason game.)
Cornerback
No. 1 Will Allen
No. 2 *Michael Lehan
(Nick seems intrigued by Lehan, though we've seen very little of him due to injury. I'll trust Nick, since he probably knows his DB's better than any other area of the team.)
Cornerback
No. 1 *Travis Daniels
No. 2 Andre Goodman
No. 3 *Eddie Jackson
(Eddie Jackson, ditto to Lehan. Eddie has been alternately great then lost. An interception in one game, then two pass interference calls the next. I wouldn't cry if he were cut.)
Strong safety
No. 1 Travares Tillman
No. 2 Yeremiah Bell
No. 3 Deke Cooper
(Bell stays for his special teams, especially since we lost flyers like Gilmore from last year. Cooper has not been impressive, but hey, who ever said a third string guy vying for a nickleback or backup safety spot was going to be impressive?)
Free safety
No. 1 Renaldo Hill
No. 2 Jason Allen
(Hill has played well. JA is gifted, but looks like he'll need a month or two to understand the system. He's a rookie, and missed a lot of camp, AND this is a very tough system to learn, even for the vets. In the long run, though, we may have the luxury of trying to decide where to move Hill or Allen to get both of them starters positions.)
Kicker
Olindo Mare
Punter
Donnie Jones
Long Snapper
John Denny
