My Pre-Camp 53

QB:
Ben Roethlisberger
Bruce Gradkowski
Taj Boyd

Out: Landry Jones

PS: Devin Gardner

RB:
Leveon Bell
Deangelo Williams
Josh Harris
Dri Archer

PS: Cam Stingily

FB:
Will Johnson

WR:
Antonio Brown
Martavis Bryant
Markus Wheaton
Sammy Coates
Darius Heyward-Bey

PS:
CJ Goodwin

TE:
Heath Miller
Matt Spaeth
Jesse James
Michael Egnew

O-line:
OT:
Kelvin Beachum
Marcus Gilbert
Alejandro Villanueva
Mike Adams

OG:
Dave Decastro
Ramon Foster
Reese Dismukes

C:
Maurkice Pouncey
Cody Wallace

Out:
Chris Hubbard

PS:
Miles Dieffenbach

D-Line:
DE:
Cam Heyward
Stephon Tuitt
Clifton Geathers

DT:
Steve McClendon
Dan McCullers

OUT:
Cam Thomas

PS:
LT Walton

LBers:
OLB:
Jarvis Jones
Arthur Moats
James Harrison
Bud Dupree

ILB:
Lawrence Timmons
Ryan Shazier
Sean Spence
Vince Williams
Terrance Garvin

PS:
Howard Jones
Anthony Chikillo
Jordan Zumwalt

Secondary:
CB:
Willie Gay
Cortez Allen
Antwon Blake
Senquez Golson
Doran Grant

S:
Mike Mitchell
Shamarko Thomas
Will Allen
Gerod Holliman

OUT:
Ross Ventrone
Robert Golden
BW Webb

PS:
Isaiah Lewis

PK:
Shaun Suisham

P:
Brad Wing

LS:
Greg Warren


Note:
I have 9 on the practice squad because one of them will be stashed on IR.

Note 2:
There are 52 players on my final roster.. Spot #53 will be either for Shawn Lemon or Joe Kruger.... couldn't make up my mind... I feel for the coaches

 

QB - I still think we see Landry as the 3
RB/FB - agree
WR - agree
TE - Egnew is a little out of left field. I don't think he has much of a shot at the 53. Clear or Blanch instead.
OL - I can dig. Finney might have a shot, at least a PS IMO.
DL - agree
LB - agree mostly. I think the 9th LB spot is between Garvin and Lemon/Jones/Chick/Zum... Won't keep 10
DB - I like Holliman over Golden, but we should keep another ST guy if that's the case (Holliman a game day inactive). I think Webb is in and that keeps the 10th LB on the PS. Also, no way we go into the season with only rookies as our "Cortez Allen meltdown" insurance. Webb stays.
ST - agree

 

...

 

isn't the PS expanded to 10?

 

I think we'll carry 6 DL - Kruger maybe.

 

I like the call with the DBs.

I do have a feeling there will be some more movement at that position, and maybe some vets brought in as the cut days happen. But if we start the season with that list, I'll be relatively happy.

 

I'm not sure.. I missed that memo, but if it is, that's a good thing, because there are a few others there that I wouldn't want to miss out on

 

I'm not sure you'll see more than 2, maybe 3 TE's make the top 53. I think they stick with Miller and Spaeth, keep the other two guys on the practice squad???

 

This came up in another thread. I don't know why people would think we'd only go with 2 TEs in the 53. 3 is standard. At the moment it looks like we've got some good potential at that position. 4 isn't inconceivable.

 

We only had 2 TE's last year, and with some taller WR's in the mix they somewhat fill that need. I do agree that we need to get another one into the mix because of Heath's age, but I'm not sure the other potentials really have a chance at this stage to fill in any better than any other position. But my opinion is not anymore educated than the average fan.

 

If you only have 2 TEs on the roster and one gets injured, there goes the 2 TE sets.
Assuming 25 offensive players:
3QB
4RB
1FB
4TE
5WR
9OL

Without Archer, they could carry 3 RBs and 4 TEs, but we have Archer...
Even to use Archer as a WR at times, the 5th WR is DHB who is good on ST.
Do they go with 8 OL with a C/G backup? Doubtful all 9 get a helmet on gameday. But injuries to the line happen and putting a decent prospect on the PS makes them vulnerable to the Cardinals, et al.
Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 4th TE on the PS and not on the 53 man roster.

 

I think if one of the LBers force their hand you could see DHB get cut. Archer could be the fifth WR if needed.

 

The thing that bothers me about Archer is not his size, or his production to date. What bothers me is that he's bad at catching downfield. If he improves that, then there's no problem with using him as 5th WR.

At RB I'm interested to see what Josh Harris can do with a year under his belt. Now we have Williams, and presuming Archer is at least given the chance of contributing more, I'm not sure that 4th RB place is assured in the 53.

 

I think we keep 3 TE's and will j. at FB to offset the other TE if needed.

 

Yeah I think so.

If we keep 4 TE's I think that means WJ is out.

 

I think Clear is going to make a serious case to make this roster. I think he might just be the eventual replacement for Spaeth.

 

Good list B&G!

QB - agree
RB - agree
FB - agree
TE - I would think they go with Miller, Spaeth, and James. Wil Johnson being the "4th" TE until injury necessitates another player being brought up.
WR - agree
OL - I could see Chris Hubbard staying over Villanueva and BJ Finney getting a PS spot.
DL - agree with the DEs and DTs but will add Matt Conrath
OLB - agree with adding Howard Jones
ILB - agree
CB - agree
S - I'm going with Ventrone over Holliman just for STs duty.
Spec. Teams - agree

So basically my changes were subtracting Egnew and Villanueva while adding Hubbard, Conrath and HoJo.

 

So after MT reads this thread, he basically only has a handful of decisions to make for the final 53. What starting vs back up decisions does he have?

QB - no
RB - no
WR - Does Bryant start over Wheaton?
TE - Miller and Spaeth, James to see time as he gets ready, so no
OT - no
OG - no
C - no

DE - With Cam Thomas cut, its Heyward and Tuitt
NT - Mclendon, so no
OLB - JJ on right, Moats or Dupree on left
CB - decision time - is Cortez the starter? Gay get the start or one of the rookies?
S - Is it time for ST to start?

I'm looking at one decision on offense (Bryant vs Wheaton for #2 WR) - get your popcorn ready for camp, and maybe a few decisions on D.

 

I'm pretty sure Wheaton has already accepted and embraced his new role of slot receiver. I remember reading an article about it. Seems like Brown and Bryant as 1,2 with Wheaton as the slot 3 with Coates as 4th

 

Interesting, I thought it was just speculation. Hopefully the "embraced" part is that he is a team player and will continue to work hard.

 

here is the link to the story.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000497985/article/steelers-wr-markus-wheaton-embraces-slot-role

 

To me, Wheaton has accepted the slot role AND he will be starting. 1 RB, 3 WR will be our standard starting lineup (at least our listed lineup). Spaeth and W. Johnson will probably also really start games at times, but Wheaton will be part of the starting lineup IMO.

 

I think I'll wait and see what Coates has got before we gets 4th place.

I'm not saying he won't get it, but there's a few assumptions being made about the kid's transition to the NFL... maybe I still tihnk of Limas Sweed too much.