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okay, i honestly don't think we can predict the final 53-man roster with any great deal of accuracy (i know people always think they can, but then WHAM, here comes the surprise cut!), but it's fun to speculate about, anyways. . . . here's my attempt to predict what i think the final roster may look like-- it's just for fun, so please, nobody kill me (this means YOU, cugel! 
). . .
QB:
jake plummer
jay cutler
bradlee van pelt
HB:
ron dayne
tatum bell
cedric cobbs
FB:
kyle johnson
cecil sapp
WR:
rod smith
javon walker
darius watts
brandon marshall
todd devoe
domenick hixon
TE:
stephen alexander
tony scheffler
nate jackson
mike leach
OT:
matt lepsis
george foster
cornell green
OG:
ben hamilton
cooper carlisle
p. j. alexander
C:
tom nalen
greg eslinger
DT:
gerard warren
mike myers
demetrin veal
DE:
courtney brown
ebenezer ekuban
kenard lang
elvis dumervil
john engelberger
corey jackson
OLB:
d. j. williams
ian gold
patrick chukwurah
MLB:
al wilson
nate webster
keith burns
CB:
champ bailey
darrent williams
domonique foxworth
karl paymah
willie middlebrooks
S:
john lynch
nick ferguson
sam brandon
curome cox
K/P:
jason elam
todd sauerbrun
paul ernster
looking at a few areas of uncertainty. . . lets start from the top! clearly nothing is guaranteed, but i rather expect us to keep 3 qbs this year, both because of cutler's inexperience, and because the coaching staff seems to like BVP, and may want to keep him around as a potential long-term backup if he can continue to develop his passing skills. . . . with sapp's ability to play both FB and HB, and no other strong candidates around, i see the RB group as pretty much set, unless a trade happens that brings another RB who replaces cobbs. . . .
WR is one of the most intriguing battles this year, and since it's been discussed in great detail elsewhere i'll keep it brief. . . i expect lelie to be traded, even if he does report for a short period-- if he returns, obviosly he takes a spot. . . . it's possible terrell could make the roster, but i see watts beating him based on age and upside, and devoe and hixon based on special teams play, which we seem to be making a bigger committment to than in the past. . . i've got hixon on the roster under the assumption he can win the starting return specialist job-- if he doesn't, most likely terrell makes the roster and we take our chances with hixon clearing waivers and going on the practice squad. . . if hixon (who i believe also played safety in college) can tackle, it's possible that devoe gets cut and we go with terrell for a little more experience at the position-- i also think walker's health could affect this battle. . .
those who want leach cut should keep dreaming i say-- no coach wants to lose a game on a blown snap, so it's all good to say let some one else learn to do it, but i'll betcha he makes the team! if the coaching staff thinks brandon marshall can play TE, it's possible nate jackson doesn't make the team, but that would leave us awfully short on experience at the position. . . . the fact that we drafted two interior OL doesn't bode particularly well for chris myers in my book, but we'll see. . . i remember hearing good things about p.j. alexander before he got hurt last year, so i'm betting on him to beat out myers and chris kuper (who would then go to the practice squad)-- i also think eslinger's polish will help win him a spot, but in any case it's these 4 battling for 2 backup spots on the interior OL. . . . i think cornell green beats out carswell, unless possibly we only keep 3 TEs and then keep carswell as a backup at TE and OT. . . .
and i know, everybody's probably foaming at the mouth because i only have 3 DTs on this roster. . . . .
i don't remember for sure, but did we even dress pope for every game last year? we've been told that dumervil may play inside some of the time (they appear to be serious about this), and with several potential nickel pass rushers and no real pass rush threat inside, i can see a combination of lang/engelberger/jackson playing DE on passing downs with dumervil and warren inside. . . . 6 DEs may be one more than we actually keep, but if dumervil plays some DT that gives us 9 DLs total. . . . it's certainly possible that we do keep a 4th DT instead of, say, middlebrooks or nate jackson, but it's not like we have any star candidates right now for that spot-- i can see us starting the season with only 3 and elvis, we can always call one up from the PS if there's an injury. . . . i'm not sure about their eligibility, but i can see amon gordon or patrice mumbo-jumbo in that role. . . . otherwise, jackson or engelgerger might get cut to make room. . . .
it's possible we keep louis green for special teams, but i see burnsie, devoe and middlebrooks as more valuable contributors there, and chukwurah and webster are probably better backups at LB, especially given their versatility. . . . if we want a 7th LB this year, maybe he makes it instead of middlebrooks or devoe. . . .
clearly, our top 4 corners are set, and if we keep a 5th for depth and specail teams, i see willie getting the spot over roc alexander, who i think is done for. . . it's possible that tyler everitt beats out curome cox, but i'll give cox the nod based on experience and some things the coaching staff said about him last year. . .
if ernster can't beat knorr then he flat sucks! i'll put my money on him because he can't be much worse, but it's no leap to imagine him being better-- still, i wouldn't be surprised if we cut him after sauerbrun gets back (if beefcake can handle kicking off), and use that spot to add a 4th DT or other position of need. . . .
alright, there it is. . . . i know there are more questions than answers, but that's just how it is going into camp-- that's probably true for the coaching staff as well as us lowly posters! discussion is very welcome, but if you're gonna be TOO critical of my projections at any one spot, let's see your predictions for the full 53-man roster first!
EDIT: i tried to put the players at each position loosely in the order i think the depth chart will reflect-- at some point i'm going to post more detailed predictions for a final depth chart based on this roster. . . . guess i'd better do it soon before they start cutting guys i have projected to the team!
). . . QB:
jake plummer
jay cutler
bradlee van pelt
HB:
ron dayne
tatum bell
cedric cobbs
FB:
kyle johnson
cecil sapp
WR:
rod smith
javon walker
darius watts
brandon marshall
todd devoe
domenick hixon
TE:
stephen alexander
tony scheffler
nate jackson
mike leach
OT:
matt lepsis
george foster
cornell green
OG:
ben hamilton
cooper carlisle
p. j. alexander
C:
tom nalen
greg eslinger
DT:
gerard warren
mike myers
demetrin veal
DE:
courtney brown
ebenezer ekuban
kenard lang
elvis dumervil
john engelberger
corey jackson
OLB:
d. j. williams
ian gold
patrick chukwurah
MLB:
al wilson
nate webster
keith burns
CB:
champ bailey
darrent williams
domonique foxworth
karl paymah
willie middlebrooks
S:
john lynch
nick ferguson
sam brandon
curome cox
K/P:
jason elam
todd sauerbrun
paul ernster
looking at a few areas of uncertainty. . . lets start from the top! clearly nothing is guaranteed, but i rather expect us to keep 3 qbs this year, both because of cutler's inexperience, and because the coaching staff seems to like BVP, and may want to keep him around as a potential long-term backup if he can continue to develop his passing skills. . . . with sapp's ability to play both FB and HB, and no other strong candidates around, i see the RB group as pretty much set, unless a trade happens that brings another RB who replaces cobbs. . . .
WR is one of the most intriguing battles this year, and since it's been discussed in great detail elsewhere i'll keep it brief. . . i expect lelie to be traded, even if he does report for a short period-- if he returns, obviosly he takes a spot. . . . it's possible terrell could make the roster, but i see watts beating him based on age and upside, and devoe and hixon based on special teams play, which we seem to be making a bigger committment to than in the past. . . i've got hixon on the roster under the assumption he can win the starting return specialist job-- if he doesn't, most likely terrell makes the roster and we take our chances with hixon clearing waivers and going on the practice squad. . . if hixon (who i believe also played safety in college) can tackle, it's possible that devoe gets cut and we go with terrell for a little more experience at the position-- i also think walker's health could affect this battle. . .
those who want leach cut should keep dreaming i say-- no coach wants to lose a game on a blown snap, so it's all good to say let some one else learn to do it, but i'll betcha he makes the team! if the coaching staff thinks brandon marshall can play TE, it's possible nate jackson doesn't make the team, but that would leave us awfully short on experience at the position. . . . the fact that we drafted two interior OL doesn't bode particularly well for chris myers in my book, but we'll see. . . i remember hearing good things about p.j. alexander before he got hurt last year, so i'm betting on him to beat out myers and chris kuper (who would then go to the practice squad)-- i also think eslinger's polish will help win him a spot, but in any case it's these 4 battling for 2 backup spots on the interior OL. . . . i think cornell green beats out carswell, unless possibly we only keep 3 TEs and then keep carswell as a backup at TE and OT. . . .
and i know, everybody's probably foaming at the mouth because i only have 3 DTs on this roster. . . . .
i don't remember for sure, but did we even dress pope for every game last year? we've been told that dumervil may play inside some of the time (they appear to be serious about this), and with several potential nickel pass rushers and no real pass rush threat inside, i can see a combination of lang/engelberger/jackson playing DE on passing downs with dumervil and warren inside. . . . 6 DEs may be one more than we actually keep, but if dumervil plays some DT that gives us 9 DLs total. . . . it's certainly possible that we do keep a 4th DT instead of, say, middlebrooks or nate jackson, but it's not like we have any star candidates right now for that spot-- i can see us starting the season with only 3 and elvis, we can always call one up from the PS if there's an injury. . . . i'm not sure about their eligibility, but i can see amon gordon or patrice mumbo-jumbo in that role. . . . otherwise, jackson or engelgerger might get cut to make room. . . . it's possible we keep louis green for special teams, but i see burnsie, devoe and middlebrooks as more valuable contributors there, and chukwurah and webster are probably better backups at LB, especially given their versatility. . . . if we want a 7th LB this year, maybe he makes it instead of middlebrooks or devoe. . . .
clearly, our top 4 corners are set, and if we keep a 5th for depth and specail teams, i see willie getting the spot over roc alexander, who i think is done for. . . it's possible that tyler everitt beats out curome cox, but i'll give cox the nod based on experience and some things the coaching staff said about him last year. . .
if ernster can't beat knorr then he flat sucks! i'll put my money on him because he can't be much worse, but it's no leap to imagine him being better-- still, i wouldn't be surprised if we cut him after sauerbrun gets back (if beefcake can handle kicking off), and use that spot to add a 4th DT or other position of need. . . .
alright, there it is. . . . i know there are more questions than answers, but that's just how it is going into camp-- that's probably true for the coaching staff as well as us lowly posters! discussion is very welcome, but if you're gonna be TOO critical of my projections at any one spot, let's see your predictions for the full 53-man roster first!
EDIT: i tried to put the players at each position loosely in the order i think the depth chart will reflect-- at some point i'm going to post more detailed predictions for a final depth chart based on this roster. . . . guess i'd better do it soon before they start cutting guys i have projected to the team!
one of my all-time favorite flicks!
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