Roster Battles: The Defense
By Keith Myers
Heading into the 4th and final pre-season game, I thought it would be interesting to look at the roster battles at each position and see how things are shaping up. The roster currently sits at 80, and must be trimmed to 53 after the game. Obviously, a lot of things could change between now and then, but this is how things stack up right now:
Defensive Tackle- 5 spots likely |
Locks:
Colin Cole, Alan Branch, Brandon Mebane, Junior Siavil
On The
Bubble:
David Howard, Clinton McDonald
Comments:
Cole’s injury and likely placement on he PUP list mean that it’s possible that there are no DT cut as the team drops to 53 on the roster.
The rest of the defense is after the jump.
Defensive End- 4 spots likely |
Locks:
Dexter Davis, Chris Clemons, Raheem Brock, Red Bryant,
On The
Bubble:
Allen Pierre, Maurice Fountain, Laz Levingston, A.J. Schable, Jimmy, Wilkerson.
Comments:
If it weren’t for injuries, this group would be set. As it is, only Brock is healthy of the locks, meaning this group is really more up in the air than the term “locks” would have you believe. Still, I’d be surprised if there’s too much shake up within this group, since the 5-technique end position can be manned by a DT in a pinch.
Linebacker – 7 spots likely |
Locks:
Aaron Curry, David Hawthorne, Leroy Hill, K.J. Wright
On The
Bubble:
Michael Johnson, Matt,McCoy, Mike Morgan, David Vobora, Malcolm Smith
Comments:
Teams tend to keep extra linebackers because they help on special teams, plus Hill is always hurt so only keeping 6 doesn’t make a lot of sense. That means that 2 from group is still likely to be cut.
Safety – 4 spots likely |
Locks:
Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Atari Bigby, Josh Pinkard
On The
Bubble:
Mark Legree, Jeron Johnson
Comments:
Pinkard can play in the nickel package, which means this group might take a spot away from the CB position and one of the other 2 safeties might sneak in and take a roster spot. Other than that this group is pretty well set.
Corner – 5 spots likely |
Locks:
Marcus Trufant, Walter Thurmond,
On The
Bubble:
Kennard Cox, Roy Lewis, Byron Maxwell, Richard Sherman Brandon Browner
Comments:
3 of those 5 youngsters are likely to make the team, though its might be 4 if the team counts Pinkard, a safety who plays in the nickel package, as a corner and elects to keep special team mainstay safety Mark Legree instead.