Which Titans will get the final 13 roster spots?
It’s now just a little past the midway point in the preseason and every NFL team will have to trim its roster to 75 players on August 26 and then to 53 players on August 30. Now that we’ve passed the halfway mark, it’s a good time for making some predictions.
After watching the Titans eight or ten times in training camp and going to the first two preseason games, I feel quite confident that forty players are virtual locks to make the final cutdown to 53 men. Almost all of these selections were pretty predictable three months ago, but two others have had good camps and my opinions of them have improved.
DE Jacob Ford has surprised and impressed me — he’s much better than I imagined and he’s definitely not just an edge rusher. Brandon Jones has been solid and more consistent, moving up to #3 on the depth chart at WR.
The forty players who will be wearing two-tone blue Titan uniforms on September 7 are:
QB (2) – Young, Collins
RB (3) – White, Johnson, Henry
FB (1) – Hall
WR (3) – Gage, McCareins, Jones
TE (3) – Crumpler, Scaife, Stevens
OL (7) – Roos, Amano, Mawae, Scott, Stewart, Harris, Loper
Subtotal Offense – 19 players
DE (3) – Vanden Bosch, Kearse, Ford
DT (3) – Haynesworth, Brown, Jones
LB (4) – Bulluck, Thornton, Fowler, Tulloch
CB (5) – Finnegan, Harper, King, Hill, Carr
S (4) – Hope, Griffin, Fuller, Lowry
Subtotal Defense – 19 players
P (1) – Hentrich
K (1) – Bironas
That makes 40 players, leaving room for 13 more. Which of the remaining players will claim those final 13 roster spots?
One of those 13 spots will be for a snapper, either Amato or Cain. I like Amato’s chances.
There’s room for three, and possibly four, more receivers. Ealy and Hawkins seem to have the inside track for those spots. After that, some tough decisions will have to be made about the three guys named Williams and two named Chris Davis. Of course, Ealy and Hawkins aren’t shoo-ins, either.
An eighth o-lineman, maybe Otto, is a strong possibility.
So is a fourth TE, probably Blakley.
There’s room for another DE, and there’s quite a competition going on there between Ball, Hayes and Conover.
Another DT is needed in the rotation and Johnson should get the nod ahead of Vickerson, Booker and Taylor.
There’s also room for a couple of additional LBs. Fourth-round draft pick Keglar and veteran special teams standout Stamer will probably get those spots.
There’s an old saying that you can’t have enough corners, which is good news for Williams and Cole. One of them, probably Williams, could stick.
In addition to the forty guys who seem to have the club made, if the Titans go with three more WRs, two more LBs and one each OL, TE, DE, DT, CB and LS, as outlined above, that will make 51 players.
The final roster spots could then be used for some combination of two of the following:
A third QB – Martin
A fourth RB – Ganther
A seventh WR
A ninth d-lineman
A seventh LB – Allred, perhaps?
Another DB – maybe Nickey?
The competition at snapper will have an impact here. If Amato, who is also a LB, wins the LS job, it will hinder Allred’s and others’ chances as a seventh LB. If Cain, a FB/LS, wins, it hurts Ganther.
The first forty guys on the roster aren’t necessarily there because they can play special teams, although many of them do. With the exception of a possible third QB, all of the other 13 players must be able to contribute on teams play.
Who do you think they will be?
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