Now that the Titans have finalized the 53-man roster, or at least what will likely be the 53-man for Week 1 against the Jaguars, the next number that matters is the 45-man active roster teams are allowed on gamedays? So, which Titans might be expect to see on the sidelines but not in the game?
Assuming everybody is healthy, here are the 8 players I expect to see inactive initially:
LB Colin Allred
TE Dwayne Blakley
DE Jacob Ford
DE William Hayes
RB Chris Henry
LB Stanford Keglar
OT Michael Otto
WR Paul Williams
I feel pretty confident Henry will be inactive, as I don’t think his special teams play is enough to justify a spot and White and Johnson will get the work at running back. I don’t expect the Titans to go TE-crazy like they did in 2005, so I don’t expect to see all 4 TEs active in any one game. I’m guessing Blakley is the odd man out, but it could just as easily be Craig Stevens. If the Titans want to dress 4 TEs, then I’d say Ganther is the guy who sits down.
The Titans won’t dress all 6 wideouts-Paul Williams, since he didn’t play all last year, seems like the most logical choice, but Chris Davis could easily sit. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Titans dress 4 wideouts and sit both Davis and Williams.
Assuming the other o-linemen are healthy, Michael Otto has no place in the lineup. The reason he’s on the active roster is he probably would have been signed to another team’s active roster. Yes, it’s that hard to find decent linemen.
On the defensive side of the ball, though the Titans kept 9 defensive linemen, I expect to see 7 active like they normally do. Right now, that’s the rookie Hayes and the de facto rookie Ford, each behind Dave Ball simply because of the experience factor. If the Titans want to play 4 DEs, then Kevin Vickerson is the DT to sit.
I still think the most likely reason the Titans kept 7 linebackers is either Thornton or Bulluck’s injury is more serious than the team is letting on. If both players are healthy, though, then I expect the Titans to sit two linebackers. Keglar the rookie seems like a good choice, as does Colin Allred, for my money the 53rd guy on the roster.
With the Titans only keeping 9 players in the secondary, I don’t see a lot of margin for players to sit. If they do want to put somebody down, Donnie Nickey and Eric King look to me like the most likely candidates. If I want to be provocative, I’d say the Titans have realized what the Raiders did, namely that Chris Carr is neither a particularly good return man nor a competent defensive back, and therefore will sit. Not in week 1, though.
Comments, critiques, have your own list of players you think will be inactives?
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