Predicting the Saints 53-Man Roster: First Edition

After that performance against the Texans, I just can’t see Chase Daniel not starting against the Vikings. It’s time for the old man to step aside and watch The Future from the bench! Bye bye, Drew! It’s been real!

Sorry, I needed a laugh. I can’t really argue with your logic here…mostly. I didn’t watch closely enough: was Hargrove playing end against Houston?

I don’t think Ladell Betts will make it considerind how well Chris Ivory is playing right now. And I think it is more likely that Jimmy Wilkerson is more of a DE than DT. That would leave Al Woods as the only true backup DT on the team, although Hargrove can fill in just about anywhere. Maybe cut Betts and add Pressley.

3 guards seems really thin to me and 6 WRs seems like a bit too much considering the talent at TE. I know how many people are cheering for Adrian Arrington, but if it were me, I’d cut him for either Duckworth or Carter.

Shall we argue about practice squad? Chip, arnoux, Harper, gorrer, jones, pressley, …. ?

I agree with the 6 wides and going light on TE carrying 3 instead of the usual 4. If something happens at TE, the Saints have shown that they don’t mind rolling with a Sean Ryan or Darnell Dinkins or Buck Ortega kinda guy for a while. I also agree with only carrying 2 quarterbacks.

The problem with this exercise is that some of the players havent figured in Saturday’s game plan at all. Who knows maybe Ramsey goes 18/20 5 TD this Friday…. does it mean is he gonna make the final 53 and Daniel get cut…??

Still too early…

I have no issues with this at all, Mr. Dave.

(knock on wood) is our lack of depth at O-line, considering how good our O-line is we don’t have much in terms of depth, so if one goes down (repeated knock on wood) we may be screwed.

There will likely be an injury or two to complicate everything, but I see:

1) RB DeShawn Wynn making the roster over RB Chris Ivory. Ivory doesn’t seem to offer much change-of-pace from Pierre Thomas, while Wynn seems to fit Lynell Hamilton’s mold a lot better. Ladell Betts makes the roster, making the RB corps a veteran group.

2) WR will probably be reduced to five players, given the way the team uses Reggie Bush and the TEs. Also, given TE Jimmy Graham’s rawness, the team could use more depth there. So TE Troy Humphrey joins the party in WR Adrian Arrington’s place. If Graham goes on PUP/IR, Arrington could still make the team.

3) LB Clint Ingram is on the PUP list coming off a torn ACL, and there’s no guarantee he’s ready in time. I’ll give his spot to LB Anthony Waters.

4) I thought Wilkerson was more of a DE than DT, which probably eliminates Jeff Charleston, right? Wouldn’t you rather have DE Bobby McCray over DE Jeff Charleston, too? With Charleston coming off the roster, I’ll give his spot to S Chip Vaughn, since the secondary seems a little thin.

i think…

gallette in, charleston out
arnoux in, marvin out

About the only thing I might have done differently is swapping Torrance and Young. It pains me to say it, but I think Usama’s injury this preseason really hurt his chances of showing them what he could do at the safety position. Plus, even prior to the injury what he was showing wasn’t very good to be honest.

Considering the injuries we had last year, and the pass happy league. I think we keep 5 CBs. Think we wind up keeping Torrence. Best bet for the cut for his position would be Betts or Ingram. Our linebackers have shown some decent play with Evans and Mitchell also being strong special teamers. Ingram can’t get on the field to show that he deserves a spot. Best guess PUP/IR.

Don’t know if Daniels is ready to start if Brees goes down. I think the team has to keep 3 QBs and allow Danials to mature a little more behind Ramsey. Just a Little. Who knows he might do like Brady and unseat the Man.

Have we seen Charleston play a single down? I thought the guy was still injured. And Ingram too. If they can’t play in preseason, why the hell would we keep them around? Put them on PUP (if eligible) or cut them… and bring them back midseason if they’re still available and we actually want them at all.

I think he may be gone this year. The one thing he has going for him is that the rest of the special teams isn’t doing much either, but Reis may not survive this year based on past big plays. He’s not very versatile, and there are tons of agile players that could impress over the next two weeks.
Last year, I was worried all year long as to who would fill in when Heath Evans was hurt. I’m not sure if the Saints are sold on David Thomas or Jimmy Graham as a lead blocker on a goal line offense. I just haven’t paid close enough attention to see who else is lead blocking on inside runs.

I agree completely with the Offense even though I have no preference between Chase and Ramsey. But the defense is alittle off. First Wilkerson is more end than tackle and Hargrove is more tackle than end to flip those two. I would rather have McCray than Charleston. I also think Pressley makes the team cause I dont see them keeping six safeties. About those safeties i think we only keep two FS if Sharper is healthy which means bye bye Usama(if Sharper isnt healthy Usama will just be keeping his spot warm till week six) and I feel Vaughn beats out Reis who really has no value outside of special teams. I dont like either at this point but I would much rather have Vaughn back there in a pinch than Reis. I dont see Mitchell and Evans making the team in front of Arnoux so one of them will get cut, with Mitchell having the slight edge cause he is Vilma’s main backup. Other than that I like it.

If Sharpers return for week one is iffy, then why carry him on the active roster? Who is going to cut a player to pick up a player who might not play all year? Same with Betts. Tuff for a team to sign an unfamiliar QB once the season starts, Ramsey can be had off the street if needed. Reggie Jones and Junior Galett show upside but might get plucked if put on the practice squad. Ries and Roby are replacable and if cut, will probably be available. Porter can return kicks. Yes, too early to tell.

He was a playmaker at Mich. and has made plays when given the chance with the Saints and will definately get picked up by another team if cut.

I don’t think management was that excited to bring Sharper back but signed him because of the outcry of support from the fans.

Troy evens, Mark Bradley and Rod Harper, cornerback Danny Gorrer and offensive guard Tim Duckworth.

All have been waved. as of tonight.

I sure hope they can find a way to keep 9 OL on the roster. Excessive depth for the best OLine in the league is a great idea, but is probably a luxury. Brown and/or Metcalf are likely headed for the practice squad temporarily, unless injuries force more than one guy to the PUP list or IR.

QBs: I don’t think they risk Daniel or Ramsey on waivers. A lot of teams (Bears, Colts, Lions, and Packers to name a few) would love to have a backup QB as good as either one of them. I think they keep all 3.

RBs: No reason to think they won’t stick to the formula of 4 RBs and 1 FB. Certainly, Pierre, Reggie, and Heath are locked in. Which two of Betts, Wynn, and Ivory make the cut is anyone’s guess. I don’t think they would sign Wynn unless they still had some serious questions about Ivory, so I’d guess he’s least likely to make it. But for right now, it’s a toss up.

TEs: I agree that they only have three on the opening day roster this year, but I think Humphrey makes the roster instead of Graham. Humphrey can play special teams, no? It’s going to be really fun to watch Graham develop, but he’s definitely not ready for prime time and is probably not a big risk on waivers.

DL: Given how much Williams likes to rotate players and use guys situationally, I think 8 is probably the right number. But no way I see Woods making the cut over Pressley and Galette. I think Galette is definitely practice squad bound. He has lots of potential but he needs a lot of work – let’s hope he doesn’t get picked off waivers. Woods is cut outright. If they have space later due to injury, he’ll make the practice squad. (CP was absolutely right about that trade up – stupid, stupid, stupid.)

LBs: Things are getting tougher here. Obviously, Evans is gone now, but Ingram, Arnoux, and Waters are all big question marks to me. Ingram clearly has the experience and probably the inside edge having played for Williams before, but will he be healthy? Waters has shown a bit, but is it enough to make the squad? Arnoux’s ankle injury probably killed his chances again this year. Lastly, I’ve been less than impressed with Dunbar every time I see him on the field, but obviously the coaches see something I don’t (and they certainly know more than me). In any case, I think this might be where they do more trimming than usual to make room elsewhere in the hopes that at least one (maybe two) guys will pass through waivers. I think the Sept 4 roster could include as few as 5 LBs – Vilma, Shanle, Casillas, Mitchell, and Dunbar, with Ingram on the PUP list. On a funny side note, nfl.com has Zak Keasey listed as a LB.

DBs: Things get even more confusing here, partly due to Sharper’s injury and partly due to lackluster performances from Vaughn, Reis, and Young. (How screwed are they if Jenkins gets hurt and Sharper’s not ready week 1??) I know Payton wants to try fielding an entire defense of DBs (he actually had 11 or 12 on the roster at one point last year), but the numbers crunch will probably force their hand. I don’t think Usama should make it, but he hasn’t gotten worse, and no one behind him has necessarily passed him. For whatever reason, despite his repeated poor performance when it counts, they stick with Usama. On the other hand, I think Reis is on the bubble despite his status as a special teams ace. The wildcard here is Patrick Robinson. Has anyone seen anything from him other than 1 single blocked pass (when he had help in the middle) to justify a roster spot for him? Would they keep him just to save face over a first round draft pick? Bottom line – I think they keep 9 DBs and I wouldn’t be completely shocked if Torrence beats out Robinson for the last CB spot.

WRs: This is either the toughest or easiest decision of all. The performances Arrington has put on tape in the first two preseason games make it really hard to cut him. On the other hand, he doesn’t play special teams and Roby is a special teams ace. Would you believe me if I said Roby had the same average yards/return as Josh Cribbs and Percy Harvin last year? If that’s all Roby does though, perhaps Meachem or Porter or (gasp!) Reggie could take over on kick returns. I really have no idea if they will change course and keep 6 WRs this year at someone else’s expense, but Payton has had a winning formula and I don’t see any reason why he would change it. I said in another post that I didn’t see how Arrington could make the cut assuming they only keep 5 WRs. Now I’ve convinced myself that it’s Roby who’s on the bubble.

In going over all that, I noticed that Dave has kept 6 out 7 draft picks on the roster. Is that wishful thinking Dave? Or have you seen things at training camp to justify spots for Robinson, Brown, Graham, and Woods? I haven’t seen anything in preseason to do so. Graham sounded like he was having a great camp for a bit, learning quickly, but still had a long way to go when the sprained ankle sidelined him. Other than that, the only thing I’ve heard about the others in camp was negative, particularly about Robinson.

OMG… I said it before the draft “CB/LB”…

After seeing what we have, and your chart above, I’m not pleased with our CB situation.