An early look at potential camp battles.

Okay – The mega hype Super Bowl thread got me thinking about reality. In the past, we cut guys who really weren’t going to be doing anything in the league and would be lucky to find back-up spots somewhere else (Eric Cook, Anthony Armstrong, etc.). Going into this year, however, I thought the bottom of our roster has guys who would be solid back-ups for other teams and that we may actually have some quality competition for depth positions.

So, as a break from the hype, I wanted to see what the roster looked like and take an early crack at who our bubble guys are likely to be in a couple months – what positions and spots are really up for grabs. Some are obvious – Who starts at RT? Who are the safeties? Some not so, who is the 4th WR? Do we keep five or six WR’s? How many D-Line do we keep and who makes the cut?

With that in mind, my very, very early look at the final 53. To me, it looks like we have some interesting camp battles shaping up and that we will likely be cutting a few guys who could start somewhere else. [NOTE: Rocca, Sundberg & Kobra Kai are not listed but considered locks][Current roster info from: http://www.redskins.com/team/players.html]

Going to break it into Offense, Defense and Camp Battles.
The guys in bold are my locks. The guys in italics are guys fighting for jobs. Everyone else is camp fodder until proven otherwise.

Names are listed with positions and years of experience (which is off by a year for everyone but this year's draft class and UFA's).

OFFENSE

O-LINE (8 or 9?)
Williams, Trent OT 3
Lichtensteiger, Kory G/C 4
Montgomery, Will C/G 7
Chester, Chris G 7
Gettis, Adam G R
LeRibeus, Josh G R
Hurt, Maurice G 2
Compton, Tom T R
Polumbus, Tyler OT 4
Nixon, Xavier OL R
Pashos, Tony T 9
Trueblood, Jeremy T 7
Ashworth, Jacolby OL R
Stevens, Tevita OL R
Wilborn, Kyle OL R

I think the Hurt, Compton, Polumbus, Nixon and Pashos are fighting for two spots with Hurt and Compton the favorites with Polumbus a close third but in a battle with Pashos and Nixon for the last spot if they keep nine. Nixon ends up on the practice squad.

RB (4 or 5?)
Young, Darrel FB 3
Morris, Alfred RB R
Thompson, Chris RB R
Helu, Jr., Roy RB 2
Jamison, Jawan RB R
Davis, Tristan RB 1
Royster, Evan RB 2
Williams, Keiland RB 3
Kettani, Eric FB 1
Boyce, Dorson FB 1

I think the only locks for the final roster are Morris and Young. Behind him, I think they keep two. Royster and Williams are likely gone – similar backs who get yards but aren’t anything special. Helu, Thompson and Davis are the speed guys. I think Helu (if he stays healthy) and Thompson make it with Jamison & Davis to the PS. Jamison is first up if Helu has issues. Doubt they keep a second FB behind Young.

TE (3 or 4)
Davis, Fred TE 5
Paulsen, Logan TE 3
Reed, Jordan TE R
Paul, Niles TE 2
Peterson, Deangelo TE R
Ogbuehi, Emmanuel TE R

Paul only makes it this year if he gets a special team’s slot. He is a beast out there and may be the new “One Man Gang”.

WR (5 or 6)
Garçon, Pierre WR 5
Morgan, Joshua WR 5
Moss, Santana WR 12
Hankerson, Leonard WR 2
Robinson, Aldrick WR 1
Briscoe, Dezmon WR 1
Dawson, Skye WR R
Reeves, Chip WR R
Williams, Nick WR R
Thompson, Jason WR R

Right now, I see us keeping the same top five as last year with Briscoe gone b/c the 6th WR slot will be needed for some other position. The question will be if one of the UFA’s can impress enough to bump Hankerson or Robinson. I doubt it and think any UFA who impresses goes to the PS.

QB (2 or 3?)
Griffin III, Robert QB R
Cousins, Kirk QB R
Grossman, Rex QB 10
White, Pat QB 1

Only question here is whether they keep Grossman on the 53 man roster. I doubt it.

DEFENSE

DL (6 or 7?)
Carriker, Adam DE 6
Bowen, Stephen DE 7
Jenkins, Jarvis DE 2
Cofield, Barry NT 7
Baker, Chris NT 1
Neild, Chris NT 2
Merling, Phillip DE 5
Worthington, Doug DE 1
Golston, Kedric DE 7
Brace, Ron DT 4
Anunoby, Chigbo DL R
Hamilton, Dominique DT R

Here I see a battle for the back-up NT position with the early favorite being Baker. I think Neild loses out on the final cut (I don’t think he is eligible for PS but gets picked up by someone. He is one of those guys I think could eventually start in this league for someone). I think Golston finally hits the bricks and is replaced by Merling with Worthington fighting [EDIT:Golston] for the spots. I think whoever gets the final cut is on someone’s roster by mid-season.

LB (7 or 8)
Orakpo, Brian OLB 4
Kerrigan, Ryan OLB 2
Riley, Perry ILB 3
Robinson, Keenan ILB R
Fletcher, London ILB 15
Jackson, Rob OLB 4
Jenkins, Brandon OLB R
Kehl, Bryan ILB 5
Tapp, Darryl OLB 7
Burdette, Marvin LB R
Compton, William LB R
Elmore, Ricky LB 1
Kimbrough, Jeremy LB R
Muckelroy, Roddrick LB 3
So'oto, Vic LB 2

Lots of depth here both in starters and in rotation. I guess the question is does Kehl make the final 53. Not sure if he plays special teams. I also recall Burdette making an impact last year in preseason (but I could be wrong about that). Does one of the UFA’s impress enough to stick as a final ILB? Doubt it. I think the top seven are set and Kehl is kept if a spot opens for him. Otherwise, its PS time for everyone else.

CB (4)
Hall, DeAngelo CB 9
Wilson, Josh CB 6
Amerson, David CB R
Biggers, E.J. CB 4
Crawford, Richard CB R
Minnifield, Chase CB R
Holland, Devin DB R
Murphy, Jerome CB 2

The top three are set. Even if he doesn’t start, Amerson is on the roster and plays as 3rd corner with Wilson or Hall sliding into the slot. Crawford, Biggers and Minnifield (if healthy) compete for that 4th spot. Again, I think the losers here could end up on someone else’s roster.

S (4)
Meriweather, Brandon S 6
Rambo, Bacarri SS R
Thomas, Phillip SS R
Pugh, Jordan S 3
Doughty, Reed S 7
Bernstine, Jordan S R
Gomes, DeJon S 2

Again, I see the top three set. I think Gomes is gone. Is this the end for Doughty? I have heard they like Pugh. Is Bernstine going to recover from injury and make it? Ultimately I think Pugh makes the cut, Doughty is gone (and promptly signed by another team), with Bernstine to the PS.

SO …. Here is how I see the camp battles shaping up:

Hurt, Compton, Polumbus, Nixon and Pashos (5) fighting for two or three spots.

Helu, Thompson, Jamison and Davis (4) fighting for two or three spots.

Baker & Neild fighting for the back-up NT slot.
Merling, [EDIT: Golston], and Worthington fighting for the final DE slot. All five fighting for seventh DL spot.

[EDIT: Tapp v. Jenkins for one spot.]

Biggers, Crawford and Minnifield fighting for one spot.

Pugh, Doughty and Bernstine fighting for one spot.

Paul, Kehl, and Grossman fighting for the 53 roster spot (and possibly Crawford if he loses out in the CB battle – although I think his return skills give him a big boost in that fight).

If you take the low number of all my positional estimates you get 44 players; the high end put is it at 50. Therefore, even keeping the max at every position, we are going to be cutting some quality players who, I think, will be on somebody’s roster and may even get regular playing time during the year.

Outside of the DB positions and the RT spot, the roster is pretty set at the top with quality players across the board – many of them young. Been a long time since that was true.

Maybe Kerrakpo is on to something ….

Grossman will be on the roster. They like him in the film room and they wouldn't let him go until RG3 was completely healthy. Plus, I've heard rumblings (possible from SS -- can't recall) that once Kyle ascends to Mike's job, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that grossman transitions to the QB coach.

^^ I think you are right. When I made the initial statement about Grossman, I hadn't crunched the numbers and thought it was a lot tighter in terms of bodies needed than it ended up being. Barring something unexpected, I imagine Rex has a spot waiting for him on the final roster.

Grossman will be on the roster. They like him in the film room and they wouldn't let him go until RG3 was completely healthy. Plus, I've heard rumblings (possible from SS -- can't recall) that once Kyle ascends to Mike's job, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that grossman transitions to the QB coach.

Wasn't me that said that. Believe HTTR24-7 once hinted that he could see it happening

Also Tapp will be an OLB here

I'm just going to throw in here that the Redskins have signed Titans C Kevin Matthews

I'm just going to throw in here that the Redskins have signed Titans C Kevin Matthews

His dad was his OL coach for the Titans and they didn't tender him. It strikes me as a "coaching favor" given that we have a ton of bodies at the position and he couldn't get an offer from his Dad's team.