The secondary was certainly one of our biggest question marks this off-season. While it's impossible to 'predict' this far out (though it will become more clear after a pre-season game or two), the way I see it...

- CB Starters: Winfield, Griffin; C.Cook (Nickel, though Antoine may move inside on those occasions), A.Allen (Dime)

- S Starters: Abdullah (SS), ___??___ (FS)

I'm hoping Mistral Raymond will step up and possibly start at FS.  I don't trust Tyrell Johnson (injured...again...) or Jamarca Sanford enough, and TBH, I'm hoping both of them are ultimately released.  That may be hasty on my part (I'm sure at least one of them will be retained), but perhaps we could make a play for Taylor Mays from the 49ers.  He's on the trading block, and I've read the ties with Singletary, while not directly relevant on our defense, could be beneficial.  I'm not certain what the Niners asking price is, but some speculation I've read would be a mid- to late-round pick.  Not bad, if you ask me.  His current contract amounts to ~$1mil/yr over the next few seasons, so it's not like it'll be extremely pricey.  Will he work in our defensive scheme at FS...?? (EDIT: Upon reviewing the initial comments, Taylor Mays is likely a bad fit at FS for us, which I definitely wanted to know first and foremost -- thanks to all for confirming that.  Perhaps converting him to LB would be an interesting conversation, but I'd like to concentrate on the Secondary for this thread and am most curious about the young DB's.  Carrying on.)

We are also certainly loaded with young players at DB, and there are a few guys I'm planning on keeping my eye on during the pre-season games.  I haven't been keeping up with TC info, so is there any insight as to how well the following guys are doing...??

- Mistral Raymond

- Brandon Burton

- Marcus Sherels

- Devon Torrence

I already gave my impression on Raymond (FS).  Burton/Sherels/Torrence, I hope they all make the team at least on ST, maybe eventually making a play against Asher Allen.  They all probably won't work out, but hopefully one of them will hit over the next few years and make a big impact -- I just hope it's for us and not another team.

Other young guys -- Chris Adingupu, Ryan Hill, Cord Parks, Simeon Castille -- any word on them??  I like the guys above more, but I know too little on these players to make an assessment.

Any thoughts from anyone on the starter predictions, Taylor Mays, ditching Sanford/Johnson, young DB's, etc...??