FanPost

A stab at an Opening Day 53-man roster.

Since there's not much else to talk about...

QB - 2 - Cousins and Mond

RB - 4 - Cook, Mattison, Nwangwu and Abdullah - Yes, Abdullah makes the final roster as the back-up 3rd and long back and a core special teamer (they could use some continuity on ST after all of the turnover last year and again this year).

FB - 1 - Ham

WR - 5 - Jefferson, Thielen, Beebe, Johnson, Smith-Marsette - Osborn doesn't make it as the punt returner. Maybe ISM or Nwangwu gets that job, while ISM is the main KO returner. A veteran punt returner or Osborn might push the number up to six, or push Beebe off the squad.

TE - 3 - Smith, Conklin, Davidson - They only went with three TE's for most of the 2019 and 2020 seasons, so I don't expect that to change. I'd love to see a veteran blocking tight end like MyCole Pruitt brought on board, but TE is only one of the positions the front office has supposedly been looking at in free agency.

OL - 9 - LT to RT, Darrisaw, Cleveland, Bradbury, Davis and O'Neill as the starters for most or all of the season, with Hill, Cole, Dozier and Udoh as the bench. Brett Jones was reported to be getting more interest in free agency than in the last two off-seasons, but remains un-signed. If the team did decide to carry 10 O linemen on the 53-man roster, like they did at the start of the 2020 season, I could actually just as easily see the team re-signing Jones, if he circles back to them again, instead of going with Samia (end of camp cut), Brandel or Hinton, or whoever they have under a futures or UDFA contract. A bench of Hill, Cole, Jones, Dozier and Udoh would represent a lot of years and a lot of games played (mostly), and would probably rank, believe it or not, as one of the best OL benches in the league.

DL - 10 - Weatherly, Jones and Willekes at LDE, Pierce and Watts at NT (Watts is also the DT3 in the defensive line rotation), Tomlinson and Holmes at 3T, and Hunter, Wonnum and Robinson at RDE. The team decides Mata'afa has hit his ceiling at both DE and DT, while Brailford might make the PS. Holmes only survives if Lynch can't improve significantly over last year's poor performances in camp and in-season, and if neither Twyman (6th round) nor Scott (UDFA NT) are ready for a roster spot, in which case the latter two are headed for the practice squad. If Twyman is ready, Holmes is out. If Scott is ready, Holmes is out and Watts becomes the main back-up at 3-tech. If Lynch does improve, Holmes is out and Twyman and Scott are both for the PS.

LB - 6 - Barr, Kendricks and Vigil to start, Surratt, Dye and Cam Smith to back-up. Vigil is the LB3 on running downs, and Smith his back-up. Dye and Surratt vie to replace Wilson in his 2018 and 2019 role as the passing downs LB3. It will be interesting to see who becomes the "first man off the bench" back-up to the starters, a role Wilson also had in 2018 and 2019. I think Dye opens the season as the passing downs LB3, while Vigil opens it as Barr's and Kendricks' back-up, but Surratt could be snapping at both their heels. All three back-ups are core special teamers. If the team does carry only five linebackers, Smith is the more likely cut than Vigil.

CB - 6 - Dantzler and Peterson start outside, Alexander in the slot. Boyd, Hand and Gladney, before or after (my assumption is the latter) his six-game suspension (and he'll be the CB4 once he gets back), are the back-ups, Boyd outside, Gladney and Hand inside or out. At this point, Dylan Mabin looks like Gladney's most likely roster fill-in during his suspension, and the first call up from the PS whenever a corner is injured, but I admit I haven't been paying close attention to our end-of-the-roster signings at CB.

S - 4 - Smith, Woods, Metellus and Bynum - Myles Dorn makes the PS.

ST - 3 - DePaola, Colquitt, Jospeh - Yes, the veterans win out.

I believe the team opened the 2020 season with 10 offensive linemen and six linebackers on the 53-man roster, with only three safeties, but I see them carrying four safeties this year, and ultimately choosing between a 10th O lineman and a 6th LB for the last man on the roster.

I've been thinking that any more veteran free agents wouldn't be signed until the team had a clearer idea of what they had after mandatory mini-camp next month, but now I think they won't wait if they see a free agent they really want to sign. I'm assuming they are most closely looking at veteran punt returners/wide receivers and blocking tight ends on offense, pass rushing DE's or DT's on the D line, and maybe a veteran depth corner or safety. I tend to think they're done at QB, RB, OL (unless Brett Jones comes a callin') and LB.

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.