FanPost

Projected 53 man opening day roster as of Aug 28, 2011


Last night's preseason game against Green Bay answered some roster questions, but failed to answer some others. One detail little talked about this week with the Colts signing of Kerry Collins is that as of now, the Colts will almost surely carry 3 quarterbacks instead of just 2 as has been their custom. If you only carry 2 quarterbacks, there simply is too much risk at this time with the questions about Manning's health, and with the age and lack of conditioning/mobility that Kerry Collins has as his primary backup. Somebody that would have made our 53 man roster will now be out on the street.

With that being said, after the jump I am presenting my projected 53 man roster for opening day at Houston, with a few other ideas I have about some moves I think could help us.

I think this is our 53 man roster for week 1:

QB: (3) Manning, Collins, Painter

RB (4) Addai, Brown, Carter, James

WR (5) Wayne, Garcon, Collie, Gonzalez, Gilreath

TE (4) Clark, Tamme, Eldridge, Snow

OL (9) Linkenbach, Costanzo, Reitz, Saturday, Diem, Pollak, Ijalana, Devan, McClendon

DL (10) Freeney, Harris, Hughes, Johnson, Mathis, Nevis, Brayton, Moala, Foster, Matthews

LB (7) Angerer, Brackett, Conner, Sims, Wheeler, Moten, Glenn

DB (9) Bethea, Bullitt, Caldwell, Lacey, Lefeged, Powers, Thomas, Tryon, Rucker

K(2) McAfee, Viniateri

Other predictions or thoughts:

-I think we re-sign Kelvin Hayden, but only after game 1 is completed to keep his salary from being guaranteed.

-I think we put Blair White on the PUP list

-I think we should try and use Donald Brown as a kick off returner, to see if that is a role he can play to help us and to get the ball in his hands more. I think he has good straight line speed and would be good back there, plus it lets us use our roster a little differently if we so choose.

-One of the reasons I suggest we use Brown as a kick off returner is so we can create more of a role for Carter in the backfield, as I like his powerful running style, and I think he can be more than just a short yardage back. I think we will need to run the football 30 times or more in week one, and I'd like to see Addai with about 20 carries, and Carter get the rest, with maybe a dose of Brown/James depending on the situation. But mainly, I want Addai and Carter to get 30 carries at least between them.

-I think the decision of keeping Ricardo Matthews over Jamal Anderson was the toughest call for me. I can easily see me being wrong about that. I could also see them both making it and us cutting a linebacker like Glenn, who I kept for now just as a special team guy.

-Making a late trade of a spare defensive lineman for help in the secondary makes sense to me. Philadelphia is one team with a plethora of defensive backs that may force them to release a good player in their backfield, maybe we could try and move a defensive lineman like Chick or Anderson/ Matthews to them for a DB. They might prefer making a trade for a player or later draft pick in 2012 than just having to outight release someone, as I am sure other teams would as well. Joselio Hansen is a pretty good DB who may be dealt by Philadelphia, according to SI.com.

-I'd like to see us figure out a way to keep John Chick, but I couldn't find a way to do it. One way you could do it is to gamble and only keep 3 running backs in favor of keeping an extra defensive lineman. In my mind however Chick is the roster casuality of keeping 3 QB's.

Ok everyone, this was my first post since joining Stampedeblue....tell me where you think I am right or wrong.

Tbird

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.