*guys in red are the ones you want to watch tonight; see if they can make a move to get themselves a roster spot
Quarterback (3): Ben Roethlisberger, Charlie Batch, Dennis Dixon
Offensive Line (9): Maurkice Pouncey, Doug Legursky, Chris Kemoeatu, Willie Colon, Jonathan Scott, Trai Essex, Chris Scott, Marcus Gilbert, Tony Hills…..(Ramon Foster)
Running Back (4): Rashard Mendenhall, Isaac Redman, Mewelde Moore, Jonathan Dwyer
Wide Receivers (6): Mike Wallace, Hines Ward, Emmanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown, Jerricho Cotchery, Tyler Grisham….. (Arnaz Battle)
Tight Ends (3): Heath Miller, David Johnson, Wes Saunders…..(John Gilmore)
Defensive Line (7): Casey Hampton, Brett Keisel, Aaron Smith, Ziggy Hood, Cameron Heyward, Chris Hoke, Steve McLendon
Linebackers (8): James Farrior, Lawrence Timmons, James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley, Jason Worilds, Larry Foote, Stevenson Sylvester, Chris Carter…..(Mortty Ivy)
Defensive Back (10): Ike Taylor, Bryant McFadden, William Gay, Keenan Lewis, Ryan Clark, Troy Polamalu, Will Allen, Ryan Mundy, Crezdon Butler, Curtis Brown…..(Donovan Warren)
Special Teams (3): Shaun Suisham, Daniel Sepulveda, Greg Warren
Notes:
*The Offensive Line just seems like a bunch of random guys without true positions thrown up on the wall to see what sticks. Foster, Hills, Scott, Essex, Legursky, etc…these are all the same type of player. Fringe starters? Fringe
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backups? Not sure how much confidence the coaching staff has in guys like Hills and Foster. Wouldn't surprise me to see 1 of them get cut.
*I have 4 RBs making the roster but I could easily cut Mewelde Moore and not lose any sleep over it. If you really love somebody else on the roster that you are worried about letting go, I wouldn't hesitate in letting MeMo go. Redman can fulfill his 3rd down role as we saw last year. Embarking on NFL season with only 3 RBs on the roster seems a bit risky given the likelihood of injury but stash somebody on the practice squad and boom, there's your 4th RB.
*I put Grisham on the roster instead of Battle because the special teams aces won't be as valuable as they have been in the past. Any chance a 1 dimensional guy like Sean Morey makes a team in this environment? No way. Grisham has more upside as a WR and the Steelers are a pass-first football team. If you are a pass-first offense you can't go into week 1 with only 5 WRs on the roster…you have to roll with 6.
*I went with Saunders over Gilmore because he has more upside, plain and simple.
*Steve McLendon has impressed me over the past couple of camps, I think he sticks.
*Chris Carter makes the team because the coaches have liked what they have seen of him in practice. Mortty Ivy and Mario Harvey have also been hyped up a bit but I'll go with Carter on a gut feeling.
*After Ike Taylor I feel like the Cornerbacks are similar to our Offensive Linemen. Are these guys going to be starters in 2 years? They could just as easily be bagging groceries in 2 years. Not sure what to make of the group as a whole. I see a whole bunch of guys that can't cover very well, give up soft cushions (sometimes by design) and don't have a ton of playmaking ability. Curtis Brown makes the team because of his draft status but I wouldn't be surprised if Donovan Warren knocked somebody off the roster. Could he bring to the table what Willie Gay does? If the coaches think so then maybe Gay is gone?
I think Ramon Foster is ahead of Chris Scott right now. Also, you make no mention of Cortez Allen; he was drafted as a project, so I think him missing most of camp is less a factor, and according to his twitter feed he'll be playing against Carolina – something to watch for sure.
Foster isn't in the top 3 any more at Guard so he is vulnerable.
These guys that have missed preseason games, we just don't know enough about. Harvey and Carter are good examples. Coaches see these guys 6 days a week, we see them 1 day for 3 hours. Meeting, film study, practice, etc we don't see any of that. We make our judgements based off of so little info.
Lewis, Butler, Brown and Warren…any one if these four is better than Gay. I appreciate that Willie plays as hard as he can and puts forth a lot of effort, but he lacks the physical skills.
Ramon Foster over Chris Scott (practice squad)
Arnaz Battle over Tyler Grisham(practice squad)
Cortez Allen over Donovan Warren (practice squad)
Wes Saunder over John Gilmore (close call here)
Steve McLendon (practice squad)
Mortty Ivy makes it
Actually I would say he has all the physical requirements but lacks the mental assets. He can keep up with almost any WR in the NFL (see his coverage of DeSean Jackson), but he gets absolutely killed on double moves and gives way too much cushion, just like BMac. He plays the ball far too often, focusing on that more than the guy he is covering. If he could learn to focus on the receiver and read his face for the ball he could be a good #2 in this league.
I don't think McLendon is eligible for the PS. There are rules about how much time you spend on the active roster (I think if you are active for a full season worth of games, you cannot be on the PS)
Personally I would have cutted Mewelde Moore and Willie Gay centuries ago, and I dont think Tyler Grisham will take Arnaz spot, he will go to PS and eventually get dressed through the year.