hawknation2014":2yuk0exo said:
If everyone is healthy, how many defensive linemen will they keep?
Bennett, Avril, Mebane, McDaniel, K. Williams, J. Williams, Hill, Mayowa, Scruggs, Marsh. 4-3 teams typically keep around nine on the active roster. That's ten already. Plus, Irvin will probably be more of a defensive linemen this year as he gets an opportunity to rush the passer from both the strong and weak side. Schofield also says he will play more at LEO.
I really like Michael Brooks and Jackson Jeffcoat as developmental prospects and question whether they would clear waivers. Staten will need to show something to make the practice squad.
Man, it's tough to say at the moment. I think there's really only 4 guaranteed locks (Bennett, Avril, Mebane, McDaniel) and the rest of the DLine is going to be whatever the outcome is of some fierce ass competition. Like I said in an above post, outside of the 4 guaranteed guys, there's about 6-8 players that are all at about the same level of talent and potential. It's gonna be real exciting to see how this position unfolds this preseason.
Try making a 53 man roster for our team once. It's ridiculously difficult. There's a lot of very promising players like Jeffcoat and Brooks and maybe even guys like Toomer and Schofield that simply can't be fit into the lineup.
Regarding Irvin... From what I've heard, he's going to be playing SAM in base again, DE in sub packages, and Rover (or whatever you want to call it) in the NASCAR package. He'll be the "swiss army knife" of the front seven. Barring injury, I bet he tags on at least 100-200 more snaps on to his total snap count from last season. Should be a very exciting season for him aswell.
Schofield said he's going to be playing more with his "hand in the dirt", which makes sense given the LEO position is the one spot that doesn't have ridiculous depth. I could see him making the 53 man roster on that condition alone. His competition at the moment is Avril, Mayowa, Jeffcoat, and maybe Marsh... Outside of Avril, there's not a whole lotta experience in that group.