Post by mpbears68 on Aug 28, 2019 14:26:53 GMT -6
Things have become quiet here and there's only a few days left until the final cutdowns so I thought this would give us something to talk about until the RS gets underway in a week. Here's my projections and "wish list". To avoid confusion I am gonna use "PS" to denote preseason and "ps" to refer to the practice squad.
QB (2): Trubisky, Daniel
Swallow hard, Bears fans, because as awful as Chase was in PS, he's gonna stick one more (hopefully only one) year as the #2. Bray still has 1 year of ps eligibility left and there's no cap relief (only $1m net) from cutting Daniel. He's a FA next year so let him walk and add to the comp pick calculation then.
OL (8): Leno, Whitehair, Daniels, Long, Massie, Larsen, Coward, Bars
Bars cemented his roster status with a strong performance in PS3 which included play at LT. I'm concerned that Coward's injury is more severe than we know but I'm assuming he's still on the team. I haven't seen any other Bears reserve OL players who were worth keeping. They all pretty much sucked or were at least unimpressive.
RB (4): Montgomery, Davis, Cohen, Whyte
I think Nall has played well enough to earn a spot as a reserve RB to me but I'm giving the nod to Whyte due to his greater value on STs (as a backup return man since I'm cutting Marvin Hall). I think Nall will make the ps and will be activated during the RS if Davis should have a season-ending injury at some point. The team doesn't need to keep a 5th RB as Patterson will probably get a few carries here and there. Mizzell is a goner.
TE (4): Burton, Shaheen, Braunecker, Bunting
I don't understand the Sowell-love I've seen in other roster projections and I also don't understand the OL-to-TE conversion project either. I would rather Sowell had remained a backup OT who could come in as a 6th OL/eligible in "heavy packages" than having lose a ton of weight but still not be a serious receiving threat. Bunting is a guy you gotta keep because he's shown enough in PS that I think he wouldn't survive waivers. Plenty of teams could use a 4th or 5th TE with his size and receiving ability. I look at Bunting as a potential Shaheen-replacement down the road and he's played a fair amount of STs too this PS.
WR (6): Robinson, Gabriel, Miller, Patterson, Ridley, Wims
Short of not having a clear "star" WR like OBJ or Hopkins, this is a very deep group. We have come a long way from the days of Eddie Royal, Markus Wheaton, and Dontrelle Inman. Marvin Hall had a shot to make the team but he's been pretty unimpressive as a returner so I think he's a clear cut at this point.
OFFENSE (24)
QB (2): Trubisky, Daniel
Swallow hard, Bears fans, because as awful as Chase was in PS, he's gonna stick one more (hopefully only one) year as the #2. Bray still has 1 year of ps eligibility left and there's no cap relief (only $1m net) from cutting Daniel. He's a FA next year so let him walk and add to the comp pick calculation then.
OL (8): Leno, Whitehair, Daniels, Long, Massie, Larsen, Coward, Bars
Bars cemented his roster status with a strong performance in PS3 which included play at LT. I'm concerned that Coward's injury is more severe than we know but I'm assuming he's still on the team. I haven't seen any other Bears reserve OL players who were worth keeping. They all pretty much sucked or were at least unimpressive.
RB (4): Montgomery, Davis, Cohen, Whyte
I think Nall has played well enough to earn a spot as a reserve RB to me but I'm giving the nod to Whyte due to his greater value on STs (as a backup return man since I'm cutting Marvin Hall). I think Nall will make the ps and will be activated during the RS if Davis should have a season-ending injury at some point. The team doesn't need to keep a 5th RB as Patterson will probably get a few carries here and there. Mizzell is a goner.
TE (4): Burton, Shaheen, Braunecker, Bunting
I don't understand the Sowell-love I've seen in other roster projections and I also don't understand the OL-to-TE conversion project either. I would rather Sowell had remained a backup OT who could come in as a 6th OL/eligible in "heavy packages" than having lose a ton of weight but still not be a serious receiving threat. Bunting is a guy you gotta keep because he's shown enough in PS that I think he wouldn't survive waivers. Plenty of teams could use a 4th or 5th TE with his size and receiving ability. I look at Bunting as a potential Shaheen-replacement down the road and he's played a fair amount of STs too this PS.
WR (6): Robinson, Gabriel, Miller, Patterson, Ridley, Wims
Short of not having a clear "star" WR like OBJ or Hopkins, this is a very deep group. We have come a long way from the days of Eddie Royal, Markus Wheaton, and Dontrelle Inman. Marvin Hall had a shot to make the team but he's been pretty unimpressive as a returner so I think he's a clear cut at this point.
DEFENSE (26)
DL (6): Hicks, Goldman, Powell, Robertson-Harris, Williams, Bullard
Williams has clearly outplayed Bullard and can play both NT and DE so he's in. I'm torn on Bullard who is a pretty decent run-stuffer but has been very disappointing as a pass-rusher. Admit it could go either way (keep or cut) but I decided to keep him as he's cheap depth on the DL in the last year of his rookie contract. Anderson has done enough to warrant a spot on the ps.
ILB (5): Smith, Trevathan, Kwiatowski, Iggy, Pierre-Louis
Kwiatowski saved his job with a stellar performance in PS3. Yes, he's vulnerable in coverage due to poor sideline-to-sideline quickness but he's a solid against the run, a good A-gap blitzer, and a core STer. I keep JPL as a deep backup and I think Iggy, despite looking lost at times, is safe because he's a 4th round draft pick entering only his 2nd year and it's too early to pass judgment on him yet. Woods is a good bet for the ps.
OLB (5): Mack, Floyd, Lynch, Irving, Vaughters
Fitts gets the axe here. Like Iggy, he's only in his 2nd year but he's a 6th rounder who hasn't shown a thing yet in terms of future potential. Vaughters will probably be a healthy scratch every week but he makes the team on the strength of his demonstrated knack for forcing sack-fumbles. Pace is clearly going to need to spend a 2nd round pick next year at this position.
CB (5): Fuller, Amukamara, Tolliver, Skrine, Shelley
Not much controversy here as these are pretty obvious. I would expect Duck +/- Joseph to make the ps. No need to keep a 6th CB as McMannis (now technically a S) can also play slot corner if needed and Skrine can play both inside and out.
S (5): Jackson, Clinton-Dix, Bush, McMannis, Houston-Carson
The first 3 are locks and the latter 2 make it primarily for ST ability. Denmark is headed to either the ps or IR. He's a huge project and I think he will end up being a S rather a CB.
Barring an epic meltdown in the final PS game, Piniero has won the K job. There's not going to be a waiver wire acquisition at the 11th hour.
Williams has clearly outplayed Bullard and can play both NT and DE so he's in. I'm torn on Bullard who is a pretty decent run-stuffer but has been very disappointing as a pass-rusher. Admit it could go either way (keep or cut) but I decided to keep him as he's cheap depth on the DL in the last year of his rookie contract. Anderson has done enough to warrant a spot on the ps.
ILB (5): Smith, Trevathan, Kwiatowski, Iggy, Pierre-Louis
Kwiatowski saved his job with a stellar performance in PS3. Yes, he's vulnerable in coverage due to poor sideline-to-sideline quickness but he's a solid against the run, a good A-gap blitzer, and a core STer. I keep JPL as a deep backup and I think Iggy, despite looking lost at times, is safe because he's a 4th round draft pick entering only his 2nd year and it's too early to pass judgment on him yet. Woods is a good bet for the ps.
OLB (5): Mack, Floyd, Lynch, Irving, Vaughters
Fitts gets the axe here. Like Iggy, he's only in his 2nd year but he's a 6th rounder who hasn't shown a thing yet in terms of future potential. Vaughters will probably be a healthy scratch every week but he makes the team on the strength of his demonstrated knack for forcing sack-fumbles. Pace is clearly going to need to spend a 2nd round pick next year at this position.
CB (5): Fuller, Amukamara, Tolliver, Skrine, Shelley
Not much controversy here as these are pretty obvious. I would expect Duck +/- Joseph to make the ps. No need to keep a 6th CB as McMannis (now technically a S) can also play slot corner if needed and Skrine can play both inside and out.
S (5): Jackson, Clinton-Dix, Bush, McMannis, Houston-Carson
The first 3 are locks and the latter 2 make it primarily for ST ability. Denmark is headed to either the ps or IR. He's a huge project and I think he will end up being a S rather a CB.
Specialists (3):
O'Donnell (P), Scales (LS), Piniero (K)
Barring an epic meltdown in the final PS game, Piniero has won the K job. There's not going to be a waiver wire acquisition at the 11th hour.
That's my "dream 53" and why. About the only question marks still out there I can tell revolve around if Nagy really really wants Sowell on the roster. If so, it comes down to releasing either Pierre-Louis or Bullard IMO.