NFL Roster Cuts 2013: Why not? My 53-man roster prediction

Here's my guess at the final 53. Pretty sure I'm going to be wrong. Well let's just get this over with, shall we?

QUARTERBACKS (2)

QB1 Wilson 5'10, 215
QB2 Jackson 6'2, 225

No surprises here. Jackson is, for all intents and purposes and in a reality-based world, the perfect backup. He has the respect of the locker room and years of experience in the playbook. He's moderately mobile, cheap, can throw a beautiful deep ball on play action after lulling the defense to sleep by handing off to Marshawn Lynch a whole bunch. The only question is whether or not some desperate team will offer anything for Brady Quinn. Probably not, but a guy can dream, can't he?

RUNNING BACKS/FULLBACKS (4)

RB1 Lynch 5'11, 215
RB2 Turbin 5'10, 222
RB/KR Michael 5'10, 221
RB Ware 5'10, 229

Michael Robinson has been very seriously ill for the past two weeks or so, if you believe what Pete Carroll is telling us. I'm going with a theory that Curtis Crabtree posited today (and I've been thinking may be a possibility) that the Hawks will cut Robinson now, to clear a rosters spot, and re-sign him in a few weeks when he's back up to speed, in shape, fully recovered, and ready to go. The flu, MRSA, whatever it is that Robinson caught - these things can wreck havoc on a body and there's no telling how long it will take Robinson to get up to speed. I doubt that Robinson would get a ton of interest on the open free agent market, if you look at the tepid response that All Pro FB Vontae Leach got from everyone, and perhaps this would be a good way to restructure Robinson to a two year deal with a lower cap hit in 2013. It's just a (somewhat wild) theory, but I think it's reality based. We'll see.

With this in mind, the Hawks will do what they've been doing and use Spencer Ware and their tight ends (Luke Willson) at fullback or maybe they'll just not really use fullbacks all that much for a few weeks. Once Rob is back, they'll have to clear a roster spot somehow, but you know how injuries go.

WIDE RECEIVERS (6)

Z1 Rice 6'4, 202
X1/PR Tate 5'10, 202
WR Baldwin 5'10, 189
WR Williams 6'5, 210
WR Kearse 6'1, 215
WR Harper 6'1, 232

I really struggled with this and do not feel strongly that Seattle will keep Chris Harper. With the way that Pete Carroll was talking about Harper earlier this offseason and the way it sounds like he's been playing in practice lately, I do think the team has some high hopes for his potential. That said, he doesn't appear ready for a large role in the offense so it's pretty plausible that they could release him.

Why don't we just say that at this point, there is a roster battle between an inactive Mike Rob, Spencer Ware, Chris Harper, and Cooper Helfet. I think the team keeps two of those four guys. This is just a somewhat random guess because I guess I am supposed to guess, I guess.

TIGHT ENDS (3)

TE1 Miller 6'5, 255
TE Willson 6'5, 260
TE McGrath 6'5, 255

No surprises. The one thing to look for is whether or not Cooper Helfet makes the final roster. He offers some positional versatility as a guy that can line up as a tight end, fullback, or a de factor wide receiver.

OFFENSIVE LINE (9)

LT1 Okung 6'5, 310
LG1a McQuistan 6'6, 315
LG1b Carpenter 6'5, 321
C1 Unger 6'5, 305
RG1 Sweezy 6'5, 305
RT1 Giacomini 6'7, 318
T/C M.Person 6'4, 310
G/C Johnson, 6'3, 320
T/G Bailey 6'3, 312

I'm going with 9 here. Mike Person can play both tackle spots and is also a really slow, lumbering looking 6th offensive lineman in the Seahawks 6OL looks. Rishaw Johnson provides some depth at guard and center, and Alvin Bailey can play guard and tackle. Michael Bowie would have probably replaced Rishaw or Person on my list but it's looking like his shoulder injury is severe enough to warrant a red-shirt year.

TOTAL OFFENSE (24)

DEFENSIVE LINE (7)

5T1 Bryant 6'4, 323
5T2 Howard 6'3, 301
NT1 Mebane 6'1, 311
NT2 Siliga 6'2, 355
3T1 McDaniel 6'7, 310
3T2 Hill 6'1, 302
DL Bennett 6'4, 275

No big surprises here, unless you are banking on Clinton McDonald. Michael Brooks has looked pretty awesome so there's a chance he sneaks onto the roster, and I think Dewayne Cherrinton is a pretty good practice squad candidate to add insurance for Siliga and Mebane.

LINEBACKERS/LEOS (9)

WLB1 Wright 6'4, 246
MLB1 Wagner 6'0, 241
SLB Smith 6'0, 226
MLB Bradford 5'11, 235
WLB Lotulelei 5'11, 233
LEO Clemons 6'3, 255
LEO Avril 6'3, 260
LEO Schofield 6'3, 245
LEO Mayowa 6'3, 252

The odd men out here are Mike Morgan, Heath Farwell and Ty Powell. I just think the Hawks will think longterm with Bradford and Lotulelei over a short term, safer bet in Farwell. Morgan has looked pretty good at the LEO but to be honest I kind of think he's a liability at linebacker, so with Mayowa playing well at LEO, they can feel better about Lotu and Malcolm Smith at the OLB spots. Mayowa is the guy that probably goes when Bruce Irvin gets back, but at least he'll provide some depth behind Schofield, Avril, Clemons, and Smith.

DEFENSIVE BACKS (10)

CB1 Browner 6'4, 221
CB1 Sherman 6'3, 195
FS1 Thomas 5'10, 202
SS1 Chancellor 6'3, 232
CB Maxwell 6'1, 207
CB Lane 6'0, 190
NB Winfield 5'10, 180
NB/KR Thurmond 5'11, 190
FS/CB Shead 6'1, 220
SS Guy 6'1, 217

I've seesawed (is that word?) on the backup safeties pretty much the entire offseason so I'm just going to take another stab in the dark and say that Guy and Shead will make it over Maragos and Jeron because they're cheaper and more versatile. Shead can play both safety and corner, and Guy is sort of a linebacker/safety hybrid that has some talent. He's kind of a knucklehead and seemingly needs to mature, but he's versatile in that he can rush the passer and he's big/physical enough to run with tight ends. Up until this week, I had been thinking that Jeron has looked very good as a potential backup at strong safety, but Guy kind of flashed last night and made some impressive plays. If he would just use his arms to tackle that would make me feel better though.

Either way, it wouldn't surprise me whatsoever if it's Maragos/Jeron instead here. In fact if I'm right about my prediction I'll probably be more surprised. Yeah in fact I bet I'm wrong, but this is my prediction so who cares.

TOTAL DEFENSE (26)

SPECIALISTS (3)

P J.Ryan
LS Gresham
K Hauschka

PRACTICE SQUAD:

G/C Smith 6'3, 303
G/T Seymour 6'4,3 00
TE Fells 6'7, 280
FB Bates 6'1, 220
DL Brooks, 6'2, 295
S/CB Parker 6'0, 206
LEO Powell, 6'2, 249
NT Cherrington 6'2, 335

These are guys that I believe could actually pass through waivers. I am somewhat unsure if Ron Parker is actually eligible but I'm way too lazy to check on that.

SUSPENDED LIST:

SAM Irvin 6'3, 255

PUP:

S1/KR Harvin 5'11, 200
DL Scruggs 6'3, 295
SLB Toomer 6'2, 234
CB Simon 6'2, 205

IR:

CB Fenner 6'1, 189
TE McCoy 6'5,270
LEO Boatright 6'3, 235
NT Williams 6'3, 323
RT Bowie 6'5, 330