terpfan

Standig put out a roster prediction for the Athletic today. https://theathletic.com/2777834/2021/08/18/washington-football-team-53-player-roster-projection-hope-for-jaret-patterson-sammis-reyes/ Of interest for those paywalled: - Patterson makes it as the 4th RB - He has Reyes as the 3rd TE but mentions that if his concussion lingers they may try to IR him - He has 7 WRs (The 5 expected + AGG and Carter) - 5 DEs including WBK and Toney - Only 5 LBs (Davis, Holcomb, Bostic, Hudson, Mayo) - Only 5 CBs (Jackson, Fuller, St-Juste, Moreland, McTyer)

Saying Reaves can’t play but then pumping up Apke is… a take. I’ll admit that Apke seems to be having a good camp and may make the roster as a 6th CB/ special teamer, but let’s pump the brakes. He’s been awful as a defensive player in his first 3 seasons in the league and now he’s trying to learn a new position. Reaves at least put together a string of pretty good starts at the end of last year. Reaves unfortunately is just in a numbers crunch. I think he only makes it if they decide Forrest is an acceptable cheap alternative to Everett and move on from him. Side note: since when is Danny Johnson no longer the kick returner? He started the game last week as the kick returner and got most of the work there. Not to say he couldn’t lose the job, but it still seems to be his until we see otherwise.

He also started the first preseason game. That seems like a pretty good indication that he’s in good shape to make the team. Unrelated, and not sure if this is the place for it, but apparently Christian Darrisaw and Teven Jenkins are both already dealing with injuries. Feeling a bit better about taking Cosmi in the second at the moment.

So it sounds like this isn’t a prediction, so much as your own preference? Because I haven’t seen anything to indicate Cam Sims is even on the bubble. If you have, I’d like to see it.

Milne more of a lock than Cam Sims? Might be reading too much into a couple of tweets…

To be fair, Thomas has been playing tight end since 2016. He’s not that new to it.

Dax Milne seems to be gaining some real momentum… starting to think he has a real shot to make it.

Yeah the X and Z are the two outside receivers. As I understand it the main difference is the X WR lines up on the line of scrimmage on the weak side of the formation (opposite the TE), meaning they have to be better at beating the press. The Z WR on the other side lines up behind the line of scrimmage and therefore is harder to jam. Terry has primarily played the X in his career here. I imagine they see Samuel playing some at the Z and some in the slot. Dyami will likely play mostly the Z when he’s on the field.

We don’t have that many options at LB. Bostic is a starter in base package at the moment and was getting the first team snaps at nickel last week as well. I think you generally have to assume your starters are roster locks, even if sometimes you do get a surprise cut (ie. Morgan Moses). Unfortunately, I don’t think we have the depth at LB to make a cut like that.

Praise for the special teams play of two LBs trying to fill out the bottom of the depth chart. I have them as the 5th and 6th LBs currently after the four relative "locks" (Holcomb, Davis, Bostic, Hudson). Special teams will definitely help their cases.

Terry goes for over 1,500 yards receiving. There's no way Chase+Montez are getting 39 sacks. But I could see us leading the league in sacks as a team. Sam Cosmi will be the best rookie in the class. Heinicke will start at least one game but it will be because of injury to Fitzpatrick not benching.

I’m guessing they just don’t see an upgrade at kicker out there. It’s hard to find good ones. But if you’re blaming this all on the timing of the snap and hold it makes you wonder… why cut Sundberg? I would have let him play until he didn’t want to anymore.

Barber’s position flex is that while he’s definitely mainly a short yardage back, he’s also decent on third downs because he’s good in pass protection.

1. I wouldn’t say I’d be shocked, but I think this is less likely than Patterson making it as a 4th RB. The staff really seems to like Barber. And I don’t know if they see Patterson as a short yardage back. 2. I think Sims Jr being “done” is wishful thinking from fans who were, understandably, frustrated by him last year. If he was done he wouldn’t be getting the chances he is in preseason, both as a receiver and a returner. That said I think it’s a close race between him and Carter (and maybe Milne as well) so they may end up decided they’d prefer to go with some new blood. 3. We’ll see. This is what I thought just a week ago. But Reyes held his own way better than I expected in real game action. He may not be as in over his head as you’d expect.

“Should have traded up for Fields” is so funny to me. Like OK, with who? For what? It’s not just a button you hit and it happens. For starters, we would have had to go up to at least pick 9, from 19. There’s no way the NFC East teams picking 10-12 were gift wrapping us a starting QB. So now we’re assuming the Broncos were interested in trading, which may or may not even have been true.

I think cutting Harmon means they are planning on 6 WRs, but the last one will be a returner. Which wouldn’t be good news for AGG either. Probably a Sims Jr-Carter-Milne three way battle for that last spot.

Kyle Allen and Curtis Samuel back at practice would point to them being on the 53-man roster week one.

I’m not some massive Peyton Barber apologist, but a short yardage back will generally have a lower YPC. If you’re putting him in when you only need one or two yards and the defense is geared to stop the run, a 3 yard carry is a success.

All good points. Sounds like they do want to try Patterson in the return game. Not sure if that means kicks or punts or both. Could be bad news for Danny Johnson and/or Sims Jr if he wins either job, but at this point that’s just speculation. I’d guess that even if he does seem competent there, they probably wouldn’t want to trust that solely to a rookie. I think Allen landing on IR is a good possibility. I believe the IR rules instituted last season are still in effect, meaning there are no restrictions on how many players you can bring back off IR, and they only have to be on IR three weeks before returning. Most likely would allow them to carry a player at another position rather than feeling like they need 3 QBs to open the season. I actually have had 5 LBs in earlier projections, with 5 DEs, and the idea that Shaka Toney would be a hybrid of the two positions. Otherwise, 5 LBs feels pretty light, even if they expect to play a lot of Buffalo nickel, but it’s probably not outside the realm of possibility.

This is where I am on the Reyes issue at the moment. What’s really the risk? If he ends up not being ready we just cut him and pick a guy like Seals-Jones or Hemingway back up. There are plenty of guys like that out there. Why not go with the higher ceiling and see if it works out? If he had so far looked like a complete fish out of water that would be one thing. But he played half the game and not only didn’t embarrass himself, but he had a handful of real impact plays.

If he got hurt last night, I missed it. I thought he looked pretty good outside of the play he fell down on. Looked like he either caught a divot or got tripped up by the DB.

Reviving this thread to talk roster predictions post-Preseason Game 1. I'll admit I'm still scratching my head about a lot of spots. WR, TE, DE, CB, S all feel very much in the air still. But here we go... QB (3): Fitzpatrick, Heinicke, Allen Just missed: -- Steven Montez had a nice drive at the end of the game, but I think he's still clearly the 4th option unless Allen's injury ends up being longer term than expected. RB (4): Gibson, McKissic, Barber, Patterson Just missed: -- If a 4th RB makes this roster, it will be because Patterson forced his way on. And after game one, that certainly seems to be possible, even likely. WR (6): McLaurin, Samuel, Humphries, Brown, C. Sims, S. Sims Jr Just missed: Carter, Milne, Harmon, Gandy-Golden By far the most competitive position on the roster. Carter and Steven Sims seem to be in the lead in the competition for #6 wide receiver/punt returner, and neither did anything to hurt their stock in Game 1. I'm giving Sims Jr the advantage as the "incumbent." Milne had a couple catches and a nice punt return himself, so I don't think he's completely out of it, but best case would be to stash him on the practice squad initially. Harmon and Gandy-Golden each had one pretty nice catch in traffic (still not sure why AGG's was overturned). If we keep 7 WRs I think one of Harmon/AGG is the 7th to add a bit more size. I like Isaiah Wright but just don't see how he fits in. Starting to become quite a numbers crunch! TE (3): Thomas, Bates, Reyes Just missed: Seals-Jones, Hemmingway This is a really though one to gauge so far. Thomas and Bates are locks, but I went back and forth on the 3rd guy a few times. I like what Seals-Jones brings as a pass catcher to compliment Bates as a blocker. Reports were that Hemmingway was the #2 tight end in camp, but he certainly didn't look it on Thursday night. Reyes showed some flashes, but obviously is still pretty raw to be counting on in real games. That said, ultimately players like Seals-Jones and Hemmingway are always out there... Sammis Reyes has too much potential to risk losing, and is starting to show enough to indicate that he could at least hold his own if pressed into action. He'll have two more games to continue to prove that. OL (9): Leno, Schweitzer, Roullier, Scherff, Cosmi, Lucas, Flowers, Larsen, Charles Just missed: Ismael The starting five seems set. The top 3 backups at each position (Tackle: Lucas, Guard: Flowers, Center: Larsen) seem pretty set as well. Charles makes for a great 9th OL given his versatility. Ismael is a former 5th round pick, so they might try to squeeze him in as a 10th OL, but at this point it doesn't seem necessary. DE (4): Young, Sweat, Smith-Williams, Bradley-King Just missed: Toney, Toohill Outside of Young's monster hit on Cam Newton, no one from this group really stood out enough to change the pecking order. WBK keeps the edge over Toney for the 4th spot, for now. Toohill missing the game for injury hurts his chances, he'll need to get back on the field soon. DT (4): Allen, Payne, Ionnadis, Settle Just missed: -- Given the strength of the top 4, a 5th DT would need to make a significant impact to make the roster, in my opinion. I've seen some projections with Devaroe Lawrence making it but not sure I see the need. David Bada had a sack in Game 1 - worth keeping an eye on him but don't think he has a real chance at the roster at this point. LB (6): Holcomb, Davis, Bostic, Hudson, Mayo, Norris Just missed: Phillips, Walker, Kunaszyk Not an inspiring day from this group. Davis looked like a rookie. Bostic missed tackles. The 5th and 6th guys are basically making the roster by default. I don't see much separating anyone after the top 4. Hopefully we see a few more flashes from the LBs in game 2. CB (6): Jackson III, Fuller, St-Juste, Moreland, Johnson, McTyer Just missed: Roberts, Apke This is the position group I have the least confidence about how it will shake out. The top 4 are locks, but after that.. do you keep 5? 6? And who? Danny Johnson seems to have the inside track because he's being given the first crack at kick return duties. Torry McTyer is getting a lot of run and seems to be taking advantage of it. Darryl Roberts is a veteran FA acquisition who actually got a decent sized contract, so I wouldn't count him out. And then there's the enigma of Troy Apke... I'm still in denial that he could make the roster again, but the staff still does seem to like his special teams ability and keeps giving him chances. S (5): Collins, Curl, McCain, Everett, Forrest Just missed: Reaves Five safeties isn't normally a given, but given the six solid options we have on the roster, I don't see how we don't at least keep five of them. The first 3 are locks. Everett strikes me as a guy they either cut early to give younger guys a chance and let him catch on elsewhere, or otherwise he will make the roster for his special teams ability and veteran presence. Forrest gets the nod for the 5th spot because he was just drafted in the 5th round. It would pain me to cut Reaves, as I think he has some potential and has a deep coverage skill set that isn't easy to find, but it's a numbers game and he seems to be the odd man out at the moment. ST (3): Hopkins, Way, Cheeseman Just missed: -- Like everyone else, I'd be onboard with some competition for Hopkins. I get the argument that the unit needs to work on timing with a new long snapper but... yeesh. That was ugly.

Yeah my guess is they see him forcing his way onto the roster but they still like Barber for short yardage. So having him as an option as a returner gives him a little more value to justify keeping him as a 4th RB.

Yeah I’m not sure how anyone comes away from what the first team offense did feeling bad about it.

I thought Seals-Jones looked pretty good as a pass catcher. That sideline catch should have counted, looked like he did a good job of dragging his toe to me.