some follow-up (ongoing, I will be adding to it)
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CoachO
the thing that is fascinating to me…the discussion is centering on the 50th, 51st, 52nd and 53rd guys on the roster.
Oh how things have changed. When we are debating who the 9th Defensive Lineman is gonna be,, or who the 6th CB is, to the 9th & 10th Offensive Lineman could end up being.. What does that say about this roster in just 3 short years?
For all intents and purposes, these are the only spots still to be determined, barring some unforeseen change in the makeup of the roster. And this is all before a single Preseason snap has been taken.
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[Laurinaitis losing weight]..I do think it will help him. He appears quicker and that alone should benefit him in coverage. He also seems to be flying to the ball, and has commented on how much easier it is playing behind this d-line has become. He was quoted that he can get to the ball a lot faster not having to fight thru all the traffic this year. … instead of making his initial contact 5 yards from the LOS, being quicker will allow him to get to the spot sooner, and make MORE plays.
I don’t see any situation where a healthy Laurinaitis comes off the field. They have shown hardly any Dime Packages yet, but even then, I don’t see it happening.
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[UDFAs]..From what I can tell so far, the only serious contender to make the roster is Justice Cunningham. Aaron Hill is making a push, and is showing up on a few Special Teams, but its doubtful he can move ahead of Phillip Steward at this point.
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I think the part that gets blown out of proportion when referring to “how bad the CBs have been”, is we are hearing about them as a GROUP, which includes the back end of the unit. If you stick to the top 5 guys, Jenkins, Johnson, Joyner Gaines and McGee, its not early the crisis that many might think.
…my guess is Daniels is the frontrunner to be the 10th guy. I say this because of his involvement on Special Teams. And just as telling to me is the exclusion of many of the other candidates from Special Teams.
I realize as a general rule, teams will more often than not, keep a 6th CB over a 5th Safety. But with McLeod having the ability to slide down into the Nickel if needed, they have enough flexibility to keep that 5th S.
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I get all the commentary about Wells, and his recent injuries. But can we at least let the guy take a live snap in a game before we start to shovel the dirt on his grave. I would imagine that this coaching staff has a pretty good handle on what he is capable of doing.
The injuries he has suffered WHILE a member of the Rams have been sort of flukish. He gets his foot stepped on in the opener in Detroit in 2012. And last year he gets hurt in week 11. Whats so interesting to me, is we are finally “worrying” about who the BACKUPS are going to be, and not fretting over who will we get to start!
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