Rosterbation - who are the 53 | 49ers Webzone Forum

DarkKnight1680 · 2013-05-02T10:07:54-07:00

Inspired by the recent article, I was putting together my 53 man roster and decided to share. For those of you that have read my posts over this offseason, you will notice a continuing theme - there is no place on this roster for Donte Whitner, who is very possibly the worst starting safety in the league. On to the List! Offense (25) QB (3): Kaep, McCoy, Tolzien - Scott gets the nod over Daniels. BJ may fit the Kaep scheme better, but the coaching staff has had Tolzien for a while and I think they stick with him. Daniels is a PS possibility. RB (4): Gore, Hunter, James, Dixon - Dixon makes it dure to ST value and potential as a short-yardage guy. UDFA Harper is an interesting option for the PS or as a last man. Lattimore to the PUP, maybe to come off if there is a midseason injury like we saw with Hunter last year. FB (1): Miller - Not much here. WR (6): Crabtree, Boldin, Manningham, Jenkins, Patton, Williams - I think this is a pretty obvious group at this point. The 3 older vets, the 2 young guys, and Williams, who has shown flashes from the slot and adds value in the return game. TE (3): Davis, McDonald, Celek - I wish there was more excitement here but it seems pretty set. OT (3): Staley, Davis, Marquadt - The first surprise here - I have a feeling that the enormous kid from DII is going to impress enough to make the roster. There are not a lot of talented kids that size out there, and if they think he's recovered from his injury and looks good in camp I think they keep him around. Doesn't hurt him that there aren't a lot of other true Tackles on the roster. OG (4): Iupati, Boone, Kilgore, Looney - Two unquestioned starters and two young backups. I don't really see much of a challenge here. C (1): Goodwin - Kilgore could beat him out in camp but I would guess Goodwin remains on the roster unless his play take a huge nosedive Defense (25) DL (7): Smith, McDonald, Dorsey, Carradine, Williams, Dial, Okoye - Niners had 7 D Lineman going into last year and I think thats a safe number. With the expected number of snaps for Smith, Ray, Dorsey, and Tank they can afford to keep some of the young guys around to develop. I think Dial and Okoye have upside that guys like Dobba and Tukafu can't match. OLB (5): Smith, Brooks, Haralson, Lemonier, Johnson - Pretty obvioust hat, barring injury, the first 3 guys will get 90+% of the snaps. Johnson has talent if he's healthy and Lemonier was a high-enough pick to stick around. ILB (4): Willis, Bowman, Skuta, Moody - The 4th spot here is one of the toughest to predict. I took moody due to youth and special teams ability. Could be wilhoite or another. CB (5): Rogers, Brown, Culliver, Asomugha, Cox - Despite their seeming commitment to him, I think the coaches realize that Tramaine Brock is not good enough to play corner in the NFL. He was burned almost every time he stepped on the field. Offenses picked on him and he was powerless. Too many better guys ahead of him. ST value isn't enough to keep him. S (4): Reid, Dahl, Spillman, Robinson - So, no Whitner. I've posted the true stats in other threads, and I'll add them later if people argue too much that he's not a liability. But he needs to go, for salary and football reasons. I would not be surprised to see him go and a FA come in after some cuts happen throughout the NFL. Woodson is also an option. I have Robinson pencilled in for now. Special Teams (3) K (1): Dawson P (1): Lee LS (1): Jennings Not much to argue about with this group. Similar structure to last year. One more LB and one less DB, but those guys are really just ST players anyway. TO me it looks like a terrific roster, with some young upside and a ton of solid veterans. The weaskest point is still the Safety group, but I really believe there is addition-by-subtraction simply by removing Whitner. You may see more CBs on the field in the nivkel/dime situations depending on how things go with Nnamdi. Special teams should be improved, with a umber of good ST guys (Skuta, Moody, Spillman) and an upgrade at kicker. Return duties are up in the air, but expect Williams, Hunter and James to be the main guys. Thats my roster! Have fun picking it apart!

May 2, 2013 at 10:14 AM

Nuns
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Posts: 1,301

Man you really hate Whitner:) He may always hold a warm spot in my heart for that hit against the Saints RB near the goal line.

May 2, 2013 at 10:38 AM

English
Moderator
Posts: 41,395

Why on earth should they keep Okoye on the roster rather than moving him over to the PS. He's British, I am a great supporter. But he has never played the game and will take some development. PS for sure.

May 2, 2013 at 10:40 AM

valrod33
Hall of Small
Posts: 138,117

Originally posted by English:
Why on earth should they keep Okoye on the roster rather than moving him over to the PS. He's British, I am a great supporter. But he has never played the game and will take some development. PS for sure.

This

May 2, 2013 at 10:47 AM

mayo49
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Posts: 65,216

Originally posted by valrod33:

Originally posted by English:
Why on earth should they keep Okoye on the roster rather than moving him over to the PS. He's British, I am a great supporter. But he has never played the game and will take some development. PS for sure.

This

I was going to say.

May 2, 2013 at 10:59 AM

lamontb
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Posts: 33,157

Now we all know Whitner is a liability, but you can't be serious C/s what everybody else has said about Okoye

May 2, 2013 at 11:05 AM

cjsmoove
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Posts: 755

Originally posted by Nuns:
Man you really hate Whitner:) He may always hold a warm spot in my heart for that hit against the Saints RB near the goal line.

THIS^^^^

May 2, 2013 at 11:46 AM

niners9
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Posts: 1,286

I would have to agree with the other posters, Okoye will most likely not make the roster. He is way to raw and can be stored on PS for two years to develop his skills. Also, I agree with you about Whitner but I just don't see us cutting him unless we sign Woodson or put Rogers or Nnamdi back there. We are a SB contender and to have two young guys back their is risky.

May 2, 2013 at 11:48 AM

SolRebe1
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Posts: 13,546

This title to this thread is misleading.

May 2, 2013 at 11:51 AM

hofer36
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Posts: 8,257

we all loved whitner when he knocked out the saints rb in the 2011 playoff game

May 2, 2013 at 11:56 AM

#10

valrod33
Hall of Small
Posts: 138,117

im here to get rosterbated

May 2, 2013 at 12:05 PM

#11

9erReign
StonksKing
Posts: 50,676

Originally posted by valrod33:

Originally posted by English:
Why on earth should they keep Okoye on the roster rather than moving him over to the PS. He's British, I am a great supporter. But he has never played the game and will take some development. PS for sure.

This

He will be elevated to the 53 man with a roster exemption for the London game.

And LOL @ thinking Whitner gets cut.

May 2, 2013 at 12:07 PM

#12

toppdogg32
Veteran
Posts: 6,796

I say Fleming makes it over Johnson, and we keep Whitner (1more yr.), and put Okoye on PSquad..That's my 53..

May 2, 2013 at 12:48 PM

#13

DarkKnight1680
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Posts: 154

I know everyone expects Okoye to make the practice squad, but there is one issue with that: PS players are free agents. If the kid shows any serious promise through minicamps/training camp/etc - and I believe he will - then the media will be hitting that story like crazy. So you get near the end of TC, you've got a 6'6, 300lb, 21 year old, world-class athlete who is showing promise...and you expose him to other teams, just for the sake of keeping around Fleming or McBath or somebody else who has a ceiling of a 3rd stringer? That's not great roster management to me. Teams like to talk about how you need all 53 to win, but you don't. If someone gets hurt, you can add guys (IR/PUP players dont count towards the 53). If this kid shows promise, I think it would be foolish to give every other NFL team free shots at him.

Fleming/Johnson, could go either way...I like Cam better.

Whitner...blegh. I know he'll probably be back, but its seriously Harbaugh's biggest blind spot. The guy can't cover and he's not the sure tackler people want to make him out to be. Get one of the young guys in there and at least have a cheap kid with upside make the mistakes that Whitner is already making.

[ Edited by DarkKnight1680 on May 2, 2013 at 12:55 PM ]

May 2, 2013 at 12:57 PM

#14

English
Moderator
Posts: 41,395

Originally posted by DarkKnight1680:
I know everyone expects Okoye to make the practice squad, but there is one issue with that: PS players are free agents. If the kid shows any serious promise through minicamps/training camp/etc - and I believe he will - then the media will be hitting that story like crazy. So you get near the end of TC, you've got a 6'6, 300lb, 21 year old, world-class athlete who is showing promise...and you expose him to other teams, just for the sake of keeping around Fleming or McBath or somebody else who has a ceiling of a 3rd stringer? That's not great roster management to me. Teams like to talk about how you need all 53 to win, but you don't. If someone gets hurt, you can add guys (IR/PUP players dont count towards the 53). If this kid shows promise, I think it would be foolish to give every other NFL team free shots at him.

Fleming/Johnson, could go either way...I like Cam better.

Whitner...blegh. I know he'll probably be back, but its seriously Harbaugh's biggest blind spot. The guy can't cover and he's not the sure tackler people want to make him out to be. Get one of the young guys in there and at least have a chepa kid with upside make the mistakes that Whitner is already making.

He will still be a long way off by the end of this training camp. And any team who picks him up has to put him on their 53. And at that stage I just don't think he will be anywhere near ready. The guy would have to have an UNBELIEVABLE training camp to justify that. He is, at the least, a two year project and probably longer. For him to make the PS this year would be an amazing achievement.