This practice squad is going to be incredible! (does this post make me a niner addict?)

Originally posted by Willisfn4life:
Won't Okoye have to clear waivers if we let him go to be signed to our practice squad? With his measurables, I'm sure a few teams may look his way.

They would have to put a guy with zero football experience on the active 53. No team can afford that

Originally posted by Rizvi49er:
i think Hampton makes the team and Dixon gets cut.

Dixon is the short-yardage guy. No one else gives us that

I can see Okoye refusing other teams this year. This is a good situation for him and it looks like he has a good enough head on his shoulders to see the long term value of learning from Tomsula. (unless he does really well in the preseason, then all bets are off. but thats unlikely)

I think Robinson will be competing with McBath for the 5th safety spot. McBath brings ST value plus he made a nice play in the SB on the fake field goal, which was a better play than anything Robinson has done. (my personal belief is that Spillman is the most talented backup safety we have at the moment, but im not entirely sold on him as a starter). Hopefully Reid has the versatility to play both strong and free safety.

Just dawned on me that I read 4 pages on our projected practice squad. When does TC start?

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:
Trust me, our practice squad is gonna get raided.

Unlikely. While these guys are talented, few, if any, are ready to play, and teams can only afford so many people on the 53 that aren't yet ready to play. Depending on how he does in pre-season, Lockette is the most likely candidate to get signed away.

We're going to keep our PS guys, but ultimately we'll lose a couple. Over the course of the season, injuries will happen, and most PS guys won't decline an invitation to an active roster. It's a pay increase to go from the PS to the active roster, to potentially the active gameday roster. They can't afford to decline the pay increase, since a lot of these guys don't have a lot of money.

I predict nearly any guy we cut will be snapped up this year. We are starting to look like the farm system for the rest of the NFL. Cannot believe how many guys will get cut that can play. I cannot see us spending a whole year working closely with Okoye, stash him on PS? Just to have another team snap him up and Thank us for getting him 85% there. I think he'll be cut or improbably make the 53 unit.

The term "it's a numbers game" will take on special significance this year.

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:
Could be better than the top 8 active niner players on the 2005 team

They would be starters.

BTW, i think robinson will make the team and will be a starter NEXT year.

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:

Originally posted by Willisfn4life:
Won't Okoye have to clear waivers if we let him go to be signed to our practice squad? With his measurables, I'm sure a few teams may look his way.

They would have to put a guy with zero football experience on the active 53. No team can afford that

Thats what I thought but there are a few cases where it happens. Jimmy Graham and the saints for example. You never know once the season starts, one of the sorrier teams of the league might be like " what the heck, we got to lose?"

Originally posted by LieutKaffee:
I already put Okoye in my official 53 projection, but I'll say it again right here. No way they expose him to waivers.

They were willing to risk another team drafting him.

Our practice squad could beat most of the other teams in the league right now.

Originally posted by JamesGatz83:

Originally posted by LieutKaffee:
I already put Okoye in my official 53 projection, but I'll say it again right here. No way they expose him to waivers.

They were willing to risk another team drafting him.

I think it's evident they were confident that he would not get drafted. Once they see him beast all over the "experienced" rookies they are going to lock him up.

Originally posted by NowImLost:
Moody, Robinson, and Daniels will probably be on the 53 man roster. Lockette, too, depending on if Manningham starts the year on PUP.

1. Lawrence Okoye - DE/DT
2. Luke Marquardt/Carter Bykowski - OT
3. Jewel Hampton/D.J. Harper - RB
4. Marcus Cooper - CB
5. MarQueis Gray - QB/RB/WR/TE
6. Sherman Carter/Patrick Omameh - OL
7. Michael Thomas - S
8. Cam Johnson/Darius Fleming - OLB

Thats my list ...

- This is assuming the top 4 make the 53 man roster and Manningham is on PUP

- I think at least one of Cam or Fleming will be on the squad. Whether they're both cut, or one makes the 53 man roster. I think Cam would be the more likely to bolt, seeing as he supposedly got offers to join other team's roster last year.

IMHO, this list is pretty close. I tend to look at the PS now though as a place to stash players at positions of need in case they are needed during the season, not just developmental guys.

I'll start with the 2 no-brainers...DT Okoye and QB Daniels....IMHO, both need far too much development to actually make the 53 man roster. BTW, I think Gray gets cut. He has no passing skills and unless he comes out of nowhere as an HB or a WR, he ends up out.
I think either Bykowski or Marquardt or Netter makes the 53 as an OT. Whomever can play that swing tackle position the best gets the gig and whomever is second best goes to the PS.
Seems to me that Omameh has more athletic ability than Carter so I'm going with him but he only makes the PS if the OTs don't impress and that is unlikely. The team has pretty good depth at OG already as well. Only room for 1-2 OLmen on the PS so there is stiff competition there.
Both CBs Cooper and Morris make it to the PS because it is an area of need for the Niners and both need more development (and to get stronger)...
I think that WR Jacobs makes the PS because he is very quick and has a lot of return experience and ability. Like Morris, Jacobs is a small school prospect with a great tape.
I agree with you that Fleming makes the team because he can play both ILB and OLB and has pass rush skills. I also think Moody makes the team as a backup LB and ST guy. Both are versatile and are going to be monsters on ST they stick.
Since Cam Johnson was hurt most of last year, unless he impresses a lot in TC, I see him as a PS guy because he also has pass rush skills. He was on the active roster at the end of the year though so his PS eligibility is in question.
RB Harper has a good chance at the PS as well, unless he doesn't impress at all in which case Hampton is back on the PS.

So...my final list looks like this.

QB Daniels
DL Okoye
OT Marquardt or Bykowski
CB Cooper
CB Morris
RB Harper or Hampton
WR Jacobs
OLB/DE C. Johnson (and if he isn't eligible, then both OTs above make it)

Guys like S Michael Thomas, S Trent Robinson, RB Jewel Hampton better make the team because I'm guessing if they don't they are going to get cut. I'm not sure if Robinson has any PS eligibility and the other two are going to get stiff competition.

BTW Zoners, I'm almost certain that Lockette doesn't have any more PS eligibility. He was on Seattle's PS for at least one full year and that was before he came to SF, where he was on the PS last year.

Cheers!

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:
Dixon is the short-yardage guy. No one else gives us that

You.....are correct, sir! Unless Dixon just blows big time in TC, he makes the team. He was excellent on ST last year too.

That practice squad wouldn't survive for very long, teams would poach the hell out of it like none other.

From wiki...

Each NFL team may keep up to eight members on its "practice squad" in addition to the 53-member main roster. They consist mostly of rookies who were cut in training camps and borderline NFL-caliber players. Both rookies and young veterans are eligible for the practice squad. However, a player cannot participate on the practice squad for more than three seasons, he is eligible for a third season only if the team has at least 53 players on its active/inactive list for the duration of that player's employment, or have no prior accrued seasons in the NFL (an accrued season is six or more games on the active roster); or if he has accrued a year of NFL experience on a club's 53-man active roster. If the player was on the active list for fewer than 9 games during their "only Accrued Season(s)", he maintains his eligibility for the practice squad. Games in which a player is listed as the third-string quarterback (a designation that has been abolished as of 2011) do not count as being on the active list.

Practice squad players are free agents; they can be signed to any team's 53-man roster at any time during the season. In other words, NFL teams are free to "poach" other teams' practice squads without compensating the teams.

IMO, Daniels makes the team as the 3rd QB beating out Tolzien (who might fetch a 7th rounder next year on the trade wire) simply because his development and sideline involvement will be better on the 53 roster than on the PS and he can still run the scout team. If Okoye shows enough in OTAs and camp he'll make the PS and I doubt he'll get claimed off waivers as he isn't ready for anyone's game day roster. Give him a year of professional football coaching and development and we'll see what happens. Marquardt is a very interesting prospect who I doubt will make it through waivers. 6'9" 320lb tackles are a rare commodity even if they don't have alot of experience. I expect the Niners will try and put him on the PUP due to his foot injury (he had surgery after the combine) to avoid needing to pass him through waivers until halfway through the season when all other teams have their 53 in place and no chance to develop him early in the season. Once he comes off the PUP he should clear waivers and make it to the PS.

Harbaugh likes to call the PS the "Development Squad" and this year it will definitely look that way. I would expect of the remaining 6 spots (after Okoye and Marquardt) we'll see 2 WRs, 1RB, 2DBs and 1LB. WRs and DBs are for development (given pending need) and RB/LB for scout team looks.