With mandatory minicamp set to begin, we need to squeeze in a quick look at my first pass at the projections for the defensive side of the ball and make a couple of updates.
| DEFENSIVE ROSTER PROJECTION | ||||
| Pos | Starter | Backup | Practice Squad | Miss The Team |
| CB1 | Leon Hall | Nate Clements | Brandon Ghee | Terence Newman, |
| CB2 | Dre Kirkpatrick | Shaun Prater | ||
| CB3 | Jason Allen | Adam Jones | ||
| FS | Reggie Nelson | Jeromy Miles | Tony Dye | Robert Sands, |
| SS | Taylor Mays | George Iloka | ||
| OLB1 | Manny Lawson | Dontay Moch | Vincent Rey | Dan Skuta, Emmanuel Lamur, Micah Johnson, Grant Hunter, Brandon Joiner |
| ILB | Rey Maualuga | Vontaze Burfict | ||
| OLB2 | Thomas Howard | Roddrick Muckelroy | DeQuin Evans | |
| DE1 | Carlos Dunlap | Robert Geathers | Derrick Harvey | |
| DE2 | Michael Johnson | Jamaal Anderson | ||
| DT1 | Domata Peko | Devon Still | ||
| DT2 | Geno Atkins | Pat Sims Brandon Thompson |
Nick Hayden | |
A few thoughts on these projections:
LB: The call of Skuta missing the team was not one of my finer moments. Lamur got a few nice comments during OTAs, but I still can’t see the kid bouncing someone from their spot.
CB: I am still skeptical of comments that Clements will not make the team. Ghee got a little bit of praise at the end of OTAs last week. Could the light finally be going on for him?
S: The lack of depth here still makes me nervous. Are all four guys who make the squad in September on the roster right now?
DL: Wow. Just wow.
I might (probably am) wrong here but how is Derrick Harvey eligible for the practice squad? He’s already had 3 full active NFL seasons with the Jags and part of one with Denver?
Based on what I’ve read, I don’t see how Terrence Newman misses the cut. I think it’s more likely that Shaun Prater ends up on the Practice Squad. I also don’t see Dre Kirkpatrick starting with Hall, Clements, Allen, and Newman all on the team. He may be the nickel guy, or ease his way into starting over the course of the season, but not from day one (which is a good thing). Ghee may have gotten some praise recently, but I have yet to see one single reason why he’s not a bust as a 3rd rounder. I don’t know if he makes the team.
You are right that Newman has gotten some good talk, and he is one of a few who will be moving around when I post a new version of these projections after minicamp. (This one is just a re-post of the one I did about a month ago, when I was pretty skeptical of Newman.)