Who’s In, Who’s Out: Evan’s 53-man Roster Projection
At the end of this week, the dreams of more than 350 NFL players will be unceremoniously blotted out — temporarily, at least.
Cutdown day for teams to arrive at an initial 53-man roster is fast approaching, with names due to the NFL by 4 p.m. on Saturday. The good news for coaches is that thanks to COVID-19 the training camp roster size was already down from 90 players to 80, so each team will have ten fewer people to let go.
Even better — there’s good news for players as well.
This year because of all the uncertainty around what the season will look like, practice squads have been expanded from 12 to 16 players and the rules concerning eligibility (e.g. the number of veterans) have been relaxed. The purpose is to give teams more backup options should active players start to come down with the virus. The biggest upside of this decision — in addition to giving teams more flexibility during the season — is that only about 352 players will be left without a deal with a team rather than upwards of 800.
If nothing else, COVID has afforded more than 500 players a chance to stick around a while longer with an NFL team. This season, they may have to be ready at a moment’s notice even as practice squad members. Plus, these players will still make at least $8,400 a week on the practice squad. So they’ll be just fine.
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As with all things 2020, however, there is bad news.
Coaches are having to make roster cuts without the benefit of preseason games, which is a massive blow to the evaluation process. Using only what they’ve seen in practices and scrimmages, teams will be faced with even tougher calls than usual when deciding who stays and who goes. The bottom few spots of the roster will likely keep churning in the days before week one thanks to the influx of newly-available players, however, and will continue to do so throughout the season given the youth of the team. Plus as we’ve seen in years past, there are always a handful of surprises come cutdown day who will be signed elsewhere.
Without further adieu, however, let’s jump into who I think will stick (at least through Saturday) on the Dolphins 2020 roster…
OFFENSE:
QB (3): Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tua Tagovailoa (R), Josh Rosen
- Expect rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to take the reins at some point this season, with Josh Rosen sticking around at the very least as an insurance policy against COVID.
RB (4): Jordan Howard, Matt Breida, Patrick Laird, Myles Gaskin
- Both Howard and Breida, options 1A and 1B for the Dolphins backfield this season, have had injuries in the past so this may be a position to monitor even with how well they compliment each other on paper. Gaskin has impressed at camp and Laird has demonstrated solid pass-catching ability, so their numbers may be called in the event of injury to the 1-2 punch of Howard and Breida.
WR (6): Devante Parker, Preston Williams, Jakeem Grant, Isaiah Ford, Malcolm Perry (R), Mack Hollins
- After both of Miami’s top slot receiver options (Allen Hurns and Albert Wilson) opted out of the season, depth at the position looks much less solid especially given Devante Parker’s and Preston Williams’ injury histories. This could be a position that sees a veteran cast aside from another team on Saturday added to the mix. On the plus side, promising young rookie Malcolm Perry may get the chance to play meaningful snaps this year.
TE (3): Mike Gesicki, Durham Smythe, Adam Shaheen
- FB Chandler Cox could have been a consideration here but between Elandon Roberts’ ability to act as a fullback and Cox’s quiet camp, I don’t expect him to stick. I had hoped the team might make a move for OJ Howard in Tampa Bay earlier this year, but it seems likely they’ll stand pat with what they have for week one. Cross your fingers that Gesicki gets enough looks in Gailey’s system and continues his upward trend from last year.
OL (9): Austin Jackson (R), Julien Davenport, Ereck Flowers, Ted Karras, Michael Deiter, Robert Hunt (R), Solomon Kindley (R), Jesse Davis, Danny Isidora, Durval Queiroz Neto (roster exemption)
- Not much to note here either, save for the likely contributions of a whopping three rookies on the line this year. The final spot here, occupied by Danny Isidora, may turn over as the season progresses. For more details on the O-line check out my article from earlier this week.
Credit to @flasportsbuzz with the scoop and he had it first. Jason Taylor hired as co-analyst for Dolphins Radio Broadcasts replacing Bob Griese https://t.co/LbzpcjcBUn
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DEFENSE:
DL (8): Shaq Lawson, Emmanuel Ogbah, Davon Godchaux, Christian Wilkins, Raekwon Davis (R), Zach Sieler, Jason Strowbridge (R), Tyshun Render (R)
- Not much intrigue here, minus my addition of UDFA Tyshun Render to the group. He was my very last pick to make the roster, based primarily off the fact that Miami just released Avery Moss and liked Render enough to give him $65,000 at signing. Benito Jones would be my next best guess to stick with this group should Render draw the short straw given his experience as a 3-4 nose tackle. Ideally, rookies like Davis and Strowbridge will spell the incumbents and starters along the line as the season progresses.
LB (7): Kyle Van Noy, Jerome Baker, Elandon Roberts, Kamu Grugier-Hill, Andrew Van Ginkel, Sam Eguaveon, Trent Harris
- With the trade of Raekwon McMillan, Sam Eguavoen is able to secure a spot on the roster and Trent Harris sticks thanks to his special teams’ experience and time with the team last year. This is a group that I think has a chance to be solid this season, health permitting. I’m excited to see how Grugier-Hill fits in should he get the chance to play a decent share of snaps.
DB (10): Xavien Howard, Byron Jones, Bobby McCain, Eric Rowe, Nik Needham, Noah Igbinoghene (R), Brandon Jones (R), Clayton Fedejelem, Kavon Frazier, Jamal Perry
- Of all the position groups, this is the one I’m most excited to see in action. Given the Dolphins’ emphasis on versatility in the secondary (and on defense in general), it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to break this group separately into cornerbacks and safeties. Expect young talent to contribute early and often this year, and pray that the Dolphins starting CB duo lives up to its price tag between Xavien Howard and Byron Jones. I’d like to see the team keep Tae Hayes over Jamal Perry for the final spot, but my guess is that Perry sticks thanks to his tackling ability and experience playing throughout the defensive backfield.
SPECIALISTS:
K: Jason Sanders
P: Matt Haack
LS: Blake Ferguson (R)
- Ideally, this group will hold it’s own this season and Ferguson will settle in naturally at his position like John Denney did so long ago. Even better, perhaps we’ll get to see something like the Mountaineer Shot again this season from Sanders and Haack.
LAST FIVE IN:
DE Tyshun Render
DB Jamal Perry
LB Trent Harris
OG Danny Isidora
WR Mac Hollins
FIRST FIVE OUT (I won’t try and predict the entire practice squad because of the likely addition of players cut from other teams, but these are a few that I think stand a good chance of being kept in the Dolphins’ back pocket):
CB Tae Hayes
WR Matt Cole and/or WR Kirk Merritt
OL Keaton Sutherland and/or OL Shaq Calhoun
DT Benito Jones
CB Breon Borders
