The St. Louis Rams, and the rest of the league for that matter, have some decisions to make between now and Tuesday when rosters have to be trimmed from 80 to 75 players. Prediction-wise, there are enough guys on the bubble to make it tough to identify five players most likely to get their walking papers.
The PD runs down the roster by position, speculating what players are on the bubble. Using that list, we can go through a few spots, assess what we do know and try to make a guess ourselves.
QB - With Bulger unlikely to play against Kansas City next week and the third QB battle still to be determined, there's no way those guys feel the scissors before the September 5 deadline to trim rosters to their final 53-man incarnations.
RB - The PD says Gado is safe, and that sounds about right. Darby could have easily played himself onto the cut list, but since he was recently pegged to be the main backup to Steven Jackson, the coaches may still want to let him and Pittman battle it out in the last preseason game. Word is that the team would like to quietly stash 7th round pick Chris Ogbonnaya on the practice squad without other teams getting much chance to see what he can do. FB Jerome Johnson seems like he could be ready to leave.
WR - Lots of questions still to be answered here. Putting Brooks Foster on IR frees up a spot, and I can't imagine his return would have much of an impact on the Rams mid-season.
OL - Lots of cuts that can made here. I hardly recognize some of those names.
DL - I can't believe that Gary Gibson's on the bubble given his strong play. He unseated Adam Carriker for a starting DT spot. Big man Hollis Thomas probably battling his own weight for a spot, but he did well playing some with the starters against the Bengals this week. I wonder what Spags and Flajole think of C.J. Ah You...
LB - Could undrafted rookie K.C. Asiodu get consideration for the practice squad? The Rams seem thin enough at the position that they could stash a guy there...or look for other roster casualties.
DB - It seems like an early cut or two could easily come from this group, especially since guys that will stay on the roster still have lots to prove.
And now for some links...
- The Arizona Cardinals starters didn't have such a great night.
- Do you think defensive coordinator Ken Flajole being in the booth this week helped the defense, especially rookie MLB James Laurtinaitis, adjust better? Hard not to think that it made a difference.
- CB Justin King has a thumb injury...not serious.