Safety Watch

[fyo]

I've been playing a bit with a stab at a 53-man roster. It's early, but that's what makes it fun. In the end, I've decided to wait until AFTER Saturday's game to give it a whirl... so the plan is to take a stab after each pre-season game - and hopefully a few others here will join me (or at least (constructively) criticize my attempt!).

One battle for a spot on the 53-man roster that looks VERY interesting to me is at safety. Teams usually carry 3-4 safeties on their final rosters, but with all the fluidity between positions on defense this year, it's hard to predict how many players will wind up at each position on the 53-man roster.

Assuming only 3 safeties, who's the odd man out? Jason Allen and Yeramiah Bell are the starters right now, with Renaldo Hill, Chris Crocker and Keith Davis all pushing for the last spot. Hill is coming off an ACL injury, but was arguably the best safety we had before that. Davis is a special teams standout, which is certainly worth something when looking at these final roster spots. Crocker is listed above Hill in the most recent official depth chart, although Sparano has gone out of his way to say that things WILL change on a daily basis. Still, it gives an indication of where the coaches see Hill and Crocker right now.

[Brian Fein]

I was looking at this this morning as well.  I really like the Bell-Allen starting lineup - A LOT!  But, I expect Hill to be #2, possibly #1, by the end of camp.  Coming off an ACL injury, I can see him starting off slowly.  I don't know much about either Davis or Crocker, but would be interested to see them play.

I think, in the end, they'll keep the "big three" and probably Davis since he plays a big role on ST.  Crocker, unless he lights it up in the next 3-4 weeks, might be the odd man out.