August Madness: What 53 will make it?

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August Madness: What 53 will make it?

By Edgar Thompson | Saturday, August 23, 2008, 09:18 AM

A week from today, the Dolphins will cut their roster to 53 players.

Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland are ahead of the game. Following the release of WR David Kircus and CB Chris Roberson, the team has 71 players on the roster, or nine below the maximum allowed in training camp and four below the 75-player roster limit teams must meet by Tuesday.

Tonight against Kansas City, a number of players will be looking to give Parcells and Ireland pause. Others hope to maintain their position on depth chart, earned through four weeks of training camp.

Some players’ last hurrah will be Thursday night at New Orleans, when coaches will rest starters and let the back-ups play the whole game.

When the dust settles, there will be - to use Tony Sparano’s favorite phrase lately - some tough decisions to make.

Like the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee in March, the Dolphins’ brass and coaches will painstakingly whittle the field down to the magic number.

They will be locks (RB Ricky Williams), long shots (CB Will Billingsley) and ones with no chance of making it (LB Maurice Fountain). There are Cinderellas from faraway places (WR Davone Bess of Hawaii) and feel-good stories (25-year-old rookie Anthony Armstrong) vying for the same spot.

There are players on the bubble who have a selection committee member pulling for them (TE Sean Ryan, a former Parcells draft pick).

Some things might change, but heading into the third pre-season games here’s the 53 who should make it - and why some players shouldn’t.

But even the ones who slip in could be gone before long as the Parcells and Ireland churn the back-end of the roster by combing the waiver wire.

QB: Chad Pennington, Chad Henne, Josh McCown.

Last one out: John Beck. If Pennington goes down and Henne isn’t ready, who would you rather have under center? Plus Beck, the No. 40 pick in the 2007 draft pick, offers more trade value than McCown, a six-year veteran of four teams who is a known commodity, not someone who can be developed.

RB: Ricky Williams, Ronnie Brown, Patrick Cobbs, Jalen Parmele.

Last one out: Lex Hilliard. The team should keep four RBs, meaning Parmele sticks. The rookie from Toledo shows promise as a runner, while Cobbs is a more complete player who excels on special teams. Hilliard, meanwhile, should be a lock for the eight-man practice squad.

FB: Boomer Grigsby.

Last one out: Reagan Mauia. The incumbent at fullback has dropped too many passes during camp and simply doesn’t have Grigsby’s balls skills or fluidity. Grigsby also loves to blow people up in special teams.

TE: Anthony Fasano, David Martin, Justin Peele.

Last one out: Sean Ryan. Ryan’s ties to Parcells might save him, but Martin is a more talented player and Peele a more complete one. Ryan, who dropped a pass last week in Jacksonville, needs a big week to stick.

WR: Derek Hagan, Ted Ginn Jr., Ernest Wilford, Greg Camarillo, Davone Bess.

Last one out: Anthony Armstrong. Some have suggested Wilford get the ax, but he’s not dropping the ball like he did the first two weeks of camp and has the size (6-4, 218) and experience to body up on a defender and get open on key third downs. Armstrong, an ex-Arena Football League player and possibly the Dolphins’ best deep threat, is quite a find and a lock for the eight-man practice squad.

OL: Vernon Carey, Samson Satele, Justin Smiley, Jake Long, Donald Thomas, Trey Darilek, Shawn Murphy, Matt Spanos, Ikechuku Ndukwe.

Last one out: Daren Heerspink. Heerspink could slip in before Murphy or Spanos. But Murphy was a fourth-round pick and Spanos is the team’s back-up center, though Darilek has some experience there.

DL: Jason Ferguson, Vonnie Holliday, Kendall Langford, Phillip Merling, Randy Starks, Paul Soliai, Rodrique Wright.

Last one out: Lionel Dotson. Sparano wants to stockpile defensive linemen, but can’t keep everyone. A seventh-round pick, Dotson is headed to the practice squad.

LB: Channing Crowder, Akin Ayodele, Joey Porter, Matt Roth, Reggie Torbor, Charlie Anderson, Edmond Miles, Quentin Moses.

Last one out: Rob Ninkovich. Ninkovich has some NFL experience, but he doesn’t offer the upside of Moses or the special teams prowess of Miles.

CB: Will Allen, Andre Goodman, Michael Lehan, Nathan Jones, Joey Thomas.

Last one out: Will Billingsley. The perfect candidate for the practice squad, Billingsley is lightning fast but raw.

S: Yeremiah Bell, Jason Allen, Chris Crocker, Renaldo Hill, Keith Davis.

Last one out: Courtney Bryan. Bryan made the team last season, but the Dolphins upgraded the position with Crocker, who can also play cornerback, and Davis, a special teams demon with Parcells ties.

Special teams: K Dan Carpenter, P Brandon Fields, LS John Denney.