In our Secondary

[Wesson44]

CB

 

Bowman, Zackary 35 CB 6-1 193 Nebraska

Burgess, Rudy 39 CB 5-10 186 Arizona State

Graham, Corey 21 CB 6-0 193 New Hampshire

Hamilton, Marcus 24 CB 5-11 188 Virginia

McBride, Trumaine 26 CB 5-9 185 Ole Miss

Moore, D.J. * 30 CB 5-8 192 Vanderbilt

Turenne, Woodny * 47 CB 6-1 182 Louisville

Tillman, Charles 33 CB 6-1 198 Louisiana-Lafayette

Vasher, Nathan 31 CB 5-10 187 Texas

 

 

FS/SS

 

Afalava, Al * 46 S 5-11 213 Oregon State

Bullocks, Josh 36 S 6-1 207 Nebraska

Deleston, Dahna * 45 S 6-0 211 Connecticut

Earl, Glenn 32 S 6-1 213 Notre Dame

Manning, Danieal 38 FS 5-11 200 Abilene Christian

Payne, Kevin 44 S 6-0 212 Louisiana-Monroe

Steltz, Craig 20 S 6-1 210 LSU

 

 

Bold are my cuts so far

[SoxFan1]

My predictions:

 

CB:

Tillman

Vasher

Manning

Moore

McBride

Bowman

 

FS:

Graham

Bullocks

 

SS:

Payne

Steltz

[Wesson44]

My predictions:

 

CB:

Tillman

Vasher

Manning

Moore

McBride

Bowman

 

FS:

Graham

Bullocks

 

SS:

Payne

Steltz

imho i think Al Afalava, might stick as McBride might by the odd man out. Moore will take his place better player with more upside(played WR & returned pumts & kicks)about him and Braham bullocks & Afalava fight it out for the FS spot

[bradjock]

imho i think Al Afalava, might stick as McBride might by the odd man out. Moore will take his place better player with more upside(played WR & returned pumts & kicks)about him and Braham bullocks & Afalava fight it out for the FS spot

 

McBride's one of our key special teams players. IMO that gives him an advantage over Afalava. I look for Afalava to start on the practice squad, but the way our safeties get hurt, that won't last long.

[BearSox]

I see either Afalava or Bowman getting the IRedshirt. Probably Bowman because he's inbetween positions right now, is injury prone, and Afalava seems like someone who can make a bigger impact on ST.

[AZ54]

It ocmes down to special teams for the last couple roster spots.

 

I think we have:

 

FS:

Bullocks

Graham

 

SS:

Payne

Steltz

Afalava

 

CB:

Vasher

Tillman

Manning

DJ Moore

Bowman

 

I'm not a big fan of McBride as a CB. His coverage skills are marginal and he's not much of a factor in the running game. McBride played well on special teams as a gunner but we still aren't settled at the safety position so I think Afalava's hard hitting style will catch the coaches eye and warrant keeping his potential around. For Bowman it's more of a challenge. If he stays healthy he's bigger and faster than McBride and I think his athleticism stands out. Yet for both of these players (Bowman, Afalava have to show up on special teams coverage to earn the roster spot. I think they will.

[ParkerBear7]

CB

 

Bowman, Zackary 35 CB 6-1 193 Nebraska

Burgess, Rudy 39 CB 5-10 186 Arizona State

Graham, Corey 21 CB 6-0 193 New Hampshire

Hamilton, Marcus 24 CB 5-11 188 Virginia

McBride, Trumaine 26 CB 5-9 185 Ole Miss

Moore, D.J. * 30 CB 5-8 192 Vanderbilt

Turenne, Woodny * 47 CB 6-1 182 Louisville

Tillman, Charles 33 CB 6-1 198 Louisiana-Lafayette

Vasher, Nathan 31 CB 5-10 187 Texas

 

 

FS/SS

 

Afalava, Al * 46 S 5-11 213 Oregon State

Bullocks, Josh 36 S 6-1 207 Nebraska

Deleston, Dahna * 45 S 6-0 211 Connecticut

Earl, Glenn 32 S 6-1 213 Notre Dame

Manning, Danieal 38 FS 5-11 200 Abilene Christian

Payne, Kevin 44 S 6-0 212 Louisiana-Monroe

Steltz, Craig 20 S 6-1 210 LSU

 

 

Bold are my cuts so far

 

You may be right but without even evaluating these players I think it is very premature to say who who be cut and who will not since training camp has not even started yet.

[defiantgiant]

I'd guess that we definitely keep five corners:

 

Tillman

Vasher

Manning

Moore

McBride

 

...and four safeties:

 

Bullocks

Graham

Payne

Steltz

 

If we keep ten defensive backs, then I think the last spot is a tossup between Bowman, Afalava, and Earl. All three could be safe bets to make it through waivers, so we might keep one of them and stash the other two on the practice squad.

 

As for Marcus Hamilton, I think he's the odd man out: he was crap when he played last season, and we really only picked him up because of injuries at the position. With DJ Moore in the picture, I think Hamilton's gone.

[AZ54]

The injury history at these positions likely means we'll keep 10 DBs IMO.

[madlithuanian]

I bet you're right...

 

This group has so many question and no much to show, I've got a better chance predicting the next Lottery numbers!

 

The injury history at these positions likely means we'll keep 10 DBs IMO.

[defiantgiant]

The injury history at these positions likely means we'll keep 10 DBs IMO.

 

Yeah, I think you're right. And given that Tillman, Vasher, and McBride have all had injury problems, I think that means we keep another CB. Payne, Steltz, Graham, and Bullocks have all been pretty healthy so far in their respective careers. Unfortunately, the choices for that CB come down to Bowman and Hamilton, from the look of things. Bowman has awesome ability, but they'd be taking a huge gamble on his ability to stay healthy. Hamilton hasn't had any injuries as far as I know, but he's a huge downgrade from Bowman in terms of ability.

 

So do we keep an injury risk with talent, or a healthy CB who got exposed badly when he had to play? Neither's an ideal option, but I'm in favor of keeping Bowman, out of the two. If Bowman had to start due to other players being injured, we'd at least get some quality play out of him before his inevitable ligament tear/sprain/explosion. If Hamilton's starting, well, we get the Atlanta game all over again.

[nfoligno]

In an ideal world, I think it would have to be Bowman. When you are talking about the deeper parts of your roster, I think you go w/ the guy w/ more upside.

 

The other side of this is special teams. Who ever gets that final DB slot I think would be expected to play very well on teams, and thus the better DB may not get the gig if he can't show the ability to play teams.

 

Yeah, I think you're right. And given that Tillman, Vasher, and McBride have all had injury problems, I think that means we keep another CB. Payne, Steltz, Graham, and Bullocks have all been pretty healthy so far in their respective careers. Unfortunately, the choices for that CB come down to Bowman and Hamilton, from the look of things. Bowman has awesome ability, but they'd be taking a huge gamble on his ability to stay healthy. Hamilton hasn't had any injuries as far as I know, but he's a huge downgrade from Bowman in terms of ability.

 

So do we keep an injury risk with talent, or a healthy CB who got exposed badly when he had to play? Neither's an ideal option, but I'm in favor of keeping Bowman, out of the two. If Bowman had to start due to other players being injured, we'd at least get some quality play out of him before his inevitable ligament tear/sprain/explosion. If Hamilton's starting, well, we get the Atlanta game all over again.

[BearSox]

Okay, lets see here:

 

CB1: Tillman

CB2: Vasher

Nickle: Manning

FS: Bullocks

SS: Payne

 

Those will be the 5 starters, IMO. That leaves 5 more spots. The following 2 are locks, IMO:

 

-Steltz makes it do to him being able to play both FS and SS and his special teams ability.

-Graham makes the team as the backup FS and dime back (if we ever go to the dime).

 

That leaves 3 open spots for 5 guys with a shot of making the team:

 

-Bowman provides a bigger, more physical corner who makes more sense to backup Tillman. However, he can't stay healty.

-McBride has been a solid backup who has shown special teams ability.

-Moore is a rookie, but if he shows solid special teams ability and a better feel in coverage than McBride and Bowman, they are in trouble.

-Afalava is a rookie as well and his size and speed might make him an intriguing option on special teams.

-Earl would be a safer option for backup SS, but doesn't provide as much ST potential. However, be he got injured, Earl was turning into a good player.

 

I'd say Afalava gets the IRedshirt or PS'ed because of how raw he is and Bowman gets put on either the PS or is IR'ed because he really is injured. Thus, making the final 10:

 

Manning (Nickle), Tillman (CB), McBride (CB), Moore (CB), Vasher (CB), Graham (FS/CB), Bullocks (FS), Payne (SS), Steltz (FS), Earl (S).

[AZ54]

In an ideal world, I think it would have to be Bowman. When you are talking about the deeper parts of your roster, I think you go w/ the guy w/ more upside.

 

The other side of this is special teams. Who ever gets that final DB slot I think would be expected to play very well on teams, and thus the better DB may not get the gig if he can't show the ability to play teams.

 

 

Gotta agree with that concept. At this point in his career Hamilton is a known quantity, he is what he is. Bowman on the other hand still has upside and after only one season if the performance including special teams is close (even if Hamilton is slightly ahead) I'd go with Bowman as long as his work ethic shows his desire to keep improving. With young players you can't just evaluate on abliity at the start of the season but you need to project what their ability will be at the end of the season. Since durability is a concern for Bowman you simply give him more snaps in the preseason games and see how he handles it.