Ken Laird: Some Difficult Roster Decisions

[Oviedo]

PRACTICE SQUAD (Attempted): RB Jonathan Dwyer, WR Tyler Grisham, WR Brandon London, CB Crezdon Butler, DE Sunny Harris, LB Stevenson Sylvester, DE Doug Worthington, TE Eugene Bright


There seems to be an awful lot of good young talent on that PS. I think Sylvester and Butler make the 53. Still on the fence on Dwyer.

"Good talent" means they either never make your practcie squad or they don't stay there as other teams take them.

I really wish this was a two-tier thing where you could have half the PS in a "protected" status which means they can't be grabbed and the other half "unprotected"

I would swap Summers and Dwyer and put Dwyer on the Final 53 and Summers on the PS.

No desire to keep Eugene Bright. What does he offer long term?

[RuthlessBurgher]

I don't understand the P.O.V. of many writers that seem to think Pat Bailey is this invaluable practice squad stud. He was solid as a rookie (awesome hit on a Cardinal return man on the free kick following the safety in the 4th quarter of SBXLIII). But last year, he was virtually invisible on special teams that sucked out loud.

He was only a rookie of the year by default (Mendenhall was injured as a rookie, Sweed was Sweed, Bruce Davis sucked, Tony Hills never dressed, Dixon was an emergency #3 QB, etc.). I don't see any promise in Bailey as a linebacker whatsoever (if he has to play in our regular defense, we are screwed).

Sylvester has outperformed him this training camp and in the preseason games, and offers both special teams ability as well as a potential future as an ILB in our defense. How is this even a debate at this point?

[Oviedo]

I don't understand the P.O.V. of many writers that seem to think Pat Bailey is this invaluable practice squad stud. He was solid as a rookie (awesome hit on a Cardinal return man on the free kick following the safety in the 4th quarter of SBXLIII). But last year, he was virtually invisible on special teams that sucked out loud.

He was only a rookie of the year by default (Mendenhall was injured as a rookie, Sweed was Sweed, Bruce Davis sucked, Tony Hills never dressed, Dixon was an emergency #3 QB, etc.). I don't see any promise in Bailey as a linebacker whatsoever (if he has to play in our regular defense, we are screwed).

Sylvester has outperformed him this training camp and in the preseason games, and offers both special teams ability as well as a potential future as an ILB in our defense. How is this even a debate at this point?

I totally agree. Bailey being rookie of the year that season was like being the skinniest fat person at an obesity convention.

Sylvester has more upside and you should never risk losing that type of player for someone who is basically a journeyman. This also applies to Logan and Summers which is why they both should be cut.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

I don't understand the P.O.V. of many writers that seem to think Pat Bailey is this invaluable practice squad stud. He was solid as a rookie (awesome hit on a Cardinal return man on the free kick following the safety in the 4th quarter of SBXLIII). But last year, he was virtually invisible on special teams that sucked out loud.

He was only a rookie of the year by default (Mendenhall was injured as a rookie, Sweed was Sweed, Bruce Davis sucked, Tony Hills never dressed, Dixon was an emergency #3 QB, etc.). I don't see any promise in Bailey as a linebacker whatsoever (if he has to play in our regular defense, we are screwed).

Sylvester has outperformed him this training camp and in the preseason games, and offers both special teams ability as well as a potential future as an ILB in our defense. How is this even a debate at this point?

I totally agree. Bailey being rookie of the year that season was like being the skinniest fat person at an obesity convention.

I don't think so. Bailey might never shine as a linebacker, but he was very good on special teams that season. He continues to be a very good special teamer who provides some depth at OLB. Certainly, nothing I've seen Jason Worilds do this preseason has shown him to be more ready than Bailey to perform as a backup OLB.

I don't agree that Sylvester has out-performed him on STs. I do agree that Sly has more upside and potential to be an ILB in our system. Problem is, with Farrior, Timmons, Foote and Fox ahead of him, his chances of making a meaningful contribution to our defense this season are slim. While I wouldn't be shocked if Sylvester makes the final 53, I think chances are better that he goes to the PS for this season.

Sylvester has more upside and you should never risk losing that type of player for someone who is basically a journeyman. This also applies to Logan and Summers which is why they both should be cut.

Unless you think you have a team that is capable of winning the Super Bowl. In that case, you may decide that some "journeyman" will be able to make a contribution meaningful enough to risk to risk losing the player with "upside."