No real surprises. A few interesting notes though:
1. Chris "The Predator" Horton was cut. He came in to the league as a relatively unknown 7th rd pick out of UCLA. He was forced into action as a rookie because of injury and played very well receiving national attention including I believe NFC defensive player of the week or month or something like that. Looked like we had found a late round gem. However, the guy had some injuries and never seemed like the same guy after that rookie campaign. Looked a bit chubbier too and just seemed slow. Not a real surprise that he is gone.
2. H.B. Blades cut. Guy came into camp flabby and out of shape. With the addition of Fox and Riley in his second year, Blades didn't have much margin for error. Disappointing given that Blades was not a starter and never was guaranteed a roster spot so for him to come into camp out of shape is just dumb.
3. Anthony Bryant cut. A little surprised here. The Skins opted to go with Chris Neild. I liked the way Bryant played when he was in there last season. If Neild won the job then so be it.
4. The Skins will go with 2 QBs. It's Rex and Becks. Hopefully we don't lose both QBs in one game. It's unlikely but you never know but I'm good with the decision.
5. We'll carry 8 receivers. Guys like Banks and Austin came on strong so the decision was made to carry 8 of them. I think it was clear that Moss, Gaffney, Armstrong, and Hankerson were pretty much locks to make the squad. Austin had a great preseason and Banks really secured his spot with the punt return for a TD in the last preseason game. Little surprising that Stallworth and Paul made the squad but Stallworth is a solid vet and Paul apparently had a good camp. We'll see if all these guys stay on the team all season.
We have our final 53 and now it's time for the regular season.
HAIL SKINS!!!
2 comments:
Nothing surprising that I can see. The only thing that may be a bit odd is that they kept 8 wide receivers. That is fairly unusual and I don't think that it is because they have 8 really great players. I think most of their corps is pretty pedestrian. I expect that they will make some changes in coming weeks and get rid of one or two of the receivers and pick up other guys (offensive linemen).
The surprise to me was that Rex is the starting QB. I was sure that Beck was going to be the Shannies' man. Good choice in my opinion and now I think they will go a respectable 8-8. If they had gone with Beck I would have said 4-12.
It's a solid corps. It's certainly stronger than what we had last season. I like Moss and I think Gaffney will be a good possession receiver. Armstrong always seemed like a #3 and more of a deeper threat.
Hankerson has all of the physical tools to be good but needs to appreciate the pro game and how lucky he is to be at this level.
Banks is there only as a return man.
Austin is a good special teamer and can be a solid WR if called into action.
I don't know much about Paul other than he impressed in camp.
Stallworth is a solid vet and can be deep threat.
As mentioned and as you said, I don't expect to keep all of these guys all season so we'll see what happens.
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