Pre-gaming the Preseason

Long time, no see, dear readers. It is I, Lord Whistleblown, your favourite (?) British NFL writer who is between the ages of 25 and 27 and plays blitz in flag football. I apologise for the lack of posts of late, life has been a bit of a mess, and I didn't find the time to use my trusty (electronic) quill. However, with the preseason coming up, I have once more been struck by analytic genius and have once more picked up said quill.

We know that it is doubtful that we will see any "starters" in the preseason, with the team preferring to use joint practices and training camp to blood this group of players. Who will we see in the games then, and who will play when? Let me hypothesise and give my two pence on who should be a preseason starter, and who will play the garbage-time snaps, as well as listing the "battles" in each position group I'll be looking at.

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Offence:-

QB: I feel like the answer is obvious here. From where I stand, we should give as many reps to Hooker as possible. We know what we have in Kyle Allen; he is an average NFL backup at best. Hendon is the wildcard, and he hasn't had many in-game snaps to develop at the NFL level. With this looking to be a prove-it year for him as our backup, the team should play him as much as possible to give him these reps.

RB: The real battle here is between Reynolds and Vaki for the RB3 role. As with the backup QB competition, it's a tussle between a veteran who is what he is (a real "does what it says on the tin" kind of player) and a relative rookie who needs to grow into his role. Likewise, my thoughts on precedence are that snaps should be given to the wildcard, allowing you to gather as big a sample size as possible to see what you have in him. Behind them, the UDFA/camp signings will act as rotational pieces late in games against the third- and fourth-string defences, with their key snaps being on special teams.

WR: The top four receiver positions are locked in, with the fifth also pencilled for TeSlaa. The team could arguably get away with entering the season with only five receivers on the roster if the numbers game dictates this, using the practice squad to carry a couple of reserves. However, if our seventh-round pick or one of the UDFA signings shows enough both on offence and on special teams, I could see the team taking this standout into the season on the 53. However, none of the rookies possess the skill set we look for in a Z WR, which means that futures signings Ronnie Bell and Malik Taylor will see game time in this role, with the draft picks manning most of the snaps at X and Y (slot). Meeks will be the second-string X, with Tom Kennedy and Keeney-James taking snaps in the slot when Lovett is not on the field.

TE: Shane Zylstra looks to have won the TE3 job again as things stand, seeing off yet another challenger brought in from the outside in Kenny Yeboah, who projects as TE4. With Luke Deal being waived with an injury designation this week, this leaves only these three tight ends to potentially play in the preseason games as things stand, as LaPorta and Wright will be classed as starters. Therefore, the player to watch is UDFA Zach Horton, as if he shows enough in a H-back role, he could knock Yeboah off the initial 53 to a practice squad role, despite currently being below Yeboah on the depth chart for an inline TE.

OT: Despite Skipper and Jamarco Jones arguably being more accomplished and stable tackles at this point, I would give Manu the bulk of LT snaps in the preseason in a similar vein of thought to that I gave for Hooker and Vaki. If we need to rest him, I'd then play Jamarco Jones, as he is the best pass-blocker among our reserve tackles. At RT, Skipper would be the primary choice, backed up by Sorsdal and UDFA Mason Miller. This might seem harsh on Sorsdal, as he is also in a prove-it scenario, but we need some reliability on the offensive line so we can form a fair assessment of our backup QB situation. This means playing Skipper at RT instead of an unproven guy like an FCS UDFA, or an FCS third-year tackle who spent his first year playing guard and his second year as a healthy scratch. This also sets up a potential choice between Skipper and Jones, as if Manu shows enough to potentially unset Skip in his sixth offensive line role, the team might choose to keep Jones as he provides a better floor as a backup tackle in case of injury.

iOL: With Ratledge not playing tomorrow, and Miles Frazier currently injured, the path is open for the "veterans" to get some snaps and prove why they should make the 53 as OL 9/10. The good news for me, as the president of the Netane Muti fan club, is that he has been repping exclusively as the second team LG throughout camp, giving him the leg up on making the roster. I project him to stay in this role in the preseason, taking most of the snaps at LG. At the other guard spot, we know what we have in Awosika, who has been the second team RG in camp. Because of this, I project him to play the fewest snaps of the iOL, allowing us to battle test the more flexible members of this group in Eguakun, Colon and Niese. Given his youth and the comments MCDC has been making about him so far, I project Eguakun to get the first crack at C before sliding to a guard role with the third-stringers (at least for the Hall of Fame game). Next up at C would be Colon, who is the most recent signing and therefore is still a bit of a wildcard. Lastly, it would be the practice squad incumbent Niese, who, like Awosika, will be well-known to the team and therefore is the person least in need of snaps in my opinion. It is this center battle that I will be watching, as if Eguakun wins it, this would mean a veteran like Muti or Awosika is more likely to make the roster to provide some experience in the backup interior room, compared to a less experienced player like Colon.

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Defence:-

ED: This group is a bit of a mess to project, with both starters definitely not playing, and arguably the top 3 backup options for the big end role currently unavailable due to injury (Paschal, Levi, and Wingo). Therefore, the battle for this spot is perhaps one of the most important to be decided in preseason, as this player could feasibly be playing at least 40% of snaps come the regular season. Veteran Pat O'Connor is the leader in the clubhouse for snaps at big end, though I project former UDFA Nate Lynn starting in this role tomorrow given the iDL roomn, allowing him to build on what was a good offseason last year before his injury to potentially earn a spot at the bottom of the 53 if he also shows some promise on special teams. Behind them, UDFA Keith Cooper Jr. could play some garbage time snaps as needed, with camp signing Raequan Williams rotating in if needed. While Muhammad is arguably the best edge rusher on the roster, I would once again let the young wildcard in Hassanein rep ahead of him to give him the largest chance of development in game time. Behind them in the rush end spot come Agude and Ukwu, both of whom hung around last year on the practice squad and have a chance of making the practice squad again if they play well.

iDL: As with the edge group, the two projected starters are likely not to play tomorrow in the Hall of Fame game, with Reader a definite no for preseason game snaps. Therefore, while I project Tyleik to play some 3T in the rest of the preseason games, I believe that O'Connor is the best man to play this role in the preseason, which presents a bit of a conundrum given he is also the best man to play the big end role as well, hence why I project Lynn to start at the big end while Tyleik is not playing. Behind Tyleik and O'Connor, the aforementioned Cooper and Raequan Williams will likely get snaps as they fit the interior pass rush that this role demands. At the 1T, Lopez will be the starter if he is fully healthy, backed up by the incumbents Martin, Smith, and Adams. The battle I will be watching here is between Martin and Smith, as I think they are competing for one practice squad spot. I'd honestly give the edge to Smith right now, given their level of play, but I can see the team playing Martin ahead of him to give him more snaps to prove himself, given his draft pedigree.

LB: As I mentioned on Monday's podcast, the battle I will be watching most in this room in the preseason is for the backup SAM role, as I feel the other linebacker spots are pretty much sewn up. Campbell, Anzalone, Barnes, Stuard, and Cunningham are all on the 53, with Malcolm heading to IR. Therefore, given how important the SAM role is to our defensive scheme, and given the background of our new defensive coordinator, we need a backup to Barnes if he goes down to injury again. For this role, it might come down to what kind of backup the team prefers. Nowaske is the better of the two on defence, while Pittman offers more on special teams (he led the team in special teams snaps in the first three years of the regime after all). I'd side towards Nowaske personally (hence why I list him ahead of Pittman), but it is a tight competition. Aside from the SAM role, Stuard and Cunningham will split time at MIKE, with Cunningham taking the majority of the WILL snaps beside Stuard before sliding to MIKE in the rotation, allowing Turner and Gilbert onto the field at the WILL.

CB: Corner is another position that is pretty much sewn up for me, with the main battle being for a temporary CB6 spot while Dorsey is out injured. The three starters, last year's second-rounder in Rakestraw, and Rock Ya-Sin are all roster locks for me as things stand, meaning that Russell, Bootle, Whiteside and camp surprise Erick Hallett are all fighting for that last spot. I project Rakestraw and Ya-Sin to be the starters on the outside in preseason, but behind that, it's hard to project who will be the next men up, so I have listed them in order of when they signed with the team as a sort of pseudo-seniority. In the nickel, Maddox is the first man up, sliding down from his starting FS spot, backed up by Norris and Hallett, though the latter two are projections based on skillset, so I could be completely wrong.

S: Safety seems an easier group to project on defence, with our superstar duo not taking a snap. This means free agent signing Avonte Maddox will be the starter at free, with Morice Norris looking to be the starter at strong. Behind Norris will presumably be Hallett and Strickland based on their skill sets. However, it is the battle between the backup free safeties that intrigues me most, as if I were to create a 53 projection right now, I'd be taking one of these two as they would offer the best backup to Kerby if anything happened to him, while Maddox is a better Branch backup given his positional versatility. Right now, I give the edge to Dan Jackson, given his draft pedigree, but I wouldn't be shocked if the athletic upside of Kennelly wins out if he plays better in preseason. I also wouldn't be shocked if all five potential S4 candidates play well, and we enter Week 1 with them all either on the 53 or on the practice squad.

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Special Teams:-

K/P/LS: Nothing to say here. The incumbents are here to stay, and long may that continue.

KR/PR: The punt return job is still Kalif's this year, but given his veteran status, and that his contract is up at the end of this season, the team should use this as a chance to experiment and see how else on the roster is return-capable. The same goes for the kick return job, which is currently held by Reynolds in principle, but I could also see other players fielding kicks to see if they can do any better. Some candidates to take returns in the preseason are Lovett, Keeney-James and Small, though I wouldn't be surprised to see Stuard bring one in based on reports out of camp.

Gunners: Our best gunner in Khalil Dorsey is out injured, so this is a prime time to test the other players at the bottom of the roster to see who could fill in for him, and potentially partner him when he comes back from his injury. Some potential partnerships for the preseason are the WR duo of TeSlaa and Lovett, and the DB duo of Ya-Sin and Maddox.

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To make things easier to see and aid your preseason viewing, here is a brief depth chart of who I expect to play over the preseason games and in what order, based on the current roster at the time of publication.

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What do you think? Do you agree with my assessments of the position groups and my rankings within them?

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