As we await the final cuts, let’s take a look at what has happened and what is going on in AA land.
The Rams game was interesting, but mostly forgettable except for the players competing for jobs.
Pluses:
Brodie Croyle: Brodie’s decision making is much improved over last year. He is developing. Hopefully, he will continue to grow during the regular season.
Jamaal Charles: This scatback showed that he could be a nice addition to the Chiefs‘ offense.
Mike Cox: We may have found a decent FB who shows some receiving ability. All this from a undrafted rooking free agent.
Misses:
Tyler Thigpen: Tyler has shown that he is not ready for the NFL. Can he develop during the year or is he finished?
Devard Darling: Were you even in training camp? Your time here has been very forgettable so far. Hopefully, you will show why you are in the NFL during the regular season.
Thoughts on some roster spot battles:
Kicker: This news has already broke. It’s going to be Novak. I was leaning towards Connor based on better kickoffs, but it’s really not a big deal. No one really stood out. I would not be surprised if this is not the final word on Chief kickers this year.
Running back: How many do we keep? Already there are AA calls to trade LJ or trade Kolby. My thought is to keep both of them. Charles and Savage are not every down backs and I am not sold on Battle.
Wide Receiver: Well, all it took was one, count it ONE catch (nice route, nice pass) for the Sippio fanatics to get all excited again. That sound you heard last night was the sound of the Sippio bandwagon driver climbing back on board and trying to run over Price. I still see Sippio as the odd man out.
Returner: Wow, this one got another spin last night when Sams outplayed Savage. What do you do? Sams is hurt; could that be the reason to cut him? Do we keep both and carry this into the regular season? I wasn’t all that concerned about Savage stepping out of bounds again Miami. However, the fumble against the Rams bothers me. I still would keep Savage and cut Sams.
What are your thoughts on the battles?
Merlin
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2 things… On Thiggy, I wasn’t suggesting that he’s a ready for prim time QB but he defianantly is a third stringer on this team and probably several other teams in this league.
Kickers: I’m not sure where your getting your #’s but NFL.com shows the stats as follows
Kickoffs) Barth: 4 games 8 ko’s and 7 returns for a 60.8 yrd avg. and a 24.9 yrd net no touchbacks
Novac: 4 games 7ko’s and 7 returns for 65.6 yrd avg and a 29.1 yrd net, also with no touchbacks.
But add in a few games of experience and well we end up with Novac, of the 2 I would have kept Novac too. And I know we all remember the last time we went into a season with a rookie kicker with NO game experience.
you cant shop kolby smith around when he hardly has a name for himself anyway, if he had a breakout season like LJ did back in the day, or like a michael turner season, where he is just a really solid back up maybe at the end of the year.
But we dont even know if LJ will be 100 percent all season, how old is LJ? If he is close to 30 thats pretty much the “done age,” as i call it for running backs. Especially in recent years.
Keep Kolby because he could be a starter, did anyone else notice last year how we had such a bad line but yet kolby was more productive than LJ in the games he played when he wasnt hurt? LJ obviously loves the money and not the game…..but Ive always been a priest fan more than an LJ fan so I am a little bias of course.
Cox could be our tony richardson.
I agree about thigpen, but you know herm wont cut him, and you know he wont sign a quarterback like beck. Thigpen is obviously terrible, so croyle doesnt have to worry about him taking his job, same with huard. Im sure croyle is so fragile that if herm wouldve drafted a qb or if even he signs a qb croyle will go back to his old ways, croyle obviously is no good with having competition, we saw that last year.
It stinks about the kicker situation, i just hope connor doesnt go off and become something great for our sake, im sick of this kicker situation in general, mort needs to come outta retirement!
Savage stays and Sams goes. Even with our RB situation. Savage wants it to bad, i just hope it carries on into the preseason, if we cut him someone WILL pick him up.
Sippio is more like a redzone receiver and thats it, he can not do much else, but that is something we do need, esp with our kicker problems. But what about maurice price?!?! I say he gets to step up and make the team. When he has been given the ball he has done good things with it.
LJ is 30 in november!!
point proven, go here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=nfldk2k830rbs
It’s hard to argue your points merlinj.
DVD needs to go unless there was some ulterior motive on the part of the coaching staff to keep him under wraps during the preseason in order to sandbag the Patriots or something like that. So far he has ZERO catches.
I preferred Barth as well for the same reason on the length of his kickoffs, but you are probably right about this not being the end of the story here.
I have no idea what’s going to happen with RB’s – but I was glad to hear Carl say it’s possible they’ll keep them all. Obviously, that means one ends up on the practice squad. If they only keep four, I think Savage is the odd man out as he has made more mental mistakes than Battle as well as Battle is the better phyisical specimen.
I’ve also heard talk of using Charles for returns – which he did some at Texas, and in order to get him enough game touches. If that happens, both Sams and Savage could be gone.\
I think Bowe, Franklin, Webb and Price have made the team for sure… leaving Sippio and DVD. If I’m right, DVD has given us NO reason to keep him – and while Sippio only has a few catches – two of them were for TD’s. Regardless of the talent he was on the field with, that’s still two TD’s more than DVD. I’d rather keep the guys who actually have been producing than give a spot to someone who has not demonstrated any reason to be here.
DVD didn’t have any catches because he was only targeted twice and both passes were well off-target. I’m getting really sick of all the DVD bashing. Bowe had all of two or three catches all preseason and actually dropped a couple of easy passes. Is anyone claiming we should dump the self-proclaimed Mr. Awesome? No. Because its the friggin preseason.
CurtMerzFan:
I guess I have to add you to the group of people that put WAY too much stock into preseason games. All these arguments for getting rid of DVD are ridiculous. If DVD was at all in danger, they would have made him prove something, instead of trotting him out for a series or two with the first team, and calling it good. And no, both Sams and Savage are not going to be cut. Like I said before, DVD doesn’t have to give “us,” as in the fans, any reason to stay or go, if the coaches are happy with him, then I’ll leave it until the season.
Thank you Sudden, I guess your my wingman today.
Sudden said:
“DVD didn’t have any catches because he was only targeted twice and both passes were well off-target. I’m getting really sick of all the DVD bashing.”
And why did he only get a couple of passes thrown to him? Part of being a WR is getting open. That’s the reason Sippio (probably) won’t make the team and if Darling can’t do it, he won’t be around long either.
The other part is a quarterback being accurate. Brodie Croyle overthrew DVD on both targets, and he horribly underthrew Bowe on a fade that should have been six last night. Those are just a few examples off the top of my head.
This Darling bashing is getting out of hand. Man…
I dont think expecting DVD to show us something even if it IS the preseason is placing too much importantance on the preseason… and pointing out DVD hasn’t made a catch is not bashing. It’s a statement of fact. If the choice comes down to Sippio or DVD – I’m still going to pick the guy who has produced. LIke I said in post #4, unless the coaching staff has been keeping him under wraps to sandbag the Pats… I dont see why we should keep him over any of the other WR’s.
Especially looking at their careers up to this point; Sippio versus DVD. Sippy was in the AFL, but had many a highlight-reel catch in his day. He also had WAY (notice the emphasis, Bry?) more catches than DVD has had in his Baltimore stint. If you can’t average 10 catches a year, in a 4 year time-span, I don’t want you as my #2. Plain and simple, there you go. Get back to me when you find the numbers that show DVD did indeed make 10 catches a season in Balty, (not counting any catches made in the ‘meaningless’ pre-season’) and I’ll bow down to your feet.
Like I said in another thread, I’m not putting stock into previous stats, I’m a here and now person, great job in a different league, you want to compare college stats also, how about high school. I’ll delay judgement until the season starts.
Since you want to bring up previous years, last year was DVD’s best season, 18 catches 326 yards and 3 tds, which correct me if I’m wrong, he got those playing against superior talent, not the rejects in the AFL. I like to think he is starting to come into his own, not living off of something he did in another league.
Sippio has done much more than Darling has this preseason, regardless of the reason. He’s got 74 yards, five catches and two TDs on DVD’s statistical donut. And this is coming from someone who has been standing up for DVD.
Just out from Gretz:
Here’s the list. Some go to IR and other lists. Details to come:
OFFENSIVE LINE: C Rob Smith, G Travis Leffew, G Edwin Harrison, T Anthony Alabi, T Will Svitek and G Tre Stallings
FULLBACK: Chris Manderino
TIGHT END: Michael Allan and Michael Merritt
WIDE RECEIVER: Kevin McMahan, Sergiori Joachim, Jabari Arthur and Bobby Sippio
DEFENSIVE LINE: DE Jason Parker, DE Johnny Dingle and DT Derek Lokey
LINEBACKERS: E.J. Kuale, Steve Octavien and LeRue Rumph
DEFENSIVE BACKS: CB Rashad Barksdale and S Khayyam Burns
SPECIAL TEAMS: PK Connor Barth
Sip is gone. Looks like Macho Man made it.