53-Man Survivor: Update 3, 8.22.06

It’s halfway through training camp. The battles for some roster spots appear to be nearing an end while others will have the coaches up late right up until the final cuts Here, WarpathInsiders.com fearlessly predicts who will survive the dreaded Turk and emerge as one of the final 53 men standing along with a look at whose stock is rising and whose is falling.

FINAL 53 MAN ROSTER – LATEST PREDICTION

OFFENSE

QB’s (3) – Mark Brunell, Jason Campbell, Todd Collins

RB’s (3) – Clinton Portis, Ladell Betts, Jesse Lumsden

FB’s (3) – Mike Sellers, Rock Cartwright, Manuel White Jr,

WR’s (5) – Santana Moss, Brandon Lloyd, Antwaan Randle El, David Patten, James Thrash

TE’s (3) – Chris Cooley, Christian Fauria, Robert Johnson

OL (9) – Chris Samuels, Derrick Dockery, Casey Rabach, Randy Thomas, Jon Jansen, Mike Pucillo, Tyson Walter, Ikechuku Ndukwe, Spencer Folau

DEFENSE

DL (8) – Renaldo Wynn, Andre Carter, Cornelius Griffin, Phillip Daniels, Joe Savale’a, Demetric Evans, Anthony Montgomery, Cedric Killings

LB’s (7) – Marcus Washington, Warrick Holdman, Lemar Marshall, Rocky McIntosh, Jeff Posey, Khary Campbell, Spencer Havner,

CB’s (5) – Shawn Springs, Carlos Rogers, Kenny Wright, Ade Jimoh, Mike Rumph

S’s (4) – Sean Taylor, Adam Archuleta, Pierson Prioleau, Reed Doughty

SPECIAL TEAMS

LS (1) – Ethan Albright

K (1) – John Hall

P (1) – David Lonie

Players in bold italics have been added since last roster prediction

Removed since last prediction: Jonta Woodard (OL), Kedric Golston (DL), Chris Clemons (LB), Dimitri Patterson (DB).

LAST 5 ON	LAST 5 OFF
Robert Johnson TE	Buck Ortega TE
This position is new to the “Last 5 on and off List”. It’s reared its head due to the struggles Robert Johnson has had so far in preseason and on the back of some nice plays by Buck Ortega. Johnson dropped passes in the preseason opener and failed to impress with some poor blocking. Ortega on the other hand has shown flashes of big play potential. The former Hurricane is light for a TE (227lbs) but has deceptive speed and has shown the knack to get deep and get open across the middle resulting in a TD against the Jets and a big pass play late in the Bengals game. Johnson holding on by the slimmest of margins.
Spencer Havner LB	Robert McCune LB
We know for sure that Marcus Washington, Lemar Marshall, Warrick Holdman, Rocky McIntosh and Khary Campbell are safe. This leaves the other two LB spots up for grabs. The addition of Jeff Posey seems likely to reduce that to one open spot. Chris Clemons has been waived and Kevin Simon can’t get on the field, so that leaves the battle between two players - Spencer Havner and Robert McCune. Havner right now has the upper hand as McCune struggles for consistency.
Ikechuku Ndukwe G	Jasper Harvey C/Kili Lefotu G
Three young players with plenty of upside who the coaches are high on would be battling for the last spot on the OL. Ndukwe has been under Joe Bugel’s wing for two years now and the coaching staff is high on this young project so he gets the nod for now. We’re still waiting for someone to breakout in this group.
Cedric Killings DT	Kedrick Golston DT
Talk about topsy turvy , Golston had a very good first week of camp but in the first two preseason games Killings drew special mention from Gregg Williams for how he played at the point of attack. This IS close!
Manuel White FB	Nehemiah Broughton FB
We didn’t see much of Manny White against the Jets but he had a fine game against the Bengals. Nemo on the other hand had a fumble against the Jets which will put him further in the doghouse. I now expect White to win this battle. However, both could make it if Jesse Lumsden fails to impress and Rock Cartwright is moved back to RB.

THE SKINS STOCK MARKET

RISING STOCKS

1. WR Mike Espy – Despite dropping three or four catchable passes against the Jets he still has shown great speed and route running. Still a lock for the PS at this stage.
2. CB Mike Rumph – He was the butt of everyone’s jokes in San Francisco but after the Jets game its easy to see why he was chased by the defensive coaches. The kid has talent, hits and tackles hard. It just needs to be coached – and who better than Williams and Gray?
3. P Derrick Frost – It’s obvious Gibbs likes the guy. What more can you say.

FALLING STOCKS

1. LB Robert McCune– In Dale Lindsey’s own words…..”He's not where we want him. Robert turned out to be a good special teams players last year, and if you're backup linebacker here we expect you to be a good in that area. But we expect him to rise this year when he's playing middle linebacker. And right now, I don't see him where we want him.” After a good first preseason game, McCune slipped back again against the Jets. Needs some consistency.
2. OT Jim Molinaro – just doesn’t look to have improved his game to the level where he would be considered a solid NFL backup tackle, now he’s injured and unable to compete and to cap off a good couple of weeks, the Skins signed his replacement in Spencer Folau.
3. LB Kevin Simon – a seventh round pick who can’t get on the field due to injury in a group that boasts the best combined talent on the team is bad news.

THE PRACTICE SQUAD PREDICTION

Here’s my final 8 man practice squad prediction, assuming the 53 man roster I posted above is the final one and initial cut players are still available…..

1.                  LB Kevin Simon

2.                  DT Kedrick Golston

3.                  OL Kili Lefotu

4.                  OL Jasper Harvey

5.                  LB Robert McCune

6.                  FB Nehemiah Broughton

7.                  WR Mike Espy

8.                  CB Christian Morton

Changes from last prediction listed in bold italics. Removed from list DT Manaia Brown and CB John Eubanks

Check back for regular updates as camp goes on and the regular season approaches.