FanPost

Way Too Early 53 Man Roster Projection

Tony-romo-new-york-giants-vs-dallas-cowboys-_1__medium

via www.mancavesports.org

With training camp less than a week away I thought it the best time to put together my way too early roster projections. This can be one of the most difficult tasks to undertake given that so much can happen during training camp and the preseason games.

Quarterbacks (2)

It should come as no shock that my two quarterbacks to make the roster are Tony Romo and the newest Cowboy addition Brandon Weeden. The decision became a lot easier when Kyle Orton was given his walking papers otherwise I would have been hard pressed to go with three.

Running Backs (5)

I think the Cowboys could go with five running backs with one of those being a fullback. DeMarco Murray will of course be the feature back along with Lance Dunbar, Joseph Randle and Ryan Williams. Williams would most likely be a special teams contributor unless the unspeakable happens. The fullback would be J.C. Copeland who can carry the ball some but would mostly be used in pass blocking and run blocking situations.

Wide Receivers (5)

This year there will be no Miles Austin which isn't much different than a season ago but it will give a few guys an opportunity. Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams will be the starting two with Cole Beasley and Dwayne Harris coming back from last year's squad. I do expect one of the two rookies to make a serious push to be included in the group so you can add Devin Street to the wide receiver corp.

Tight Ends (3)

The three main tight ends from last year making the squad. Jason Witten, Gavin Escobar and James Hanna should be the only tight ends. With Copeland making the team as a fullback I don't see any reason to carry another tight end for blocking purposes. This also allows Witten to be more focused on the passing game despite being one of the best blockers on the team.

Offensive Line (8)

I will go with mostly the same crew from last year with one exception, going with Mackenzy Bernadeau over Ronald Leary at left guard. The rest will be Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, Doug Free and first round pick Zack Martin. The backups to be Leary, Jeremy Parnell and Uche Nwaneri.

Defensive Line (11)

Here I will go very heavy on the defensive line with the fact that this team has been decimated with that position group. Having a lot of bodies could keep them having fresh legs and take over the game in the fourth quarter and help out this secondary. Defensive ends would be Demarcus Lawrence, George Selvie, Tyrone Crawford, Anthony Spencer, Jeremy Mincey and Ben Bass. Most likely Bass and Crawford could slide inside if needed. At the tackle position I would take Henry Melton, Nick Hayden, Terrell McClain, Ken Bishop and Amobi Okoye. A lot of these players could play better than expected with the coaching of Rod Marinelli.

Linebackers (6)

With no Sean Lee this team is going to need a lot of bodies. Most likely there will be a lot of mixing and matching to find the right combination. My list includes Justin Durant, Bruce Carter, DeVonte Holloman, Anthony Hitchens, Kyle Wilber and Rolando McClain. Would expect Durant, Carter and Wilber to be the starters by the start of the season.

Secondary (10)

This group was absolutely abused last year with little to no help from the defensive line getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. They also under-performed much of the season. Cornerbacks should be Brandon Carr, Mo Claiborne, Orlando Scandrick, Sterling Moore and Terrance Mitchell. Safeties to include Barry Church, J.J. Wilcox, Jakar Hamilton, Jeff Heath and Ahmad Dixon. I want to put Matt Johnson on this list but he has yet to make it to the regular season injury free.

Special Teams (3)

Dan Bailey will be your kicker once again next season, L.P. Ladouceur as your long snapper once again and there will be a new punter Cody Mandell.

Now we will take a wait and see approach as to how close or how far off these projections are.

Another user-created commentary provided by a BTB reader.