Considering he seemed like a favorite to make the roster at one point, I'm a little surprised that Fred Gibson was released. As my friend T. Love over at Falcon Reporter notes, that leaves Jamin Elliot, Adam Jennings and Falcoholic favorite Noriaki Kinoshita cluttered at the bottom of the depth chart. There's a good chance that two of those guys will be cut before the end of camp, and I thought Gibson probably was a better pure receiver than anyone in that trio. I wish Fred luck wherever he goes, but if he couldn't make the talent-starved Falcons roster, he's probably got a long uphill battle to find a spot.
Update [2007-7-28 22:56:51 by Dave the Falconer]: Well, it appears that Gibson was sick and missed a team meeting. I have to think it was more than that, though, for Petrino to dump the guy three days into training camp. I'll keep you posted if I dig up anything else.
So now it's irresponsible prediction time for me. I know next to nothing about Jamin Elliott except for the fact that he's never caught a pass in the NFL and hasn't played since 2003. He seems like a very, very long shot to make it. I'd expect him to be the next guy cut, unless Pet Rhino sees something that makes him believe Elliott will be successful in his system. I expect him to be gone within the next couple weeks, honestly.
Next up is Kinoshita, who I am pulling for big time. If he makes it, it'd be in an Allen Rossum role. He'd probably play very little receiver and be responsible for handling kicks and/or punts, which wouldn't be bad at all. The question is really whether he can catch or not; if he demonstrates that for the coaching staff, then I think he has a pretty good shot at snatching a roster spot. If he's got nothin' from a wide receiver standpoint, he's probably going to be on Elliott's heels out the door.
Last is Adam Jennings, a player who I like quite a bit. At 5'9", he doesn't have the size somebody like Jenkins has. Instead, he depends on his shiftiness and hands. Jennings is a guy that I think could handle some kickoff and punt duties and still make an impact at receiver. Even though Kinoshita is the one I'd be rooting for, I'd say Jennings probably has the skillset to stick with the team as a fifth receiver. I expect he'll survive the cuts.
What do you guys think?