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I was watching the Saints game the other night (because football) and one of the commentators said an interesting thing about Sean Payton. He groups his players into three categories in the preseason: The definites, the maybes, and the nopes. Those are my terms, I don't know what Payton uses. He does that so he can put everyone but the maybes out of his mind. Seems like a cool idea.
In that case, let's break the Falcons roster down this way and see where some of your favorite players stand! Of course, most of your favorite players are in the "definite" pool, but TOO BAD, WE'RE DOING IT THIS WAY. In the spirit of the US Open starting today, we'll make them tennis references!
Definites: Roger Federer Division
No matter how badly you might want to, you can't sleep on Federer, who's always a threat to win until he's 75.
These players have a 100% assured spot on the team, no questions asked.
QB - Matt Ryan, Dominique Davis
RB - Steven Jackson, Jacquizz Rodgers
WR - Roddy White, Julio Jones
TE - Tony Gonzalez, Chase Coffman
OL - Sam Baker, Justin Blalock, Peter Konz, Joe Hawley, Garrett Reynolds, Lamar Holmes
DE - Osi Umenyiora, Kroy Biermann
DT - Peria Jerry (thanks Coach Smith), Jonathan Babineaux, Corey Peters
LB - Sean Weatherspoon, Stephen Nicholas
CB - Asante Samuel, Desmond Trufant, Robert Alford, Robert McClain
S - Thomas DeCoud, William Moore
Other - Josh Harris, Matt Bryant, Matt Bosher
Players: 30
There are a couple odd names in this group, but they're there for a reason.
Maybes: John Isner Division
You never know what you're going to get with John Isner. There's some huge potential there, but sometimes it flames out. He is also the best American currently, for those interested. Also graduated from UGA.
There are different levels of maybe in this division. Some are closer to a 10 (definitely staying) like Snelling, while others may not be so high. These are also players I think don't have a 100% definite spot on the team. Their chances range from 99% to 1%. This should, in theory, represent most of the players.
QB - Sean Renfree
RB - Jason Snelling, Ronnie Wingo, Antone Smith
FB - Bradie Ewing, Patrick DiMarco
WR - Darius Johnson, Harry Douglas, Drew Davis, Kevin Cone
TE - Levine Toilolo
OL - Ryan Schraeder, Terren Jones, PK Manley, Harland Gunn, Jacques McClendon
DL - Travian Robertson, Micanor Regis, Malliciah Goodman, Stansly Maponga, Cliff Matthews, Jonathan Massoquoi
LB - Pat Schiller, Paul Worrilow, Joplo Bartu, Akeem Dent, Robert James
CB - Dominique Franks, Peyton Thompson, Terrence Johnson
S - Charles Mitchell, Zeke Motta, Kemal Ishmael, Shann Schillinger
Players: 34
Nopes: Caleb Rutherford Division
These guys (much as I might want them to succeed) have as much chance of making the 53 man roster as I do winning the US Open. THAT SAID, these guys, notably one particular LB, could make the practice squad. I'm not as confident in my OL/DT picks as I am the rest, because I don't watch them that closely.
RB - Josh Vaughan
TE - Andrew Szczerba
OL - Alec Savoie, Theo Goins
WR - James Rodgers, Martel Moore
DL - Neal Huynh, Adam Replogle
CB - Jordan Mabin
LB - Brian Banks
Other - Jeremy Shelley
Players: 11
That's how I have the roster broken down at this point. It'll be interesting to see which of the maybes makes the team and I'm relatively confident that the nopes won't make the team, save for the lines. Who knows how that'll work.
Thoughts on this list? Would you make any changes to the list, or do you have players in different categories? Who makes up your practice squad at this point?