Final Cuts: Dyson, 16 Others

McCants was immediately signed by WR-depleted Philly. The Skins then proceed to keep Taylor Jacobs on potential while cutting Kevin Dyson and the previously-mentioned unnotable Jimmy Farris. However, in his last preseason game, Farris then did all he could to prevent from getting cut with a 2 TD game and still can't last, which can only be extremely disheartening.

We can go through the roster and figure out who was guaranteed to be one of the 53 spots. On offense, each of the 3 QBs was set. Both Portis and Betts were safe. Moss, Patten, and Thrash were guaranteed to make it. The starting line of Jansen, Thomas, Rabach, Thomas, and Samuels are locked, and backups Ray Brown and Raymer were pretty much set as well. Chris Cooley, Sellers, and Robert Royal were solid. That's 18 on offense.

LS Ethan Albright was safe as was John Hall. Groom surprisingly beat out Chris Mohr for the P spot vacated by Tupa. That's 3 more spots for special teams, bringing the total to 21.

On defense, Daniels, Salave'a, Noble, Griffin, and Wynn were going to make it for the D-line. Behind them, Holdman, Arrington, Marshall, and Washington were guaranteed LB spots. Rogers, Springs, and Walt Harris were going to be the top three corners, and Clark, Bowen, and Taylor are the top three safeties. That's 15 spots on defense, bringing the total to 36.

That leaves 17 spots vacant and they fall among certain areas. Both lines need depth and rotation. The O-line got 9 spots, which is probably best. Having only 3 backups seems like you can run out of people in a hurry. Friedman had an inside track since he can play both C and G. Molinaro got the last spot. I found it surprising that Mark Wilson was cut but expect him to get re-signed to the practice squad. Maybe it shouldn't be too shocking since he was the 10th man. Molinaro and Wilson had been praised last year togethr as the next generation Hogs.

At WR, I'm shocked that Jacobs survived. Perhaps his status as a 2nd round draft pick bought him a little more time. If Farris still has eligibility, he'll likely get re-signed to the practice squad.

I can't see Gibbs ever deploying a Charlie Weis-like 5 WR set but if they ever do, they'll probably split Cooley out wide before putting Antonio Brown on the field. As far as H-back/TE/FB, the Skins kept a surprising glut of players between Cooley, Royal, Sellers, Kozlowski, Cartwright, and Broughton. Having a 3rd tailback like Cartwright seems prudent given some bad history the Skins have had like when they had to press Chad Morton into RB duty. [Speaking of which, Morton was cut by the Pats, so the Skins should have re-signed him to a 1-year deal and gotten rid of Brown.] Broughton seems extraneous.

The LB spots figured to have two more positions open but surprisingly, the Skins kept 3 slots there, which went to the surprise keeper, Zak Keasey, an undrafted rookie free agent from Princeton, Khary Campbell, and Chris Clemons. On the D-line, it's surprising that Ron Warner, who got a good amount of playing time last year, was bumped out by Nic Clemons.

Stoutmire and Prioleau were good shots to make it given the Skins need for depth at safety as well as their special teams experience. However, it's surprising that Garnell Wilds didn't make it given the notoriety he got for covering Randy Moss in last year's season finale. He must not have played on special teams which seems like a must for any unproven non-starter. Otherwise, you're just taking up roster space.