THE WILD CARDS ON THE ROSTER – UFA’S and Special Teams

Bronco’s football fever begins to take hold as the calendar inches closer to training camp.

MHR fan posts begin to fill with discussions about hope-to-be rosters and speculations on what Coach McDaniels and DC Nolan are really going to do. 

Obviously, this speculation/discussion is all for fun :-), since the OTA’s and passing camp have just started, the pre-season injuries have not occurred, and the stars have not broken out from the pack yet.

There have been some excellent posts on MHR concerning the Roster and Depth Chart – One being the following:

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations by TedBartlett905 On May 25, 2009

So let me add more food for thought that looks at another angle. 

I believe that Special Teams play is going to change dynamically for two reasons.

 

1)      The NFL rules change curtailing (downsizing) the blocking wedge to a maximum of two players working in tandem (if there are more than two return team members lined up shoulder to shoulder that lead the blocking it will be a 15-yard penalty at the spot of the wedge).   I envision that Kick-off return and coverage teams will be more comprised of players that are considered athletic agile and fast.  Think smaller, quicker - linebacker, safety or tight-end types.  It will be interesting to see – what evolves, but I no longer see the middle of the field clogged with lineman bodies.

2)      Josh McDaniels brought in 17 Undrafted (college) free agents.  Normally, one would expect only a handful to make the team or be eligible to be placed on the Practice Squad.  However, this is closer to a total team re-building than many of us long-time Bronco fans have ever seen.  So, the Coach will continue to look for “Football Players” to put on his final roster.

Some Foundational Information on Rosters: 

53-man Protected Roster:  

          Prior to the opening week of the season, each team must trim its roster to 53 active players by waiving all other players and/or placing them into alternative designations (e.g., IR, Suspended,PUP etc.).  

          On regular-season game days the team names its 45-man Active Roster which defines those players who may participate in the game. In addition, each team is allowed to name one of the remaining 8 players as its emergency backup QB--that player can only play QB and can only play in the event of injury to the team's #1 and #2 QBs.

8-man Practice Squad:

          After all teams have set their 53-man rosters prior to opening day and each team has passed 24-hours on acquiring the contracts of every other player waived by the other 31 NFL teams, each team may sign up to 8 players to occupy its developmental Practice Squad. These players practice with their teams but cannot dress on game days.

          Further, any other team may claim a team's PS player on waivers at any given time during the season -- the only stipulation to this is that the team signing the PS player must immediately add that player to its 53-man roster.

A player is eligible for the PS if he:

• Has no prior Accrued Seasons in the NFL
• Has one prior Accrued Season in which he was on the 45-man active roster for no more than 8 games
• Has been on the PS with the particular team no more than 2 prior seasons

Recent Past History of UFAs 2008)

From a recent column on www.nationafootballpost.com

Undrafted Free Agent Landscape: Number of Players Signed as UFAs/Number that Made Opening-Game Roster/Number that Made Practice Squad:

This may or may not pertain to this season:  Since the Denver numbers reflect Mike Shanahan’s regime, and the New England numbers reflect the year after the Super Bowl season where in theory NE was only developing players (PS) not overhauling the roster.

DENVER 2008 UFAs

LB Wesley Woodyard – Final Roster

T Tyler Polumbus    -- Final Roster/ PS?

P Brett Kern – Final Roster

T Mitch Erickson -  PS ?

Anthony Alridge – IR Cut 2009

K Garrett Hartley   CUT 2008

WR  Lorne Sam   CUT 2008  

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

DENVER BRONCO 2009 UFAs

The following excerpted from the Draft Coverage Post by Styg50 - April 27

Some Comments Amended by author.

ANALYSIS & THOUGHTS

Under a “normal” season (2008), the NFL average of UFA’s making the final roster is TWO, and the practice squad is 3-4.  However, I believe that Coach McDaniels this year will come close to Tripling/Doubling those 2008 average numbers.   With J.J. Arrington being cut (injury) the Kick Return position is wide open.

   I could reasonably see Six UFA players making the final roster:  (ST Special Teams Starter)

NT-Chris Baker,

RB Kestahn Moore,       ST

WR Nate Swift              ST

WR Travis Shelton        ST

LB Lee Robinson          ST

DE Rulon Davis            ST

Practice Squad:

RB Marquez Branson,

DE Everette Pedescleaux 

CB Tony Carter

CB Domonique Johnson

WR David Grimes

LB Braxton Kelley

                              *      *       *        *

REMINDER when setting your Rosters

Any other team may claim a team's PS player on waivers at any given time during the season -- the only stipulation to this is that the team signing the PS player must immediately add that player to its 53-man roster.

T