The 2023 JetsFix Roster Relay: First Leg

As we do every year, we're going to mark preseason with a series of fan-sourced roster projections. The idea is that as players make their case in each preseason game this will be reflected in the next leg of the relay, along with other developments such as injuries.

We burst out of the blocks today with a projection from the man who broke the biggest story of the offseason (Isaiah Mack's ERFA tender), longtime commenter and Mayor of the Draft 53-man roster, tsjc68 ...

Alright, first out the gate. Time to set a high standard for the rest of the blog to emulate. Genius is a pretty strong term, but if you insist on using it, I can handle it.

Let's get nuts (but not too nuts).

26 offense (QB 2, RB 4, FB 1, WR 6, TE 3, OL 10)
24 defense (DL 10, LB 5, DB 9)
3 specials (K 1, P 1, LS 1)
= 53

QB (2)
KEEP:
8 Aaron Rodgers
2 Zach Wilson
CUT:
7 Tim Boyle

The goal here is to keep Boyle around for emergencies but there's not room on the 53 for him. And he's not good enough for anyone else to bother poaching him anyway.

RB (4)
KEEP:
20 Breece Hall (who is removed from PUP in a few weeks and plays Week 1)
27 Zonovan "Bam" Knight
32 Ace Carter
25 Israel Abanikanda
CUT:
35 Travis Dye, 33 Damarea Crockett

Seems like the super-obvious place to draw the dividing line here. Right at Israel, of course.

FB (1)
KEEP:
48 Nick Bawden, who loves nothing more than the feeling of opening a hole
CUT:
none

It is not physically possible to cut a fullback, this defies the laws of thermodynamics.

WR (6)
KEEP:
17 Garrett Wilson
10 Allen Lazard
84 Corey Davis
6 Mecole Hardman (KR/PR)
18 Randall Cobb
16 Jason Brownlee
CUT:
19 Irvin Charles, 86 Malik Taylor, 82 Xavier Gipson, 39 Alex Erickson, 31 Jerome Kapp, 85 TJ Luther

Surprisingly tough calls here. I think the team would love to keep Brownlee and Charles and Taylor and Gipson and Erickson but you can't #keepallten, now, can you?

TE (3)
KEEP:
87 C.J. Uzomah
83 Tyler Conklin
89 Jeremy Ruckert
CUT:
81 Zack Kuntz, 49 E.J. Jenkins, 88 Kenny Yeboah

I know, you never want to cut the Kuntz. Is Kuntz ready yet, though? Seems a little green. Is Kuntz even better than a nice E&J?

OL (10)
KEEP:
76 Duane Brown
78 Laken Tomlinson
60 Connor McGovern
75 Alijah Vera-Tucker
54 Billy Turner, wearing what is just a fantastic number for an offensive tackle
77 Mekhi Becton
67 Carter Warren
71 Wes Schweitzer
66 Joe Tippmann
61 Max Mitchell
CUT:
66 Greg Senat, 62 Adam Pankey, 64 Chris Glaser, 65 Trystan Colon, 63 Brent Laing, TBA Grant Hermanns

5 OTs (with Carter Warren as the developmental redshirt/emergency hedge) and 5 IOL. Trystan Colon was tough to part with. I have Turner starting at RT but honestly that could be Mitchell or Becton, who knows. I'd love to carry only 9 but don't see how to leave out anyone listed here.

DL (10) - 6 Edge, 4 IDL
KEEP:
58 Carl Lawson
91 John Franklin-Myers
11 Jermaine Johnson II
72 Micheal Clemons
47 Bryce Huff
99 Will McDonald IV
95 Quinnen Williams
98 Al Woods
94 Solomon Thomas
93 Quinton Jefferson
CUT:
69 Bruce Hector, 98 Deslin Alexandre, 92 Ifeadi Odenigbo, 51 Marquiss Spencer, 79 Tanzel Smart, 97 Pita Taumoepenu

Again, pretty obvious dividing line between the 10 legit good DLs we have and the rest of the gang. And they'll all play.

OBLB (5)
KEEP:
56 Quincy Williams
57 C.J. Mosley
44 Jamien Sherwood
55 Chazz Surratt
53 Democratic Republic of the Congo Barnes
CUT:
41 Claud Cherelus, 52 Sam Eguavoen, 46 Nick Vigil, 43 Caleb Johnson

This will start some arguments. Many will only want to carry four, many will want to add someone new. I don't think there's an OBLB out there who will hit the claim list we'll definitely prefer over the 5 guys here (except maybe Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, who I almost wrote in) and I think we like all five of them and see value in them. The four non-Mosley kids are young and play specials and fit our LB prototype and can be our future.

DB (9) - 5 corners, 4 safeties
KEEP:
1 Sauce Gardner
4 D.J. Reed
30 Deuce Carter
40 Javelin Guidry
34 Justin Hardee
3 Jermaine Jordan Whitehead
22 Tony Adams
0 Adrian Amos
39 Dane Cruikshank
6-game Reserve/PUP:
29 Jarrick Bernard-Converse
SUSPENDED:
26 Brandin Echols
CUT:
37 Bryce Hall, 33 Jimmy Moreland, 31 Craig James, 36 Derrick Langford, 21 Ashtyn Davis, 38 Trey Dean III, 35 Marquis "Muddy" Waters

Risking danger here. Only carrying 4 true cornerbacks on the 53 with the fifth being Justin Hardee, CB in name only. And only carrying one CB who isn't a short guy in Sauce. My thinking: A.) we look at CB like QB: the starters start and play all the time and we can stash the extra depth on the PS; B.) our short CBs have shown they can handle the boundary assignments well, C.) two of the safeties being carried have played boundary CB as well (as has JBC if he ever gets activated) so we have some hidden depth there, D.) the taller corners I cut aren't actually that good anyway. Had I kept one more if might have been Jimmy Moreland anyway.

Also, yes I cut Ashtyn Davis to keep Dane Cruikshank; IMHO Dane's a better base package safety and a better emergency CB and a better special teamer too.

SPECIALS (3)
KEEP:
9 Greg Zuerlein
5 Thomas Morstead
42 Thomas Hennessy
CUT:
none

Nothing of note to say here so I'll just mention gratuitously that I went to a 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop dinner last night curated by Hennessy and walked away with two limited edition bottles of Hennessy with commemorative labeling by Nas, their brand ambassador. We love Nas, we love hip-hop, we love Hennessy.

ROSTER CLAIMS ONE DAY POST-53 FORMATION:
none

this is our squad let's roll

CUTS POACHED TO OTHER TEAM 53s:
WR Malik Taylor
TE Kenny Yeboah
CB Bryce Hall
CB Jimmy Moreland
S Ashtyn Davis

can't keep 'em all. Would love to try to flip some of these guys for a 7th rounder.

PRACTICE SQUAD FORMATION (16):
QB 7 Tim Boyle
HB 35 Travis Dye
WR 19 Irv Charles
WR 82 Xavier Gipson
WR 39 Alex Erickson
TE 81 Zack Kuntz
TE 49 E.J. Jenkins
OL 65 Trystan Colon
OL 63 Brent Laing
DL 98 Deslin Alexandre
DL 79 Tanzel Smart
DL 69 Bruce Hector
LB 41 Claud Cherelus
CB 36 Derrick Langford
CB TBA Rezjohn Wright
S 38 Trey Dean III

PLOT TWIST: I signed one outside guy to our PS rather than our internal guys, as we continue to look for more CB depth to groom, and it's a guy we watched in practice this week from Carolina's squad. No stone unturned.

53 on roster
16 on PS
1 on PUP (JBC)
1 who will be back for Week 2 (Echols, and good luck picking who to cut for him)

(Editor's Note: The second leg will follow after the Panthers game)

Would you like to take the baton for the a lap of the track? We just need your 53-man projection and we'll make note of what's changed - and you're free to add insights if you wish. Volunteer in the comments section below...