Brain Fertilizer

Cuts:
Brad Ekwerekwu
Bobby Sippio
Jeff Terrell
James Newby
Marcus O'Keith
Gilbert Harris
Marlon Fair
Kiki Gonzalez
Patrice Majondo-Mwamba
Keith Willis
Ean Randolph
Justin Phinisee
Nick Reid
Montez Murphy
Derrick Ross
Rob Hunt
Michael Heard
*William Poole
*Kendrell Bell
*Chad Williams
*Samie Parker

*veterans ineligible for practice squad

I will assume that Priest Holmes will be on the PUP list for 6 weeks, or unless one of our RBs goes on the IR. Thus, we only need to cut 21. To tell the truth, signing of Eddie Drummond made things much simpler to figure out. It was no longer a question of which possible return man between Randolph and Phinisee could help more in other areas, or might force the cutting of another talented youngster with potential to make room. Both or either might make the practice squad, but I doubt it. Cutting both Bober (IR) and Sampson made the O-line situation more clear, as well, making it easier to keep Chris Terry, Tre Stallings (who has reportedly improved this off-season), and Herb Taylor (who would be a risky cut, because he seems to have a possible future with the team).
Not having to leave room for Priest Holmes also freed up a spot. I was able to keep 7 LBs, which makes it possible to keep both Rich Scanlon and Nate Harris. Be warned, however, that my LB predictions are likely to be wrong: I insist we cut Kendrell Bell, but the KC staff inexplicably seems to want to keep him. Why they do is beyond me, but I gotta go with my gut that he should be out of there. When all was said and done I still had only 52 total players. I considered going with 5 Safeties like Herm Edwards said they were considering, I considered going with another WR (and couldn’t decide between Sippio and Ekwerekwu), but finally decided that Jason Dunn will get at least the first part of the season to demonstrate his skills haven’t declined significantly. If he shows deterioration, however, I expect the Chiefs will cut him to activate Priest, or perhaps a WR from the practice squad. If the coaches decide Dunn is too far on the downslope of his career/abilities, we may grab a promising practice squad player from another team to develop on our active roster.
I also think I might be wrong about Samie Parker. I cannot see any evidence that he deserves a roster spot, much less a starter position, but he’s hung on this long, the coaches might let him stay. The only point in his favor is that no one else has really made a strong enough case to take away his spot on the roster.

Specialists: K, P, LS, PR/KR: 4
Justin Medlock, Dustin Colquitt, Jean-Phillipe Darche, Eddie Drummond
O-line: 10
Damion McIntosh, Brian Waters, Casey Wiegmann, John Welbourn, Kyle Turley
Will Svitek, Herb Taylor, Rudy Niswanger, Tre Stallings, Chris Terry
QB: 3
Damon Huard, Brodie Croyle, Casey Printers
RB: 3
Larry Johnson, Michael Bennett, Kolby Smith
FB: 2
Kris Wilson, Boomer Grigsby
TE: 3
Tony Gonzalez, Jason Dunn, Michael Allen
WR: 4
Eddie Kennison, Dwayne Bowe, Jeff Webb, Chris Hannon
Offense= 25
Specialists=4

D-line: 8
Jared Allen, Alfonso Boone, Ron Edwards, Tamba Hali
“Turk” McBride (DE/DT), “Tank” Tyler (DT) , James Reed (DT), Jimmy Wilkerson (DE/DT)
LB: 7
Derrick Johnson, Napoleon Harris, Donnie Edwards
Rich Scanlon, William Kershaw, Keyaron Fox
Nate Harris
S: 4
Jarrad Page, Bernard Pollard, Greg Wesley, John McGraw
CB: 5
Ty Law, Patrick Surtain, Benny Sapp, Tyron Brackenridge, Dimitri Patterson
Defense=24
25++4+24=
= 53

Herm indicated that he might keep 5 safeties. I haven’t seen anything decent from Chad Williams, so that implies that Marlon Fair might be doing okay. If so, he’s a candidate for the Practice Squad. Jeff Terrell has done a decent job against his fellow scrubs, so I think he gets a chance to keep working on his throwing mechanics and decision-making with the team. None of our WRs has really stepped up and grabbed their position, so the two bubble guys (Ek and Sip, both of whom have been buried on the depth chart due to early preseason injury and absence, respectively). I’m not sure both make the squad; if they both do, one may be grabbed to make another team’s active roster. Gilbert Harris will likely make the practice squad so he can remain familiar with the team’s offense, and perhaps improve his lead-blocking abilities, just in case he can or is needed to replace Grigsby later in the season. Newby, O’Keith, and Gonzalez all had moments of competence that might make them worth keeping around, but none have any real chance of displacing anyone ahead of them on the depth chart this year.

Practice Squad:
Brad Ekwerekwu, WR
Bobby Sippio, WR
Jeff Terrell, QB
Marlon Fair, S
Gilbert Harris, FB
James Newby, T
Marcus O’Keith, RB (tie)
Kiki Gonzalez, DT (tie)