I was reading Armando Salguero's blog and he posted some of his thoughts on the first depth chart that was released on Monday. So I thought I'd also give some of my thoughts. But first, here are some of Armando's that stood out to me.
I'm also amazed by this. But, hey, it's still early. Hadnot has been this team's best offensive lineman over the past few years. And the coaching staff admits they are still trying out various combinations along the o-line, so I guess we'll have to wait and see how this situation progresses.
That's good news, in my opinion. McCune has good speed and is very intelligent. Thought I'd like to see Smith, a rookie, win the job, it doesn't seem likely at this point. Smith hasn't really stood out yet at camp. McCune, on the other hand, has shown some flashes and is almost as young as Smith.
I couldn't agree more and I'm very interested in seeing how this plays out. To me, it seems like a 4 man race. You got the crafty, speedy veteran in Az Hakim. You got the slightly experienced P.K. Sam. And then you got the two intriguing rookies: David Sutton and Kerry Reed. Sutton has the great size (6'6) but is an inexperienced receiver (but he was a very good volleyball player, for what it's worth). Reed is a player with decent size (6'1) and good speed. He's also experiened playing the WR spot, starting 14 games at Michigan State. He's the player I seem to be watching the most. Though Sutton is a more interesting prospect because of his great size, he's still raw and could learn a lot from a year on the practice squad. Reed is more polished and has shown the ability to get open in training camp. I can't wait to see him, along with the other WRs battling for this spot, in live action on Saturday.
Now for a couple of my thoughts on the depth chart:
-This team is not very deep at the defensive end spot. Entering camp, I was more worried about the interior defensive line. Since then, Soliai and Rod Wright have impressed. But the depth behind Jason Taylor, for example, is rather scary. Akbar Gbaja-Biamila is nothing special and, though Mkristo Bruce has some talent and is built a bit like Jason, he's still raw and it would worry me if he or AGB had to enter the game for JT.
-The coaching staff must be impressed with unsigned free agent Julius Wilson, as he's listed as Vernon Carey's primary backup. He does have good size and quickness to play the LT spot, I'd still be a little worried if he had to come in and protect Trent Green's blind side in a regular season game should Carey ever go down. I'm anxious to see him play on Saturday to gauge the kind of player Wilson could be. Hopefully, I'm pleasantly surprised.