Football Dialogue: Bubble Boys---Wide Receivers

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Bubble Boys---Wide Receivers

Anthony Armstrong (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

As camps are moving along I thought a review of all depth charts is in order to see who might be on the bubble with their current team but would be valuable to another team. Also known as the Laurent Robinson affect in that he went from the scrapheap to the penthouse. I’m sure if you asked after he was cut last year by the St. Louis Rams if he would be signing a multi-year deal with the Jaclsonville Jaguars for millions he would have laughed at you.

David Nelson---Buffalo Bills

The way the depth chart looks now Stevie Johnson, Donald Jones, Derek Hagan, Marcus Easley are ahead of him and David is running third team with Naaman Roosevelt. Behind them is third round pick TJ Graham. With most teams keeping five maybe six receivers things would appears that David is in a battle with Naaman for the final spot as regardless Graham’s roster spot is safe.

Armanti Edwards—Carolina Panthers

Panthers are looking for weapons to help Cam and trading for Louis Murphy tells you what they think of the development of Armanti in their system. Again Joe Adams the 4th round pick spot is probably safe at least for this year and Edwards is in a real battle to keep his roster spot as he’s third team right now and was from the previous regime.

Stefan Logan-or Maurice Stovall--Detroit Lions

One of these guys likely will be gone at the end of camp as they are sitting behind quite a few guys and most teams save a few bucks a cheaper 5th or 6th receiver than what a veteran will cost.

Terrance Copper---Kansas City Chiefs

Copper has bounced around the league for awhile but he’s a text book 5th receiver. Good enough to fill in limited duty and run consistent routes. With Baldwin, Bowe, Breaston, Wylie and McCluster in front of him he’s in a battle if the Chiefs keep six receivers.

Michael Jenkins---Minnesota Vikings

Added this year but known to lack consistency training camp it pivotal to Jenkins as he could either stay with Minnesota as a number 5 receiver, land elsewhere or possibly play himself out of the league. Right now ahead of Jenkins are Simpson, Harvin, Childs, Arceneaux and Aromashodu so making the Vikings won’t be easy but a good camp could land a job elsewhere.

Julian Edelman or Donte Stallworth--New England Patriots.

Interesting situation in New England where you have Brandon Lloyd and Wes Welker as your starters at receiver and Deion Branch and Jabar Gaffney as the back-ups but you also figure that Matthew Slater makes the team as a special team’s dynmo. Leaving one roster spot and my bet is Edelman keeps it and Stallworth is looking for work. Some team may need to add speed that Stallworth will always possess.

Courtney Roby---New Orleans Saints

In a battle for sure as Courtney is listed along with 4th round pick Nick Toon as the third team receivers. Again that six receiver which a team like the Saints will keep but do they keep a vet like Roby as their 6th receiver or a younger, cheaper player.

Roscoe Parrish or Michael Spurlock---San Diego Chargers

As the Chargers have revamped their receiving core adding Robert Meachem and Eddie Royal they may have spent a little too much time on the position because currently they have an over abundance of talent. Along with Meachem, Royal, Parrish and Spurlock on the current roster are Malcom Floyd and Vincent Brown. That is six veteran receivers something most teams shy from as the salary of a sixth veteran receiver is more than most teams will carry and prefer all things equal their sixth receiver be a first and second year guy.

Deon Butler---Seattle Seahawks

Adding guys like Braylon Edwards and Antonio Bryant to go with Sidney Rice, Doug Baldwin, Ben Obomanu and Golden Tate will likely make a player like Deon Butler available on the open market or for a late round trade.

Kyle Williams or Ted Ginn Jr----San Francisco 49’ers

Drafting AJ Jenkins, signing Randy Moss and Mario Manningham should make either Ted Ginn Jr or Kyle Williams expendable and after the final game Kyle Williams had the 49’ers might be doing him a favor to go land somewhere else and help erase that memory for the San Fran fans.

Danario Alexander and/or Greg Salas and/or Austin Pettis---St. Louis Rams

The Rams have a lot of receivers in camp starting with Brandon Gibson, Danny Amendola, draft picks Brian Quick (2nd round) and Chris Givens (4th round) along with Steve Smith (former Eagles and Giants). Also in the mix are third and fourth picks from 2011 in Salas and Pettis and Alexander. All this points to either the Rams keep eight receivers or some talent hitting the street.

Anthony Armstrong or Dezmon Briscoe---Washington Redskins

Briscoe was just picked up off the waiver wire and the depth chart shows him ahead of Anthony Armstrong (a former starter). Depending on how camp shakes out a real good chance one of these players lands elsewhere and makes a real impact.