Alphonso Smith part of opening day roster?

[ogplife]

I know it sounds crazy, but Im not sure he makes the opening day roster. Most teams carry 5 corners gameday and I don't see him on the practive squad.

1)Champ
2)Goodman
3)Nate Jones - Was a good nickel back for Dolphins.
4) Cox is a rookie, so he is an obvious question mark, but if he is as good as advertised then he should at least be our dime back
5) Then it becomes a battle for the 5th spot. Tony Carter performed better than Smith last year, which has to count for something and Thompson is in the mix as well.

[KyleOrtonArmySoldier#128]

I know it sounds crazy, but Im not sure he makes the opening day roster. Most teams carry 5 corners gameday and I don't see him on the practive squad.

1)Champ
2)Goodman
3)Nate Jones - Was a good nickel back for Dolphins.
4) Cox is a rookie, so he is an obvious question mark, but if he is as good as advertised then he should at least be our dime back
5) Then it becomes a battle for the 5th spot. Tony Carter performed better than Smith last year, which has to count for something and Thompson is in the mix as well.

Syd'Quan thompson was actually signed.

[BroncoWave]

Syd'Quan thompson was actually signed.

What bearing would that have on who actually makes the opening day roster? Cox is going to sign too.

[broncobryce]

Smith will be on the roster. No way we cut him.

[honz]

Smith will make the final roster. He will probably earn the spot, but even if he doesn't there is no way we cut him after what we gave up for him.

[turftoad]

Smith will make the final roster. He will probably earn the spot, but even if he doesn't there is no way we cut him after what we gave up for him.

Exactly, McD won't let his ego cut him.

[broncobryce]

Exactly, McD won't let his ego cut him.

No coach would cut a guy they drafted in the second round after 1 season. If he did he's an idiot.

[KyleOrtonArmySoldier#128]

Exactly, McD won't let his ego cut him.

Yeah, when you stick by your early selection cb in his second year it's an ego thing. :tsk:

[ogplife]

Smith will be on the roster. No way we cut him.

OK. you may or may not be right, but I think if you took away the secound round tag and the money/prestige/hype that comes with it, most would say he is our 6th best CB (ahead of only Thompson who may or may not be better) based on others at the position and what we saw from him last year. Also consider that although, the 2 starters are in their 30s, the guys he is truly competing against are all 28 and under, so he does not necessarily have that advantage of "potential". All Im saying is Josh "best at the position" theory may be tested because he may not necessarilty be one of our top 5 corners and Josh may have the decision of cutting one one of the two controversial high picks he has made since he took over.

[honz]

Smith has been the first team nickel CB for OTA's...FWIW.

[Timmy!]

Phonz is gonna win the nickel spot. Haters gonna hate.......

[dogfish]

yea, no way i can see us cutting him-- not after just one year when we gave up what proved to be a top-fifteen pick for him. . . sure, take that away and maybe, but you can't take it away-- neither can mcD, and i'm sure bowlen would want to know how they missed so badly on a pick that the guy can't even hold down the last corner spot on the roster a year later. . .

i hated the pick when we made it, but they (and all the scouting services and draft sites that had him rated as a second round pick) obviously saw enough in him to think he was worth it. . . given the difficulty of the transition and the proven fact that the learning curve can vary so greatly, you rarely ever see teams give up on top-50 picks that quickly. . . it basically just doesn't happen-- no one does it. . . too much invested in those guys to cast them aside after one season. . . teams are almost always going to make the effort to develop those guys, and rightfully so. . . seems like about the only exception would be when there's been a regime change. . .

mcD clearly isn't afraid to make bold moves, but he can only afford to be so reckless. . . neither he nor the team needs the justly-deserved roasting that would come with that move right now. . .

[dogfish]

barring something drastic, i'm guessing that jones and smith will make the roster, with carter, cox and thompson fighting for the fifth spot. . .

[honz]

Phonz is gonna win the nickel spot. Haters gonna hate.......
That's how I feel after posting such a great pic of myself...haters gon' hate.

[broncobryce]

I don't know if Jones is a lock...I thought he was brought in for competition and special teams, I have a feeling he is the odd man out.

[FanInAZ]

I know it sounds crazy, but Im not sure he makes the opening day roster. Most teams carry 5 corners gameday and I don't see him on the practive squad.

1)Champ
2)Goodman
3)Nate Jones - Was a good nickel back for Dolphins.
4) Cox is a rookie, so he is an obvious question mark, but if he is as good as advertised then he should at least be our dime back
5) Then it becomes a battle for the 5th spot. Tony Carter performed better than Smith last year, which has to count for something and Thompson is in the mix as well.

What's the possibility that they might convert 1 of these CBs to a Safety?

[Italianmobstr7]

Phonz is gonna win the nickel spot. Haters gonna hate.......

Took the words out of my mouth.

[JDL]

The problem with Smith last year is he showed ZERO ability to be an NFL CB... he looked, on the field (without going into any physical reasons he may have looked so) like a guy they grabbed off the street and said 'here's your chance, try and cover some NFL WRs' - the result... he was left in the dust by 4-5yds regularly to the point we had to bring in a rookie street free agent.

People keep throwing out this nonsense that he was just a rookie, but then how could Carter with an ounce of the supposed talent of Smith, come in and be effective? We have to be somewhat realistic in what we saw last year and what we should expect this year - he'll certainly get another chance to prove he isn't a colossal bust... but quite frankly it is hard to objectively have much hope.

I mean Ayers didn't look great (didn't make many plays at all) but he was able to handle his responsibilities and not be a complete and utter liability on the field. That is not unexpected for a rookie, what Smith showed... was freaking pathetic... that's not hate... that is the reality.

[ogplife]

What's the possibility that they might convert 1 of these CBs to a Safety?

Jones played some safety with the Dolphins IIRC. If Cox is as good as advertised, I wouldn't mind seeing Champ slide over to safety, as I think he could make the transitition seamlessly, but thats not gonna happen, at least not for this year. Nobody else has safety experience to my knowledge. I don't see it being likely. Safety is also not necessarily a position lacking depth either. Our secondary was very good last year and can only get better if the young guys produce/improve.

[SOCALORADO.]

Theres no reason for any CB to try to move over to Safety.
The safety depth is great. the CB depth is good.
This is it for Alphie.
If he doesnt show good improvement by the 1st pre season game, then its a year of the bench and see ya.
I would just love to offload him in some sort of deal with DAL for DE Marcus Spears. Apparently Spears is on the outs in DAL, and they have been trying to offload him as well, mostly during the draft for a 2nd. but there were no takers for a pick that high. So hopefully DAL will bring down their asking price and maybe Alphie could be thrown in to sweeten the deal.

[TXBRONC]

Theres no reason for any CB to try to move over to Safety.
The safety depth is great. the CB depth is good.
This is it for Alphie.
If he doesnt show good improvement by the 1st pre season game, then its a year of the bench and see ya.
I would just love to offload him in some sort of deal with DAL for DE Marcus Spears. Apparently Spears is on the outs in DAL, and they have been trying to offload him as well, mostly during the draft for a 2nd. but there were no takers for a pick that high. So hopefully DAL will bring down their asking price and maybe Alphie could be thrown in to sweeten the deal.

Spears for Smith? Friend are you getting enough sleep at night ? :D

[SOCALORADO.]

Spears for Smith? Friend are you getting enough sleep at night ? :D

I wrote that Alphie would be thrown in to sweeten the deal. Not straight up.
(Although i dont know how sweet a bitter, little CB is gonna be, but)
Figure a 3rd for Spears with Alphie. Maybe DEN could get a 6th with Spears.
Something like that.

[TXBRONC]

I wrote that Alphie would be thrown in to sweeten the deal. Not straight up.
(Although i dont know how sweet a bitter, little CB is gonna be, but)
Figure a 3rd for Spears with Alphie. Maybe DEN could get a 6th with Spears.
Something like that.

Ok I didn't see that in the post you wrote but anyway I gets a little more time to develop. Champ and Goodman both are getting long in the tooth so we really need to be developing guys will eventually succeed them.

[SOCALORADO.]

Ok I didn't see that in the post you wrote but anyway I gets a little more time to develop. Champ and Goodman both are getting long in the tooth so we really need to be developing guys will eventually succeed them.

Yeah, and i dont think Alphie is one of them.
Clearly MCD could have went after LBs DEs or DTs, but he instead grabbed Cox and Thompson. Great value there, but it kinda says alot about what he thinks about Alphie. Not much to me.
And if DEN could somehow aquire Spears and Alphie is part of the deal, pfft! DO IT!
Bannan JWilliams Spears !?!?!? Are you kidding me!!! You take that deal.

[TXBRONC]

Yeah, and i dont think Alphie is one of them.
Clearly MCD could have went after LBs DEs or DTs, but he instead grabbed Cox and Thompson. Great value there, but it kinda says alot about what he thinks about Alphie. Not much to me.
And if DEN could somehow aquire Spears and Alphie is part of the deal, pfft! DO IT!
Bannan JWilliams Spears !?!?!? Are you kidding me!!! You take that deal.

That could be, but even if you're wrong about it being a signal that McDaniels isn't pleased with Smith we still need the depth.

[jhildebrand]

I know it sounds crazy, but Im not sure he makes the opening day roster. Most teams carry 5 corners gameday and I don't see him on the practive squad.

1)Champ
2)Goodman
3)Nate Jones - Was a good nickel back for Dolphins.
4) Cox is a rookie, so he is an obvious question mark, but if he is as good as advertised then he should at least be our dime back
5) Then it becomes a battle for the 5th spot. Tony Carter performed better than Smith last year, which has to count for something and Thompson is in the mix as well.

I can't forsee any possibility where Smith isn't on the roster. The guy is basically a first round pick. He'll be here.

[jhildebrand]

The problem with Smith last year is he showed ZERO ability to be an NFL CB...

I don't know about ZERO. He did look pretty good in the Cincinatti game. I know that isn't a lot but at least in his first game he flashed some talent. I dont buy the rookie junk either. I do accept that he beat up his ankle pretty bad. I think the guy will have a decent year this year. He will certainly be an upgrade to Jack Williams and Foxy :D

[WARHORSE]

Personally, I think Smith will work out. Its not a guarantee, but I think he'll find a role. Its not gonna be easy this year though, both the corners we drafted were rated top two to five on many draft mock ups and boards.

Both have good ability.

Smith will have his work cut out for him, but thats a good thing.

Looking back, Im glad we made the trade. What would our draft have looked like had we had the 11th and the 14th picks?


It wouldnt have looked anything like what we see today, and I like what we got on draft day.


Would we have tried to trade up? Still traded down? Selected someone?


I honestly think we still would have taken DThomas first, but probably higher. Probably traded down from one of the picks, but not two.


Who knows, but I like the draft we had, and it cost less.


McDs got skilllz...........nunchuck skillz...........bowhunting skillz...........computer hacking skillz...................future draft reading skillz........:rolleyes:

[sanluis]

Smith will be on the roster. No way we cut him.
I agree !!
Denver gave up too much to just let him go after one year IMO. He was taken #37 over all !!

He could be good in time.

Smith, at 5 feet 9, is not a big, physical corner, but is a reputed ball hawk. His 21 interceptions is an Atlantic Coastal Conference record


He needs more than one year especially at the corner spot.

[Bosco]

I don't know about ZERO. He did look pretty good in the Cincinatti game. I know that isn't a lot but at least in his first game he flashed some talent. I dont buy the rookie junk either. I do accept that he beat up his ankle pretty bad. I think the guy will have a decent year this year. He will certainly be an upgrade to Jack Williams and Foxy :D

I agree.