WCG predicts...the 53-man roster!

It’s that time of year again. As we stand on the precipice of the 2018 season, the WCG crew is predicting the 53-man roster. We will start the festivities by having you, the WCG faithful, pick whose predictions most closely align with your own. So vote early and vote often!

We are still kicking around ideas for bets but I imagine that we will end up with the winner choosing a topic for the loser to write about based on your suggestions. Once we know who those are, we will have a separate article and comments section for those ideas, so please keep those to yourself for now.

Without further adieu, let’s break down the roster picks!

Quarterbacks

This is more or less universal but Lester has the Bears keeping 3 quarterbacks and Sam has Tyler Bray heading to the practice squad. The rest of the crew are going with Mitch Trubisky and Chase Daniel.

Running Backs

The top 3 of Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen, and Benny Cunningham are universal—and not surprising—but after that, there is a lot of disagreement. Lester and Aaron have Ryan Nall making the squad, while Ken and Patti are pulling for Taquan Mizzell. Running backs are popular picks for the practice squad though. As for fullback Michael Burton, only Jacob thinks that he is going to make the team. Bold move if you ask me.

Wide Receivers

Unsurprisingly, we all picked Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, and Kevin White to make the team. We would have all picked Joshua Bellamy too, except Lester the dissenter had to go and cut him in favor of Bennie Fowler. Lester is also the only one who thinks that Javon Wims doesn’t make the roster...conspiracy? Probably! Meanwhile Patti and Sam have the Bears taking 8 (EIGHT!!!) wide receivers.

Tight Ends

Again, the top 3 of Trey Burton, Adam Shaheen, and Dion Sims are universally selected to make the team. Everyone but Ken and Patti has Daniel Brown making it as well, while there is consensus love for brainiac Ben Braunecker to make the practice squad.

Offensive Lineman

The 7 names at the top are no surprise. Starters Charles Leno Jr., Bobby Massie, Cody Whitehair, Kyle Long, and James Daniels, along with swing tackle Bradley Sowell and main interior backup Eric Kush were unanimous. After that though, it was the wild west. Amazingly, 3 people picked Hroniss Grasu to make the team, while Earl Watford and Matt McCants got some love too. Recently flipped to the offensive side of that ball, Rashaad Coward, was a popular pick for the practice squad.

Defensive Lineman

What’s this? We all agree on something? Every single one of us has Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Jonathan Bullard, John Jenkins, Roy Robertson-Harris, and Bilal Nichols comprising the defensive line room. Aaron, Jacob, and myself were the only ones to see the incredible talent that Cavon Walker has and the foresight to know that he will be a monster.

Outside Linebackers

There were really no surprises here either as we all had Leonard Floyd, Aaron Lynch, Sam Acho, and Kylie Fitts, as well as all of us having Isaiah Irving sticking around in some capacity. Well done team!

Inside Linebackers

This is actually surprising to me. Not that we all picked Danny Trevathan, Nick Kwiatkoski, Roquan Smith, and Joel Iyiegbuniwe to make the team, but that 5 of the 7 of us only picked 4 inside linebackers to make it. Given that Trevathan has battled injuries, and Smith and Iyiegbuniwe are rookies, it would make sense to keep another linebacker on the roster, especially given how important they are on special teams.

Cornerbacks

While there was agreement at the top with Prince Amukamara, Marcus Cooper, Kyle Fuller, Bryce Callahan, and Sherrick McManis, Aaron and I both saw Cre’Von LeBlanc being replaced by Jonathon Mincy. We were split on Deiondre’ Hall making the roster as well. Beyond that, there appears to be a lot of talent at cornerback for the first time in a long time. This will be a fun group to watch in training camp and preseason games.

Safeties

At first blush, this is a pretty thin group with only 5 safeties on the roster right now. Perhaps that’s why Patti only has 3 making the team. With that one exception, we all have Eddie Jackson, Adrian Amos, Deon Bush, and DeAndre Houston-Carson making it. I would be shocked if Nick Orr doesn’t stick around though, that kid can play. Could there be a late addition here?

Specialists

Well, this pretty much speaks for itself. We all expect Cody Parkey, Patrick Scales, and Pat O’Donnell to round out the roster. I don’t think this is a surprise to anyone.

So what do you all think? Did one of us nail it? Did any of us bomb this completely? Make your pick and tell us your thought below!

+Here is a link to the whole spreadsheet for anyone that is interested in viewing it.

*Robert Zeglinski is doing a separate article and will be updated on the spreadsheet for when the final rosters are announced.