While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.
ONLY one thing can protect a season against the injury bug: A deep roster. So we need to be about the business of making sure that our roster is well stocked. That has me wanting more from players like WR’s Britain Covey and Olamide Zaccheaus, and LB’s Shaun Bradley and Kyron Johnson. Not just these four, but (assuming they make the final cut) these four are at the top of the list.
The thing about a deep roster is, no team gets significantly more players than another team. In fact, as of August 2022, teams can carry 47 players on game day. (48, if they carry 8 offensive linemen.) So a deep team won’t be represented by more players. Instead, they’ll be represented by players that give the coaching staff more options.
For example, if Covey is just here as a PR, then he’s a waste of a roster spot. He isn’t good enough at that job, to warrant only doing that job. Same with Bradley. He’s been core on kick coverage teams, but he’s played a career total of 1,009 snaps, with just 45 tackles to show for it. We need more.
Part of the problem however, is that these players see little opportunity on normal downs. Of Bradley’s 1,009 snaps just 131 are on defense. The other 878 are on kick coverage teams. In 17 games Covey logged just 19 offensive snaps, with zero balls thrown his way.
We can’t develop depth, if our deeper roster rarely sees opportunities. We need to make use of and develop our WHOLE roster. No one is saying that these guys may be All-Pro types, but if injury forces us to rely on them, it would be nice if they were actually ready to go.
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