Diner morning news: picking the right 14

National Football Post

QUOTE: “When power leads men toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.”

—John F. Kennedy

This is a regular-season week for teams in the NFL in terms of how they practice, how they prepare and how they game plan. Most teams have broken camp, and the regular routine of the season is in place. However, with each team carrying 80 players after this weekend, cuts will be made, rosters must be trimmed and these weekend games will determine who stays and who ultimately goes.

So building a roster is the critical element to this weekend, most notably how to make your team effective in the three essential areas of the game—offense, defense and special teams. This notion of who makes the decisions on the final roster is overblown. The head coach, with some input from his assistants, should make the final decisions, but the personnel man should have control of the 50th through the 58th players. Teams can dress only 45 players, and the head coach needs to have the authority to make those decisions—but in turn, the personnel man needs to protect the future of the franchise. There has to be balance between helping the team today and helping the team tomorrow. The fight over control of the roster is a needless one. The discussion should center on the back end of the roster, allowing the personnel department to work hard at improving the team. The head coach controls who dresses, the personnel man improves the future talent base. So let the coach have final say on the roster—just define the number.

AP Tarvaris Jackson

For example, the Vikings, my favorite team, have added a soon-to-be 40-year-old quarterback, and everyone assumes they will trade or release Tarvaris Jackson, who is now the backup. But where would this put them next year? With a 41 year old who might or might not retire again (alert Scott Hansen of NFL Network and Rachel Nichols of ESPN to position themselves at the end of Brett Favre’s driveway), or with Sage Rosensfels or maybe John David Booty and possibly Jackson. So based on signing Favre, they should carry four quarterbacks this year. All teams carry four quarterbacks on their 58-man roster, so the Vikings, instead of risking losing a potential player for their 2010 team, should carry the four on the main roster, supplementing the other areas with a player on the practice squad. From 46-58, those players don’t dress anyway, so it doesn’t matter where they are on the team as long as they’re on the team.

Going into this weekend’s games, the makeup of most teams should be right around 44 players: 20 on offense, 20 on defense and four who would impact the kicking game. A few years ago, Bill Parcells wrote this about his methods for choosing a roster: “The remaining 10 guys were comprised of players who I felt could make a significant contribution in the special-teams area or were young developing players that weren't quite ready as training camp ended, but I felt could make a contribution by the time the season was in full swing. If we had a position on the team that was shaky because of inexperience or by virtue of the health of the players playing it, maybe I would keep someone at that position as insurance.”

AP Bill Parcells

The back end of the roster must be players who can develop or need additional development. And there has to be great honesty in making sure you’re keeping a player on the roster for his developmental potential, not for his draft status (e.g., Vernon Gholston of the Jets).

This weekend, the starters will play into the third quarter, mixing in players whom the coaches and personnel men need to evaluate in a competitive setting. Which players take the final 14 spots on the roster will be the essence of the evaluation from these games. Teams need to make sure they stock their practice squad (players 53-58) with those who have a chance to develop, not with players that are familiar with the system or people they’re comfortable having around. Comfort is not the concern; finding talent is the main concern.

Special teams will be a key area for fans to evaluate this weekend—the players who line up on first-team coverage are the players still in competition for a roster spot. Finding the right 14 players for the team is what this weekend’s games are all about.

RIP Sen. Edward Kennedy (1932-2009)

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