Hey guys, so this is going to be a series about how i would like to see the squad for next season. a lot of my preference will play in, so it might not be what the hawks end up doing. i won’t go though each player or position group, but will just highlight some standout points for the offence defence and special teams.

 

 

offence (24)

(2) qb – wilson mcgough

(3) rb – penny carson davis

(2) rb2 – mckissic prosise

(1) fb – hill

(3) te – dickson dissly vannett

(4) wr – baldwin brown darboh mcevoy

(2) lt – brown jones

(2) lg – pocic odhiambo

(1) c – britt

(2) rg – fluker philips

(2) rt – ifedi fant

so the most noteable omission here is probably lockett. if you read any of my pre draft posts you know that i think we should trade him because him and wilson just don’t gel and we could get a decent mid round pick for the next draft for him due to his pro bowl status. we also have two other great returners in mckissic and now especially penny.

i have also chosen to stick with 4 receivers because i think that we can play with multiple TEs (and that they will see more time), multiple running backs or we have mckissic and prosise who can both line up as receivers – arguably better than any of the receivers on our PS.

the last spot i want to briefly mention is QB2. i would not like to give any of the three backups that we currently have on our roster the spot. i don’t like austin because he is too passive, i thought that mcgough looked worryingly insecure in his press conference after first practice (that rubs off on the players around you) and we won’t even talk about morris. of the three though i think that mcgough’s play fits our offence best and perhaps he is more secure on the pitch.

 

defence (26)

(4) de – clark jordan smith II green

(6) dt – reed jones ford johnson stephen mcdowell

(5) lb – wagner wright griffin martin alexander

(2) nickle – coleman mingo

(4) cb – griffin maxwell flowers thorpe

(3?) fs – thomas? thompson alexander

(2) ss – mcdougald hill

on defence the noteable mentions are chancellor, thomas and mcdowell. i also see a position change for martin, who i think will transition from de to lb (wagner’s backup). from what i have read he has the motor and football iq to do so.

i have a gut feeling that chancellor won’t make it and also believe that a thomas trade should go ahead for many reasons mentioned pre-draft. on the other hand if we know that thomas can stay fit and really wants to be here and we can get him a reasonable contract i don’t think i would be very upset if he stays. but i know any aggravation or distraction that come from him will quickly be topic no. 1. also for the development of our secondary i think it would be good if he goes.

the secondary is a bit of a weakness at the moment unless everything comes together (i am very excited about a griffin/flowers cb duo and it will be nice to see what comes from hill and thompson). for this reason it is really important that our front 7 do their job. and here i think we are stacked up nicely. especially the ability of the new griffin and mingo to blitz from deeper will help out the secondary.

for this reason i also hope that they keep mcdowell. there is so little news on his situation, but if his injury is something without long term effects i really hope we keep him. if he comes back strong i think he has the potential to develop into calais campbell level good, who he reminds me a lot of.

 

special teams (3)

(1) k – janikowski

(1) p – dickson

(1) ls – carew

on special teams I see us with a complete overhaul from last year. we signed the highest grading punter and long snapper out of college. dickson will beat out ryan for price reasons and because he is special, no knock on ryan who i have grown to love, but you have to think about what’s best for the hawks. carew will beat out ott because he is simply better. in kicking we can’t get much worse than last year. i have concerns about janikowski’s health, i.e. back issues, but if he can stay fit i think he is solid.

 

practice squad (10)

moore (wr) grayson (wr)

swoops (te)

roos (g) hunt/henry (c) beavers (t)

jackson/nwachukwu (de)

jefferson (dt)

pugh (lb)

king (cb)

quite simply these are all guys who i could see just missing the cut from the squad, but could contribute if they make it. of course they might be picked up by other teams before it comes to the season and we might pick up guys who are cut by other teams, but for now i am filling the PS with guys who are currently on the extended roster.