Roth Math Comes Up Zero (updated)

This just in from Pro Football Talk:

"Roth's odyssey ends on the waiver wire

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on November 24, 2009 5:52 PM ET

Dolphins linebacker Matt Roth's odd journey this season with the Dolphins has concluded in a surprising place: the waiver wire.

Adam Schefter reports the Dolphins waived Roth Tuesday and signed former Lions defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis.  The Dolphins also picked up defensive back Evan Oglesby.

Roth, a former second-round pick, was a starter for Miami's playoff team last season and generally considered a key part of their defense.  But a mysterious injury and some friction with the organization about a possible new contract soured Roth's '09 campaign before it started.

Expect plenty of teams to put in a waiver claim for Roth, especially team that run a 3-4 defense.  The 1-9 Browns make for a sensible destination."

And from Adam Shefter:

"Waiver claim order for today on former Dolphins LB Matt Roth is Browns, Bucs, Rams, Lions. So if Browns want Roth, Browns have Roth."

So it doesn't look like the AFC East will be Roth's next destination.

Dolphins FinalizeTheir 53-Man Roster - Updated

The Dolphins have done their final cuts and the roster is pared down to 53.

Those released today are:
OT  Nate Garner

WR Brandon London

OL  Brandon Frye

S    Courtney Bryan

LB William Kershaw

DE Rod Wright

OG Mark Lewis

WR James Robinson

LB JD Folsom

DE Ryan Baker

They also placed LB Matt Roth on non-football injury list.  Yesterday they waived CBs Joey Thomas and Will Billingsley.

This brings the total to 53.  The final roster has been updated on the sidebar of the blog.  Lex Hilliard has made it, along with 9 offensive linemen, 7 defensive linemen, and 6 outside linebackers.  Looking back at my projected roster I was off by 3 players.  I had London over Hilliard, Frye over Gardner, and Kershaw over Anderson.  I have to say I'm a bit shocked that Anderson made the cut, but now that he is going to be here, a special request to coach Sparano....please don't put him on special teams....

UPDATE:  According to multiple reports the Dolphins have changed their mind about waiving John Nalbone due to indications he would be claimed off waivers by another team.  They are apparently considering giving him Nate Garner's roster spot.

UPDATE:  Nate Garner has indeed been waived which means John Nalbone has made the final roster.  The Dolphins currently have 4 tight-ends, 4 tailbacks, and a fullback on the roster.  They have cut down to 8 offensive linemen.

Dolphins Cut Down To 64 Players...11 To Go

The Dolphins have pretty much finalized their cornerback stable by waiving both Will Billingsley and Joey Thomas.  Billingsley did not play during the Saints game, and Joey Thomas, after showing up in practices and one pre-season game vs Carolina, fizzled in the final two games.

Billingsley may be brought back for the practice squad.  Thomas is not eligible for the PS.

By The Numbers

So, Ralph in Michigan asked me if I knew how the roster on opening day in 2008 broke down by position. Well, I didn't know for certain off the top of my head for every position, but generally certain teams will almost always carry the same number at most positions. For example, there are usually two backups for each position. But that can sound misleading.

Let's take a couple of examples: Most teams carry two backup Quarterbacks. So you end up with 3 total. Most teams also carry 2 backups for each position on the offensive line. Now that statement makes it sound like there are fifteen o-linemen on the team, but obviously this is not the case. You have five starters, but only 3 positions, Tackle, Guard and Center. Do the math on that and you end up with 9 total offensive linemen.

This is how the 2008 Dolphins' roster broke down entering the season:

QB: 3
RB: 5
WR: 6
TE: 3
OL: 9

DL: 8
LB: 7
CB: 6
S: 3

K: 1
LS: 1
P: 1

It should be noted that shortly after the season started, the Dolphins cut a running back, replaced a wide receiver with a linebacker and replaced a cornerback with a safety. They ended up replacing both a WR (Camarillo) and an OL (Smiley) with linebackers as well to bring our final roster to 10 LBs, 4 WRs, and 4 RBs.

That was how we did it last year. Coming up next week we'll look at how a player can make an impact (and the roster) on special teams, which may result in some alterations to the breakdown, but considering the players we have right now and thinking only of base offense/defense, this is how I believe 2009's roster will break down on opening day:

QB: 3
RB: 4
WR: 6
TE: 3
OL: 9

DL: 8
LB: 8
CB: 5
S: 4

K: 1
LS: 1
P: 1

Based on these preliminary numbers, the Offensive Line and the Linebacker competitions are going to be fierce.

Mise En Plus

Welcome to the dog days of summer. The times when normally football fans either go on vacation, go into hibernation, or go into withdrawal equivalent to a former heroin addict. The fact is that nothing of interest happens between now and training camp unless you're interested in rookie contracts. Most fans aren't. I'm interested in veteran's contracts because the salary cap and age have a lot to do with how a football team shape up, but for the rookies, their contracts mean nothing to me from a fan standpoint, and since I'm not paying their salaries, they really don't have any impact. So the next six weeks could be a hell of a time.

Well, there's good news. No, I'm not going to be hand-drawing the entire Dolphins playbook! I've already been accused of selling secrets to the enemy! We do however, have some things in place to talk about. It may not seem that important right now, but the depth chart and roster in general starts mutating day by day. It is a gradual process, not a slice and dice operation that it may seem as teams usually wait until deadline days to execute their waivers.

Yet with six weeks to go, the Dolphins cut a punter and a cornerback. They now have until August 1st to cut two more players but will they wait that long? What made Jy Bond and Scorpio Babers such wastes of time that they didn't make it to the end of OTAs? Are there any other wastes of space and time on the roster? That would make the next two easy pickings. I doubt there are.

So, over the next week or so, I will focus on one positional group and we'll get into how each player can make the roster, and how they will work themselves out of the Trifecta's good standing.

Don't worry, I won't make you wait for the good stuff. First up, the Wide Receivers!

First Cuts

The Dolphins have made their first post-minicamp cuts: Punter Jy Bond, and Cornerback Scorpio Babers are the first casualties. The roster count stands at 82 players. This means at least two more players must be cut in the next 6 weeks before training camp begins.