*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Sep 06, 1999: -- Final Cuts --
The Dolphins made their final cuts yesterday to get to the 53
man roster limit for the 1999 season. The players cut were FB Kantroy
Barber, QB Dan Gonzalez, WR Nate Jacquet, LB Bryan Jones, WR Kevin
McKenzie, WR Derrick Steagall and S Bryan Walker.
In addition to those players, WR Kio Sanford and DT Walter
Scott were placed on injured reserve.
The cuts leave the Dolphins with 53 players and the following
breakdown of players by position: 2 quarterbacks, 4 tailbacks, 2
fullbacks, 5 wide receivers, 3 tight ends, 9 offensive linemen, 3
defensive tackles, 6 defensive ends, 7 linebackers, 5 cornerbacks and
5 safeties. The team also has one kicker and one punter.
My Comments:
There were a couple of surprises on the cut list, including
Bryan Walker, Nate Jacquet and Bryan Jones. Possibly the biggest
surprise of the day, however, was that JJ decided to only keep 5 wide
receivers.
I presume that JJ decided that so that he could keep 4
tailbacks on the roster. If you remember, JJ has been having John
Avery line up at wide receiver during training camp and in an
emergency situation, Avery could take a 4th WR slot on the field.
But the Dolphins very rarely use 4 wide receivers in any case,
and the 5 that are on the team right now are all guys with huge
potential.
Keeping John Avery was not surprising, but I must admit that
I've really been disappointed in Avery this summer. He is still
dancing in the backfield and every time he touches the ball, he's as
big a danger to the Dolphins as he is to the other team. He seems to
have forgotten what little he knew last year about holding on to the
football.
Every time Avery gets the ball this year, I'll be holding my
breath.
I was a little surprised that JJ kept Larry Shannon and dumped
Nate Jacquet, after Jacquet's work last year on special teams. But JJ
apparently feels that his extra defensive backs can do the special
teams work. Also, his defensive backs are pretty banged up right now
and he's keeping some insurance for later in the season.
But that brings us to Bryan Walker. Walker was a guy who
looked like he was really going places last year - he had more
interceptions that any other safety on the team. This year, however,
he got injured and while guys like Greg Jeffries and Reyna Stewart
were making big hits on the field, he was standing on the sidelines.
I guess JJ didn't want to keep another injured defensive back.
Another surprise is that JJ decided to keep Anthony Harris
on the roster instead of moving him to injured reserve and keeping
Bryan Jones. Harris hasn't played at all in the pre-season and I
thought that Jones had been playing pretty well.
The surprise on the defensive line is Antoine Simpson. It
will be interesting to see how much he plays this year or whether he's
going to be permanently inactive during the games.
One guy who is likely to be inactive for quite a few games
this year is Grey Reugamer. He made the team more on potential and
attitude than on performance. He also made the team because JJ was
afraid that, if he was cut, someone else would sign him before Miami
could get him on the practice squad. It looks like he will be this
year's Brent Smith, who sat out most of his rookie year on the
inactive list.
The practice squad will be signed after 4PM on Monday and of
the guys who were cut yesterday, LB Bryan Jones, QB Dan Gonzalez, WR
Kevin McKenzie and WR Derrick Steagall should be eligible for the
practice squad. I'm not sure about FB Kantroy Barber, but I believe
he is also eligible.
Both Brian Walker and Nate Jacquet are not eligible for the
practice squad, but could very well end up on another team.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
[email protected], DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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