E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer
for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of
only four sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

HERE IT IS, THE FINAL 53-MAN ROSTER PREDICTION

By Dave Klein
While getting ready for the Giants' 11th game in 13 days, or so it seems, why not take a break in the action and study their upcoming decisions in order to reach the final roster count of 53?

That must be done by Saturday at 4 p.m., and just as every other year, it ain't going to be easy.

The first obstacle is numerical. How many do you keep on offense? On defense? By position? How many who must be assigned a position are really there for special teams' service? What happens in case of injury now, is there sufficient depth?

This model is of a 53-man roster and I am sure it will raise a few questions, arguments and that subtle rolling of the eyes.

But let's proceed.

For starters, my team has four specialists (two kickers, one punter and a long snapper). The kickers are Rhys Lloyd and Lawrence Tynes, because Tynes is perpetually injured and because Lloyd kicks off deeper. He also didn't do badly last Monday night against the Jets, making a 34-yarder and having a 42-yard attempt blocked because somebody named Jarron Gilbert wasn't blocked. The punter is Matt Dodge, who became the Philadelphia Eagles' poster boy last season. But he has a stronger leg than Steve Weatherford and there are reports that this summer he has learned the meaning of: "Kick it out of bounds, dummy." The long snapper is Zak DeOssie.

So that's four, with 49 to go.

The offensive breakdown consists of 24 players, and here they are:

Quarterbacks - Eli Manning, David Carr (2). Can you live without Sage Rosenfels? You bet. And free agent Ryan Perriloux may well find himself on the practice squad anyway.

Running backs - Ahmad Bradshaw, Brandon Jacobs, rookie Da'Rel Scott, D.J. Ware (4).

Fullback - Rookie Henry Hynoski (1).

Wide receivers - Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, Victor Cruz, Domenik Hixon, rookie Jerrel Jernigan, Devin Thomas (6).

Tight ends - Travis Beckum, Bear Pascoe, Jake Ballard (3).

Offensive linemen - Chris Snee, David Baas, David Diehl, Will Beatty, Kareem McKenzie, Stacy Andrews, Mitch Petrus, James Brewer (8).

Is our roster a little light in the running backs? Should there be a third quarterback? Is there a quality tight end? Should there be one more offensive lineman? No, no, no and no. But that's just one man's opinion.

Now for the defense, which consists of 25 players. They are:

Linemen - Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Linval Joseph, Jason Pierre-Paul, Mathias Kiwanuka, Dave Tollefson, Chris Canty, Jimmy Kennedy and rookie Ayanga Okpokowuruk (9). The rookie's name is hard to spell and hard to pronounce but he is easy to like, 6-2 and 250 from Duke, and there are rumors that he can be groomed to play linebacker, too.

Linebackers - Michael Boley, Jonathan Goff, rookie Greg Jones, Clint Sintim, rookie Mark Herzlich, rookie Spencer Paysinger, Adrian Tracy (7). Why only seven? Because Kiwanuka is the strongside linebacker who also will play pass-rushing defensive end, and since we had to put him somewhere, he's on the front line.

Defensive backs - Corey Webster, Aaron Ross, Antrel Rolle, Kenny Phillips, Deon Grant, Michael Coe, rookie Ty Sash, Brian Williams and the first-round pick, Prince Amukamara (9). The Prince won't be ready until late October-early November, but he will be ready and will probably be needed.

So there they are your final 53 regular season Giants. Of course, we could not factor in trades, late injuries and the like.

You might be concerned that there are only two quarterbacks on the roster. Well, head coach Tom Coughlin has gone this route before and if both your keepers are so seriously injured, it doesn't really matter much who you find. Might as well activate Y.A. Tittle and hope for the best. We understand Phil Simms is busy.

Oh, and I must have missed it. Where did Tiki Barber sign again?

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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