After another typical draft of surprises from TT, I feel it's time to take a look at our new additions through the draft and figure out how they will contribute.  The big question mark is how long will the 2011 Season be: 16 or 18 games?  If the season is extended to 18 games, one would think that the 53 man roster limit would be increased by a couple players.  Lets go ahead and assume that we have to maintain with the 53 man limit and figure out how to get everyone on the roster.

Defensive Line

DE- Mike Neal

DE- Ryan Pickett

DE- CJ Wilson

DE- Jarrius Wynn

DE- Justin Harrell

DE- Lawrence Guy (rookie)

NT- BJ Raji

NT- Howard Green

How many defensive linemen do we plan on keeping?  If we do end up resigning Cullen Jenkins, that would be an added bonus.  I highly doubt he's coming back though if a deal hasn't been made yet.  We signed Green and Wynn following Neal's departure to IR and Jenkins' injuries, so if we step back to the beginning of the 2010 Season, we started with 6 defensive linemen (Jenkins, Raji, Pickett, Neal, Wilson, Harrell).  

Linebackers

OLB- Clay Matthews

OLB- Frank Zombo

OLB- Erik Walden

OLB- Brad Jones

OLB- Brady Poppinga

OLB- Ricky Elmore (rookie)

ILB- AJ Hawk

ILB- Desmond Bishop

ILB- Brandon Chillar

ILB- Nick Barnett

ILB- D.J. Smith (rookie- presuming he'll switch to ILB considering his size)

That's 11 LB's, so clearly changes will be made.  Last season, we started with 8 LB's on the roster (Matthews, Jones, Hawk, Barnett, Chillar, Bishop, Zombo, Poppinga).  Now we have 10 LB's on the roster.  

So the question becomes: Who stays and who goes?  My hunch is Jarrius Wynn and Justin Harrell will be cut following Preseason from the DL.  Nick Barnett will be traded, Poppinga will be cut, and Smith will be signed to the Practice Squad.  Therefore, we enter the 2011 Season with 9 LB's, and will reduce the number of players from other positions such as QB, FB, CB, S, or TE.  It may be a little early, but how do you see this shaping up?