Francisco? Ware? Adams? Who will make the final 53

Impressive list, like you said most of us (myself included) aren’t ready to start coming up with the final 53 yet. However, in looking at your list I see a few differences in how I anticipate the final roster to look (albeit minor differences).

First, I’d be surprised if they have 4 TE’s on the roster. I don’t think both Becht and Spach will be with us, my gut tells me that Becht is probably coming to camp to ensure they have both Pope and Patrick’s undivided attention. Second, I think they will keep Castille and carry two FB’s. The remaining picks will be very interesting, as I think big Herman will be a very possible addition to the squad, and I could see Will Davis there as well. But I’d be surprised if Ralph Brown isn’t, as he seems to perform pretty well as a nickel and the release of Hood seems to have saved a spot for him as I’d be surprised if they don’t carry 4 CB’s. Ware and Francisco will have their hands full with Rashad Johnson on board. In short, as the DB’s go I think the list you have is pretty accurate.

Like you said, it will open up a lot of interesting dialogue.

Here’s how I’d tweak you’re ‘49’ and any positions that I don’t mention, I agree with you:

 - TE: I think they’ll start with three (Pope, Patrick, Becht) and Spach will be on the PUP. After six weeks, Spach will be activated and Whiz will make it clear to the other three that whoever is hanging from the bottom rung of the ladder is gone.

 - OL: This will end up being the best battle in camp. We assume the starters are set with Gandy, Wells, Sendlein, Lutui and Brown and there will be three backups. The problem is that there with Vallejo, Keith and E. Brown, there is no backup center and we’d probably lose Big Johnson if we tried to put him on the practice squad. Putting all that together, I’m going with Vallejo, Keith and Big Johnson as the backups but I bet we hear abunch about Wells working at center during camp (he becomes the backup).

 - ILB: I’ll agree with the four (Dansby, Hayes, Highsmith and Hobson) and Highsmith and Hobson might take some reps at OLB just in case.

 - OLB: I’m going with five because I don’t think they want to let Davis get away. At worst he’ll be nothing more than a special teams guy but they lost their sixth round pick last year (supposedly they wanted to keep him) and I don’t think they’ll risk it this year.
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Ok so I added an OLB and subtracted one tight end so we’re still sitting at 49. Here are the final four:

 - I think Aaron Francisco’s spot on the roster is safe because of his special teams ability (Urban raves about him and that’s coming from somewhere).
  - With the same thought in mind, I don’t think they can cut Sean Morey after his Pro Bowl season so his spot is safe as well.

Ok so we’re down to the final two spots and there are a number of ways that we could go. Looking at needs based on this roster, we still need a kick returner but I can’t see any other major need except for backup center. The problem with that is that we don’t really have a backup center on the current roster so they may be SOL. Maybe Canfield works at center or maybe they sign one or maybe they’re ok with Wells being the backup. Either way I’d say the last two spots on the roster come down to the best KR and one pure wild card spot:

 - KR: LaRod Stephens-Holwing vs. Michael Ray Garvin
 - Wildcard: possible options include Keilen Dykes, Lance Long, Trevor Canfield, Elton Brown, Dennis Keyes or even Tim Castille

Wells has played tackle before and gives up a lot less sacks. We have tons of guards that can take his place on the interior. That way Kurt would be better protected on his blind side. Plus, with all that $$, why won’t he get a haircut.
Not to mention his huge cap hit this year. I think he is expendable. Or maybe he and Wells just switch. He can’t be on the outside giving up all those sacks. He is just too slow. Wells moves a lot better on his feet and his hands are awesome.

The other thing that doesn’t get enough mention is how in the playoff games against Carolina and Atlanta that we virtually never heard mention of either Peppers or Abraham, so he and Levi Brown must have done something right to have shut two of the elite NFC pass rushers down.