wbbfan

I think we originally in turning around our OL did it the opposite, but yeah that is generally true. Especially up here. Lol some one fire up the photo shop and crop eli into a military uniform! Yeah, and I get a well kept secret is valuable but damn at some point you have to actually use him. I think he would've been a late 2nd round pick at worst. And possibly a 1st in the NFL.

Dude missed his calling for real lol. I feel like him in those plays trying to keep my toddler from going places he shouldn't. I suspect that's true with Gray. He probably wanted either a starting role and the money that goes with it, or to pursue his engineering work. No one wanted to pay him like that and or hand him a starting role. He's the opposite of lofton for me, he really isn't a guard. He can really lock guys up if they bull rush him. And he has the mobility. Idk, it's hard to see him putting it together at RT, and hardly any one plays Imp guards. No doubt dumping kola would improve the line and allow to cover for a guy like lofton more. I do worry though if he doesn't improve at least the pick ups, switches and assignment stuff while playing next to neuf fast, that he just wont ever get it. Yeah, zach needs to progress better and not hesitate to hit guys that are going to come open. Doesn't need to constantly wait to try and strike for a TD. Buck really needs to have a great game plan and play call today. Out lawler and bo is a huge blow.

Yeah me too. While I think he has benefited from playing along side some great, great OL, he definitely turned the corner with his health and improved a lot over his early years. 100%, up the middle is the fastest way to get pressure and ruin a qbs day. I think Neuf and dobson would both be better centres than the Koala.

It's a big tone setter tonight for the stretch leading up to LD. Gotta respond to getting the crap kicked out of us last week. I have some hope that Biggie will be used better under JY, and play better behind the new DL guys. Least I sure hope so, hope he's healthy enough. Hard to get excited for the 2nd preseason game for the vets, I get it.

Couture was better than goossen, IMO. But yeah, Kola is the worst C we've had in a long while. He's a reliable snapper, decent in run pro if he doesn't have a man to take, is awful any time he has a man to take especially if they are on the nose. But he's even bead with handling twists. Gray would've hands down been better than lofton imo. Idk if he would be a long term answer at RT, but I always thought that was the position to groom him for. Don't know till you try. Lofton is worse than when Neuf played RT a bit last year. I was real sad we lost out on Desjarlais too. I don't think they'll move on from Neuf as long as he can walk though.

He was very gentle with lofton, but lofton got it even worse. he's on the wrong side of pressure in all but 1 of those plays, when kola gets pancaked. One of the last plays he gets beat by 2 guys and gets no one. At times he was kick stepping way too far and giving up inside position, other times hes dropping back with out contact like he's a damn DB trying to get deep and just walking back into the pocket. We have 2 big holes on our OL right now. I don't know what is more frustrating, That we don't seem to have the answer at imp T, or that we have the answer at C and refuse to use it. Love the content from lapo, hope he keeps it up. YT is a hard grind and even harder for the CFL market I'm sure. The play to woli is clearly quarters cover though, the play at 7:57 problem isn't zach missing the guy with a seam buster, which he didn't likely have time for, the problem is the confusion on coverage left both guys on that side open. Zach didn't miss 1 possible throw because of timing of progression, he missed the side of the field because he never looked. Even the play to woli that lapo loves, that's a very risky throw when he had an easy target about 5 yards shorter to the side line that wasn't surrounded with guys.

Nope. Maybe if he coughs up 30k, with interest though… lol

And he can’t retire as a rider.

Excellent point! I thought we would be 11-7 plus 2 or minus 1. At this point I think it’s 11-7 +1 or minus 2. Agree with both of those. Adam’s and fox as well.

https://3downnation.com/2024/06/12/darian-durant-regrets-not-taking-pay-cut-to-finish-cfl-career-with-saskatchewan-roughriders/ No mention of his bonus stealing.

Bang on. We had soo much talent at lber in camp. Not playing any of those guys is aggravating as all hell.

Mci had one carry but yes. If he was any more upright in that run he could’ve dunked lol.

Truth to that for sure. But even last year we had guys that have succeeded here on teams. Another is that tackling is a direct result of discipline and coaching. Walter’s, goveia, McManus, and ringmaiden.

Ayer’s wasn’t a heart of our sts by any means though. Woods, was a key performer in our front though. I know mos and maybe the whole mafia view teams as important as O and D, despite yielding piss poor teams for two years that only got worse with grant being the only bright spot, but it isn’t. Teams play, is not as important as line play. We acknowledge this by carrying two back up ol who only play heavy set and do nothing else. Not even the defensive side of heavy. They don’t rotate they don’t play unless some one is hurt. But we’ll roll 6 dl, despite rotating those guys and asking them to play on every short yardage pack other than offensive goal line. Oline isn’t more important that DL. It’s harder to find and develop those especially since it’s the ratio strong hold, but defense wins ships. Acceptable mediocrity and self importance. We do it smarter it’s ok that we are worse at it.

And lost us 2 grey cups. Is the goal to win 14 games or grey cups? No ones pushing the panic button here, people are saying wade and or Walter’s should intervene before it gets any worse. If you think this is panic mode, we better not lose this week, or the next home game. You’ll see panic mode from the average fans, and an attendance dip, and our team getting booed off the field. Also cost us any hope of improving through the tc pre season process this year and last year.

The whole roster management thing goes soo far back. And is hand in hand with acceptable mediocrity from mos guys. Weve seen more rando fringe players up jumped to starting for part or all of a season only to instantly disappear when we finally move on. Thomas discussion was heavy early in 2021 when we would slaughter opposing offences, but then randomly give up huge runs and ypc but teams couldn’t hang long enough to keep running. Then stove came back from injury and the only soft spot in the D disappeared. We went through countless imp wrs, some of whom left very bitter because they didn’t get a chance despite the level of play we endured. Every year for as long as I can remember we’ve started out with entrenched dbs who can’t hang. Ever since jsk left we haven’t given new lbers a real chance to shine and our usage has gotten worse and worse. We’ve DI’d guys only to not use them at all more times than I can count too. The thing that changed is for a couple years our over all talent in comparison to the league was soo much higher especially on the line that we could over come it. And now we can’t.

If he was, the extra reps weren’t high value.

To be fair, football across all levels and leagues loves athletes who pop off the page above all other attributes. I mean gable Stevenson just got an nfl contract having never played a snap of football at any level. Not even pop warner. The attitude in football has always been take the athlete, and make them a player. Use strategy and tactics to cover for them and exploit their talents in the mean time. It’s not the only time we’ve seen this, lesnar, to Olympic sprinters, to pitchers quitting in the minors to play football etc. Football, has the highest barrier for entry in terms of athleticism and size. If you look at our roster, we have a bunch of guys with middling experience at best in football at the last level. You make your roster around the athletically dominant, and fill in the rest with low ceiling high floor blood n guts role guys like Thomas and hallett. We are trying to build a sky scraper with no beams and 70% glue.

If by a big part of your cap hit you mean 4th or 5th highest on offence, and less than the last two ol we lost to free agency, you should re evaluate your position. 3 of the highest paid wrs in the league are here who average about 15k more than Brady. We have guys at other positions like wj earning comparable money. To say Brady’s deal is a mistake is silly. Too much old money, not enough young talent.

He’s on a rookie ni scale deal lol. In time id love to see a 21 form set with clercius and mci as tes at some point. If both those guys run routes who do you have cover them? If they block do you have dbs try to beat the block?

Yeah he’s gonna be scary good. Forget being able to have him and Brady on the field together or being able to reduce the load on Brady to extend his career, dude has the whole package.

Definitely expect heavy sets and 40 plus passing attempts. I especially expect to see more screens, the pa roll out crosser and other high percentage passes.

You aren’t investing in the position, it’s the passport, athlete and soft skills that’s being invested in. You have to invest in every ni prospect. We virtually never see guys come from good d1 programs, with the type of resume an imp would have, and no nfl experience. Investing time and coaching is far better than more cap space as well.

Yep. He has the right work ethic, desire, character and football iq. He needs a lot of coaching in terms of his running position, angles and reading the play. Even Brady needed a good bit of time, work and adjustments to be what he is today. Lots of people were ready to toss him away for Augustine not that long ago. No position is a turn key instant starter for an ni.

Rb is less easy here as well, due to the reads required in our tight zone scheme, the blocking demands and the ability to pass catch. Plus as we saw in week 1, the exchange alone in an option offence isn’t easy for the rb.