Pete

he was on our negotiation list as well, (as was Nichols when we signed him) fingers crossed - it would be nice to have a db with a bit of size

the more top end names added the better, increases our chances of getting a good ol prospect. Ly by the time we got to pick potential starting players were already gone.

Just responding to the players that were named in terms of their contribution Everyone has a role, but if you point at exume and clements being gone means we are going to be bad,, back it up. Of importance also is that we are replacing st coach to address some of those shortfalls

Need to look at the stats before making comments,, Hallet led team in st tackles. ly, clements had 6 ,and only 4 the previous yr. Ford In his rookie season had 10 st tackles. Exume is good but was also cut by mtrl midseason

Briggs was declining last year , Miller didn't play, Ford will outdo Exume, Hallet is our best and is still here, Cole will see more action and as you said Caldwallader and Kelly are improving (Caldwallader outplayed Briggs). We will also be replacing Clements who wasn't very good at st. We've also changed our st coach. I think you're being way too negative. We will also be adding in the draft a few players that are being utilized specifically for st .

below are the Projected Cdns as of this date Starters: Olivera Demski Neufeld Kolankowski Eli Wolitarski Lawton primary backups: Kramdl Hallet Augustine Dobson Thomas Ford Gautier Murphy Bennet special teams Caldwader. Benson, Kelly above account for 19 of 21 starters, 2 of which Jones and Kramdl may also become starters if needed on the bubble: Smeckle, Beeksma, Charboneau Hallet, Macdougall Of the 19 starters I would say we could use upgrades on Bennet, and Thomas, With 10 draft picks we are in decent shape

sorry that should have been Ford. But I do agree that last year our back up import talent wasn't utilized properly or we lacked depth. ie. when grant went down we had to experiment with several players none of whom were adequate, and utilizing Jackson as an import was a waste. If they are looking to fox to be good enough to reolace walker why wasn't he given more opportunity. Same could be said for Haba, Our top 10 canadians are the best in the league but it does get thin in the bottom 4 or 5. Hopefully with 10 draft picks this year and the return of ford it will be better. I also think they like the developement of Charboneau after he went back to school ly

Using the nationalized rule, doesnt mean you have more americans on the starting roster it only means you can play them for a limited amt of snaps in place of cdn. Your cdn backups remain the same. The third cdn safety isnt taking starter reps regardless.

I think you dont ger what i ams aying, if you are starting 8 cdns, and you want to replace thomas ir lawfon with an american, you can. As you still have the required ratio..If your questioning how the coaches evaluate talent, thats a question unrelated to rule. With Jones returning he too might be able to beat out an american rookie giving more flexibility. Sure for emergency it might be benificial, but for the teams utilizing it regularly it hampers developement of the cdns Can you give examples of teams using it that gave them a competitive advantage? Strange that you go directly to insults rather than backing up you comments.

for Osh to utilize the nationalized rule assumes you have Americans that are better players than the Canadians they are replacing. Considering that we utilized 8 canadians many times is an indicator that many are underestimating the Canadian talent that is available now . If we wanted to play an american at one of the Canadian starter positions, we could have done so regardless of the rule

either that or he truly believed he could help the team by being out there even if he wasn't 100%. If Hall felt it would be better to have someone else play mlb that's Hall's call. Its not like we had a comparable player on the practice roster we could have inserted. Bighill wasn't being selfish and to say that he's not team first to me is an insult to the leadership he has always displayed to this team. (anyone in the league will tell you he's one of the best leaders in the cfl)

Bighill has been nothing but class, since he joined the blue, his criticism of the communication process was made as a player and a pleyer rep. But even he stated that Walters was in a difficult position due to the lack of clarity with Olivera and Schoen. Bighill has always been a team first player, and I personally believe that he and Jefferson are the best defensive players to wear the bomber jersey.