TBURGESS

It's a very interesting match up tonight. Our suspect O line vs their excellent front 7. Their suspect O line vs our excellent front 7. Both QB's should be running for their lives, getting hit or getting the ball out quickly. Both offenses are based on quick throws and the receiver or RB making folks miss. Our QB is coming off a huge injury and is very inexperienced. Their QB is one of the most experienced QB's in the league, but's been the definition of average his entire career. Both teams have a good receiving core, although I'd give the Als an edge here. Both defenses are starting two rookie DB's. Our 2 are beside each other which is a disadvantage compared to the Als who have them both at Corner. We have home advantage. They have more experience. I'm hoping we win and that it's an interesting game unlike last nights which was pretty much over at the end of the first quarter.

Losing Harris is a massive drop off in RB and the quality of our starting NI's, especially in PLAP's offence where the RB is involved in so many plays (20-25%). If he's out for a while, it's likely that BC or Montreal will end up with the last playoff spot instead of us. He's just that important.

Duron Carter, SJ Green, Stafford and Giguere will be going against 2 rookie DB's too assuming that Adams doesn't play and he hasn't practiced since May.

East: Ottawa - Best 1 2 punch at QB. Their D looked good in preseason. Hamilton - Collaros out for the first month slows them down, but they are a team to be reckoned with. Toronto - If Ray stays healthy, they could have a good year. If not, out of the playoffs Montreal - They were a decent QB away from the playoffs last year and Glenn's more than decent. Their receivers will scare a lot of defenses and their defense has always been good. Cross over or 3rd in the east possible. West: Edmonton - Lost a lot, but still have a lot of talent. Reilly's one of the best QB's in the league and I expect him to play more than last year. Calgary - Won a bunch by the skin of their teeth last year. Will lose more than last year. Winnipeg - Best off season player signings in forever. Better D line should help the back end so we won't have an 8th ranked D. O line is our Achilles heal again which will likely result in breaking our Willy. If it happens before mid-season, expect BC to take 3rd. BC - Will be better than lots of folks think. Wally's a great HC. Jennings looks like the next young starting QB but will be up and down which will cost BC some games. Regina - Huge turnover. Oft injured QB who hasn't played much in the last 2 years. Poor NI's. Jones will get them on the same page and they'll win more than last year, but not many more.

Duron Carter

I'd take Franklin over DeMarco any day of the week, especially on game days.

Can't practice for the first 4 weeks of the 6 game. Still need a 3rd QB for the game day roster.

Not only that, but they cut Brett Smith, leaving them with only 2 QB's on the roster and the CFL mandates 3. Durant's missed most of the last 2 seasons, so it's even worse IMO.

Riders TX RELEASED: National offensive lineman Kadeem Adams National defensive back Troy Adams National defensive lineman Tim Agbaje International offensive lineman Tre’Von Armstead International wide receiver Damarr Aultman International running back Terrance Cobb International defensive back Victor Dean Jr. International wide receiver Clarence Denmark International defensive back Marquis Drayton International running back Michael Dyer International wide receiver Qudarius Ford National linebacker Dillon Grondin International defensive back Tyree Hollins National wide receiver Kyle Kawamoto National offensive lineman Aaron Picton National wide receiver Randy Roseway International linebacker Marte Sears International quarterback Brett Smith International defensive back Xavier Walker International defensive lineman Markus White MOVED TO 6-GAME INJURED LIST: National defensive lineman Dylan Ainsworth International quarter back Phillip Sims International offensive lineman Jarriel King International defensive lineman Eric Norwood National offensive lineman Matt Vonk ADDED TO PRACTICE ROSTER: National defensive back Joel Brtka International defensive lineman Tony Criswell International defensive back Johnnie Dixon National offensive lineman Kennedy Estelle International offensive lineman Marcus Hall National offensive lineman Hasan Hazime International wide receiver Ryan Lankford National offensive lineman Alex McKay National linebacker Alex Ogbongbemiga National wide receiver Josh Stanford

2 roster spots for import kickers? No thanks. I'm expecting Castillo to pull 'something' and go on the 1 game IR.

Surprised they kept Kris Adams and Jace Davis. Neither did anything in the 2 games. Also surprised that we don't have any import RB's on the main roster, just Flanders on the PR, which means we can't use him during the game. Slightly surprised that Green won the DE spot.

I'm in Calgary, so I only got to see him in the 2 preseason games and they were definitely picking on him.

Me neither. He's been a fan whipping boy for a while and Randle is a superior CB by a mile. He's got to be making good money, too much to just be a backup. It's a good situation when you can cut a former starter because someone better took his spot.

That was fun to watch. I'm so glad that the CFL forced media access to other than the head coaches. I don't think the question was ignorant or uncalled for. Wylie's rant probably means it will never be asked again and that's exactly what he was going for. As for the stats he quoted... He could say any numbers he wanted to and no one could call him on it because they simply wouldn't know without having all the game film and knowing what they were looking at. Assuming that he's right and 'only' 26 of the sacks were totally the O lines fault how does that ratio compare to the rest of the teams?

Use a DI spot. Maybe better than starting an extra NI elsewhere. BTW: DI has to take an Import's spot so using the backup OL as a DI means an import has to be replaced by a NI if the backup OL comes in.

I don't expect the QB's to be perfect. I'm just saying about 3/4's of the reported 'great catches' in this years TC have been the ball thrown behind the receiver and they've pulled them in. In our first game, Willy was 3 for 6 and he had 2 under thrown balls. One got a PI because the DB didn't look back the other was almost an INT but Smith saved him. That's too high IMO and yes... I get that it was preseason.

Smith also reached back to break up an Int by Herbert on a ball thrown behind by Willy.

FWIW I'm getting tired of hearing of all these great catches where the receivers have to reach behind themselves fully extended. I'd rather hear that the QB's are placing the ball in front of the receivers so they can catch on the run. In real games, DB's will kill receivers who have to reach behind for the ball or maybe even pick it off.

I'll be surprised if Willy plays more than 2 or 3 sets of downs. The first preseason game isn't to get the main offense a bunch of work. It's to get a look at as many players as possible in 'game' situations. Nichols is likely to get the most time IMO.

I think it's funny that Montreal missing the playoffs, with more wins than we had BTW, for the first time since 1996 is considered a train wreck. Only making the playoffs once in 7 years is a train wreck. Popp is a much better GM than he is a HC. I can't understand why he didn't hire a real HC. Last year, they were a decent QB away from making the playoffs and Glenn is a decent QB. They are a team we need to beat (Along with Regina and Vancouver) to make the playoffs this year. Our games against them will be very important IMO.

I'm looking forward to seeing some football again, especially played in our new uniforms. I don't expect much from the game itself as preseason games are rarely any good, but often have a great play sprinkled in here and there. It's my first look at all the new guys so I'll finally get a chance to see what the TC camp folks have been seeing for the last couple of weeks. Montreal won't be bringing all their starters so I'm looking for our starters, when they're in, to dominate their backups. Injuries on our D line probably mean extra reps for our new DL starters. I'm hoping to see them dominate Montreal's O line who will have at least 4 changes on their O line since last year. I hope to see PLAP's new offense generate a lot of yards, some big plays, and protect the QB's. Preseason games rarely have much if any blitzing so this should be doable especially when our #1's are in. I know it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but I'd like to see a win. IMO, it would be good for both the fans and the team.

He was at RT most of last year after Jace Daniels went down. Maybe 10 games?

Gotta say I'm glad the league mandated that we get to hear from the coordinators. It's a joy to hear from PLAP and Buck and I'm looking forward to hearing from them throughout the season.

Smith for me. Younger. Cheaper. On his way up the receiving ladder. I don't think Dressler's looked as good since coming back from the NFL (May have to do with the team around him), but he's still an upgrade over Moore or Denmark.

Herb Zurkowsky ‏@HerbZurkowsky1 4h4 hours ago Am told QB Rakeem Cato might be one of a number of #Als' veterans released this week. Team tried trading him recently.