JuranBoldenRules

When's the last time Goossen played Canadian football? BC high school is American rules too. Might be a good prospect, but wouldn't rely on him being able to play (well) right away (nor would I rely on Lavertu to be able to jump right in if I'm Walters/O'Shea). He needs to learn the basics of blocking with the DL a yard off the ball, different fronts used is Canadian football, 12 guys on the field, generally starting with fewer guys between the tackles. Take the best player...we have enough holes to fill.

Wally completely turned over the team that won the GC in 1998 & lost to the Ti Cats in 99. if there were 6 players left from that 98 team in 2002 I'd be surprised. That was his decision to do that. Even thought the Stamps won the GC in 2001, he continued to cut or let his players go to FA because he just didn't want to pay. That craptacular 2002 Stampeder team was all his doing. His philosophy of 'younger & cheaper" finally caught up with him that year. What happened with the Lions this off season we saw in Calgary every year he was GM in the 90's & early 2000's. He used to shrug off the players he released saying he could find someone as good or better for a cheaper price. Where did those players go though? Most of them were basically done. The big thing was that they lost all their QB's to the NFL, Garcia and Dickenson, lost Burris to Saskatchewan because he wasn't going to play with Dickenson entrenched in 2000, then he left for the NFL too.

I'd be happy if we win 5 games and very surprised if we're still in the playoff race come October, but I think most (if not all) of the guys we've added will be good pieces as the team rebuilds, Banks probably being the exception but he'll help build the foundation. Not like we signed a 39 year old quarterback or anything silly.

I'm assuming they'll use 3 NI spots on D with Fraser, a LB spot with Pottinger and a DL spot with Shologan, Evans and to a lesser extent Phillips and Capicciotti. If Pottinger goes down they'll have to play 2 NI DL at all times. Then 3 OL and 1 receiver/tight end/fullback. Their OL isn't terrible if the guys coming off injury are all right, but it's below average, they basically got a bunch of guys that nobody wanted/are coming off serious injury other than Shologan and Eppele (who is also coming off an injury, 2 off-season surgeries).

Even with the favourable expansion draft to get an actual QB that can play, I don't think they'll be better than the Renegades were in their first season, 4-14. But at least Burris and Jovon have experience posing for banners that they can put on the side of the stadium, hopefully they didn't already make banners with Glenn.

I like whatever works. Whatever the basic principles of the defense happens to be, they need to change tendency enough that the QB can't read them easily pre-snap, get rid of the ball fast and just roll down the field 8 yards at a time.

Starting off on a good foot with a new teammate 101. "Sup, coach killer"

Isn't that pretty close to what we were running last year? It's basically the opposite. Burke relies on a 4 man rush and man or match coverage...very predictable, but if you have guys who execute and win the 1 on 1 battles, it can be spectacular. Etcheverry is more like Chris Jones, anyone can and will blitz and there will be a lot of zone defence behind that, sometimes with guys dropping into coverages that their position wouldn't in a more basic defence like Burke's.

Even if Ferri was signed we wouldn't have had an established starter at MLB, he's a WIL LB and spare DB.

Very different. First off, the QB-centre exchange is the most important skill in football. You can't do anything without it. You can't just plug anyone in at centre and expect them to be able to get the ball to the QB at a CFL level, which is the problem with guys like Kowalczuk and Parenteau etc. That is a huge skill in and of itself. The centre makes some calls to protections, but this is way overrated in Canadian football, most plays have the protections built in and basically what both the centre and QB both do is count how many guys are inside the tackles and which gap the defence is centered on, basically what they are playing as the strong side, which 99% of the time mirrors the offence or the width of the field anyways. This is different than American football, mostly the strong side of the field down south depends on the strong hand of the QB since the field is not nearly as wide. This is most of what the calls are, and the protection adjusts based on it, but every guy can see that when they look up, and if you're playing somewhere noisy, there's not a lot you can change at the line. Everyone is watching for potential blitzers, that mostly falls on the QB to make a call to react to that. adjust a route. OL have to block from their inside gaps out and do their best to take whoever comes...that's why you'll often see guys coming off the edge free when a defence sends more than 5. When you see guys come free through the 4 middle gaps, that means someone really screwed up, either took the wrong block or got completely dominated physically. Zone run blocking, it doesn't matter where the defence lines up or how many, they are blocking gaps and chipping upfield. Zone plays head to a side of the field, not a specific gap, you're basically creating a 3 on 2 situation for your blockers all along the LOS on the play side, allowing at least one of those guys to chip and get to the next level to take a LB or HB. The RB reacts and finds the opening. So really a centre doesn't call anything there, every OL needs to read their initial block and come out of their stance properly to get that done. The first 3 steps are key, can't waste any if you need to get upfield, or get a bit wider. I guess it depends what you think a sub-par lineman is. IMO, most of the centres in the league lately have all been subpar, meaning they'd really suck if you moved them to another spot where they actually ended up blocking someone 1 on 1 on the majority of snaps. But that's where the snapping part comes in, a guy who can snap very well and consistently can make a career, even if he struggles to make a block. Just look at a guy like Dominic Picard. If I had a dime for everytime he's literally been carried through the pocket by a DT, I could pay for my season tickets this year. Mostly you're just hoping they can be a good speed bump. Guards need to be more mobile, presumably you want them to be able to get to the 2nd level (LB's, HB's) in run blocking, although there are enough guys around the league lately that don't really have that ability (Kabongo for one). They both need to be smart enough to know where their block is and guards need to be patient enough in pass protection to not give up their inside gaps. Patience in OL is a sign of intelligence and football smarts IMO. This is really what the blitz is all about, challenging the OL to give up their inside gaps and a more direct route to the QB, the QB can read the outside rush, when it's coming right at him there's not much he can do.

I agree re: inside o-line. It's scary. Sadly, the only way it's going to get better in the forseeable future is a prospect stepping up. Guys who can anchor an o-line just don't make it to free agency frequently enough to bank on that route. They could go for a trade, but the price is going to be high. It'll be a great day when we can stop fretting over the o-line. I think Greaves has developed into a VERY solid Guard Now he needs to learn how to play that way consistently.

There wasn't much to pick from. Reality is a guy like Butler was going to BC (where he lives) or Hamilton (closest to where he grew up) as long as they put reasonable offers on the table. Bourke has spent his career in Montreal, as long as they are willing to pay him, he's not leaving. Given that we added a solid starting DB while moving away from Jovon and Stewart, added one of the top 2 available QB's, retained our #2 NI receiver and added a good young NI with upside in the secondary, Walters did pretty well. For all the people that feel the need to win a bidding war, we signed Nick Moore too, who I'm not a huge fan of but a guy that will make some plays, some mind-boggling drops and hopefully develop into a top receiver in the league with us. We lost Muamba, which was unavoidable, but didn't lose anyone else important, and I think it could be argued that some of the guys we let leave are addition by subtraction at this point. A

Meh...there's no one on the market who's going to even be a solid role player at that spot. Foster and Parker are both very limited players. Parker adds some value on special teams as he's an incredible athlete, but still hasn't figured out the position of receiver. Personally, given that this season is a write-off, I hope we give lots of time to guys like Feoli-Gudino and Brescacin who might be something.

No. Neufeld is a major question mark with his health anyways, and not very good, if we're starting him at tackle just for the ratio, we're in real bad shape. When Pencer played last year he looked like he belonged physically but very raw against pass rush moves when he did get engaged, IMO in that Edmonton game he looked more comfortable when he played RT after whoever left due to injury. I think if he plays more and gets to see where he needs to improve and has a decent coach, he'll be a decent player. I think they'll keep developing him at guard. Neufeld is a classic just try to get in the way for as long you can type of OL at this level IMO. Not a fan. One of the big improvements the Riders made from 2012 to 2013 was getting him off the field. I can't see them starting with less than 2 imports.

What an odd start to that franchises history. First they insist on being called the REDBLACKS. Then they hire a knob for a GM and screw over the best QB in Ottawa since Damon Allen to spend half a million on a worse 39 year old QB. Now they start their first season with a bye week. I have to think that's to buy (no pun intended) more time to get the stadium ready. I get that...but they couldn't take a bye in week 2 and play week 1 in their first season on the road? The team in Ottawa starting with a bye week sounds like a punchline...but the CFL wrote it themselves.

What an odd start to that franchises history. First they insist on being called the REDBLACKS. Then they hire a knob for a GM and screw over the best QB in Ottawa since Damon Allen to spend half a million on a worse 39 year old QB. Now they start their first season with a bye week.

True North might not like being the second half of the double header due to the "day long party drinkers". Going first shouldnt be a big deal unless they find people are choosing the Bombers over the Jets which I dont recall being an issue. I think the Bombers would prefer to avoid the situation of having a Jets game on the same day unless the Bomber game was at noon and the Jets at 7 or something. It would be an absolute nightmare to get across the city if the games were at 2 and 6 or something like that, basically people would have to choose, and I think people spending hundreds per game on the Jets are more likely to do that, meaning they wouldn't go to the Bomber game at all or leave very early. It worked out great going from the old stadium after that Als game and heading to Jets/Canes, that was a great day.

He'd have to be pretty unrealistic to think that. There are 500 Will Ford's looking for a tryout in the US right now.

Has been tagged for a bigger role a few times, but has been downright terrible at any spot other than field corner, where he can take a 10 yard cushion and have several seconds to react to any play headed his way. Last seen chasing a receiver after a double move. Don't really see a spot for him in Hamilton, thought they were pretty happy with the secondary that finished the season and everyone is back.

Pierce is about as good of a backup QB as you're going to get. He's just unreliable for long periods of time.

That's what happens when your mediocre. Fifty thousand yards of mediocrity?? Just a few average qbs ahead of him. Thrown for 4000 yards 3 times in his career. Passing yards are a measure of longevity, not greatness.

well said, and I'm not saying I condone it, but how the hell is a tweet by some random dude about wearing a robe in a change room interfering with anyone else's freedoms? I just hate to see the random actions by some boneheads expressing poor judgement be used as an excuse for the state to become even more involved in our day to day lives, stating that they are protecting "freedoms". Anyway, it's 2:00 pm here in Maui, happy hour just started, so aloha. Is Mark Cohon "the state?"

They downgraded their 3rd round pick in the upcoming draft and traded their 3rd next year to Calgary for a guy who might crack the DL rotation on half the teams in the league and specifically asked for a trade to Ottawa. They'll have the best tight ends in the league though, we're all jealous of that. They swapped? Thought they just outright dealt that pick Yep...19th for 23rd this year, which is BC's original pick. 3rd round picks in 2014 have now been dealt 8 times.

Has he checked his voicemail lately?

They downgraded their 3rd round pick in the upcoming draft and traded their 3rd next year to Calgary for a guy who might crack the DL rotation on half the teams in the league and specifically asked for a trade to Ottawa. They'll have the best tight ends in the league though, we're all jealous of that.