Rids

I would suspect that the TOP stats are the reason for that. Have the ball more you have more chances to go 2 and out. TOP isn't the number of possessions though. Generally there isn't a difference in the number of possessions teams have unless there are onside kicks or turnovers on special teams. Everyone has the same number of chances to go 2 and out in most games. Teams do not necessarily have the same number of possessions without turnover. The difference will not be higher than two however. Edmonton had two more possessions than BC in Week 1. Hamilton had two more possessions than Edmonton in Week 2. There is no maximum difference though as defensive or special teams touchdowns factor in. Also in the CFL the rules allow for a team to kick off in both halves if they choose to differ in the first half and then pick the wind in the second half.

I thought I remembered that too, but it wasn't marked down officially. Don't know why the statisticians would've missed that. They might have given it to Washington, Wild tipped it, Washington almost picked it off. You are right. This is how they scored it:

Yeah they are tricky with how they've rolled this out. Currently it's 17 games shown live during the season but there seems to be phrasing there to suggest that ESPN has the option to put more on their cable networks if they'd like. At least the one week archive on ESPN3 has remained.

Compounds the victory for the owners at any rate .. revenues that weren't accounted for during negotiations .. at any rate .. this is great for the league and hopefully draws a wider audience to our brand of football. It's a renewal, so it's not all new revenue. It would only be significant if it involved a large increase. Expanded coverage this season (and seasons going forward) .. so the monetary value of the deal goes north .. regardless .. more people get exposed to our game .. see it as a viable league .. It's basically the same coverage as last year just all on one network instead of having NBC Sports broadcast the other games. The biggest positive is that no playoff game will be tape delayed which happened last year. That was a pain and likely a reason why NBC Sports was left behind.

Browning tore his quad last year at ULM. He gutted it out last year and even got his running speed back to basically pre-injury levels. I was hoping that he'd be back to some form of 100% but doesn't look like it happened. I don't think it was a case of seeing Drew Willy and Brian Brohm and leaving town because Kolten's compete levels are off the chart.

Saw something saying that Browning was released today to go into coaching. Too bad as I've long felt he would be a nice fit in the CFL .

This is what I was forwarded prior to the players voting to ratify the CBA. Take it for what it's worth and I'll wait to see the final version as it reads in the actual CBA.

True, but the example was Orlando Franklin, a player who would be draft eligible if he held NI status. If he petitioned for NI status and was confirmed as a NI, I don't see how he would be a free agent. The 25 year old issue in the CBA is an automatic entry into the CFL Draft regardless of where players are in their CIS/NCAA career, and it only applies to players who already have NI status. I don't see how it would apply to a player in the situation of Orlando Franklin, older than 25, without NI status, but would be a NI if he applied. I'm sure a certain team would try to have Orlando Franklin declared a free agent if he ever decided to play in the CFL, but 8 other teams would pull out the draft/supplemental draft by-laws and call BS on them. Well I don't think the CFL would have any answers for this situation and whatever they did decide would be the pattern to follow moving forward. So for Orlando Franklin it's 100% up in the air as to what they would do and almost as sure of a thing that it'll never need to be discussed at a CFL level. It's unlikely to happen more than once in a generation unless the CFL average salary magically reaches what a NFL 3 year vet earns.

Here's a good link on Cassama - http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/04/18/university-of-calgary-star-doctor-cassama-impresses-nfl-scouts-with-workout And a video - The details are still a little hazy about how they are going to work these new non-import rules or even if they were in the final version of the CBA. What I saw used the phrase "Takes up residence" rather than attends Canadian school. I'm not sure if that's to include any Americans that up come to play in the CJFL or OFC as well as those players that attend CIS schools and Simon Fraser. Lots of questions still.

If the version I saw was the final then imports that establish Canadian residency (fancy way to say go to a Canadian school) for 4 years will be granted non-import status and enter the draft. Basically the American half of the Simon Fraser University roster will be able to play as a non-import along with the handful of Americans/internationals that attend CIS schools. Ups the draft class by about 25 to 30 guys a year I'd guess. Doc Cassama was rejected because his initial training was American football. Now if they started a Canadian football league in Sweden then those guys might earn non-import status too... (total gongshow)

Boris Bede may have been in Montreal's camp but would've been there as an import. He was born in France, spent 1 year at an NCAA school before moving to Laval. Doc Cassama would qualify for non-import status based on what I saw of the new CBA proposals of course there's a question as to how they'll handle it. Do they allow re-applying or do they grandfather it and use the rule from your draft year? Very cool on the topic split, great way to get topics back on topic. Sorry for the derailing of the Ty Pencer talk.

The 25 year old age limit is in the CBA. It's to cover players that extend their timeline especially those that go on church missions.

I thought Tillman had pretty much scouted Laurent on his own - no one seemed to have heard of him before the Supplemental...? The Laurent situation is a very unique one. Bruce Feldman (who was at ESPN at the time) came across a Duane Forde article ranking the top defensive linemen available in the CFL draft. He contacted me asking if those 10 guys were all better than Ted Laurent or at least why there was no mention of Ted. Bruce had written the fantastic book "Meat Market" and got to know that recruiting class very well at Ole Miss and Ted was part of that class. After a couple of emails it was confirmed that Ted would qualify for the draft but it was beyond the date to get onto the official draft list so he ended up in the supplemental draft in one of the largest supplementals in a long time. These kids that move with family members to the States during their teens are nearly impossible to keep track of especially when they move before high school. The high school kids are a little easier if they've made a name for themselves a bit. Hypothetically, what would happen if they found out a guy who had played in the NFL for a couple years (let's say he's 27 or 28) was actually eligible to be a NI. An established player. Would he suddenly be declared eligible for the next draft? To put a real name in here let's say that Orlando Franklin decided that he wanted to play in the CFL after his time with the Broncos was over. My understanding of it as that he could apply for NI status (and would get it in a heartbeat as he's more than eligible even before the rule changes) and would enter as a free agent. Likely he's already on a neg list somewhere and in his case he'd probably only want to play for Toronto. Worst case scenario he would go through the waiver process so the 9th place team of the year before would have first negotiating rights. Pretty sure any player in that situation would go through a supplemental draft, and they'd go to the highest bidder with waiver priority, or be eligible in the next CFL Draft depending on when their NI status is approved. NI players have to go through a draft, they are only free agents if they are undrafted. I don't think a non-import player can be a free agent without being eligible for a draft. Actually every junior player that ages out is exactly like this. They are never eligible for a CFL draft or supplemental draft and are simply free agents. The CFL still has an opening for players to go directly from high school to the pro level and the territorial rights have graduated to cover the junior teams. Same with every Canadian that goes to a Junior College in the States if they return to Canada and don't enroll in a 4 year institution are free agents as well. There are a few of those every year. Keep this in mind: The CFL is seriously lacking in the area of case study over non-import status and what to do with players that don't fit the strict confines of the rules. A clear example of that was two years ago at the Quebec Regional where they invited a player from Holland College in PEI but there was confusion surrounding his status for the draft. Holland is a school that doesn't qualify at the Canadian University level so technically it's at the same level as the CJFL but the CFL had never discussed how to handle a university club level football team and what happens then. The entire club league in the Maritimes is up in the air as it's not governed by territorial rights but some of the schools are four year degree offering schools but they don't play a schedule completely against four year degree offering schools. Likely it will take a high quality player coming out of that league for them to address it. I'd like to see them handle it sooner though.

Well in the situation of an experienced player beyond the age of 25 he wouldn't fit into the structure of a normal draft. We may learn exactly what steps are going to be used thanks to this new CBA that has new non-import requirements. This opens the door for players like Doc Cassama, Laval's kicker Bede and basically the entire Simon Fraser roster to qualify as non-imports regardless of location of birth. Laval's former kicker will be older than the 25 year old age limit.

I thought Tillman had pretty much scouted Laurent on his own - no one seemed to have heard of him before the Supplemental...? The Laurent situation is a very unique one. Bruce Feldman (who was at ESPN at the time) came across a Duane Forde article ranking the top defensive linemen available in the CFL draft. He contacted me asking if those 10 guys were all better than Ted Laurent or at least why there was no mention of Ted. Bruce had written the fantastic book "Meat Market" and got to know that recruiting class very well at Ole Miss and Ted was part of that class. After a couple of emails it was confirmed that Ted would qualify for the draft but it was beyond the date to get onto the official draft list so he ended up in the supplemental draft in one of the largest supplementals in a long time. These kids that move with family members to the States during their teens are nearly impossible to keep track of especially when they move before high school. The high school kids are a little easier if they've made a name for themselves a bit. Hypothetically, what would happen if they found out a guy who had played in the NFL for a couple years (let's say he's 27 or 28) was actually eligible to be a NI. An established player. Would he suddenly be declared eligible for the next draft? To put a real name in here let's say that Orlando Franklin decided that he wanted to play in the CFL after his time with the Broncos was over. My understanding of it as that he could apply for NI status (and would get it in a heartbeat as he's more than eligible even before the rule changes) and would enter as a free agent. Likely he's already on a neg list somewhere and in his case he'd probably only want to play for Toronto. Worst case scenario he would go through the waiver process so the 9th place team of the year before would have first negotiating rights.

I'd agree with that. A little of the Al Davis School of Drafting. For what it's worth Ty Pencer ran a 4.62 40 while a Sr. in high school which did a lot in the way of getting him that scholarship to Washington State. He was originally recruited as a DT and flipped to OT during his redshirt year. As a redshirt-freshman he was made starter at LT halfway through the season. The Cougars had two Canadians starting on their OL at one point with Joe Eppele starting at RT. was Kris Robertson another guy who got on the radar because he tested really well at the combine? Seems to me he had some good measurables but the memory is a bit foggy on it. Kris Robertson is a solid player with great measurables. To those watching he wasn't a surprise (he jumped a 38" vert at the East West Bowl before the big performance at the Quebec Regional and then beat all of those marks at the CFL Combine). He was also a 2 time All-Canadian as a kick returner. His height likely made him slide down most team boards and I graded him as a 3rd/4th round selection but was my #2 DB so being the first DB off the board isn't much of a stretch (Mike Edem was still in the discussion as a LB vs being a Safety).

I thought Tillman had pretty much scouted Laurent on his own - no one seemed to have heard of him before the Supplemental...? The Laurent situation is a very unique one. Bruce Feldman (who was at ESPN at the time) came across a Duane Forde article ranking the top defensive linemen available in the CFL draft. He contacted me asking if those 10 guys were all better than Ted Laurent or at least why there was no mention of Ted. Bruce had written the fantastic book "Meat Market" and got to know that recruiting class very well at Ole Miss and Ted was part of that class. After a couple of emails it was confirmed that Ted would qualify for the draft but it was beyond the date to get onto the official draft list so he ended up in the supplemental draft in one of the largest supplementals in a long time. These kids that move with family members to the States during their teens are nearly impossible to keep track of especially when they move before high school. The high school kids are a little easier if they've made a name for themselves a bit.

Same with Etienne. The thing is, they both did virtually nothing in our jerseys so they wasted 2 roster spots. To me, that's what counts. Not what they do elsewhere. Agreed to a point. That being said with them being in legit CFL offences now (though Poblah more than Etienne) I fully expect them to perform better. It's also why I was 50/50 on the trade (and still am, especially after Monday's game) that brought in Banks from B.C. as we also have a legit CFL offence now and gave up a NI for an aging import in search of one last big contract extension who frankly didn't earn it based on last year's play. Korey Banks fits into The Etch defense better than you may expect. I don't think that's the case at all, I think the guy really just cared about how good of an athlete a guy was and nothing else really mattered. If a guy is big and strong and fast Mack was a fan and expected the coaches to turn them into players. Went for more than just draft picks too. I'd agree with that. A little of the Al Davis School of Drafting. For what it's worth Ty Pencer ran a 4.62 40 while a Sr. in high school which did a lot in the way of getting him that scholarship to Washington State. He was originally recruited as a DT and flipped to OT during his redshirt year. As a redshirt-freshman he was made starter at LT halfway through the season. The Cougars had two Canadians starting on their OL at one point with Joe Eppele starting at RT. The reason why Edmonton got Laurent with a 2nd round pick in the supplemental was because Winnipeg used their 1st on Poblah. Edmonton offered a 2nd round on Poblah forcing the Bombers to use their 1st. Either way a 1st and 2nd were going for those two individuals it just depended on who went where.

Pencer wasn't projected as a 4th round pick but I graded him out as a late 2nd/early 3rd round pick. He was my 6th best OL. Had the extent of his injuries been known or made public while he was with the Okanagan Sun rather than folks giving off the info that he was sitting out to work he would have likely been a 4th or 5th round projection. He was able to train but his shoulder damage wasn't picked up by the junior team trainers.

Not going to do this for every game but posted a quick offense recap for the game. Through the course of the year I'll write up some different aspects that aren't captured by the stats alone although some of it has me handcuffed if they don't get the US broadcast thing sorted out shortly. http://blog.ridleyscouting.com/Kent_Ridley_Thoughts/My_Thoughts/Entries/2014/6/11_CFL_Pre-Season_Game_1.html

Interesting to see him as a 5th round selection. Not sure if he would've gone there if eligible earlier. That said there's a value in having him available for what's left of training camp. The supplemental is an odd thing at the best of times. Not sure how or why they missed this one.

Update: The 2 additional non-counters for training camp are Errol Brooks and Lirim Hajrullahu according to the stat sheet from last night.

I appreciate the pun, but I just have to say that he's old as ****, for real. If he's old then I'm ancient...I'll start looking for places to die now.

If only there was a die hard Bomber fan already working in radio that could host a proper pre game show and post game wrap up. You know...one that wasn't that wasn't that young or too Old....if only.

The rule in the CBA isn't 100% clear. It states that every year the training camp number will be established with a minimum of 68 and maximum of 75 players + the non-counters. Most media use the 68 player number but I've never seen a release from the CFL giving an exact number for that season. Here's the rule from the 2010 CBA: