GCn20

Lumsden might be exactly what they need. Hope they try him out.

I think Ambles is just a worst case scenario pick up that is costing us pretty much nothing so why not. Might not be the last vet we add to the PR right now either.

Chad Kelly is an average QB on a really good team. Nothing wrong with that, and I don't believe he's reached his ceiling, but it would be a farce if he were to win MOP this year based on very pedestrian ability to put the ball in the end zone. He ranks 6th in QB red zone efficiency, and that is one of the gold standards of QB play I look for. For sure. Rourke was sizzling out of the gate last year. Flutie-esque numbers.

Good thing Dinwiddie did not let Kelly show his true greatness, we may have all been blinded.

Since I'm on a rant about MOP posers...cause that's what they are..how does a QB with 23 TD passes become a serious contender for MOP? Brown had 9 in 2 and half games. 30 is the bare minimum imo or else voters should be looking elsewhere because 23 screams game manager only. Also since Labor Day..7TD passes vs 5 INTs. Not MOP numbers when the season got real. Consistency all season long has to be a consideration with a slight bias to performance after Labor Day when you are facing the stiffest competition. In that regard both Kelly and Betts can hardly be considered outstanding. Maybe MPP..most pedestrian.

Just break down the numbers if you want to gage impact. Betts had 8 sacks in the last 12 games of the year. He produced over half his total in the first 6 games. 3 of those teams were playing backups at OT. Not trying to diminish Betts but Farhans reasoning is out to lunch.

I thought he did well. I think there are at least 2 teams that would offer him starting money. Probably be mostly performance based tho.

Henry Burris and Mike Reilly come to mind just off the top of my head. Probably others too. Henry Burris and Mike Reilly come to mind just off the top of my head. Probably others too.

Because he likes it here and our franchise is the gold standard of the CFL. Great players leave their teams all the time via FA.

Brown is going to get paid this offseason for sure. We can always bring him home in 2 or 3 years once ZC retires. He'd likely jump at the chance.

Weather will be a factor on attendance.

If Brady wasn't rolling we may have found another way, but it's sooooo much easier when he is....and there is no doubt at all going into ANY game this year what our plan was. A steady diet of BO for the W. Teams knew it, prepared for it, and failed to stop him. That is the very definition of outstanding imo. Our ability to run the rock in the 2nd half won us many games.

Nor can you overlook the fact that we have pretty much put many games on his back, he wasn't racking up stats in garbage time. We dared teams to stop him and they couldn't. He didn't have 5 or 6 big games against wimpy teams to pad his stats, he ran over everyone.

Yea...I'm certainly not advocating that he is the best DE in the league just that he is really good at putting himself in position for sacks.

Totally. My point in all of this is that his coaches don't even task him with anything but pass rush, and he's good at it, but certainly he is not a well rounded DE. Betts is very good at figuring out where the QB will be as opposed to really strong in pursuit...it's a knack he's got and I'll give him credit for that. Roll out or run on him and he's a liability. He does it very well. The numbers don't lie. It's why he will get more consideration that he should for MOC.

In a vacuum it's Betts, however, no one is set free to do so nearly as much as he is and that is my point. He is a guy that all you can do is point him at the QB and say go and hope teams don't exploit the weaknesses he has outside the pass rush. He gets home on the QB though...there is no denying that...17 sacks. Personally, I think he is probably the best pure pass rusher but there are a few DEs I would rather have because they play a complete game. Pass rush is only one aspect of a DE's job...unfortunately it is attached to one of footballs big glory stats.

Absolutely agree. Brown has all the tools but having to put a team on your back has killed a ton of great looking prospects and there is absolutely no way of knowing whether it will or not until you give them the reins. Therefore, hedge your bets if you are going with a QB in his first year as the man. Shmekel is what he is. Depth and emergency NAT body. Alston intrigues me as well and I look forward to seeing him.

He is probably the best pass rusher in the league right now but there are some significant flaws to his game too.

The only issue I have with Betts season is that even though he led the league in sacks he was also the player that teams ran straight at for big yardage. Both of our victories over BC were in large part because it was him vs. BO mano y mano and BO won that battle decisively. We ran straight at him and he was garbage vs the run, and every other team clued in on that too and it hurt the Lions down the stretch. However, his sack numbers are impressive and that merits him consideration for MODP and MOC. I just think his weakness vs the run should make BO the winner of MOC.

I think Brady will come out of the West. The selection committee already chose him over Collaros, who is a superior QB candidate than VA. It would defy logic for them to select BO over ZC than turn around and select VA over BO. By that same logic, BO would have to be favored over Kelly whose metrics and performance were also not as good as ZC. It's MOP not MVP. Kelly has not been that outstanding really....or at least not as outstanding as ZC on pretty much every measurable statistic. Also, one should remember the CFL is absolutely craving a NAT winner for MOP. It shouldn't matter...but it will.

I think just the opposite of what Bluto is suggesting. Given the outstanding field position and amount of drives he gets a game, if he were the MOP calibre QB he should be easily miles ahead of all other QBs in TD passing, and red zone efficiency....and he isn't. Yardage is always a red herring stat for QBs and not important but those 2 stats separate the outstanding QBs from the game managers.

I can agree with that. I actually agree with this as well. Meh....Kelly is a game manager.

I love it when the fringe candidates throw their hat in the ring. Burris was a really good player but is completely unproven as a coach on any level in the CFL.

Not me. That ship has sailed imo. Harris should retire. Wouldn't surprise me. They have a tough defence and if Carey can have a game they definitely have a chip and a chair. The Lions are a little more Jeckyll and Hyde imo. They can be fantastic, or awful game in and game out. Not much consistency there so who knows which BC team shows up. They go as VA goes and he's streaky. TO has a good team so that would surprise me, but Hammy has been playing better ball than them down the stretch. I really think TO clinching so early might hurt them more than help them.

Fair enough. I retract my comment. Thanks for clarifying that. I really felt that you were lobbying for a HCing change, I should have asked your opinion before. My bad. I actually completely agree with the roster/PR criticisms, I just don't necessarily think they are affecting us as much as you guys do. I shouldn't have been so harsh on you, just some of your comments had me believing that you felt it was time for MOS to be shown the door and I strongly disagree with that. You and Booch's criticisms of PR and roster usage are bang on, just overstated imo.