mbrg

His name came up here a few times. But so has Tim Tebow's...

You mean MB? I say get rid of them both. Everyone has figured out our D and our O schemes and neither coordinator seems to be able to outsmart the other team. It's just sad to watch. We need better players as well. But I'm tired of all of this mediocre vanilla play calling on both sides. That's an interesting way to phrase it. I'd suggest it's the total lack of vanilla play calling that gets Etch in trouble. About 300 threads ago (or so) Etch's "unconventional" defence was being discussed and someone asked if anyone had ever actually seen Peach drop back into coverage. I didn't respond because sometimes there isn't much value in doing so, but yes, I have seen Peach drop into coverage several times. More of a zone drop really, but that probably goes without saying. Anyways, he did it again vs Ottawa, which leads to the point I want to explore - Ottawa easily converted the play and picked up about 15 yards, I think on the way to a TD. So does that make it a bad defence? Did Ottawa "read" Peach's drop because we are predictable? Incapable of disguising such a drop? Or did Peach just not drop deep enough? Is Peach athletically incapable of doing what is being asked of him? Are the majority of Dlineman incapable of doing a drop like that? Or is the defence flawed because it asks players to do things like that? Now I'm not trying to pick on Peach, this is just an easy example to use to examine the design and failings of Etch's defence. The receiver still had a DB on him, and would the play have worked out any differently if Peach had dropped 5 more yards? Impossible to say. He had already dropped about 7 yards. I don't know if I'd expect more from Greg Peach on a backpedal. But the question remains, with some personnel changes in our front 7, is the design of this defence one that can do the job it's supposed to. I would say yes, but getting players of that caliber is a tall order. A DE who can drop back 12 yards off the line and still have enough meat on him to stand his ground when the Riders Oline comes to town? We're pretty much talking about Anwar Stewart in his prime. That's not easy to find. Finding 7 guys who can play a Greg Marshall 4-3? Much easier. Now that's vanilla. Back when both of these guys were hired, they will have had to sell their vision of their offence/defence to OShea. OShea isn't hostage to these guys and what they are doing, the framework of all of this was discussed back in February. Now it's October. Has OShea lost faith in either/both of these visions? I'm in group 2 I guess. OShea is a defensive guy. He knows that Leggett changing his angle in the backfield means Williams doesn't score a touchdown. He might not even get out of the backfield. Does that fall on Etch? He had a guy in position to make a play. Not only did Leggett blow it, he compounded that mistake by letting Williams beat him outside. So are we axing Leggett? He had a bad game in Ottawa, but he's still a top 3 safety. OShea will see that players are failing to execute the defence to it's design. Really, they are. Does that mean the players take the fall? Or does OShea decide to change the design instead, presumably to make it easier to execute? If Etch is still here next year, OShea went with option A. Right now that's my guess. I don't think Marcel will get the same benefit of the doubt Etch will.

MOS is absolutely safe. People should've known better than to expect ZERO mistakes from a rookie HC. He gets the benefit of the doubt this year. I actually think MOS has learned a lot this year. Yeah the back to back ass kickings really sting but the fact that he seems to have learned his lesson about just leaving the roster as status quo is encouraging. Just happens that he's dealing with a lot of **** on the roster right now. The American OL are just flat out embarassing right now and having Neufeld who Walters clearly pinned a lot of hope on injured doesn't help. Then having the DL perform so poorly ain't doing anyone any favours. Anderson getting hurt was bad luck and Vega having such a poor year is something no one could have seen coming. There are a lot of areas that need some help badly before we really start pointing too many fingers at O'Shea. For my money Walters is on much more of a hotseat than O'Shea. He needs to knock it out of the park in his off season recruiting. Honestly I'd say the back to back ass kickings are the silver lining. We've lost however many minus 1 games out of our last however many games, but until Ottawa and Edmonton we were competitive in many or occasionally all facets of the games we lost this year. These last two games - nothing. A glimpse of "this might be the turning point" right before rolling over and dying. If we had continued to play close ones; a bad moment at the 3 yard line at the end of the game; a muffed snap over the punter's head that is the margin of defeat while our longsnapper is out; etc, etc, it might be easier to look the other way on some of the personnel issues. Now it's impossible. We all knew this team wasn't good enough. That's not an indictment or even a statement about our last 8 games. When we were 5 and 1 this team still wasn't good enough, but it had gotten the better of other teams 5 times in 6 tries. Our roster had less talent than most and injuries have played havoc with our ratio since the first week of training camp; the absence of depth made it difficult to shuffle out a depth chart week to week, but that doesn't matter after the last 2 weeks. The last 2 weeks have nothing to do with that. The last 2 weeks are the first 2 times this season that this team has shown quit. Now with these 2 ass kickings each player and coach will be evaluated in the offseason more critically than they might have otherwise. The last 2 weeks have removed any potential asterixes about ratios or injuries or the play of the Oline or any of that. There's plenty of talent on this roster, but no one will get a free ride into next year. Not after these last 2 weeks.

While neither of them is wrapping themselves in glory, over the last month Kelly has 90 more yards receiving than Bryant, and is second best over that span behind Denmark. Bryant is probably a bit faster, and all things being equal I'd much rather have him on the outside than in the slot. On the whole, I'd sooner stick with Kelly.

The characteristics desired in NFL players don't always translate well to a CFL field. Being a huge strong monster is fine in the NFL, more often than not in the CFL you're just an oversized pylon.

How do you know? Got a personal sit-down with Kyle Walters and Mike O'Shea? And what would you expect them to say if he did? I would expect OShea wouldn't say anything. More likely hearing something that dumb would just get a facial reaction. Like if you were sharing an oxygen tent with him and just started ripping farts. Genuine annoyance with a mixture of bafflement that these were real words directed towards him. Walters on the other hand would find a polite way to say how ridiculous a suggestion that is. He's pretty good that way.

Saw a link for a story about a derailment and fire in Saskatchewan - imagine my surprise in finding out this wasn't about the riders.

Even our friendly neighbourhood riderfans can't be bothered to come here and try to put some shine on this turd.

Proof that taking ideas from the crackpots on fan forums isn't always the wisest way to go.

Khari Jones must be getting some pretty good coin in BC to pass on this opportunity!

He was plan B. Montreal screwed them over by signing Garcia first.

Ahhhhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha /deep breath hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Always a good sign when a coach comes out of retirement to play. Always a good sign.

Defensive end. We've been hampered by injuries to guys who were expected to play key roles in our NI framework. We need better depth (bottom of totem) and talent (top). We absolutely need to be able to start 3 NI olinemen every game, regardless of injury. A fourth would be ideal, but it is essential that we're playing our NI's by choice, not because we are forced to. Sherman should be on the field in certain packages, but on every play? He goes from being an asset to a liability. And this is a choice taken away from us because we only have 2 starting NI Olinemen. One starter needed, two backups needed. Can Swiston make an impression at some point, not as a starter, but just to become trustworthy enough as a backup that keeping imports around to play guard isn't even part of the thought process. It should never be. Jake Thomas deserves credit for his contributions, but he should also be a player rotating in, not a player starting. I have no idea how awesome Ryan Lucas was supposed to be, he got injured so early that him as starter and Thomas as backup is nothing more than an assumption we've gone with, but even if we can't get our hands on the next Doug Brown, we need to have an interior NI Dlineman who is a notch above Thomas. Westerman? I guess he'd do. This all has a ripple effect, so Richardson isn't seeing as many snaps on D because Thomas isn't needing to be rested now. Multiple positions improve from the addition of a key NI player. And ya, a bunch of talented imports.

The expanded practise roster does eventually contract. We're starting 3 and none are sensational. We need depth and we're still exploring options. Could keep as many as 6 I suppose. 5 seems more likely.

Ah yes, but now in a future column in 2017 when he's discussing whether or not the Bombers should fire Walters, he will say "I was on the record that Walters should have signed Ben Heenan...." He's laying the groundwork for future declarations of his superior football knowledge.

Blindsiding a guy when the play is over is the definition of stupidity, especially since it was made a point of emphasis for officials, which players are well aware of. It's a pointless, selfish act, and that kind of crap is continually costing our team field position and points. Maybe Kuale should take up MMA, cause team sports sure aren't his thing. At least there his selfish stupidity will only hurt himself. He didn't blindside anyone on the play. They went face-to-face and neither player got the better of the other. Kuale has taken a number of stupid penalties but that penalty shouldn't have been called. The hit that was called was a late and unnecessary blindside, exactly what the officials are watching for. Kuale came across the field and blindsided Verdone on a punt return when our returner was already on the turf. Verdone popped up, they had words and Kuale tapped him on the head afterward. You must have missed the hit that drew the flag and only caught the aftermath. I didn't like that call when they made it on Leggett back in July, so I can't pretend it's a good call here either. There are 24 guys engaged in hits and blocking all over the field on special teams plays. If the refs want the players to stop playing they all need to blow their whistles, not just the guy by the ball carrier. You should not be flagging a guy 25 yards away from the tackle if there isn't a ref nearby blowing his whistle as well, and Kuale should not be looking back over his shoulder to see what the refs are doing, he should be looking at the player he's engaged with. Ottawa's fans also know how to have a noisy stadium. I did not think that hit was from the blindside at all. He hit the front corner of his left shoulder, albeit from a fairly shallow angle. That hit on the QB is not a UR penalty in the NFL. They still have a much higher tolerance for the amount of time that passes between a throw and a hit and still allow that extra half second. It is more often than not a penalty in the CFL (although I've seen those not get flagged sometimes too). Kuale plays in the CFL. He knows there is minimal tolerance on most hits to the QB.

Truly a silly article. Heenan will only reach free agency if he wants to test free agency. Saskatchewan can afford him easily by cutting some dead wood. Taj Smith, Dom Picard, baddabing baddaboom, money for Heenan. Even if he does reach free agency and money is the only thing that will speak to him...then he's a Redblack next year. Yes, this is the same article he wrote for Mike Richards/Jets. Depends on how sick of playing in front of an empty stadium and changing for practise inside a portapotty he is. Chances are at least slightly better than Heenan, but the Argos are also aware that talented Canadians have high value and are difficult to replace. Go figure. Just to clarify, his girlfriend wasn't shackled to the grain elevator in Weyburn. I think. It was not impossible for her to move here. Some people act like it was. http://www.tsn.ca/lapolice-how-experience-can-help-down-the-stretch-1.97077 I can't help but suspect that Mack just didn't value Labatte's experience enough. Fascinating stuff. Money does not trump all. Stability at home and work has value too. When you're making $25,000, and extra $5000 is tough to turn down. When you're making $200,000, and extra $5000 left on the table still stings, but not nearly as much. So, yeah, "all of the above". We had a chance to re-sign him for sure, but instead of saying and doing all the right things, it sounds like we did a lot of the wrong ones. Money doesn't fix that. One word - grandparents. Raising a kid with 4 free babysitters in close range - priceless.

Jim Barker loves releasing players who request it - makes him feel like he's giving back to the community.

Or not.

Yeah, something for nothing. Montreal does not want to put Tokarski thru waivers. They likely shopped Budaj around, Jets said we'll give you Tangradi for him. Probably the best (only) offer they got. Don't know anything about the other guy we got. Jets will eventually have to move one of these players thru waivers to St Johns, so chances are they don't make this move if they were 100% confident Hutchinson could give them 20 quality starts this year. Maybe they give Budaj a chance to play a game up here before they make that decision.

He also carries more weight than Grigsby which is why he looks like a better down hill runner, he's about the same size as Andrew Harris and really, I think we should see more of him to see if he can amount to something. Giving him a play or two a game to see what happens and if there is anything to build on is something most people wouldn't object to. How he performs from there would determine if he earns more responsibility, but he's not a rookie and he has carried the ball for us before. We already have some idea of what we'll see. The potential to be a decent change of pace guy has always been there, but more important than anything else, he has to hang on to the ball. Him being from a D-1 school, the same size as Harris, cousins with Cory Watson, a former teammate of Kito Poblah won't change those results.

Hey, even discount bologna has more mileage left than Sunseri. Doege will never have a nickname as good as Tino Sunshine. It wraps it all up in a nice package, including Rider fans delusional hope that the next great one was sitting there on the bench, waiting to save the day, probably being held back by that washed up bum, Durant. Guess the post count will go up now. Don't dare multiquote.

Who would have thought? So much venom stemming from one fairly innocuous comment. But at least it was an easy way to get a measure of a man.

Etch gets far too much grief, it doesn't seem rational and it doesn't reflect what's happening on the field. We have lost some games this year where opposing QBs had no idea what was coming at them or how to react. Our first loss of the year, to Edmonton, was one of the best defensive schemes I've seen called in a game. Reilly was beyond confused all night. Call it Willypeg if you want, our defence has been what's kept us in most games this year.

Have my suspicions that some of the people in this thread have smushed together Bo Lokombo and Bo Adebayo into one superNI.