USABomberfan

I don't know if anyone caught this yesterday: https://www.cfl.ca/2019/06/05/fantasy-five-quarterback-questions-2019/ I'd have a couple things about that. It would seem James Franklin got bumped up a little high on that list. I'd take him before Collaros probably, but not before Nichols. At least thus far in TOR, he hasn't shown he is any significant step above Matty. Also, I wasn't aware Domanique Davis was the RedBlacks starter. Shouldn't that be Jennings?

So I wasn't able to catch the radio feed last night, but I see MacGuire and Bennett are still duking it out out there. I guess the debate is who secures that 3rd spot. Was also trying to find out why Streveler saw no action last night. I am going to assume the coaches have him already penciled in as our number 2 based on last year's work, but I've really never seen any situations in the past here where our number 2 only played 2 total series in a preseason. Just hope he didn't start losing favor with the coaches. Bennett vs MacGuire ... Well I guess you could make a case either way. I like what I seen from Mac so far, and granted part of it was seeing him escape from those EDM defenders last week and fire that pass complete. Guess the question is is he a product of preseason where backup QBs trying to make the team may take a few risks against the backups on the other team and get a few wows like Troy Kopp or Robert Marve? Or is he the kind of guy you'd trust to take the controls in the heat of the season when everything matters? On the other hand, Bennett has been here longer and should by default know the playbook better. But we haven't really seen him in too much meaningful action apart from mop up duty in the blowout game in Montreal, and then our meaningless ender in Edmonton. I'm willing to bet though if either Bennett or MacGuire don't make the cut, one of them will be heading East and usurping somebody in either Montreal or Ottawa. At least in my opinion, I'd definitely take either Mac or Bennett over Jeff Matthews or Domanique Davis.

Well, that could be, but I kinda hope the Riders don't sign him if that's where we put him because he looked more capable than even old Zac C out there last night.

Not to mention he's only played just two series of that one which tells me with the OL in the shape it is, our coaches weren't going to risk losing him. Although I will say out of what I saw of our other two, we could have a pretty capable backup set. What we decide to do when Strev's rookie contract is over will be then and there. But I somehow wouldn't doubt a plethora of East teams not named Hamilton will be in the market for buying current backup QBs, and Strev did enough in real actual games with the first teamers last year and will probably get a chance again this year that his hat will be in the ring.

Sucky thing about this being a preseason game is Aaron Rodgers likely won't be playing any snaps.

This, I don't get the knock on Strev for running. What do people want him to do? Sit back and be a sitting duck getting knocked around the way Max Hall or Drew Willy were? Ridiculous. I get that 15 passing yards are nothing to brag about, but in preseason I don't think coaches care about that. I don't care either if Nichols gets sub 200 yard games again this year, especially if the running game and defense are working.

You don't consider Demski to be one?

That applies to Streveler too as he's had to face that same thing. I can only hope the OL leaking tonight is because of us playing unpolished backups more than anything, but if not then PLap is going to have to do something major to help his offense. Meantime, the WR drops just go to show how underappreciated Dressler was while here. His sticky hands were highly valuable.

Well, story so far is red zone defense has held up good. The OL has been brutal to watch. Worst thing about that last part is if they were playing better, we'd see MacGuire really unleash his stuff. I like what I seen out of him and think he should get on this roster as QB3. I mean, nothing against Bennett, but I think MacGuire has slightly better mechanics and similar form to Strev. Definitely gotta keep him so that just in case Strev or Nichols are playing somewhere else in 2020, we got another golden backup.

Well, no Hardrick or Noofy, could be expected. Paul Lapolice will need to use more of those zone read plays. Meantime, big fumble recovery for the defense right as Richie Hall appeared to be going soft again with his calls.

Wow, looks like we actually got cameras covering all the important angles of the field. Good stuff.

Just saw the note about the live stream for tonight's game. Guessing it's a stationary cam up in Irving and Brown's radio booth? May not be quite as good as the TSN cameras, but at least there'll be no need to mute Rod Black or Glen Suitor.

I would have sat Harris and put in "Big Chris" Matthews, especially since Nichols and Strev haven't thrown in game to him yet. Gotta get that chemistry going, and I want to see whether or not he can still track down deep balls and snare them in, unlike Lousy Langford.

Not to mention big Chris should be the name given to our newly returned Chris Matthews WR

A little surprised they're not sitting Andrew Harris out this one, keeping him fresh for the season given his workload will be paramount. Biggest thing I'm keeping an eye on is our DBs. Got a lot of replacing to do there that would hope we can hold our own on.

Course this will mean more fans snatching up tickets and selling out IGF on a regular will be a significant raise of expectations on the team. I mean, not that that's a bad thing necessarily, but you always hope against a letdown plus just hoping that we finally cracked the code to being as much perennial contenders as the Stampeders have been over the last decade.

I actually do believe you're onto something with this because it definitely is possible when a departure happens to underestimate the value of said player. This is why in my earlier posts I've been a bit down on the Esks because I'm not sure Duke Williams and co are quite as replaceable as they might be getting made out to be. Within our defense I got kind of mixed feelings about who we're replacing. I do believe Randle, Fogg and Leggett have important value that may be a bit tougher to replace. Loffler was both praised and criticized. Praised for when he came in and lowered the boom, but tacked on when he was trying to defend deep balls. If we get a S who's got some verticals on him we should have that area covered. The other part is coaching. If we don't have nearly the talent level we had on D last year, I do believe the coaches will need to adjust the scheme to do more with less. Course now I could go down that rabbit trail but I won't. But still, there are reasons the expectations are even higher this season.

Edmonton didn't only lose Reilly, they also lost Duke Williams their biggest receiving threat. I'm curious as to how you see them improved because I just don't. I don't think Trevor Harris is bad, but he won't be hitting home run deep balls in the regularity that Reilly did. Like I said, I can't figure SSK to finish above 4th, particularly if Collaros is an injury liability again, but at full strength I'd still stick em above EDM.

Little bit of a stretch I think to assume that scenario, unless no longer having Dressler out there throws off Nichols's timing and confidence with our current slot guys. But also gotta hope Lapo makes a few adjustments and doesn't have West Final hangover because I do think at times he has had some ineffective plays for beating man coverage as we saw in that game. I'm certainly interested in Streveler's play and hope the progression and good things I saw from him as a rookie translate into an even more polished QB ready to take the reins in year 3. But I really think there's a good chance Nichols will have a bounce back year this year and do enough to bring home the Cup. If not, then I think yes the Streveler talk ramps up.

Well, I been having to go back and do a lot of reading and catch-up to get up to date with where this offseason is leading the league into 2019, and ultimately there ended up being a few more coaching and roster changes around the league than I originally anticipated. Good riddance to Chris Jones for one. So with things in their current state, have things opened up in the West? Where will we be in the grand scheme of things? So first off, I'll say Calgary will lose its iron grip on the West. Disappointingly BLM decided to stick around I know, but with Claybrooks now the BC head coach, Alex Singleton and Micah Johnson no longer there, their defense is likely to decline and even more pressure will be put on the offense to win games for them. The race for number one at least at the moment I think will involve us competing against them and BC given the roster additions the Lions made and a somewhat favorable schedule. The Riders I have finishing 4th because while they got a decent roster, Collaros became an injury liability last year, and unlike then I don't think they have an adequate backup QB on that roster atm particularly with Bridge gone now. I don't see anything getting better for Maas in Edmonton either with Mike Reilly gone now and the bringing in of the decent but much more limited Trevor Harris. Things are just not looking like they're going to go back to the glory days of the last 4-5 years or so in this city, and while I would still put the Esks in a better spot than a couple dumpster fire teams in the East, in our highly competitive division I see them still being last. In the East, well Hamilton has to be the logical winner here in particular due to the return of Steinhauer and just having the most stable roster overall. Ottawa just went from being championship level to the cellar with their roster moves, and they've not even gotten their new OC yet. Things are going pretty bad there and I could see both Marcel Desjardins and Rick Campbell being on extremely hot seats after this season. Toronto did themselves no favors by simply promoting Chamblin who won't have Darrian Durant's coattails to ride this time, and right now is leading a team and seems to be setup for QB by committee. I do believe the surprise team this year will be Montreal. No, they won't win the east or be heading to the Grey Cup, but I think they'll eclipse 7 wins and make the playoffs as number 2 in the East. And if for no other reason because I believe both TOR and OTT are in much worse shape than they are. Main things I'm looking for with us on offense, will we get adequate enough production in the slot to make up for Dressler's absence? And which RB will emerge as the best no. 2 to fill in when Harris needs a breather? On defense, can Alexander or Sayles step up to replace Randle enough, and can they be effective in one-on-one coverage so we don't have to see Richie Hall revert back to his awful soft zone scheme that plagued us from 2015 up until mid season last year? If those needs are answered and Lapolice gets back to being creative with his play calls, I believe this year can be our year.

Possibly, but it doesn't even launch until 2020, which would mean if he came back it would then be 2021 when he did so under that scenario. Assuming the Als have brought in a new owner or are owned by a large group of shareholders with a board of directors by then, there's no telling what kind of direction they'll have taken by then. Plus Trestman will be 65, which isn't terribly old but certainly puts him much closer to retiring at that point than coming back here to try and reinvent himself again, and after what happened in Toronto idk how eager he'd be to get back into it.

Hopefully whoever buys them kicks Kavis Reed's butt out of there

Ok since we got the jargon police going, I'll say coach up. All that to say too early to know on either Dinwiddie or Pierce. I'd potentially give either one a shot, though perhaps I'd be a little more inclined to Pierce because he's likely be more knowledgeable on our players' strengths and know how to utilize them better.

I don't know if that's good or bad though. I am all for the Riders getting embarrassed by us like they did in this playoff game and if his staying there does that, then good. On the other hand, his bush league twist the rules roster management tactics and unstable personality look bad on the league, and him leaving Regina would be a win for the league IMO.

Except maybe with the Jacksonville Jaguars where Milanovich is