what to fix

[Booch]

If anything it is roster management and scheme.....

We are starting 8 Canadians but at this juncture but why? If you have an in game injury, we have the payers on the game day roster to cover it and it wouldn't be an issue so that notion is just garbage.

You declare your 4 on offence (Harris/Feoili/Chung/Goose) and 3 on defense (Westerman/Loffler and sadly Hurl tho I would try a game with Miles to see what happens) and you roll with it. 

Thomas is not a capable full-time starter and it has shown since Poop has been out...he has done squat and the D-line has been a non factor.  You keep Poop and Nevis in together for majority of reps as those two in the middle cause major issues for any o-line and do your rotation and different looks with Corney/Thomas/and one of Jeffcoat or OPo.  This Poop being out experiment has been an utter fail and it should never have even been considered.

If injuries happen to one of the starting Canadians, we have capable back-ups to fill in for the in game situation...leaves us far stronger than starting 8 Canadians in case of in jury and you have flexibility to put in the DI...just plain dumb.

Lankford is giving us nothing on returns that any other import would..he looks tentative, has not shiftiness and can't read blocking or make a guy miss. He had one return to the house and I feel we are too enamored with that...time to change it up. Also gives nothing on offence and since Thorpe was replaced it has affected the offence and takes away a big part of what we did.  Thorpes contributions in game far outweigh what Lankford brings with his minimum touches and weak returns...who cares if he can punt and kick...I sure there are guys on roster who can in a pinch too...actually I am certain there are.

If we are going to use this 2 back system...the friggen use it and pound the ball on a 3 to 4 man front...it would open up the receiving lanes and expand or playbook...even if it didn't the running would wear a defense down regardless. We lost the game when we were first and goal and turned it over on downs...A TD there and the game takes on a whole different vibe...With our line and the two backs in the backfield we should have no problem pounding it in with 3 tries from within the ten...just poor play calling.

Coates back there on returns??...like really...is there not anyone else that we could put back there? There are no ratio issues to contend with on ST's so throw back Flanders, Denmark..Fogg....whoever but Coates is not going to do anything back there of any game changing impact...one of those others may tho. 

I'm not too worried about a loss to Sask, and sitting at 7-3 is a good spot. We just need to take care of our business, get in the play=-offs and then it's anybodies chance.  We have the pretty much the horses to get there but some questionable decisions with roster and how we utilize guys has to be corrected because some of it is just baffling. 

 

[JuranBoldenRules]

Don't get hung up on the 8 NIs "starting" on paper.  That's all it is.  Gives flexibility to move  NI slots to either side of the ball in case of injury, otherwise you are stuck with where you started the 7.

[Booch]

Yes and no...regardless we can still cover the 7 starters with who we have on the roster anyway, so I see no value in that, and never have unless you are weak on non-import depth, but we aren't so we have no need to do it. If a dback goes down we are using the DI guy we have regardless of how many nationals we declare as starters.  Same with D-line...if someone goes down we have things covered on the game day roster. If it's Westerman we can use Corney or Thomas on every down and have no ratio issues, and that's what we would do anyway even if we started 8 nationals. It's just poor game roster management.

You have to have Johnson and Nevis taking the bulk of the interior reps, with occasional spell off with Thomas or Ekakite and still can have Jeffcoat or Opo still on the field and not weakening what your d-line can do.  How we have run it the last 2 weeks is just been a complete gaffe with our coaching and it has been very evident in the effectiveness of our dline pressure. 

Another thing I forgot to add, was the attempts to hold up and strip the ball...far too many times guys get away, or get big chinks of extra yards on our defence because they are too concerned with trying to get the strip. Just nail the guy and take him down...turn over will come and if they don't I'd rather our defence makes the stop and gets the ball back instead of extended drives on us due to this what has become a bad bad habit.

It would be interesting to add up the yards given up and drives being extended doing this

 

Edited September 5, 2017 by Booch

[Noeller]

I'm definitely on board with Poop and Thorpe coming back on the roster this week, whatever it takes.....

[Booch]

Doesn't take much...sit Lankford....and a D-end and if they want both d-ends on the roster than Santos-Knox can sit..He isn't vital to our ST's effectiveness although he is good

[Mark F]

I wonder if Lankford just isn't thrown to that much. Seems like he does not fit in very well with the mostly short pass offence. He might be better than his stats show, but just doesn't get the chance to show it.

Think you're right about Jake. I just read at 3downnation..... no sacks in three games for the entire D line. not good.

I do not understand three passes from the six either.  Running game is out of style NFL and CFL. Since defences are now set up to stop the pass, you would think running would be the obvious thing to do.

I suspect, with no basis, that the cool thing to do, is run some kind of complicated passing attack. Run game does not take much planning and play designing maybe, just some big guys pushing people out of the way for the ball carrier.

 

Edited September 5, 2017 by Mark F

[Jpan85]

Flanders played 90% of the snaps last week with Harris Lankford barely saw the field I don't think it would change if thorpe was on the roster.

[blue_gold_84]

The D-line is missing Johnson, IMO. Need him back this Saturday.

[blueingreenland]

Coach has stated numerous times that Thomas gets almost exactly the same number of reps as the other inside guys. 

[Booch]

Yes but if Thorpe was in he could be utilized with Flanders, or certain sets Denmark could come off and Thorpe in...there are more ways to use this than just straight up roster position.

Lankford is basically straight line speed, no ability to make guys miss or get yards out of nothing, or to break a first tackle.  Our offence isn't designed to utilize what he brings and his type of role is a 50/50 chance of success generally, whereas Thorpe as he has shown in previous 5 games is reliable, a yardstick mover and can get the tough yards.

On defense as well, Thomas is great in rotation, especially when Johnson is in there, but as a 80% snap guy will disappear and it has been evident last 2 games

And sometimes you have to take what the coach mentions in the media with a grain of salt...

 

Edited September 5, 2017 by Booch

[Fatty Liver]

21 minutes ago, Booch said:

Yes but if Thorpe was in he could be utilized with Flanders, or certain sets Denmark could come off and Thorpe in...there are more ways to use this than just straight up roster position.

Lankford is basically straight line speed, no ability to make guys miss or get yards out of nothing, or to break a first tackle.  Our offence isn't designed to utilize what he brings and his type of role is a 50/50 chance of success generally, whereas Thorpe as he has shown in previous 5 games is reliable, a yardstick mover and can get the tough yards.

On defense as well, Thomas is great in rotation, especially when Johnson is in there, but as a 80% snap guy will disappear and it has been evident last 2 games

And sometimes you have to take what the coach mentions in the media with a grain of salt...

 

If neither Flanders or Harris were breaking tackles and getting first downs I honestly don't see Thorpe achieving it either.  Sask. was swarm tackling very effectively,  I had to check their coaching staff to see if Etch. was still working as a consultant as that's his M.O.  LaPo got too cute and forgot to add the bit about stretching the field vertically, thus the Rider defenders didn't have to take deep routes seriously and collapsed on the ball carrier.

[JuranBoldenRules]

Thomas wasn't anywhere near 80% of snaps.  Closer to half.  Jeffcoat and Okpalaugo took more reps.  Only guy who played almost every down was Nevis, only came out for one package on 2nd and extremes plus one entire series where they went 4 DE's.

They are all playing bad.  Maybe Westerman needs to take a couple 15s to get his mojo back.

Edited September 5, 2017 by JuranBoldenRules

[shadybob]

Richie needs to go, too much talent on defense being wasted under him. We are generating turnovers which is saving him at the moment, but the amount of yards we give up is crazy.  Okapalugo has under performed since coming back from injury, and while I agree it'll take a few games for him to get back up to speed, how long will it be before we put Poop back in the lineup? 

Im really not too worried about the offence other than getting Thorpe back on the gameday roster. Lankford is garbage as a WR and isnt a game breaker on special teams - should have  been Lankford getting the boot rather than Thorpe when Dressler came back, it was clear before the game and is just as clear now.

[Stickem]

I agree totally on your take with regard to our return game....It's pathetic really...We give our offence a poor starting point in the field most of the times and I wonder when we cut a little speedy guy like Duncan that, that might have been a bad move...He could catch as good as Langford and he sure as heck was faster...Makes me wonder about our judgement with regard to talent sometimes...Another key missing in our game is pressure from our D line...non-existent sometimes, and when you don't put pressure on the opposition qb. it usually ends up costing you...I don't think our middle linebacker is adequate and was poorly recruited for in the offseason...That's a few areas that need to be improved on to be really and truly a serious contender for it all...Lot's of time left in the season...I hope we get to work on it soon.

[The Unknown Poster]

The D relies on individual players making individual (big) plays.

[SPuDS]

8 minutes ago, Stickem said:

I agree totally on your take with regard to our return game....It's pathetic really...We give our offence a poor starting point in the field most of the times and I wonder when we cut a little speedy guy like Duncan that, that might have been a bad move...He could catch as good as Langford and he sure as heck was faster...Makes me wonder about our judgement with regard to talent sometimes...Another key missing in our game is pressure from our D line...non-existent sometimes, and when you don't put pressure on the opposition qb. it usually ends up costing you...I don't think our middle linebacker is adequate and was poorly recruited for in the offseason...That's a few areas that need to be improved on to be really and truly a serious contender for it all...Lot's of time left in the season...I hope we get to work on it soon.

erm.. wut?  We have some of the best starting field position from our return game.

 

 

[Stickem]

I guess we're watching different games spuds...The last game were  either deep in our end or barely to the 35....Even struggling teams are doing better and we should be...Granted we have taken some dumb penalties on returns but I think most fans would say our return game is lacking

[SPuDS]

28 minutes ago, Stickem said:

I guess we're watching different games spuds...The last game were  either deep in our end or barely to the 35....Even struggling teams are doing better and we should be...Granted we have taken some dumb penalties on returns but I think most fans would say our return game is lacking

you are chosing to use one game as your basis for calling our return game pathetic... its ranked second in the league I believe.   I also believe for the season we have some of the best starting field position..

 

 

[Dr. Blue]

Count me in as another one who isn't really convinced that Lankford is the answer on KR. Thorpe was a really good kick returner in college, why not give him a shot? I doubt he would do any worse than Lankford.

[Judd]

1 minute ago, Dr. Blue said:

Count me in as another one who isn't really convinced that Lankford is the answer on KR. Thorpe was a really good kick returner in college, why not give him a shot? I doubt he would do any worse than Lankford.

Agreed. He doesn't seem elusive enough 

[bryan35]

Put Fogg in for returns. Maybe even Dressler.

[Goalie]

21 minutes ago, SPuDS said:

you are chosing to use one game as your basis for calling our return game pathetic... its ranked second in the league I believe.   I also believe for the season we have some of the best starting field position..

 

 

Is that Lankford or the blocking? 

[SPuDS]

7 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Is that Lankford or the blocking? 

he was being critical of the return game in general.   I explained to him its not nearly as bad as it seems.  I do agree that Lankford maybe could be plug and play but if it ain't broken..  Lankford does have very good speed tho even if its straight line running... do we have a comparable guy currently on the roster?

[Brandon Blue&Gold]

20 minutes ago, Dr. Blue said:

Count me in as another one who isn't really convinced that Lankford is the answer on KR. Thorpe was a really good kick returner in college, why not give him a shot? I doubt he would do any worse than Lankford.

I thought that was part of the reason we kept him around when he got hurt in training camp.  If Coates is back there Thorpe can be as well for kickoffs.  And contribute on offence, unlike Lankford.

[Fatty Liver]

43 minutes ago, Dr. Blue said:

Count me in as another one who isn't really convinced that Lankford is the answer on KR. Thorpe was a really good kick returner in college, why not give him a shot? I doubt he would do any worse than Lankford.

What makes you think they did not give Thorpe a shot at kick returns as early as TC and made the decision that Lankford  and Fogg performed better?  None of the great kick returners are out there breaking tackles, they're avoiding them completely and running to space.  Love Thorpe for his ability to break tackles but he hasn't yet shown elusiveness or the ability to find space like Flanders can.