Lions O Line -- Tommie Draheim plays with heart

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.bclions.com/video/index/id/111339

Words from Doug Malone, O Line Coach, and Robin Ross, D Line coach.

Ross: Khreem Smith is a real pro. Michael Brooks has done a nice job. Craig Roh has shown some good things in practice. There is good competition right now. You've got to stop the run and pressure the quarterback.

Malone: Feels very good about his players. They've worked really hard. Edmonton is going to throw a lot of things at us; that is what they do, a lot of pressure.

These two coaches have been plying their trade forever. Nice to hear them talk a bit about their players. Malone has a resemblance to the late, great comedian Jonathan Winters.

[WestCoastJoe]

Robin Ross and Doug Malone ...

[Rammer]

Very much a Johnathon Winters look for Malone.

Like every team the Lions will be counting on these two position coaches to provide the essence to mix for W's. It all starts in the trenches, and both have some work to do in order to move beyond last seasons play.

[WestCoastJoe]

O Line as of 20150622

LT Tommie Draheim, Josh Aladenoye (PR)

LG Kirby Fabien, Matt Norman

C Jason Foster

RG T Dre Player, Dean Valli

RT Jovan Olafioye

Matt Norman on one game Injured List

Cam Thorn not on roster list??

Cody Husband on one game Injured List

Hunter Steward on 6 game Injured List

Campbell Allison on PR

.............

It is somewhat disappointing that we have to go with 3 Internationals in the O Line. Especially after all the high draft picks we have made over the years. But it is not surprising, considering the previous regime. And, with the need to start only 7 Nationals, it is not necessarily a huge ratio problem. A team absolutely needs to have solid play from the O Line.

[David]

I agree West Coast Joe. I have no doubt that Jason Foster is going to work out very well for us at center. Solid guy by all accounts. But I thought the Esks line play was very strong on Friday night, anchored by our own (#1) draft pick and native British Columbian, Justin Sorensen. Is he the best center in the league? No, but he's serviceable, has carved out a nice career with the Bombers and Esks, and has a Canadian passport. I think we gave up on him too soon.


DH

[WestCoastJoe]

I agree West Coast Joe. I have no doubt that Jason Foster is going to work out very well for us at center. Solid guy by all accounts. But I thought the Esks line play was very strong on Friday night, anchored by our own (#1) draft pick and native British Columbian, Justin Sorensen. Is he the best center in the league? No, but he's serviceable, has carved out a nice career with the Bombers and Esks, and has a Canadian passport. I think we gave up on him too soon.


DH

Yes, we have seen it over the years, David.

Sorensen did not seem to go in for the indoctrination of Dan Dorazio. And our veteran O Linemen no doubt still have the need to unlearn complicated ways from their time in the program, and get back to more instinctive play.

[CardiacKid]

The struggles of the O-Line in recent years have certainly made for pretty good fodder in the local football media as well as our forum. In particular the Lions' difficulties in finding solid non-imports, Nationals, whatever you want to call them. And it leaves me wondering is there a complete lack of quality linemen in Canada or are the Lions simply been ill-equipped to help their draft picks improve their skills through training and coaching or is it the inability to spot the talent in the first place?

I got to looking at a couple of the other clubs and what their current O-Line situation is for the start of the year. I checked out the Als because I knew they were strong in Nationals populating the o-line but I was surprised to what extent they found their talent late in the draft.

In the lead up to this year's draft, I was very disappointed in hearing Wally describe it as a "crapshoot". To my mind, that attitude would typify someone who doesn't really think the draft is really worth considering as a viable option for populating your team. And yet, here is another team doing great with finding quality linemen that other teams took a pass on....

-Brodeur-Jourdain, Luc - 6th round
-Matte, Kristian - 1st round
-Piotrowski, Jake - 5th round
-Perrett, Jeff - 3rd round
-Bourke, Josh - 3rd round
-Blake, Philip - 3rd Round
-Ruby, Jacob - 1st round

Add recent notable linemen who are no longer with the team, Ryan Bomben and Scott Flory, the situation stays the same. And the 2 O-linemen on the practice roster are also Nationals.

I am never going to claim I have great insight into the finer details of being an offensive linemen. But I think it is legit to be scratching my head at how the Lions wound up being such poor cousins to the Als in the O-Line department, in particular the lack of National talent. Our situation is made all the more glaring by the firing of Kelly Bates who I think we can all agree was making strides in the overall draft quality of the Lions.

[WestCoastJoe]

The struggles of the O-Line in recent years have certainly made for pretty good fodder in the local football media as well as our forum. In particular the Lions' difficulties in finding solid non-imports, Nationals, whatever you want to call them. And it leaves me wondering is there a complete lack of quality linemen in Canada or are the Lions simply been ill-equipped to help their draft picks improve their skills through training and coaching or is it the inability to spot the talent in the first place?

I got to looking at a couple of the other clubs and what their current O-Line situation is for the start of the year. I checked out the Als because I knew they were strong in Nationals populating the o-line but I was surprised to what extent they found their talent late in the draft.

In the lead up to this year's draft, I was very disappointed in hearing Wally describe it as a "crapshoot". To my mind, that attitude would typify someone who doesn't really think the draft is really worth considering as a viable option for populating your team. And yet, here is another team doing great with finding quality linemen that other teams took a pass on....

-Brodeur-Jourdain, Luc - 6th round
-Matte, Kristian - 1st round
-Piotrowski, Jake - 5th round
-Perrett, Jeff - 3rd round
-Bourke, Josh - 3rd round
-Blake, Philip - 3rd Round
-Ruby, Jacob - 1st round

Add recent notable linemen who are no longer with the team, Ryan Bomben and Scott Flory, the situation stays the same. And the 2 O-linemen on the practice roster are also Nationals.

I am never going to claim I have great insight into the finer details of being an offensive linemen. But I think it is legit to be scratching my head at how the Lions wound up being such poor cousins to the Als in the O-Line department, in particular the lack of National talent. Our situation is made all the more glaring by the firing of Kelly Bates who I think we can all agree was making strides in the overall draft quality of the Lions.

You are preaching to the choir here, CardiacKid.

The success of the Alouettes in drafting and developing National OL talent is well documented on this website.

The failure of the Lions to do so is also well documented.

I agree that it is myopic to call the draft a crapshoot. Better talent evaluators have repeated success in the draft. Better talent develpers build a solid roster of National talent. Especially compared to other teams, such as the Alouettes, we have failed abysmally over the years (re the O Line).

I expect that to change now, with a changed regime.

But you must respect the draft. And of course you need good judgment of talent. And good coaching. The Alouettes have shown the possibility. For us, it has been a crapshoot. And we have seen counter productive results with our coaching during the last regime.

Just IMO, as a fan of the CFL ...

[DanoT]

The draft was a crap shoot...back when wally first started coaching as there were not a lot of quality players much past the first round.

Nowadays there are plenty of good football players to be drafted so no crap shoot there. But now the crap shoot part is trying to figure out who will go to the NFL and stick (Covington?) and who will not stick and could become a great CFL player, taken in a later round (Lokombo?)

[Blitz]

The draft was a crap shoot...back when wally first started coaching as there were not a lot of quality players much past the first round.

Nowadays there are plenty of good football players to be drafted so no crap shoot there. But now the crap shoot part is trying to figure out who will go to the NFL and stick (Covington?) and who will not stick and could become a great CFL player, taken in a later round (Lokombo?)

Of course Wally is going to say its a crap shoot. What else is he going to say?

Hopefully with Tedford and Malone we can change direction regarding our offensive line. Making the change at center with Foster was one indication as was Tedford not rehiring Dorazio and going with a new offensive line coach for 2015. We may still be a long ways away from the way Montreal has been able to do it year and year but at least we've made some changes. We have given up the most sacks in the CFL since the time Wally arrived with Dorazio and same old was not working obviously.

We haven't opened up holes for our run game during the two exhibition games but hopefully we'll get better.

[pennw]

I think our o-line will be fine this year . Lot's of changes in personnel and coaches so it may take a little time to gel . Personnel wise the biggest improvement may very well be going with an import centre as we had no real quality natural centre before . Last year we did have Estes in TC but he left early for an NFL shot and then the Team never tried to find another guy to replace him . I'm glad Foster won the spot since Estes abandoned the Team last season . Center is such an important spot , I don't understand why imports are not considered there more often . With an import Center we should have decent o-line once they gel . Nice to see TDre. Get into the starting line up . He seems a more agile guy then some other guys although still a bit light for o-line .

[B.C.FAN]

Montreal made a philosophical decision years ago to go with an all-Canadian line and they have been patiently drafting and developing prospects ever since. I was happy at the spring mini-camp when the Lions indicated they were gong to go with four nationals on the line and they released international guard/tackle Jermarcus Hardrick. Now the Lions are right back where they were last year, starting three internationals and only two Canadians. This may strengthen the O-line in the short term but it limits their ratio flexibility at other positions. There is no international RB/kick returner to replace Stefan Logan/Tim Brown, and there will likely have to be one Canadian on the defensive line at all times. The latter position may not hurt them much because Canadians Jabar Westerman and David Menard have been among their best D-linemen in camp but we likely won't see Alex Bazzie and Khreem Smith on the field together very often on first down.

[Rammer]

Montreal made a philosophical decision years ago to go with an all-Canadian line and they have been patiently drafting and developing prospects ever since. I was happy at the spring mini-camp when the Lions indicated they were gong to go with four nationals on the line and they released international guard/tackle Jermarcus Hardrick. Now the Lions are right back where they were last year, starting three internationals and only two Canadians. This may strengthen the O-line in the short term but it limits their ratio flexibility at other positions. There is no international RB/kick returner to replace Stefan Logan/Tim Brown, and there will likely have to be one Canadian on the defensive line at all times. The latter position may not hurt them much because Canadians Jabar Westerman and David Menard have been among their best D-linemen in camp but we likely won't see Alex Bazzie and Khreem Smith on the field together very often on first down.

At least the Lions are looking at filling the OL with N's, but that isn't as necessary as in previous years, as the overall Canadian talent is much deeper in the draft than when Wally first joined the Lions. You can find standout Canadian's on the DL/RB skill positions, something that was unheard of even at that juncture of the CFL. Brent Johnson was a 'ratio breaker', where really he was a trail blazer for N talent. Look at the RB position with the MOP player in Cornish, Harris in BC and Messam in Regina. Not only are these quality starters, they are at the top end of the talent pool.

No where the Lions have lost out with their selections in the draft is by taking flyers on N talent that is destined for the NFL. Had they been a little more prudent on selecting stay at home N's, some would have been sticking around for added depth. With that all said, our development of N OL has been atrocious, and hopefully we have ended that with the release of Dorazio.

[TheLionKing]

We haven't opened up holes for our run game during the two exhibition games but hopefully we'll get better.

You do know that a good running game is hard to teach don't you ?

[WestCoastJoe]

58 Thorn, Cameron G National 6.05 290 1990-04-16 Guelph

Cam Thorn did not show up earlier on the roster list. Good to see him there now.



3 Internationals in the O Line certainly limits our options with the ratio. We will just have to be patient to see how our National O Line talent develops.

Steward would seem to be our only National LT prospect. It seems we need to International at centre.