BC vs. Calgary Game Day Thread

[SammyGreene]

In response I concur that Lokombo was all over the field and its a good thing that we are going to have some special packages for him. I can also see us at times in a true three linebacker set with Sol E., Bighill, and Lokombo. It would be a good formation on first down against Calgary during the regular season.

He was considered the best prospect of the 2014 draft and now he is poised to have a much greater presence with a training camp now under his belt. It's going to be very interesting to watch Lokombo's progress over the course of the season and if or when does it reach the point where you have to have an impact national player on the field at all times. Does it mean potentially trading Bighill or Sol-E down the road to strengthen the team elsewhere such as the o-line or d-line? Perhaps

[BC 1988]

I hate when wally releases guys in March. Why not wait to have these guys just get beat out of a spot in June.

Eric Taylor and Tim Brown are way better than anybody we have in camp.

TIm Brown has just signed with CGY.
http://www.cfl.ca/article/stampeders-si ... -tim-brown

[Rammer]

I hate when wally releases guys in March. Why not wait to have these guys just get beat out of a spot in June.

Eric Taylor and Tim Brown are way better than anybody we have in camp.

TIm Brown has just signed with CGY.
http://www.cfl.ca/article/stampeders-si ... -tim-brown

Another player that this board questioned why he was released and the second signed by the Stamps. There is a reason that they are able to reload while the Lions offer dignity to players by releasing them in the off season. I don't understand Wally's thinking on that front, wouldn't players rather compete for their job and understand why they lost out, vs getting cut and wondering why?

[David]

The only inside linemen who made a positive impression were Jamarkus McFarland and Andre Monroe and that was only because they held their gaps. I don't have good feelings about this position group. A steady diet of Jon Cornish running behind Calgary's starting O-line would be deadly, even with Solomon Elimimian and Adam Bighill in the B.C lineup.

The good news is that we left DT Michael Brooks (who, if healthy, is a virtual lock on a starter's role) behind for the Calgary game with a pinched meniscus. At first, the injury was thought to be worse than it actually is. He's now back practicing with the team and apparently dominating, according to Lions staffer Michiko Araki ("Michael Brooks was unstoppable during team today, breaking past the o-line by using swim moves to put pressure on the quarterback.").


DH

[DanoT]

I sure hope Brooks is the real deal at DT.

I don't mind Wally's penchant for releasing vets just before they are done, but it drives me nuts when he does it and then has no replacement ready to step up. E.g: this year the Lions are going with not 1, but 2 rookies at DT because they released Mitchell who did not play well, but also Taylor who did play well (Lions' best D lineman IMO)

Both KR/backup RBs, Logan and Brown released and picked up by Als and Stamps with the Lions having no clear cut replacement at either KR or backup RB.

So I guess it is now official, THIS IS A COMPLETE REBUILDING YEAR for the Lions with a rebuilt coaching staff, O and D line, Kicking and Kick return game and reshuffled D backfield.

I have low expectations for the first half of the season but hopefully there will be significant results by some time in September.

[Rammer]

I sure hope Brooks is the real deal at DT.

I don't mind Wally's penchant for releasing vets just before they are done, but it drives me nuts when he does it and then has no replacement ready to step up. E.g: this year the Lions are going with not 1, but 2 rookies at DT because they released Mitchell who did not play well, but also Taylor who did play well (Lions' best D lineman IMO)

Both KR/backup RBs, Logan and Brown released and picked up by Als and Stamps with the Lions having no clear cut replacement at either KR or backup RB.

So I guess it is now official, THIS IS A COMPLETE REBUILDING YEAR for the Lions with a rebuilt coaching staff, O and D line, Kicking and Kick return game and reshuffled D backfield.

I have low expectations for the first half of the season but hopefully there will be significant results by some time in September.

That is the frustrating aspect for myself. Lions had solid players for the DT and return game, yet felt it better to find a replacement. Since Antolin wil likely be the KR/RB guy, it looks alright, but DT isn't a position that you can afford to be slightly weak at, let alone as thin as the Lions are. Instead of reloading the Lions are rebuilding, something that has always hurt ticket sales on a large scale in this market. With the West the way it is, any slow start will make hosting a playoff game a moot point, let alone the ever exciting prospect of going East for a playoff date.

Stamps
Esks
Riders
Bombers/Lions

Not sure on the Bombers at this juncture, but they seem to have met a few hurdles that they encountered last season.

[green road kill]

Okay everybody lets just calm down ,take a breath,go fore a walk , if need be. Remember it was game one ( pre season ) and what did you exspect. That was a totally

rookey team that played friday night, and if it's true that the stumps played a lot of there vets in the first halve it was a win fore our Leo's. Two lets give Tedford and his guys

a chance before we trash the season, hold our noses and look away.

Fore the game this Friday lets let them put the team together that will start the season fore us and play them fore a halve . Remember the the list of guys that didn't play

last Friday is far bigger than the ones that did. The other thing to remember is that with that many rookies and as many changes in players, you don't have an Oline or a

Dline , you just have guys playing beside each other. This game Friday will tell us alot more about the Lions than the Calgary game did.


DLINE

This week the couches will play who they think will be our starters ( Westermen and smith will play) Brooks and Minter show promiss.If we

get shoved of the line on running plays and no push from the tackles on passing downs ( well I don't to think about that).


OLINE

Same thing as the Dline the starters will play (could be better than what we think)


L BACKERS

BIGGY AND SOLE enough said


DBs

SOLID

QB

This is the big one lets prey LULLAY can make it through a halve whith out an injury

[Blitz]

I'm still optimistic going into this season and excited as well. I realize that the West is tough right now but here are some reasons why I feel the way I do.

OFFENCE

1. Jeff Tedford. We now have a Head Coach who has a record of success, innovation, and knows who he is. He is a leader. He's also a true football man. Wally had a record of success as a Head Coach but his strength as a Head Coach was as a manager rather than a pure coach. Tedford brings both strong managerial aspects and a lot of knowledge to his position. His hiring of Malone should pay dividends over time and Cortez has a lot of knowledge and experience and Tedford has Cortez out of the outdated spread offence while taking advantage of Cortez's CFL experiences.

2. The H Back Offence

Anything other than the spread offence is going to be positive. The H Back offence is an optimal offence for the CFL right now. The hybrid tight end position will help our running attack, our passing attack, and most of all our ability to do a lot of things offensively without changing personnel after each down. It will allow us to go uptempo and attack a defense based on its personell, formation and strategies. It will help us against the blitz, improve our blocking schemes for the running game and give us a lot of different looks and approaches to the passing attack rather than the same old passing attack. Chap experienced success in 2011 when he got out of the spread as a religion and went more motion and misdirection but Tedford`s offensive strategy has the potential to offer more dynamism.

3. Receiver

Whether we go with two imports or three imports we have enough receiving talent and depth to push our incumbents. Gore and Iannuzzi will have to play well or they will not be starters as they have been in the past and if we go with three import receivers one will be on the bench. With Burnham, Vizzi, and Jeffers Harris pushing Taylor at slot back, with the addition of Collie, and with two H Backs who both bring the skill sets needed for that postion, we have enough tools at the receiver position to get the job done.

4. Running Back

With Harris we have a talented tailback who can run and catch. With Antolin we have depth. With Murray-Lawrence we have speed and potential. With Lumbala we have experience. With Lochard, we have a back who has really stepped up his game as he enters his second season with us.

5. Offensive Line

With the proven Malone, we have better coaching. Going with an import center in Foster is going to make us a better offensive line. Norman is back in his natural positon as a guard and he has pushed Fabian out of the starting lineup. Valli does not have his spot locked up as in the past, with Player pushing him and Norman can always switch to the right guard spot as well and Fabian could start at guard. Alifoye is a very proven right tackle. As long as we can get good play from the import left tackle position our offensive line should be improved.

6. Quarterback

This is obviously the big question mark with Lulay`s shoulder situation. But we have a quarterback in Jennings who looks to have a promising future. McGhee also shows potential. Tedford also knows how to coach quarterbacks. If Lulay can stay healthy he will be a better quarterback under Tedford. Tedford is also the right coach to develop future quarterbacks.

For a number of reasons from coaching, scheme, and potential we should be better on the offensive side of the football this season.

DEFENSE

1. Defensive Line

Last season the interior of our defensive line was a problem. The decision to jettison Mitchell was necessary. We may have gotten another season or two out of Taylor but we decided to go younger. If we are rebuilding, it should work out. We`ll get a chance to see our two best import tackles against Calgary. I was surprised that we moved Westerman outside to short side defensive end but he is a big defensive end who will allow our talented linebackers to scrape and penetrate more than they did last season. Surprise draft pick Mrabure-Ajufo is showing a lot of potential and Menard and Ford provide the depth at National defensive line that we haven`t had for a long time. Its hard to know who will become our rush end but its easy to underrate Bazzie, who had more sacks last season than any Leo defensive end in a first season in our history, except for Cameron Wake and Gray. The aging Smith, who defies father time and Roh are in the mix. I think our defensive line will take some time but at least we are better than last year.

2. Linebacker

We have the best linebacking unit in the CFL. Sol E. and Bighill are outstanding. Josh Johnson is a stud nickel back. Lokombo will give us a lot of options and Chin has really stepped up. The best linebacking corps has gotten even better.

3. Defensive Backs. How can we not be improved with LaRose out of the picture? Rwabukamba is an upgrade and we have Natiional depth pushing him. Parks was not able to step in at the tough short side halfback position but he was an excellent corner in his first season and is back where he excelled and is being pushed. Ronnie Yell will be even better in his second season.

Defensively, we are a better team than last year. We're improved at defensive line coach, we have more depth and options, Westerman and Menard can rotate inside if or when we want them to. Our linebacking has more talented depth and our defensive backfield is better. Our defense, playing passively last season, was one of the two best defenses in the CFL in 2014, until the final three games.

SPECIAL TEAMS

This is my biggest area of concern right now. We will be a better punting and kick off team with Leone. We'll miss the sure footed McCallum for field goals inside the 40 but Leone, who I think will win the kickers job, will give us more upside for longer field goal attempts.

The challenge right now that I see is with McMann, who was retained as special teams coach and had running backs coach to his duties. Penalties and poor preparedness on special teams hurt us last year. My only hope here is that Tedford can get McMann coached up in terms of his performance.

My second area of concern is that we have not found a replacement for Tim Brown and are still experimenting with a lot of players. Perhaps Murray- Lawrence can step into that role but right now we haven't found the guy to get it done.

WRAP

This an improved Lions team. The schemes will be better, the coaching better, the culture will be better, and we have more depth and potential. How it works out is still left to be seen but the direction overall is positive. "Benny bumps" and his whole 'schtick' is gone. There is a football man at the helm and we've made some good decisions so far. One can always want more but I'm liking things so far to date in 2015.l

[WestCoastJoe]

Thanks for the write up, Blitz. Excellent detail and balance.

I agree we can have hope, as fans.

We need to see regular season action to really get an idea of where we can go with Jeff Tedford leading the way. It is very promising. But there are many question marks. And Tedford is not coming into a league that lacks outstanding coaching. Hufnagel has built a powerhouse in Calgary. Austin and Jones have shown they can rebuild teams overnight.

For me it is too early to hazard a guess in terms of how our win/loss record will shake out. Eventually our team could be truly excellent under Tedford. The competition is tough.

Concerns:

O Line, as always. We had to make the coaching change. We were stuck in the mud. Much unlearning needed from the previous regime. I just re-read the article by Angus Reid of last year, pointing out the paralysis by analysis our players evidenced.

QB play. With Tedford and Cortez we have hope. Jennings shows promise. But we are so very young and inexperienced at QB.

D Line. At least two new starters, possibly three, possibly 4 methinks, depending on the ageless, tireless, very effective Khreem Smith.

Defensive approach and attitude. Conservative or aggressive? I don't think Mark Washington has shown his true preference yet. But he seems very capable. Very attack oriented like Chris Jones? Mix it up effectively like Rich Stubler? It seems to me that conservative defence in the CFL is a loser's game.
............

Most positive development ... Tedford, Cortez, Malone and Ross. One can only imagine how low our franchise would have fallen without coaching change. We were in the dark ages of football, facing top level Xs and Os. We are back in that ballgame now. Personnel work? Some question marks remain.