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[Qman]

leone wins P/K battle ... i assume they will look for a cdn FG kicker
McGhee stays on active roster until Beck gains weight back and is 100%



Released from roster: DB Jordan Rwiyamilira (N), DB Josh Brinkworth (N), DB Jeremiah Johnson (I), DB MyronLewis (I), LB Cody Acker (I), DL Tim Jackson (I), DL Andre Monroe (I), FB Brandon Deschamps (N), RB Rickey Galvin (I), RB Damien Thigpen (I), WR Tim Vizzi (I), WR Whitman Tomusiak (N).

Offered practice roster agreements: DB Darious Lane (I), LB Casey Chin (N), DL Craig Roh (I), DL Maxx Forde(N), DL Jamarkus McFarland (I), WR Terence Jeffers-Harris (I), K/P Anthony Fera (I), RB Keola Antolin (I), OLJosh Aladonoye (I), OL Campbell Allison (N).

Placed on one-game injured: DB Steven Clarke (I), OL Cody Husband (N), OL Matt Norman (N).

Placed on disabled list: QB John Beck (I).

Returned to juniors: OL Anthony Daley (N), WR Derek Yachison (N).

[TheLionKing]

http://cfl.ca/article/making-moves-trac ... et-trimmed

[SammyGreene]

I guess Vizzi isn't the second coming of Weston Dressler? Gauging talent at training camp can be so misleading. Would love to see Wally do something bold and trade Shawn Gore for interior line help on either side of the ball but won't happen given Collie's track record for injuries. But Gore is one very expensive insurance policy who we are still waiting on for a breakthrough season 6 years later.

[David]

Surprises for me: no import running backs (Bigelow, Galvin and Thigpen - all gone, Antolin to the PR). That's simply amazing. They had the whole off-season to scour the country and couldn't find someone good enough. WTF?? It makes the release of Tim Brown even more perplexing.

Both H-backs made the final cut when they were used sparingly in preseason.

Thought Vizzi would have made the PR. Ditto for Tomusiak, but was disappointed that he didn't do more this preseason. Whether that's lack of skill or opportunity I don't know, but he had a quiet camp.

Surprised they took Minter over Roh based one what I saw. Zach Minter did next to nothing last night (and in Calgary for that matter).

Interesting that they're taking the better punter over the better field goal kicker. I suppose they figure Leone's 2 misses were an aberration. Guess Scott Rintoul and Matt Baker are going to have to learn that it's LEON-EE, not LEON, per the kicker himself.


DH

[Coast Mountain Lion]

The Riders just released, among others, Hugh O'Neill. As I seem to recall, isn't his punting better than his placekicking? Is it worth bringing him back here?

[TheLionKing]

Bit of a surprise that Chin is placed on the practice roster. Heard he had an outstanding camp.

[TheLionKing]

Jermarcus Hardrick released by the Riders.

[Qman]

The Riders just released, among others, Hugh O'Neill. As I seem to recall, isn't his punting better than his placekicking? Is it worth bringing him back here?

leone guartaneed to be the punter. based on pre-season production, he might challenge the league record for punting avg.
O'neill is a better FG kicker than leone, and worth bringing him in since they have burnt bridges with paul and wally knows hugh.

[Toppy Vann]

Will they call Paul Mc? Tim Brown safe. Kevin Glenn had a good outing too. Khalif - could be toast in the CFL. Too much outside crap going on with him.

[B.C.FAN]

I wasn't surprised by any of the cuts other than Casey Chin, who I thought was a productive, hard-working linebacker and special teamer. I hope he accepts the practice roster spot.

I have been greatly disappointed in Zach Minter but the coaches put him at the top of the depth chart heading into training camp and no one has knocked him off. Michael Brooks won the other DT spot over Tim Jackson, who was released. I'm happy that Craig Roh and Jamarkus McFarland, who impressed me the most of the remaining DTs, have at least been offered PR spots.

I'm thrilled that the Lions did not keep an international RB on the roster to back up Andrew Harris. I suggested that in the game thread. Pascal Lochard has produced at that position whenever he's been asked in camp and in preseason, and Shaquille Murray-Lawrence has the speed and quickness to be a double threat as a running back and returner. I hope he gets a chance to show his talent right away because I'd rather see him return kicks than Alex Tillman, who also made the roster at DB (likely dime back). Keola Antolin, if he accepts a practice roster spot, can be an insurance policy.

I'm happy that Courtney Taylor wasn't placed on the injured list. Hopefully he will be ready to go on July 4. Otherwise Bryan Burnham would have to step in and there's a big difference in talent between them. I'm glad that Terrence Jeffers-Harris at least has been offered a practice roster spot. Despite being brought in late, he produced whenever the ball came his way. Whitman Tomusiak was a camp body. Occasionally he would snag a deep ball on a fly pattern but mostly he was invisible. Stephen Adekolu, who was kept, is a much better prospect. Someone has speculated that Tedford might have been keeping the H-backs under wraps in the pre-season. I hope so, because they got a lot more balls thrown their way in training camp than in the two pre-season games.

Tommie Draheim won the LT spot over Josh Aladenoye, who showed enough to win an invitation to the practice roster. I have my fingers crossed that all the changes made will be upgrades.

I'm happy that Richie Leone won the kicking competition. His pre-season punting average of 50 yards is spectacular. Despite his 2-for-4 record on field goals in pre-season, I ddn't think there was much difference in accuracy between him and Fera. They both went toe to toe with Paul McCallum early in camp and showed good accuracy and great distance. I also like that Leone kicks a straight ball. Fera's field goal attempts often have a hook, which can be scary even when he makes them.

Overall, I'm not confident the Lions have a roster that can compete with the top teams in the league. I'm willing to be pleasantly surprised, though.

[TheLionKing]

The current roster is far from the lineup that will be suiting up for the season opener in two weeks. After further practices I expect to see players move from the active to the practice roster and vice versa.

[B.C.FAN]

The current roster is far from the lineup that will be suiting up for the season opener in two weeks. After further practices I expect to see players move from the active to the practice roster and vice versa.

I'm not so sure. According to LU, Jeff Tedford said Saturday that T-Dre Player won the starting RG spot over Dean Valli. Other than the injuries to Hunter Steward and Matt Norman, that is only the second change to the depth chart since the first day of training camp. The other is Michael Brooks beating out fellow rookie Tim Jackson at DT. The other 22 starters have not changed in three weeks of intense scrutiny. I don't expect major changes in the next two weeks of relatively light practices.

Ullrich: Veteran Valli bumped to backup in Lions’ changing of the guard

[peeby]

Concerning Casey Chin being cut, I think the competition was too much this year. He didn't take over Jason Aragki's special teams leader role. Likewise, he didn't beat out Bo Lokombo or Adrian Clarke. I'm retired and can listen to sports radio when they broadcast from training camp. Thought I heard Clarke's name come up far more often than Casey. Also heard Clarke's name on downfield tackles in the last exhibition game. He's bigger than Casey and sounds like he had as good or better a camp. Regardless, I think you can say he's still on the team if he accepts the practice roster position. Do the practice roster guys not do everything the team guys do except play in a game and cash a decent pay cheque?

[CardiacKid]

The Riders just released, among others, Hugh O'Neill. As I seem to recall, isn't his punting better than his placekicking? Is it worth bringing him back here?

leone guartaneed to be the punter. based on pre-season production, he might challenge the league record for punting avg.
O'neill is a better FG kicker than leone, and worth bringing him in since they have burnt bridges with paul and wally knows hugh.

I seem to recall O'Neill burnt his bridges with Wally by getting a little too aggressive with his demand for a contract extension. Wally didn't think Hughie earned it so he unceremoniously punted him from the team.

Surprises for me: no import running backs (Bigelow, Galvin and Thigpen - all gone, Antolin to the PR). That's simply amazing. They had the whole off-season to scour the country and couldn't find someone good enough. WTF?? It makes the release of Tim Brown even more perplexing.

I am guessing the presence of an import kicker and 3 imports on the O-line made having the backup to Harris be a non-import all the more pressing. Especially should Harris go down at any point in the season; much like Calgary using Matt Walter as Cornish's backup and then his replacement when he got injured. Hopefully Shaquille Murray will get some touches of the ball on offence and maybe as punt/kick returner. I believe he had the best showing last night of the kick returners.

[DanoT]

Guys that the Lions released in the off season that ended up in other teams TCs:

Matt McGarva
Eric Taylor
Stephan Logan
Tim Brown
Jermarcus Hardrick
Andre Ramsey
Kevin Glenn
Khalif Mitchell

An unprecedented list for the Lions I'm guessing and maybe a CFL record. It looks like Logan, Brown and Glenn will stick with the Als, Stamps, and Riders.