Willes: Tedford says Lions’ personnel changes don't signal a radical departure from offensive philosophy
By Ed Willes, The Province September 1, 2015 5:50 PM
Despite their showing in the first half of the CFL season, the BC Lions leave a glimmer of hope for fans looking to the second half and a comeback.
When the B.C. Lions line up against the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday night, their offence will feature two new receivers and a new running back, which, depending on how you compute these things, represents a 50-per-cent turnover in the team’s skill positions.
This, in turn, would seem to indicate a clear change in the direction — both philosophically and schematically — of the beleaguered unit. It also raises some interesting questions about the offence the Lions promised back in training camp, what they’ve delivered thus far, and the wisdom of making dramatic revisions in midseason.
That’s, at least, the way a lot of Lions supporters would see things. As for the architect of these changes, not so much. Maybe it’s a fine semantical argument, but Jeff Tedford doesn’t regard the new-look offence as a radical departure from his core philosophy, nor does he think it represents a crucial point of this Lions season.
“You can look at it as a change in philosophy but I think it’s just trying to get our guys in their best positions, get more speed on the field and be more dynamic,” the Lions’ head coach says. “We’ve got guys who are coming off injuries and now they’re ready to play.”
Fine. But, no matter your take, here’s the real question facing the Lions: Will the changes have the desired effect? — because they have a lot riding on the answer.
The Leos face more than a few challenges as they head into the guts of their campaign — their 3-5 record being principal among them — but the most perplexing concerns the offence. Tedford, as it’s been noted, arrived this season with a reputation as an offensive mastermind who, given the wide-open Canadian field and the Lions’ weapons, would unleash sound and fury on the CFL this season.
Training camp, moreover, featured a lot of brave talk about an uptempo attack which would confuse and confound defences around the league. But after eight regular-season games, the only confused souls are Lions fans who are still waiting for the promised fireworks. Instead, they’ve watched an offence which has been overly reliant on running back Andrew Harris and sits in the bottom third of the CFL’s relevant passing categories.
Hopefully that changes this week. Against the Alouettes, Bryan Burnham and Lavelle Hawkins join the receiving corps and Chris Rainey steps into the return game and the backfield as Harris’s understudy. Burnham has been around for a couple of years now and has shown flashes. Hawkins played for Tedford at Cal and spent five seasons with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. Rainey played on the 2009 Florida Gators national championship team.
Individually, they all possess some credentials, but it’s the collective which should be noted. The new players are faster and more explosive than their predecessors and, yes, that changes the look of the offence.
“We definitely got a little one-dimensional and it made it easier for teams to key on what we were doing,” says Harris. “Now we have more weapons. I’m looking forward to see how it all plays out.”
He’s not alone there.
Among other things, the roster reconstruction signals an end to the H-back experiment, which saw the Lions devoting one of their receiving spots to a tight-end type. In theory, the bigger body was supposed to help in the running game and pass protection while creating physical mismatches in the passing game. The problem was that Cam Moorah was injured in the second game of the season and his replacement, A.C. Leonard, was a non-factor.
The Lions will now feature a more traditional group of CFL receivers who should present quarterback Travis Lulay with more dangerous, and diverse, choices. The next question, of course, is what will Lulay do with his new toys.
And therein lies the key to the Lions’ season.
After enduring two nightmarish seasons, the former MOP has returned to health in 2015. It’s just that his game hasn’t returned with it. Yes, there have been glimpses and, yes, Lulay’s character and leadership are beyond reproach. But, eight games in, he ranks eighth in the CFL in quarterback efficiency behind such luminaries as Rakeem Cato and Drew Willy, and Lulay’s intangibles don’t begin to compensate for that lack of production.
The Lions based this season on Lulay’s return to form, but something is missing. If it was the scheme, we’ll know soon enough. If it’s the quarterback, the Lions’ problems take on a much scarier dimension.
“I don’t think the belief is we’re a 3-5 team and this is going to be tough,” says Lulay. “I think the belief throughout the locker room is we’re better than we’ve been, so let’s be better. I really sense that belief is still there.”
Others may need more convincing, but if Lulay’s going to change people’s minds, it has to start in Montreal.
ewilles@theprovince.com
