CFL Draft 2016, May 10, 4pm PT

[DanoT]

They just might a team the Leos could leap frog in the standings.

This statement sounds like you may have pegged BC to be in last place or way down in the standings. Is this not presumptive ? If so, why would you have this opinion ?
The way I see it both the Esks and Riders have more reason at this point to be considered behind BC . The only western team I see having good reason to rate ahead , with out a game being played ,is Calgary , but even they are starting out with a first year HC, although a likely candidate to be a good one . The EE have been gutted , so I automatically rate BC ahead of them and the Riders , Chris Jones or not , basically fired half their team , so who knows how they'll do. Can't rate them ahead just based on Chris Jones alone.
So far WB has had a very good off season and based on that I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt . A good off season , a good draft as well as a very promising young QB in the starter spot , so I'm seeing things a lot more optimistically than some , apparently .

Can't rate the Lions just based on the return to coaching for Wally, especially since he is not an X and O guy and needs to rely heavily on assistants Jones and Washington for play calling. And imo the jury is still out on both those guys as far as coordinator ability.

Most seasons I don't form a definite opinion on what the final standings will be until I see a game or two. This season will be especially tough to figure out with all the coaching and player changes. But it will be interesting.

[CardiacKid]

They just might a team the Leos could leap frog in the standings.

This statement sounds like you may have pegged BC to be in last place or way down in the standings. Is this not presumptive ? If so, why would you have this opinion ?
The way I see it both the Esks and Riders have more reason at this point to be considered behind BC . The only western team I see having good reason to rate ahead , with out a game being played ,is Calgary , but even they are starting out with a first year HC, although a likely candidate to be a good one . The EE have been gutted , so I automatically rate BC ahead of them and the Riders , Chris Jones or not , basically fired half their team , so who knows how they'll do. Can't rate them ahead just based on Chris Jones alone.
So far WB has had a very good off season and based on that I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt . A good off season , a good draft as well as a very promising young QB in the starter spot , so I'm seeing things a lot more optimistically than some , apparently .

My comment about the Leos leap frogging the Esks was actually based on my being cautiously optimistic. I agree the Leos have made some solid off-season signings in the free agent market along with some astute picks in this years draft. I was thinking in terms of last year's standings versus how I think the Leos will do this year.

But as I mentioned, I was being CAUTIOUSLY optimistic. Without seeing any of this year's teams on the field, including the Leos, I am holding off making any predictions regarding the standings. I think what happened with the Lions last year should serve as a good lesson for how to NOT anticipate how a team will do. Yes, the Esks suffered from big changes across the board and it makes sense to think they will have struggles. Will Chris Jones need more than one season to get all the new Roughies to coalesce as a team?

So many things are in play when a good season is at stake...will the first string QB make it through the year or will they be wearing crutches on the sidelines? Will the kicker make those game-winning field goals on a consistent basis? On it goes....

[pennw]

They just might a team the Leos could leap frog in the standings.

This statement sounds like you may have pegged BC to be in last place or way down in the standings. Is this not presumptive ? If so, why would you have this opinion ?
The way I see it both the Esks and Riders have more reason at this point to be considered behind BC . The only western team I see having good reason to rate ahead , with out a game being played ,is Calgary , but even they are starting out with a first year HC, although a likely candidate to be a good one . The EE have been gutted , so I automatically rate BC ahead of them and the Riders , Chris Jones or not , basically fired half their team , so who knows how they'll do. Can't rate them ahead just based on Chris Jones alone.
So far WB has had a very good off season and based on that I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt . A good off season , a good draft as well as a very promising young QB in the starter spot , so I'm seeing things a lot more optimistically than some , apparently .

Can't rate the Lions just based on the return to coaching for Wally, especially since he is not an X and O guy and needs to rely heavily on assistants Jones and Washington for play calling. And imo the jury is still out on both those guys as far as coordinator ability.

Most seasons I don't form a definite opinion on what the final standings will be until I see a game or two. This season will be especially tough to figure out with all the coaching and player changes. But it will be interesting.

you are right Dano , that I can't rate BC ahead of any team based on the return of WB , which is why I never did give the return of WB to the HC role as a reason for rating BC ahead of some other teams .
Riders comment was about the fact Jones fired half the team , so they are starting out with a gutted team plus Jones in charge , pretty drastic moves. Having jones on the sideline may not be enough to overcome that . I like our situation better than theirs .

[pennw]

They just might a team the Leos could leap frog in the standings.

This statement sounds like you may have pegged BC to be in last place or way down in the standings. Is this not presumptive ? If so, why would you have this opinion ?
The way I see it both the Esks and Riders have more reason at this point to be considered behind BC . The only western team I see having good reason to rate ahead , with out a game being played ,is Calgary , but even they are starting out with a first year HC, although a likely candidate to be a good one . The EE have been gutted , so I automatically rate BC ahead of them and the Riders , Chris Jones or not , basically fired half their team , so who knows how they'll do. Can't rate them ahead just based on Chris Jones alone.
So far WB has had a very good off season and based on that I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt . A good off season , a good draft as well as a very promising young QB in the starter spot , so I'm seeing things a lot more optimistically than some , apparently .

My comment about the Leos leap frogging the Esks was actually based on my being cautiously optimistic. I agree the Leos have made some solid off-season signings in the free agent market along with some astute picks in this years draft. I was thinking in terms of last year's standings versus how I think the Leos will do this year.

But as I mentioned, I was being CAUTIOUSLY optimistic. Without seeing any of this year's teams on the field, including the Leos, I am holding off making any predictions regarding the standings. I think what happened with the Lions last year should serve as a good lesson for how to NOT anticipate how a team will do. Yes, the Esks suffered from big changes across the board and it makes sense to think they will have struggles. Will Chris Jones need more than one season to get all the new Roughies to coalesce as a team?

So many things are in play when a good season is at stake...will the first string QB make it through the year or will they be wearing crutches on the sidelines? Will the kicker make those game-winning field goals on a consistent basis? On it goes....

i'm not making predictions either , just stating some optimism over the developments so far, more than I would express if I were a fan of those other two teams . Last years standings are , well last year's . We start with a clean slate this year so it's all up for grabs .

[CardiacKid]

With Hardaway representing Thompson, it isn't a stretch to think Thompson was holding out. Apparently some managers will avoid drafting Hardaway clients in order to not have the associated drama.

First pick overall Josiah St. John has requested a trade from the Riders as negotiations have reached an impasse. Also happens to be a Hardaway client.

Wonder if the Taman regime would have been more willing to throw some extra $ St. John's way....

[DanoT]

With Hardaway representing Thompson, it isn't a stretch to think Thompson was holding out. Apparently some managers will avoid drafting Hardaway clients in order to not have the associated drama.

First pick overall Josiah St. John has requested a trade from the Riders as negotiations have reached an impasse. Also happens to be a Hardaway client.

Wonder if the Taman regime would have been more willing to throw some extra $ St. John's way....

IMO, Thompson is a lot more savvy than St. John as I am guessing that at the 11th hour Thompson called Hardaway and likely said something like, "I can afford and handle playing for less money better than I can afford to miss TC, so I will sign for whatever the current offer is and get back the money that I left on the table on the next contract." St. John OTOH:

According to the guys on TSN 1040, Thompson was 2.5 hours late for rookie mini camp, so they jokingly called it a mini 2.5 hour hold out.

Does anyone know if this hold out by St. John is the first TC hold out in CFL history?