5 burning questions going into 2017 season....

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David
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1) Can we keep all our weapons happy with only one ball to go around?

2) Who's going to take over Biggie's weakside linebacker spot?

3) How long will it take the completely overhauled secondary to gel?

4) Who among all the National receivers is going to emerge now that Shawn Gore has retired?

5) Can Junior Luke develop into the next Ted Laurent?

What are some of your burning questions? :spoken:


DH :cool:
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WestCoastJoe
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David wrote:
Thu May 25, 2017 8:07 pm
1) Can we keep all our weapons happy with only one ball to go around?

2) Who's going to take over Biggie's weakside linebacker spot?

3) How long will it take the completely overhauled secondary to gel?

4) Who among all the National receivers is going to emerge now that Shawn Gore has retired?

5) Can Junior Luke develop into the next Ted Laurent?

What are some of your burning questions? :spoken:


DH :cool:
1. Happy? Not necessarily. Productive? Yes.

2. I think we will be OK there, whoever gets the nod.

3. From the get-go.

4. Vandervoort. Gore did not get all that many touches. Danny V could develop chemistry with JJ10.

5. Luke and Laurent. I expect Luke is quicker, more mobile. Laurent has been a powerhouse.

.......

1. Will we get pressure from our front 4 on defence?

2. Do we have enough size at DT? (Why the determination to go 4 Ints in the DL? Menard, Luke and possibly Godin or Forde give us good depth amongst the Nats on the DL.)

3. Will Dan D keep things simple enough for an OL in transition?

4. Will we have an overall attack attitude, or more of a contain, play it safe approach? Ha ha (This fan thinks it is time for us to see if the defence truly reflects the philosophy of Mark W, or if it will still seem to be a reflection of Wally's preferred approach? Mark W has talked about aggressive defence. IMO we have not really seen it. Soft zone is a contain-type defence.)

5. How many of our receivers will go over 1,000 yards?
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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B.C.FAN
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1. Will Chris Williams be healthy enough to start the season? He's supposed be evaluated this weekend. The Lions could have an extra starting spot for a national receiver if he's not.

2. Wll Hunter Steward make a smooth transition to LT? He was plagued by injuries in his first two seasons at tackle before being moved to guard last year.

3. Which four internationals will be part of the D-line rotation? I would have guessed Craig Roh, Bryant Turner Jr., Mic'hael Brooks and Frank Alexander but Josh Shirley appears to be the early favourite to replace Alex Bazzie at rush end. Alexander might have to bump one of the veterans.

4. Who will inherit Adam Bighill's linebacker spot? My guess would be Cam Ontko, but Dyshawn Davis, Micah Awe and Tony Burnett could be in the mix, although Burnett is more of a DB or nickelback.

5. Will the trio of DBs who were injured last season (Ronnie Yell, T.J. Lee and Steven Clarke) all make full recoveries? I haven't heard much about Yell's recovery.
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Gridiron Ernie
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Yeah -- a number of those questions I share, and I'll take up your #3 in particular David and amplify it by asking -- of our secondary,

a) who among them are the fledgling ball-hawks at training camp who I'm hoping will truly soar this season and ratchet up the excitement level by providing us with a fair share of turnovers back there? (My heart skips a beat even just anticipating it!) That being a dimension of the Leos that was sorely missed last year.

b) And, related to the secondary-defenders question; are the three returning veterans (Yell/Lee/Clarke) who sat out so much of last year, all with their pretty serious injuries, going to be able to amaze us with their resilience?) I'd so love to see that!

c) And also, will Loucheiz Purifoy continue to bloom more fully and keep knocking people's socks off while controlling his mean-streak enough to not be taking penalties? Will the times he dazzles us far outnumber the times he dismays us? I'm prepared to be dazzled!
TheLionKing
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i) Will attendance continue to free fall ?
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David
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B.C.FAN wrote:
Thu May 25, 2017 10:04 pm
I haven't heard much about Yell's recovery.
Recently saw him running through some on-field drills on his Instagram account. Quick, agile, and looks 100% to me. :thup:
TheLionKing wrote:
Thu May 25, 2017 10:10 pm
i) Will attendance continue to free fall ?
You've been listening to too much Pratt. Yea, I know he doesn't like the Vision party at City Hall, but he KEEPS talking about how "it's an absolute nightmare getting in and out of downtown, traffic is gridlocked etc, etc" Yea, he's a Lions fan but he's basically telling all his listeners to stay home and watch it on TV. :bang:

Attendance seems to be the media's favourite taking point about the Lions. Yet, when the 'Caps crowd the other night could fit in my garage with room to spare, nary a peep.


DH :cool:
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TheLionKing
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Can't stand Pratt and I don't listen to that idiot.
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David
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This is what I mean. 3-4 Simple Simon questions (that frankly, sounds more like they're being asked by an out-of-town radio show), then right into attendance woes (Scotty does great as always. Always informative).

http://ckstam.streamon.fm/listen-pl-290?smc=10


DH :cool:
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Blitz
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My two burning questions for 2017 are:

OFFENCE


1. Can Khari Jones/Buono finally adapt our offence away from a ;plug and play' offensive system to an offence that is designed around our offensive talents and weapons, while also exploiting defensive strategies?

No question that our passing attack will be effective and dangerous this season. Jonathan Jennings is special. The Manny/Burnham show will continue. Chris Williams will bring speed and experience to our receiving corps. Whether we go with a fourth International receiver or a National receiver, we will have tons of talent for our passing game. Chris Rainey, when he rotates into a game brings speed and incredible open field ability after making a reception.

Our offensive line opened up huge holes, at times, for our running attack last season. Hunter Steward will be more than fine at left tackle, injury wise. Its much more dangerous to play guard than tackle. Jeremiah Johnson has outstanding cut back ability. Chris Rainey can run inside or outside. Jonathan Jennings adds to the running game mix as the CFL's second best running quarterback last season.

But there is a reason that Calgary shut down our offence in the last regular season game of 2016 as well as nullifying both our running game and our passing game in the West Division Final.

Calgary's ability to shut down our offence in 2016 had nothing to do with our offensive personnel and talent. They shut down all of our offensive weapons for two reasons: 1) they scouted us well, knew our offensive tendencies, and utilized defensive strategies to take away the favorite things we like to do on offence and 2) our offensive scheme lacked the adaptability to exploit defensive strategies such as Man/Cover 2 in the passing and stacking the box inside against the run.

Basically our offence last season was Jennings playing deep pitch and catch with Manny and Burnham often beating double coverage due to incredible throws by Jennings and incredible receptions by Manny and Burnham. Our running attack was basically one running play - the inside zone read right or left, with our offensive line zone blocking to one side or the other. Calgary stacked the box inside against it, with an extra defender.

Perhaps the best example of our deficient offensive coaching was Khari Jones dialing up the quick swing pass to Rainey against Man/Cover 2 or throwing the hitch screen to Burnham against Man/Cover 2. Rainey was shut down on the quick swing pass time and again by Calgary, as the man defenders peeled off their receivers to stop Rainey for losses. The same happened on the hitch screen to Burnham.

An emphasis on personnel will not solve the issue. It doesn't matter who is playing left tackle or receiver. Basically last season our offensive talent overcame the limitations of our offensive scheme and play calling. Our offensive pre-game scouting was poor. We just run the same stuff each game and expect our players to execute it, no matter what scheme the defense is playing or what it is doing to shut down our offence.

Most of the time, our players were able to overcome our scheme due to their talents and outstanding individual play. Jennings threw purrfect long throws against double coverage, with defensive linemen in his face or escaped, Manny leapt, Burnham dove, Johnson cut back, and Rainey turned on the jets but their success had little to do with scheme.

If we want to play in the Big Dance, we need to develop a shorter passing attack against deep double coverage, even if we have Williams to make that style of defence more difficult to play against us. We need to have a well designed short passing attack as well as a deep one. We need to stretch the field horizontally as well as vertically.

Our running attack also needs diversity. Wally fuming about being shut down on second and two has nothing to do with our offensive line or our tailback and everything to do with our play calling. Our offensive line cannot run block more defenders than we have offensive lineman nor can our tailback avoid a defender in the backfield as he takes a handoff from Jennings. We need more than the inside zone read running play.

DEFENCE

While there are question marks, personnel wise for this upcoming season, my big question is can we develop an aggressive defensive philosophy and style of play for 2017.

Yes, personell wise, there are question marks. Can we replace Bazzie and Westerman on our defensive line and get an outside and inside pass rush. Who will replace Bighill at linebacker? Are Ronnie Yell, Stephen Clarke, and Lee healthy enough? Will we go with National Kenyan Parker, who played so well last season with his opportunities. How will Buddy Jackson and Tony Burnett fit in? Will we go with an International in Clarke at safety and how will he play.

But those personnel decisions on defence, are not the burning questions for 2017.

The burning question is will we play a different style of defence in 2017? Mark Washington's defenses have a familiar pattern. We try to get pressuere up front with different fronts, personnel, or blitzes, and then play soft zone behind it. It works fine early in the season, when opposition offences have not opened up their playbooks. We force them to dump passes off underneath and then come up and make the tackle most of the time short of a first down.

Our defense begins the season statistically as one of the best defenses in the league. But as the season progresses, our defense deteriorates as opposition quarterbacks begin to pick it apart.

We play soft zone on the corners so our halfbacks are often forced to help our corners. Our lack of free safety help for many seasons also put our defensive halfbacks in a bind. Our linebackers have been forced to cover the interior hook zones and the flats. Lack of pre-game scouting means that our defense does not take away our opposition strengths. We also play zone defense almost exclusively, making it easier for opposition quarterbacks to get pre-snap reads.

As each season progresses, under Washington and Buono, our defense began to chase its tail. Bighill was used more and more as a second safety, sprinting into deep Cover 2, which was an easy read for opposition quarterbacks. Offences sent their tailback to the flat, putting Sol E. in a bind covering an inside receiver as well as the tailback in the flat. Lack of free safety help meant that we got beat deep, even playing soft zone.

Wally lamented this season about our lack of turnovers on defense last season. We led the CFL in sacks, tied with Calgary but finished 8th in the CFL in turnovers. Wally traded Mike Edem and announced that he would look at playing an International at safety. But *beeotch* about a lack of turnovers, while playing soft zone and playing National safeties for many seaons, that did not have range or anticipation abiliies sits at the lap of Washington and Buono.

Personnel changes alone will not solve it. Winnipeg shredded our defense in the first half of the West Semi-Final in 2016 and Calgary dissected it for more than 30 first half points in the West Final because our defense is predictable, easy to scout, and easy to read pre-snap.

How can a defensive corner be aggressive and jump a route when he is playing soft corner and focused on keeping his receiver in front of him so he can make the tackle. How can a defensive halfback be aggressive when he has no free safety help. How can a linebacker be aggressive and go for an interception when he has two receivers to cover - a slotback running a short dig or slant or comeback route and a tailback to cover in the flat? How can a defensive back get an edge when the opposition knows he is in zone all the time?

Aggressive does not always mean blitzing? Its a style of play developed not just by attitude but also by scheme. We need to mix in more man coverages as well as zone. We need to scout opposition offenses pre-game better and take away tendencies. We need to play tighter on the corners and halfback positions but to do that we need better free safety play. But the solution of more than just having an International at safety.

Our defenders need a defensive scheme that allows our corners to play press man coverage, at times, instead of a constant soft corner style. The Bombers played a defensive scheme last season that allowed them to play aggressive defence. The Bombers had 30 interceptions to our 9 last season, even though we had the best pass rush in the league and the Bombers finished 6th in that department.

It took a great second half comeback performance by Jonathan Jennings, including his magical run for a touchdown, with the clock winding down, to beat the Bombers in the West Semi-Final, even though we had superior talent. But in the West Final, there was no magical offensive comeback after another first half defensive melt down.

Wally is still living in days of old, when you could play soft zone defense all game and be successful. Pro CFL quarterbacks playing today have been developed in passing game college offences in college and even high school. Receivers are much more proficient at reading and finding seams in zones and sitting down in open areas against zone defenses. Pro passing offences are much more sophisticated at exploiting predictable soft zone defenses.

Its time for a change in coaching and thinking on both offence and defense if we want to be playing in this year's Grey Cup. We'll be a very good team in 2017 but if we want to be a champion, we'll need a shift in the way we play the game of pro football in B.C.
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DanoT
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Great post Blitz and not much that I can add except to paraphrase Dave Dickenson post GC when he said Ottawa gave them looks and formations and plays that they hadn't seen before.

Wally the GM has done a nice job in the off season assembling on paper a potential championship caliber roster.

Wally the HC needs to stop being so conservative and to actually plan and scheme each week to take an opponent out of their comfort zone. Ottawa's Campbell showed the way in the 2016 GC.
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WestCoastJoe
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Mid-season form, Blitz. :thup:
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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WestCoastJoe
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DanoT wrote:
Sat May 27, 2017 8:33 am
Great post Blitz and not much that I can add except to paraphrase Dave Dickenson post GC when he said Ottawa gave them looks and formations and plays that they hadn't seen before.

Wally the GM has done a nice job in the off season assembling on paper a potential championship caliber roster.

Wally the HC needs to stop being so conservative and to actually plan and scheme each week to take an opponent out of their comfort zone. Ottawa's Campbell showed the way in the 2016 GC.
We see this the same way, Dano.

It will be hard for Wally to change his basic philosophy. It has served him well for decades. I think it would take extremely confident, free thinking coordinators to force a change. Not likely, methinks.

Dickenson in Calgary, Trestman in Toronto, Campbell in Ottawa, these guys dial up very creative game plans, fresh for each opponent. They will be tough to beat in the playoffs.

But, ya never know ... We could do it. It is on defence where we are most vulnerable, methinks. If we are sitting there in our usual zone, seen on film over and over, with the opponents fully prepped, we can be picked apart.

In any case, it will all be exciting.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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David
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Not to take anything away from Wally's accomplishments, but he's won 5 Grey Cups in 27 years as head coach. Considering he has won more games than any other CFL head coach, one would think he'd have won more Grey Cups by now. Certainly he's had enough quality teams in Calgary and BC.

So this tells me that he has an incredible eye for talent and ability to manage men. As far as being a football tactician and strategist, well, I would say that it's not at the same level as his ability to manage and assess.


DH :cool:
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DanoT
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David wrote:
Sat May 27, 2017 7:01 pm
Not to take anything away from Wally's accomplishments, but he's won 5 Grey Cups in 27 years as head coach. Considering he has won more games than any other CFL head coach, one would think he'd have won more Grey Cups by now. Certainly he's had enough quality teams in Calgary and BC.

So this tells me that he has an incredible eye for talent and ability to manage men. As far as being a football tactician and strategist, well, I would say that it's not at the same level as his ability to manage and assess.


DH :cool:
Yeah, I have always viewed Wally as a great GM, not that great a HC and I definitely don't like the game day Wally HC who doesn't wear a headset. Why doesn't he wear a head set and then just turn it on when there are important things needing discussion, as in when to throw a challenge flag? :dizzy:
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