Mulling line-up changes

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SammyGreene
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Following their first mid-season exam last week against Edmonton the Lions are considering line-up changes according to 3rd Down Radio last night.
With a home-and-home with the Riders, there is no better time to tinker. Hardly a certainty it will be a sweep but the Stampeders will follow with a visit to BC Place Aug. 18 and that's another huge one to see how the Lions are measuring to the elite teams.
To me the league looks like this right now. The gaps between these tiers seems quite significant although Edmonton has by far looked its best against BC:

Calgary
Edmonton

BC
Winnipeg
Toronto
Montreal
Ottawa
Saskatchewan

Hamilton

By Aug. 18 the Lions need to show they are at least closing the gap on the Alberta teams. Guilio, Farhan and LU all admitted the final score flattered the Lions in both Edmonton games. That's what happens when you are continually getting beat at the line of scrimmage on both sides and prone to giving up big plays on defence.

Changes being contemplated
Offensive guard: Charles Valliancourt is apparently splitting 1st team rep turns with David Foucault after his tough game against Edmonton and getting beat on the huge hit that injured Jennings. Wally said last night Kirby Fabien has not only been his best offensive lineman but among the best in the league so far. Little surprised to hear that but I'm not in the film room 20 hours a week.

Defensive secondary: TJ Lee is only expected to miss 4 weeks with his elbow injury. It could be as simple as a now healthy Anthony Gaitor taking his spot. But Lions are being criticized for far too many changes in the secondary if one player goes down during the game. A lot of that has to do with not dressing a second international DB to simply step in. Does Buddy Jackson stay on the roster after 1 week or more changes with Stephen Clarke making his season debut — at either halfback or safety with Purifoy going back to nickel and Fenner at halfback? The secondary needs to get sorted out.

Chris Williams: A starter, rotational DI or another week before being activated? That's what the Lions are trying to figure out over the next couple of days. Can they afford one less international elsewhere to have 4 international receivers available? After last week, I don't know.
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CardiacKid
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SammyGreene wrote:
Wed Aug 02, 2017 8:34 am
Following their first mid-season exam last week against Edmonton the Lions are considering line-up changes according to 3rd Down Radio last night.
With a home-and-home with the Riders, there is no better time to tinker. Hardly a certainty it will be a sweep but the Stampeders will follow with a visit to BC Place Aug. 18 and that's another huge one to see how the Lions are measuring to the elite teams.
To me the league looks like this right now. The gaps between these tiers seems quite significant although Edmonton has by far looked its best against BC:

Calgary
Edmonton

BC
Winnipeg
Toronto
Montreal
Ottawa
Saskatchewan

Hamilton

By Aug. 18 the Lions need to show they are at least closing the gap on the Alberta teams. Guilio, Farhan and LU all admitted the final score flattered the Lions in both Edmonton games. That's what happens when you are continually getting beat at the line of scrimmage on both sides and prone to giving up big plays on defence.

Changes being contemplated
Offensive guard: Charles Valliancourt is apparently splitting 1st team rep turns with David Foucault after his tough game against Edmonton and getting beat on the huge hit that injured Jennings. Wally said last night Kirby Fabien has not only been his best offensive lineman but among the best in the league so far. Little surprised to hear that but I'm not in the film room 20 hours a week.

Defensive secondary: TJ Lee is only expected to miss 4 weeks with his elbow injury. It could be as simple as a now healthy Anthony Gaitor taking his spot. But Lions are being criticized for far too many changes in the secondary if one player goes down during the game. A lot of that has to do with not dressing a second international DB to simply step in. Does Buddy Jackson stay on the roster after 1 week or more changes with Stephen Clarke making his season debut — at either halfback or safety with Purifoy going back to nickel and Fenner at halfback? The secondary needs to get sorted out.

Chris Williams: A starter, rotational DI or another week before being activated? That's what the Lions are trying to figure out over the next couple of days. Can they afford one less international elsewhere to have 4 international receivers available? After last week, I don't know.
I hope Vaillancourt gets the nod but I also hope Foucault still gets adequate reps during the week. Fabien struggled as well the first game and is now in Wally's good graces; Foucault can be better if given a chance.

Buddy Jackson seemed way too busy making tackles last game (led the team with 7) but not sure if the Esks were actively picking on him. But Clarke is too good to sit languishing around, not playing. He needs to be inserted into the starting lineup.

I also think they have to revisit this business with how the secondary is aligned. Not necessarily because of poor play but because of the massive shift that has to occur when a guy goes down. The secondary has adjusted when called upon to do it but it seems to leave them exposed for a few series and that can be the difference. Also it seems counterproductive in preventing the big play that exposed the team last year as there have been breakdowns in communication.

Maybe Boatright can get a shot as well. Why not? It would not likely result in a lessening of production at DE.
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WestCoastJoe
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Riders release former #1 overall pick in 2013, Linden Gaydosh, DL. 6'3'' 290.

Found wanting at this stage, I do not expect we are interested. Plus, it seems to this fan that our DL needs are in the International ranks.

Just IMO ...

2017-08-02_1110.png
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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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CardiacKid wrote:
Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:44 am
Maybe Boatright can get a shot as well. Why not? It would not likely result in a lessening of production at DE.
CK, In another thread you asked about Boatright. He looks quick and slippery on this old YouTube film. Other than that, I have no idea of his talent level.

In our best years, we had dominant guys throughout the D Line. Not so much at this time.

Just IMO ...

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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CardiacKid
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WestCoastJoe wrote:
Wed Aug 02, 2017 11:14 am
Riders release former #1 overall pick in 2013, Linden Gaydosh, DL. 6'3'' 290.

Found wanting at this stage, I do not expect we are interested. Plus, it seems to this fan that our DL needs are in the International ranks.

Just IMO ...


2017-08-02_1110.png
Our National DLinemen are contributing and Maxx Forde is looking like an absolute steal as a 7th round pick. He consistently is doing "good stuff" to get his name mentioned during play-by-play whether it is sacks, tackles or knockdowns. I wish Brooks had some of Forde's "notoriety".
If Gaydosh can't make an impression with a Rider's team bereft of National talent, then I suspect his playing days are done.
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swervynmerv
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Unfortunately, I'm more of a passionate, long time fan and don't have the the x and o's expertise of posters like WCJ, Blitz etc!

With that being said, what is anyone else's opinion on bringing back Ryan Phillips to help out the secondary, especially with Lee out at least 4 weeks?

Would his experience and leadership help?
Wally wanted Phillips to play one more season here, swervynmerv, in a reduced role (likely the dime back position) and retain his leadership abilities for one more season. But Wally also wanted Phillips to take a big salary cut and Phillips refused. Right now, it looks as if he should have taken the pay cut but that is hard for a veteran to do, when he has given it his all for a team for so many seasons.

I don't think it would be a good idea to bring Phillips back because we need a starting halfback and we need someone younger and faster for that role right now. But I do believe we miss his leadership and players said they would at the start of training camp.

I could never be happy that a Leo player is injured. I realize that there are many who believe that T.J. Lee has an excellent training camp and was the best player to play our boundary half position. I'm likely in the minority but I believe that Clarke played better boundary halfback than Lee did last season. I realize that both only had a short body of work at that position last season before both were injured.

We could move Gaitor to boundary halfback, the position he played first, before moving to boundary corner, when Yell got injured.

But I don't like that scenario best because we've already made too many changes in our secondary, due to game injuries this season,

I favor two scenarios and both have their advantages.

1. Move Fenner to boundary halfback, where he played last season, move Purifoy back to nickelback, and insert Clarke at free safety, where he played at training camp and looked good. Purifoy is much better at nickelback and Fenner can play halfback. This scenario also leaves Gaitor at field halfback.

2. Move Clarke into Lee's boundary half position and leave Gaitor at field halfback. This scenario means less changes but also keeps Purifoy at safety and Fenner at nickelback and I'm not so sure that keeping Purifoy at safety is our best option. But this scenario makes sense for the time when Lee returns to the staring lineup, at boundary halfback, which I assume we will return to.
TheLionKing
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swervynmerv wrote:
Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:11 pm

With that being said, what is anyone else's opinion on bringing back Ryan Phillips to help out the secondary, especially with Lee out at least 4 weeks?

Would his experience and leadership help?
I like that idea. His experience certainly wouldn't hurt.
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CardiacKid
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TheLionKing wrote:
Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:57 pm
swervynmerv wrote:
Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:11 pm

With that being said, what is anyone else's opinion on bringing back Ryan Phillips to help out the secondary, especially with Lee out at least 4 weeks?

Would his experience and leadership help?
I like that idea. His experience certainly wouldn't hurt.
Any idea what Philips is currently up to? Namely, is he hoping to catch on with another team or transitioning into life after the game.
Hindsight being 20/20 I really wished he had accepted his a new role with the Leo's. He has lost a step but he is also clearly a standup guy with a ton of leadership and mentor ship skills. The Lions would clearly benefit from those qualities at any juncture of a season whether things are going good, bad or indifferent.
Maybe in the near future we will see him walking the Lion sidelines with a clipboard in hand.
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The_Pauser
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CardiacKid wrote:
Thu Aug 03, 2017 9:50 am
TheLionKing wrote:
Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:57 pm
swervynmerv wrote:
Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:11 pm

With that being said, what is anyone else's opinion on bringing back Ryan Phillips to help out the secondary, especially with Lee out at least 4 weeks?

Would his experience and leadership help?
I like that idea. His experience certainly wouldn't hurt.
Any idea what Philips is currently up to? Namely, is he hoping to catch on with another team or transitioning into life after the game.
Hindsight being 20/20 I really wished he had accepted his a new role with the Leo's. He has lost a step but he is also clearly a standup guy with a ton of leadership and mentor ship skills. The Lions would clearly benefit from those qualities at any juncture of a season whether things are going good, bad or indifferent.
Maybe in the near future we will see him walking the Lion sidelines with a clipboard in hand.
RP is definitely not ready to hang em up, and is hoping for another opportunity. If Wally gave him the call I'm sure he would be happy to come back. And we should...our DB's have not been very good this year. In particular, Anthony Thompson has been awful, getting burned badly in both Edmonton games.
Roar you Lions roar!
TheLionKing
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After he was cut, Phillips said he would remain in Montreal for a few days trying to catch on with another team. He's probably back home in Seattle now.
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DanoT
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Once Wally has moved on from a player I don't see him going back to that guy (except Paul McCallum) as a player. A coaching position is a different matter.

Also if Wally does retire at the end of the season there will be some coaching oppourtunities in the future.
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David
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I like RP. But he chose to continue his playing career. Fair enough. While I'd love (would have loved?) him to remain with the organization, the job is Stanley Franks' now. And he's doing a really great job.


DH :cool:
Roar, You Lions, Roar
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