Lionbackers.com

The league has released its official free agent tracker. There are 22 Lions who will be free agents in February if they don't re-sign with the team before then.

ARCENEAUX, Emmanuel
BAZZIE, Alex
BENSON, Mike
CLARKE, Adrian
DHILLON, Jaskaran
FABIEN, Kirby
FENNER, Chandler
FORDE, Maxx
HUSBAND, Cody
JACKSON, Anthony (Buddy)
JOHNSON, Antonio
JOHNSON, Shaquille
JONES, Andrew
LEE, TJ
LULAY, Travis
MENARD, David
MOORE, Nick
PURIFOY, Loucheiz
ROH, Craig
STEWARD, Hunter
TURNER, Bryant
YELL, Ronnie

OFFICIAL 2018 FREE AGENT TRACKER

The #Vikings today worked out five CFL players they are considering signing after the season. They were WR Brandon Zylstra (Edmonton, Concordia-Moorhead), DE Craig Roh (British Columbia), DB Kacy Rodgers (Saskatchewan), DB Jonathon Mincy (Montreal), WR Darel Walker (Edmonton).

So Roh could be gone soon.

Didn't Derel Walker just tried the NFL ?

Yes. He is trying again. I doubt Roh gets signed. He is too small for the NFL, unless he is trying out at linebacker.

#NFL workouts: Purifoy with #Bengals on Monday. Ronnie Yell and Craig Roh workout with Bears later this month. Roh worked out with #Vikings yesterday. @CFLonTSN

JohnnyMusso wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:28 am

Yes. He is trying again. I doubt Roh gets signed. He is too small for the NFL, unless he is trying out at linebacker.

At 6'5" 265# he's too big to be a linebacker. Situational DE is most likely.

Canadian QB Brandon Bridge @Air_Canada_7 to workout for #NYGiants. @CFLonTSN #Riders

The Lions have signed centre Cody Husband to a one-year extension. IMO he's the best centre in the West Division, if not the entire league, and a real success story for Dan Dorazio, who converted him from a journeyman guard last year.



Great to see Cody Husband signed. I give Malone the credit for taking Husband, a non-starter for most of his career and turning him into a starting right guard and a good one in 2015. Without Malone's one season here in B.C. I doubt Husband would ever have become a starting CFL offensive lineman.

Interesting note over on RF that former BC 1st rounder Ese Mrabure-Ajufo is being worked out by TB Bucs.

Purifoy worked out for the Ravens of the NFL recently.

B.C.FAN wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 28, 2017 3:31 pm

Great to see Cody Husband signed. I give Malone the credit for taking Husband, a non-starter for most of his career and turning him into a starting right guard and a good one in 2015. Without Malone's one season here in B.C. I doubt Husband would ever have become a starting CFL offensive lineman.

This is not meant to be a "Dan bashing" post. I have tremendous respect for Dan Dorazio's work ethic, dedication, and knowledge of his craft. But somewhere there lies a huge disconnect between this tremendous resource with years of experience and the underwhelming performance of his pupils. It's a giant elephant in the room that seems to go largely unnoticed by fans and media while sack totals mount and guys keep getting switched around.

Year after year we apply high draft picks to address this part of the team, and year after year we come away vastly disappointed by the results. After a while, you have to ask yourself "is it just bad drafting or bad coaching?" For every Cody Husband that has thrived under Dan (thanks in large measure to Doug Malone) there are a handful of Charles Vaillancourts, David Foucaults, Matt Normans, Kirby Fabiens, Justin Sorensens - guys who either sign here with promise and that potential has not been/may never be realized, or guys who initially start out well and badly regress.

Are 100% of the sacks the O-line's fault? Of course not. We've seen numerous examples of JJ hanging onto the ball too long and coverage sacks. But we've also seen plenty of examples of blown assignments, turnstiling, D-lineman getting a free shot on the quarterback, guys forgetting the snap count, guys jumping the snap count, blocking the wrong man, getting pushed back into the quarterback's lap and on, and on. I don't see this changing.


DH

long snapper Mike Benson signed

Just signed JOHNSON, Antonio for 2 more years. Bit surprised by this. Buono seems very high on him, me not so much. I think the Lions can do better and hope they sign guys to compete with him and not just hand him the job.

JohnnyMusso wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:17 pm

Just signed JOHNSON, Antonio for 2 more years. Bit surprised by this. Buono seems very high on him, me not so much. I think the Lions can do better and hope they sign guys to compete with him and not just hand him the job.

Hunter Steward and Kirby Fabien are the two key pieces of the O-line remaining to be signed. I’d love to see Steward re-signed to a bigger contract and moved to left tackle but the trend in the league seems to be to start more Americans on the line, not fewer. We’ve yet to see which direction Hervey wants to go.

B.C.FAN wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:33 pm

JohnnyMusso wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:17 pm

Just signed JOHNSON, Antonio for 2 more years. Bit surprised by this. Buono seems very high on him, me not so much. I think the Lions can do better and hope they sign guys to compete with him and not just hand him the job.

Hunter Steward and Kirby Fabien are the two key pieces of the O-line remaining to be signed. I’d love to see Steward re-signed to a bigger contract and moved to left tackle but the trend in the league seems to be to start more Americans on the line, not fewer. We’ve yet to see which direction Hervey wants to go.

I wouldn't say Fabien is a key piece on the O-line. He was awful last year. Don't like seeing Johnson back either, we need to really upgrade our O-line.