J-Jax to return but not Crawford

[joe kapp22]

markhmasters Mark Masters by BCLionsDen
#BCLions have told safety Tad Crawford they will not re-sign him; will become a free agent on Feb. 16 #CFL

DblCoverage Angela by BCLionsDen
RT @markhmasters: #BCLions GM Buono on QB Jarious Jackson: 'I told him we'd be interested in re-signing him & he seemed pleasd by that' #CFL

And Buono is attempting to extend Travis Lulay's contract.

No surprise about Tad, though his play did improve later in the season, and J-Jax would be nice to have back.

No word on Money McCallum though.

[B.C.FAN]

I saw that on Twitter, but who is Mark Masters?

[WestCoastJoe]

Crawford just seemed too slow. His anticipation was not good. His closing on the ball was very weak. His angles on pursuit not good. Other than that, he seemed like a nice young man. If no team picks him up, it would seem about time to start that architecture career.

When you saw the way he played, one would have to wonder if any team could make him an effective player. He seemed promising at one time. But his lack of speed was almost shocking. Good enough for the Ivy League apparently. Football Factories such as Yale, Dartmouth, Harvard and Columbia. Yuh ...

In way over his head. IMO ...

Good news re JJ.

[almo89]

I have always been a JJ fan. Having him around will only help Lulay. I'm surprised that he didn't try to see what teams would be interested.

[Bosco]

IMO, I thought that Crawford looked tremendously overmatched throughout the season at free safety. He was caught flat footed far too often and seemed to develop a case of alligator arms when it came to open field tackles. David Hyland would be a huge upgrade if given that spot in 2011.

[Rammer]

I have always been a JJ fan. Having him around will only help Lulay. I'm surprised that he didn't try to see what teams would be interested.

Am I misreading the JJ tweet, but being interested doesn't suggest that he is signed by my standards. It does give him some ground to evaluate other offers on though, and that is the beginning of negotiating a final contract with the Lions.

[almo89]

#BCLions GM Buono on QB Jarious Jackson: 'I told him we'd be interested in re-signing him & he seemed pleasd by that' #CFL

Certainly good news, although JJ might also be appealing to the Als...with Cavillo's future uncertain and MacPherson wanting to try the NFL? Toronto and Regina might be good fits also. But I think JJ has a young family in Vancouver and might be content to stay here as the No. 2 or 3 QB.

I pointed out Crawford's weakness at tackling in the last off-season, when most pundits had him as a shoo-in at safety. He seemed a questionable prospect to me. On the same token, I also saw Hyland whiff on 2 or 3 tackles in the stretch run, so I wouldn't be too quick to anoint him at safety, either. Reddick might be a better bet, he played safety in college, although not sure he has the speed for safety. Reddick played well as K. Banks backup nickle. Hyland is fast and could get some picks, but might have to work on his tackling techniques and positioning, rather than trying for big hits.

I agree. I still wanna see more of Hyland first. He did miss a big tackle on Clermont in the WSF. Clermont not exactly the easiest guy to tackle, but you still have to make it. He does show a lot of upside. We'll have to see

[WestCoastJoe]

Certainly good news, although JJ might also be appealing to the Als...with Cavillo's future uncertain and MacPherson wanting to try the NFL? Toronto and Regina might be good fits also. But I think JJ has a young family in Vancouver and might be content to stay here as the No. 2 or 3 QB.

I pointed out Crawford's weakness at tackling in the last off-season, when most pundits had him as a shoo-in at safety. He seemed a questionable prospect to me. On the same token, I also saw Hyland whiff on 2 or 3 tackles in the stretch run, so I wouldn't be too quick to anoint him at safety, either. Reddick might be a better bet, he played safety in college, although not sure he has the speed for safety. Reddick played well as K. Banks backup nickle. Hyland is fast and could get some picks, but might have to work on his tackling techniques and positioning, rather than trying for big hits.

Good points, JH.

I recall Tad taking some bad angles in pursuit back in 2009. It just looked like he had no idea of the different speed level of the CFL receivers, or how to adapt to it. Looks like the Lions (Miles, Benny and Stubler) have had a total re think on Tad, or perhaps they finally convinced Wally that Tad could not make the adaptation from the Ivy League to starting safety in the CFL.

After a great debut, Hyland showed some vulnerability also.

And Reddick has shown every sign of a potential top notch defender.

[zark]

JJ deserves a chance to start. Even Maas got his chance.
Printers is not a team guy...But he got to start????...and he wasn't that effective.
I just don't get this business...
if your a JJ fan, why would you want him to be The Back-up. A mediocre existence.Become a CFL starter or go away JJ. Don't become a Maas.
Your so much better than Lemmon.

[Toppy Vann]

Let's see if I got this right.

Tad Crawford got lots of playing time and fan criticism early on for some bad play and now Wally does not want him back.

Jarius Jackson got limited playing time and got dumped by Wally (unfairly IMO) and now Wally wants him back.

Makes purrfect sense to me when you consider Wally logic. Players don't call Wally the Riddler for no reason - loved that line in the paper.

For Jackson he has just not got the respect he deserves and I think if he had been the guy in Toronto he might have taken it. It is likely what Dickinson said to him that has kept him in BC... I mean when DD told the media way back that he told JJ to stay in BC unless something like a starter role came by.

Barker did a good job in Toronto but he is very foolish for not wanting to grab JJ from BC. We will never know but I'd suggest JJ would have won them more games than Lemon did.

The upside for Jackson in not playing much is the less risk of injury and any that might affect your career.

[TheLionKing]

Another example of Buono taking half a season to realize that Crawford can't play

[David]

#BCLions GM Buono on QB Jarious Jackson: 'I told him we'd be interested in re-signing him & he seemed pleasd by that' #CFL

Certainly good news, although JJ might also be appealing to the Als...with Cavillo's future uncertain and MacPherson wanting to try the NFL? Toronto and Regina might be good fits also. But I think JJ has a young family in Vancouver and might be content to stay here as the No. 2 or 3 QB.

I pointed out Crawford's weakness at tackling in the last off-season, when most pundits had him as a shoo-in at safety. He seemed a questionable prospect to me. On the same token, I also saw Hyland whiff on 2 or 3 tackles in the stretch run, so I wouldn't be too quick to anoint him at safety, either. Reddick might be a better bet, he played safety in college, although not sure he has the speed for safety. Reddick played well as K. Banks backup nickle. Hyland is fast and could get some picks, but might have to work on his tackling techniques and positioning, rather than trying for big hits.

I agree. I still wanna see more of Hyland first. He did miss a big tackle on Clermont in the WSF. Clermont not exactly the easiest guy to tackle, but you still have to make it. He does show a lot of upside. We'll have to see

I'll concede Hyland's tackling in the last couple of games was a bit erratic (some good, some bad), but I thought he displayed remarkable cover skills considering he was new to the league as mid-season signing. He could have easily replaced Sanchez at wide-side corner and been lit up like Times Square (especially facing Burris and Durant - twice).

My friend played the Clermont touchdown back frame-by-frame (I couldn't bear to watch) and said Hyland slipped slightly on that post pattern Clermont ran and couldn't recover. I seem to recall Tad (and one other defender) got sealed off. Someone should have made the tackle on Clermont when Hyland whiffed.

DH

[cromartie]

For a change, a thread with developments about which there is little to complain.

[Tighthead]

Crawford was a funny one.

In his first two seasons or so, he looked promising in spot duty. The more he played, the more he was exposed.