Lionbackers.com

This speculation is all based on Menard getting some playing time, in reality during Wally's reign, NI's don't see much playing time to concern ourselves with to this degree. As for playing weight, that can change drastically for a young man, so by the time he has found his starting spot, his position will dictate his best playing weight. Personally, we will be lucky to see him get spot duty, if that for 2014, providing he makes the cut.

All one needs to do is follow the career of Westerman to understand that even with the weight and athleticism, NI's don't see the playing time that I think they should.

Of course size is not the be-all-and-end-all, and the other qualities that various forumers have noted--attitude, motor, quickness--are very important. However....with all other things being equal, bigger is better on the inside of the D-line. That's why the NFL picks off all the big guys. To give the rest of Wally Buono's quote, here it is: "You can always find good football players. What is difficult to find is big athletes...they're unique...and the NFL has a premium on them...and keeps so many of them." Sure, attitude, motor, quickness, strength can make up, to some extent, for a lack of size in the middle, but what you want is these qualities and size. There's no reason that a big man can't exhibit all these other characteristics too. Frankly, although we're all cheering for our draft picks to be successful, I don't see Menard making an impact in the middle...maybe on the end, but even there, I maintain that it's a long-shot.

Unless we see a new phenom emerge, it looks like our import starters on the D Line will be ...

Khreem Smith. I like his play. But many miles on this veteran.

Eric Taylor. Ditto. Smith and Taylor have shown amazing durability.

Khalif Mitchell. One of my faves from 2011. Mercurial, on and off the field.

Brandon Jordan. Unknown, with some flashes of promise.
.........

Chris Wilson. Backup status? Import. Aging veteran. With the Lions before Cam Wake arrived from Olympus. Not a powerhouse. Not a speed demon.
.........

This looks like a push for the Grey Cup with a strong veteran presence. If it works, the fans will be happy. Whether it works or not, we are getting long in the tooth. Big changes likely for 2015.
.........

NIs ...

Jabar Westerman. Can't be thrilled with his up and down ride with the Lions. Seemed so promising at one time. Headed East next year?

Jermaine Reid. I have not really seen him play.

Steven Doege. From the Junior ranks. Showed some promise previously.

David Menard. Interesting, promising rookie. Will he get a chance?
.......

Who knows what to expect?

Dominant D Line?

One shot deal for the Cup, with aging vets?

Gonna show some age?

We have had some outstanding D Lines in Wally's time here. How will this group fare?

We will see some results pretty soon.

With luck (maybe a lot of it!), Keron be added to that list at the last minute. And, of course, some sort of trade is still possible. But we may be stuck with these guys. If so, we'll probably be OK in the middle, but only average at best at the ends, and will not have a dominant D-line. But who knows, really, who will step up and have a good year.

WestCoastJoe wrote:
Chris Wilson. Backup status? Import. Aging veteran. With the Lions before Cam Wake arrived from Olympus. Not a powerhouse. Not a speed demon.

I disagree with Wilson not being a speed demon.....iirc, back in the day, he seemed to always be the first into the backfield for the dline.....his problem was he was out of control when he got there, so Qb's were able to side step and still get the ball off......the result was a lot of hurries but very few sacks.

So, the upside is that he's older and wiser and with a TC could be very effective.....the downside is that he's older and may have lost some of his explosion off the line.......TC should determine which of these is more prevalent.

Shi Zi Mi wrote:

WestCoastJoe wrote:
Chris Wilson. Backup status? Import. Aging veteran. With the Lions before Cam Wake arrived from Olympus. Not a powerhouse. Not a speed demon.

I disagree with Wilson not being a speed demon.....iirc, back in the day, he seemed to always be the first into the backfield for the dline.....his problem was he was out of control when he got there, so Qb's were able to side step and still get the ball off......the result was a lot of hurries but very few sacks.

So, the upside is that he's older and wiser and with a TC could be very effective.....the downside is that he's older and may have lost some of his explosion off the line.......TC should determine which of these is more prevalent.

That is the way I see it as well, Wilson perhaps even started to get a contained rush towards the end of his first stint with the Lions. You have to think with both Mitchell and Taylor on the inside, it will help each DE with their production. I don't see the DL as being a powerhouse of old, but it should be able to clog up the middle run, which allowed teams to wipe the MLB, so forcing them outside is going to help the D all around.

Revision: Agreed, SZM and Rammer.

CW was fairly fast first time around. No Cam Wake though, speedwise IMO, and probably not even up to the speed of Brent Johnson getting to the QB. I thought O Tackles carried CW's momentum past the QB somewhat easily. In his second go round, I thought he made few plays. I barely noticed him. Speedwise second time around --> Dunno. And it would seem he is presently relegated to backup status.

Never was impressed with Chris Wilson. Too often loses contain and overruns plays

Help coming:

CFL News ‏@CFL_News 34m

The Charleston Gazette | Herd’s Bazzie signs with CFL’s BC Lions http://shar.es/VoLfV #CFL #BCLions

Shi Zi Mi wrote:Help coming:

CFL News ‏@CFL_News 34m

The Charleston Gazette | Herd’s Bazzie signs with CFL’s BC Lions http://shar.es/VoLfV #CFL #BCLions

Good scoop, but he is a little light to be a rush end at 244 LBS...

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/ds ... genpos=OLB

Youtube from April this year. Might be even smaller, Rammer. Youtube shows 6 1" 228.

Very quick. Very slippery. Great motor. Gets great penetration. CFL sized rush end, at the low end of that scale.

Can he play here? Dunno, but the staff is bringing him in.

The key for me is as Jimmy Johnson always said: "Ya gotta make plays."
............

As of this evening, he is not on the Lions' roster yet.

Shi Zi Mi wrote:Help coming:

CFL News ‏@CFL_News 34m

The Charleston Gazette | Herd’s Bazzie signs with CFL’s BC Lions http://shar.es/VoLfV #CFL #BCLions

Looks quick and can tackle

South Pender wrote:With luck (maybe a lot of it!), Keron be added to that list at the last minute.

The Lions have symbolically closed the door on the Keron Williams era. According to the updated roster at bclions.com, his familiar No. 9 has been given to Ernest Jackson, who has trained at the Lions' practice facility all winter and previously wore No. 82.

So where is Keron at? Has there been any NFL interest of for that matter any interest from other CFL teams or is he just going to retire, miss having to go thru training camp and hope he gets a call from a team when injuries strike?

Just read that Jermaine Reid has retired. This hurts our non-import DL depth for the upcoming season; I thought he did a great job last year.


DH