Lions biggest mistakes in 2016....

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David
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Here are Top 5 on-field, front office blunders of the 2016 season that hopefully don't get repeated in 2017 (those that we can control, anyway. The draft picks are gone for good).


1) Whiffing on drafting Taylor Loffler. Get used to his name. A CFL All-Star with Winnipeg in his rookie season, he's going to be lighting up receivers for years to come. And he was right under our noses. Yea, I get that we may have been concerned about his injury history or his foot speed (he's still plenty quick for his size), but there was also a marketability component to this kid. He's a play maker. Period. He would have been a fan favourite as a native British Columbian and UBC alum. Anthony Thompson will hopefully develop into a fast, well-rounded safety. But the reluctance for this franchise to draft homegrown athletes (Loffler, Couture, Van Gylswyk, Davis....hello?? Not even 1 of these guys?!?) in favour of Easterners with no affiliation to the region is an unfortunate trend.

2) Inexplicably benching Hunter Steward for two games for Tim O'Neill. I am still not sure who thought this was a good idea for Hunter's development. Second, he's a natural tackle anyway, not a guard. I get that we want a National to play behind him at tackle should he go down (hopefully Boyko gets here before too long), but if we lose him to another CFL team to free agency, and he becomes an all-star at tackle, I'll be royally pissed.

3) Not playing Keynan Parker. He was pressed into service on 11/5 against Sask when Anthony Gaitor went down, and was arguably the best defensive player on the field. Yet he never started down the stretch (he should have been starting at field corner over Brandon Stewart). Sometimes I think the "National" designation is actually a bias and works against certain players.

4) Starting a very rusty Levi Adcock against rival Stampeders on 8/19. To put things charitably he was a disaster, yet started 3 games over Antonio Johnson (I would have kept 2016 Grey Cup starter Tommie Draheim and played him at RT (why we ever cut him is still a head scratcher). He would have been better than Johnson and Adcock IMHO.

5) Charles Vaillancourt made the starting roster out of training camp at right guard (and was an effective run blocker), suffered a concussion, then was used more sparingly down the stretch than Tabasco sauce on a fajita.



DH :cool:
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DanoT
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You nailed it DH.

The benching of Steward is the big head scratcher for me. IMO he is a possible future all star that should be the top FA re-signing in 2017 and then he should start at LT and Big O should return to RT. I have had enough of Dorazio's experiments and sometimes questionable player evaluations/decisions.
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I don't think they whiffed on Loffler at all. I think it got down to making decisions based on roster and depth chart at the time of the draft. Mike Edem was arguably their biggest FA signing as he filled what been for a few years one of their most glaring holes. They also have Fraser to provide backup in the short term. Loffler's size and footspeed greatly resticts where he can be deployed; Mike Edem was signed to play one and they've been trying to get Lokombo more reps in the other. Thompson on the other hand offered something Loffler didn't and something Wally covets, versatility. Where Loffler is somewhat one dimensional I think Thompson can easily develop into a starting safety or field corner a probably backup all 5 secondary positions should the need arise. That and the Edem signing I think were the difference. Remove the Edem signing though and I think they opt for Loffler based on immediate need.
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Interesting discussion. I can't think of my own Top 5 at the moment so I'll add my comments here.
David wrote:Here are Top 5 on-field, front office blunders of the 2016 season that hopefully don't get repeated in 2017 (those that we can control, anyway. The draft picks are gone for good).


1) Whiffing on drafting Taylor Loffler. Get used to his name. A CFL All-Star with Winnipeg in his rookie season, he's going to be lighting up receivers for years to come. And he was right under our noses. Yea, I get that we may have been concerned about his injury history or his foot speed (he's still plenty quick for his size), but there was also a marketability component to this kid. He's a play maker. Period. He would have been a fan favourite as a native British Columbian and UBC alum. Anthony Thompson will hopefully develop into a fast, well-rounded safety. But the reluctance for this franchise to draft homegrown athletes (Loffler, Couture, Van Gylswyk, Davis....hello?? Not even 1 of these guys?!?) in favour of Easterners with no affiliation to the region is an unfortunate trend.
I would love to have Loffler instead of Edem. I also prefer Fraser over Edem, who was asked to play a lot of coverages this year and didn't play any of them well. Loffler should have been the West Division rookie of the year. He deserved his all-star selection. It's hindsight, though. I didn't know how good Loffler was going to be and, as Hambone noted, the Lions already had two experienced national safeties on the roster.
2) Inexplicably benching Hunter Steward for two games for Tim O'Neill. I am still not sure who thought this was a good idea for Hunter's development. Second, he's a natural tackle anyway, not a guard. I get that we want a National to play behind him at tackle should he go down (hopefully Boyko gets here before too long), but if we lose him to another CFL team to free agency, and he becomes an all-star at tackle, I'll be royally pissed.
That was a head-scratcher. I thought Steward was the Lions' best O-lineman this year, slightly ahead of Cody Husband (Wally and Dorazio deserve kudos for that move) and Jovan Olafioye. I don't know whether Steward was being disciplined for off-field or on-field transgressions but the offence took a big step back with O'Neill in the lineup. I've previously posted the team rushing stats with and without Steward. He, Olafioye and Husband were the main reasons the Lions led the league in rushing.
3) Not playing Keynan Parker. He was pressed into service on 11/5 against Sask when Anthony Gaitor went down, and was arguably the best defensive player on the field. Yet he never started down the stretch (he should have been starting at boundary corner over Brandon Stewart). Sometimes I think the "National" designation is actually a bias and works against certain players.
That was an eye-opening performance by Parker, with three highlight-worthy knockdowns, and it rightly earned him defensive player of the game recognition from the media and Lionbackers. I'd love to see him as the starting field corner next year, perhaps backed up by Thompson, who strikes me as more suited to cornerback or dime back than to safety. Brandon Stewart was a big disappointment whose shortcomings were exposed playing beside an aging Ryan Phillips. They were both targeted by opposing teams, especially by Dave Dickenson and Bo Levi Mitchell of the Stamps. The Lions need to get younger, faster and more aggressive in the secondary next year. Wally has acknowledged that. Parker can help with that goal. Stewart and Phillips can't.
4) Starting a very rusty Levi Adcock against rival Stampeders on 8/19. To put things charitably he was a disaster, yet started 3 games over Antonio Johnson (I would have kept 2016 Grey Cup starter Tommie Draheim and played him at RT (why we ever cut him is still a head scratcher). He would have been better than Johnson and Adcock IMHO.
Wally gave Dan Dorazio the benefit of the doubt when Adcock came back from his various ailments, but in the end he saw what we all saw and wasn't afraid to say so and to cut Adcock. Antonio Johnson won the position by default and made his share of rookie mistakes but he improved as the season went along and was more of a positive than negative force on the line. Draheim is probably happy how things turned out in Ottawa. He'll get his name on the Grey Cup, and will have a nice ring to show for it.
5) Charles Vaillancourt made the starting roster out of training camp at right guard (and was an effective run blocker), suffered a concussion, then was used more sparingly down the stretch than Tabasco sauce on a fajita.
Vaillancourt wasn't the same player after he came back. After a good training came and first few games of the regular season, he just couldn't get it in gear when he came back from injury and seemed to be out of sync with his colleagues. Fabien held his starting position on merit and gave the Lions a solid line from tackle to tackle for the latter part of the season. Vaillancourt will get another chance. He may have been given too much, too soon.
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Excellent points, David, and other Lionbackers ...

Steward not playing. This fan would prefer seeing Olafioye at right tackle and Steward at left tackle.

Cutting Draheim, bringing in Adcock

Leone for FGs

Philosophy ... at times we saw moves towards aggressive defence, and then we went back into the (soft zone) shell.

The age old reliance on old school philosophy in game planning ... Here is our generic plan; just try and stop us. Nothing fancy. No cheap, little, tricky stuff. No great, detailed breakdown of the opponent's tendencies or weaknesses. No significant attempt to deceive, misdirect, confuse or put the opponent off balance. Just meat and potatoes, in your face, man's football. Pound the rock on the ground, and go deep with Manny and Burnie. Straight up zone defence with deep drops and basic D Line pressure. OK, says the opponent, and thank you for sharing your roll it out game plans.

Wally gets what Wally wants. And that is only fair for the general manager, vice president of football operations, alternate governor and the head coach of the team. But it seems to some fans that rolling out easy to attack game plans is fighting with one hand behind your back. Well there is the continuity. Yup. Reliability also. Focus on execution. Yup. But to some fans it seems like a stone age approach in the space age. And then, quite often, even some very loyal fans tend to agree that we were out coached in a number of games, usually towards season's end.

Hey, just in my opinion ... We had a good year. Exciting football for the most part. Highly motivated, talented players. Did we ever have a chance to make it to the Grey Cup? Probably a slim chance.
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Excellent posts!!

Here are my Leos biggest mistakes for 2016.

1. SCHEME, GAME PLANNING FOR PLAYOFFS

Our Leos players worked so hard all season to get into the playoffs. We got a home date for the Semi-Final. Wally and our coaching staff's lack of preparation, insight, game planning, and scheme issues, against good teams, really showed up in the playoffs, as it did in the third regular season contest against Calgary.

We gave up 25 points in the first half of the Semi-Final against Winnipeg. Down 25-6, we were most fortunate to have a Jonathan Jennings create the 'Immaculate Escape and Run' play for a touchdown and to have star players as Manny, Burnham, Rainey and Johnson be able to overcome our scheme limitations to make plays and win the game for us.

But we didn't learn our lesson. In the Western Final, the Stamps surprised our defense with new formations and new plays while our offence went out and did same old, same old and the Stamps defense was more than well prepared for us. Down 32-0 at half time to a Calgary team that we defeated to begin the season and should have beaten in the overtime loss in Calgary in our second regular league contest, the Stamps had our number in our third regular season contest and made us look like foolish in the West Final.

It was an exciting season but the reality is we were 3-6 against West opponents during the regular season. When the talent was close, as the season went along, we were often badly outcoached.

Nor has anything learned. Wally has announced the entire coaching staff will be back and has deemed turnovers as the priority for 2017, wanting more on defense and less on offence. I couldn't agree more except that should be our second priority.

Improved coaching, in fact significantly improved coaching, in terms of scheme, x and o's, play calling is this team's biggest weakness. Until that is not denied, accepted, and changed, our players will not only have to 'make exceptional plays' against our opponents to win but to also overcome having one hand tied behind their back with our game planning, scheming, and play calling.

2. DEFENSIVE LINE PERSONELL DECISIONS, DEFENSIVE LINE SCHEME

This was a serious problem for us this season and it was a multi-faceted problem. We burned Bazzie out by playing him so much for 2/3 of the season, using a 3 man defensive line a lot and rarely blitzing. We also went with one International defensive tackle for most of the season, choosing to start Darius Allen or Hudson as a rotational defensive end but playing each sparingly. In the meantime, we didn't dress Bryant Turner Jr. for most of the season dispite numerous calls on Lionbackers for him to be put into the rotation.

Bryant Turner Jr. , when he finally got the chance to play, was our best defensive lineman as our season conclused. Brooks was much better with Bryant Turner in the lineup. The change to Bryant Turner Jr. meant Menard got to rotate in and Roh was much better due to that rotation.

Poor personell decison choices, too many three and four man rushes, not enough defensive line stunts (a vanilla defensive line scheme) meant we couldn't get consistent pressure as the season progressed. Even though we tied with Calgary for the most sacks in the CFL this season, our pass rush slid in the last part of the season, when it counted most.

The quickness of a Bazzie, the flexibility of a Turner Jr. and a Westerman could have been so better utilized with more stunts and loops and formation shifts. Instead it was straight ahead pass rushing, a formula that tied our defensive player's hands and feet when there was so much opportunity to do more.

OFFENSIVE LINE PERSONNEL DECISIONS - BLOCKING SCHEME

The decision to sign Levy Adcock as our starting right tackle, based upon Darazio's recommendation created two issues. It meant moving Oloifioye to left tackle and it meant starting Antonio Johnson at right tackle because Adcock got hurt in training camp. When Adcock was finally ready to play, he was a disaster. But the Adcock decision and moving Oloifioye to left tackle also has longer term implications.

Should we want to go with a National offensive tackle in either Steward (if we can sign him) or Boyko (if he will come to B.C. are both left side offensive linemen. That will either mean they have to switch sides or Olifioye will have to go back to right tackle. Switching sides is huge. Everything is opposite - stance, footwork, punch hand, etc.

The decision to bench Steward, who in my opinion was our best offensive lineman this season was insane. Thankfully common sense prevailed and Steward and Johnson returned to the starting lineup, but it took too long to happen and should never have happened in the first place.

Our Leos would be more than wise to lock up Steward, who to me, should have been our priority signing, after Rainey, move him to left tackle, and move Olifoye back to right tackle. Vaillencourt can start at left guard next season. It would allow us to play an extra International receiver.

Cody Husgand had an excellent season at center. But he was really discovered as an offensive lineman last year by offensive line coach Doug Malone. Husband, undrafted and unheralded when Malone took over last year, Malone had Husband starting at right guard and playing very well in the second half of 2015. Husband, slotted in as a backup center, behind O'Neil to start the season, was so impressive in training camp, that Dorazio almost had no other choice but to start Husband. The fact that he actually did is surprising, considering Dorazio's penchant for making wrong personnel decisions.

And I am sick of Wally saying that we can't play a National offensive tackle or a National tailback due to backup problems. Its no problem for other CFL teams to do it. If a National gets hurt, you insert an International from the practice roster next game for that position or you shuffle. Calgary used 10 different starters on their offensive line this year. Steward is a stud offensive tackle who has the speed, agility, footwork, talent, and quickness to play tackle and play it well.

Considering that we only basically used one running play this season, the zone read, with zone blocking left and right, our offensive linemen did an outstanding job of blocking with a predictable run game and predictable blocking scheme that every defensive line knew was coming.

Our running attack was very good this year overall, due to excellent offensive line blocking and the tandem of Johnson and Allen. But we were stopped too many times on second and two. Just think how good our run game could have been with a bit more versatility, a couple more running plays, and an opportunity for our offensive linemen to be able to block with less predictability.

DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD - PERSONELL AND SCHEME

Our Leos decision to sign Mike Edem as our starting safety had implications. First of all, it meant we didn't draft Loffler but at least I understood that decision and hindsight is wonderful. Edem struggled for most of the season and it took Jennings and Lulay to work with Edem after a practice on his angles to play better at least.

Having your two quarterbacks coach a safety, with a former defensive back, defensive backfield coach, and defensive coordinator in Mark Washington not being able to coach Edem up begs a lot of questions.

But there are more questions to be asked. Brandon Steward was awful for most of the season. Myself and other Lionbackers pointed out the problems with Stewart early in the season but nothing was done about it. Mediocre play was rewarded by Wally and Washington, dispite all the statements that you earn your right to start and play.

Kenyan Parker played so well when he got the opportunity to play but he was back getting splinters when not only his play but his Natiional status could really have helped our defensive line, as we could have added another International to the defensive line rotation. Or we could have used an International to play safety, with Parker in the lineup. Parker deserved to start at field corner.

We were also very fortunate to have both Stephen Clarke and Anthony Gaitor on the roster. Both played admirably at the toughest defensive backfield position to play - boundary defensive halfback. When Yell got hurt, we had to move Gaitor to boundary corner and insert Fenner. Then we really got 'brilliant' and starting using Bighill as a second safety again, instead of taking him or someone else out of the lineup and using either Fraser or Thompson as a safety.

We also could have used Purifoy instead of Bighill as a safety, left Bighill in the lineup, and inserted Lokombo into the nickel spot for two safety formation situations.

The whole thing was a mess. Washington chased his tail so much, he even went with a 3-4 lineup with Aragki at linebacker at times, while sitting down the incredibly versataille and talented Lokombo.

WIDE RECEIVER AND VERTICAL PASSING ATTACK

Our Leos passing game, especially after Gore got hurt, was basically a long ball pitch and catch scheme. Many and Burnham went deep or deep intermediate. But what was so predictable was hard to stop because Jennings threw the purrfect long ball and Manny and Burnham just kept making play after play. Calgary was the first to go Man/Cover 2 in our third regular season game against us and shut it down. Other defensive coordinators followed suit.

However, we kept Manny and Burnham mostly in their slot positions, making it easier for the twin safeties to provide double coverage agiant them, instead of moving them outside at times, which either would have given them more single coverage or if the safeties had tried to double them wide, it would have opened up the middle like the parting of the Red Sea.

The signing of Sinkfield gave us an additional speed receiver but he was inconsistent, with too many drops and it took us way too long to move him out of the wide slot position and start moving him around.

What we really needed was our fifth receiver to be more of a threat. To do that, we needed to start a different style of receiver - one who could take it deep as well as slide into a slot position and be a big target. With Manny and Burnhan occupying two defenders each, it opened up the outside deep ball as well as the middle underneath. Stephen Adekolu would have the purrfect choice. He is a long glider and at 6'4", 220 pounds, he was also a big target with great hands.

Iannuzzi has been starting since 2011 and was not only given the nod over a much better Paris Jackson at the time. We've either not drafted talented National receivers or we've restricted the development of other National recievers to constantly reward Iannuzzi when there has been no proof that should happen. Iannuzzi should not have been starting but instead being a rotational wide out and secondary punt returner.

Adekolu caught 5 passes in his only start, our leading reception leader for the game. Iannuzzi only caught 5 passes in total in 2016. But Iannuzzi, who doesn't have the speed for the deep ball nor the size and toughness for the inside routes. Staring Adekolu could really have changed the complexion of our passing attack this season, giving Jennnings the type of versatility that would have made us much tougher to defend.

Our vertical passing attack was very tough to defend this season, due to Jennings accuracy and the abilities of Mann and Burnham. But when teams were wiliing to go with seven defensive backs to stop it, it opened up other areas for our offence, from screen plays to our fullback, Lumbala, who was unaccounted for to going with more a more crossing patterns, to set up Rainey against a middle linebacker downfield, and to use more of a possession style attack. We didn''t adjust and it hurt us.

KICKER

Wally has tried to convert a punter into a field goal kicker before. He tried that with O'Mohoney and ended up having to talk a retired field goal kicker on Mark McLaughlin to knock rust off and attempt to come in at the end of a season. But does Wally ever learn? Nope. He tries to take a Richie Leone, who only field goal kicked in the second half of his last college season and turn him into a pro field goal kicker.

I understand Wally's priority in terms of punting. Buono is the only CFL coach who will punt on less than third and one, on the opposition's 35 yard line, with lots of time left on the clock. Leone was a heck of a long ball punter. But he was only giving us an extra 3 yard per punt over other CFl punters. In the meantime, Leone's field goal misses cost us games.

If Leone would have been at the standard of other top CFL field goal kickers, we would have ended up with approximately 50 more points this season, putting us ahead of Calgary for most CFL points scored. The extra 20 yards or so of extra field position that Leone gave us per game was not worth that price.

Buono, had he wanted Leone to be our punter, needed to bite the bullet and use a National for our field goal kicker. That would have cost us a National special teamer to cover punts and kickoffs but we had players who could have stepped in. Wally should never have let McCallum go last season, and the way he did it was 'bad' but if he didn't want the expense of McCallum's contract, there were other National kickers he could have signed or drafted.
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David wrote:5) Charles Vaillancourt made the starting roster out of training camp at right guard (and was an effective run blocker), suffered a concussion, then was used more sparingly down the stretch than Tabasco sauce on a fajita.
Whats wrong with Tabasco sauce on a fajita?

Very good points mentioned by previous posters, having played o line myself I will address that first. For the most part I think our offensive line played quite well this year, better than most would have expected. Resigning Steward has to be our next big priority on offence. And I would like to see him played at tackle, and move towards playing 4 nationals on the offensive line, which would allow us to play another international either on the defensive line or the secondary. If we do play a national, such as Steward, at tackle, we would need to find a national to play behind him, either through the draft, or through free agency. We could move Jovan back to Right tackle, I believe he plays better there. As Blitz noted above switching sides is very difficult, everything is reversed, your steps, your stance, your angles, and the play calls.

Our secondary should also be better next year, as noted if we start 4 nationals on the o line we could look to move Phillips to safety. and go with Yell, Lee, Gaitor and Clarke. :2cents:

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David
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Lionsfan65 wrote:
David wrote:5) Charles Vaillancourt made the starting roster out of training camp at right guard (and was an effective run blocker), suffered a concussion, then was used more sparingly down the stretch than Tabasco sauce on a fajita.
Whats wrong with Tabasco sauce on a fajita?
Absolutely nothing. But you don't need a lot of Tabasco on a fajita. It's used sparingly 'cause it's so dayam hot! Likewise, Vaillancourt was used so sparingly too. Just an analogy I was drawing. :wink:

Also note guys, I didn't bring this thread up to trivialize a 12-6 season. That was a huge accomplishment. It's just that, where else can we read and engage in an honest discussion on how things can improve? Not in Postmedia. Once the season is done, that's all she wrote for the Leos, save a few token signings. BClions.com? Fat chance. It's all peaches and cream over there (like all team sites).

Some great additions to the discussion from others: :thup:

* Why Bryant Turner was on the PR for much of the season, yet when he played we were more stout (and Brooks' game was elevated).

* Why we stuck with Leone as the PK for as long as we did. Bringing back McCallum for what, 3 games and using him as rarely as we did was almost a waste.

* Weak schemes, especially in our 2 biggest games of the year (not moving Manny and Burnham around, especially outside against Man/Cover 2 as Blitz points out, lack of stunts and twists from our D-line, too much zone blocking for the O-line and lack of diversified running attack).

* I might add, why the reluctance until late in the season to fully exploit Rainey's sublime talents with the football in his hands?


DH :cool:
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DanoT wrote:You nailed it DH.

The benching of Steward is the big head scratcher for me. IMO he is a possible future all star that should be the top FA re-signing in 2017 and then he should start at LT and Big O should return to RT. I have had enough of Dorazio's experiments and sometimes questionable player evaluations/decisions.
The part I don't quite buy in that is moving JO back to RT. Steward may be a future all-star but Olafioye is a future Hall of Famer. The only question I have about Olafioye at LT is why it has taken so long to shift one of the best OL in Lions history back to the position where he earned his 1st all-star nomination.
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Great topic David!
My biggest fear heading into 2017 free agency is Wally not seeing the full value in Steward, Burnham and Lokombo.

Does he look strictly at what a healthy Steward brought in 2016 or factor in he spent the majority of his first two seasons on the injured list? Wally also knows he has a highly regarded prospect in Charles Vaillancourt ready to start in 2017 and Fabian still under contract. The fact Wally/Dorazio seem fixated on starting two international tackles is no help either. Steward's benching heading into free agency was truly bizarre. Man, I sure hope we don't lose him but I don't see Wally opening the vault either.

During the 3rd Down Radio year-end show LU mentioned the Lions weren't thrilled with Burnham's production in the 2 playoffs games (predictable routes perhaps?). Three years ago Wally let Nick Moore get away when he was 3rd in the league in receiving and roughly the same age as Burnham. It's going to take every bit of the $180,000 Moore got from Winnipeg to keep Burnham if he doesn't get an NFL offer. The Argos cut their top 3 receivers and I'm sure other teams such as Montreal or Edmonton (if they lose Walker) will be lining up for him. Sure hope Wally sees his value and chemistry with Jennings. He was outstanding last season.

As Blitz so astutely pointed out, Washington's misuse of Lokombo this past season was baffling. An Abbotsford native and 2-year starter at Oregon who would have been the top pick of the 2013 draft if it weren't for his NFL ambitions. Looked very good in 2015 with Elliminian hurt and now seems lost in Washington's scheme. Entering the prime of his career at 26 and would hardly blame him if he looked for a fresh start elsewhere.
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During the 3rd Down Radio year-end show LU mentioned the Lions weren't thrilled with Burnham's production in the 2 playoffs games (predictable routes perhaps?). Three years ago Wally let Nick Moore get away when he was 3rd in the league in receiving and roughly the same age as Burnham. It's going to take every bit of the $180,000 Moore got from Winnipeg to keep Burnham if he doesn't get an NFL offer. The Argos cut their top 3 receivers and I'm sure other teams such as Montreal or Edmonton (if they lose Walker) will be lining up for him. Sure hope Wally sees his value and chemistry with Jennings. He was outstanding last season.

As Blitz so astutely pointed out, Washington's misuse of Lokombo this past season was baffling. An Abbotsford native and 2-year starter at Oregon who would have been the top pick of the 2013 draft if it weren't for his NFL ambitions. Looked very good in 2015 with Elliminian hurt and now seems lost in Washington's scheme. Entering the prime of his career at 26 and would hardly blame him if he looked for a fresh start elsewhere.

Sammy Greene
Well, I wasn't thrilled with our coaching in the playoffs (or most big games against West opposition during the regular season either....so Wally and Company not being happy with Burnham's play during the playoffs is just simple psychological projection by Wally.

Manny finished 3rd in CFL receiving and Burnham 4th in the CFL. When we played the Bombers in Winnipeg in the first of the two back to back regular season contests, Manny had 150 yds. receiving and Burnham had 208 yds. (total 358 yds) as we passed for 422 yds. in the contest. Most of those throws and catches came off deep and deep intermediate routes.

In the last regular season game against the Bombers Manny had 16 yards receiving and Burnham had 48 yds.

In the West Semi-Final, Burnham was our leading receiver with 63 yds. Manny had 58 yds. in the contest, playing hurt and then got seriously hurt attempting to make a long ball reception in the end zone. In the West Final against Calgary, Manny had 64 yds. receiving and Burnham had 38 yds.

In our last two games against Winnipeg (regular season and playoff) and our Final against Calgary Manny had a total of 138yds. receiving and Burnham had 149 yds. Both had more reception yards in one game, when we played the Bombers the first time, than they did in a total of the last 3 games against Winnipeg and Calgary.

The reason that Manny and Burnham finished 3rd and 4th in CFL receiving was simple. They caught a hell of lot of receptions on deep and deep intermediate balls. In most cases that was either due to Jennings throwing purrfect throws against double coverage or Manny and Bunham making great receptions with tight coverage or double coverage. Most of the time it took both - a purrfect throw by Jennings and a great reception by Manny and Burnham to make the play.

So, teams did more and more to shut down Manny and Burham. They not only got press man coverage and double coverage from one of the two safeties but they also got middle linebacker coverage as well on any short inside route.

Had Wally and Khari had the ability to move Manny and Burnham around to get them single press man coverage on their routes (by lining them up outside, or by giving them out routes and comeback routes and crossing routes, by using bunch formations to rub press man coverage off) and a variety of other play designs which I won't bore you with) we could have freed them up more in the last regular season game against the Bombers and in the playoffs.

Many and Burnham didn't stop being great receivers in the last 3 games mentioned. Defenses just did everything to take away their deep and deep intermediate routes. Defenses also sacrificed to do that. It meanst the most they could rush, was 5 men, because they needed 7 to play press man coverage, with two deep safeties.

Even more so, it meant they had to cover Rainey with their middle linebacker. We could have exploited the hell of of that in the passing attack. But all we used Rainey for was the quick swing pass and the press man defenders, lined up close to the line of scrimmage, and reading the play, came up and made stop after stop on Rainey.

Had we delayed Rainey, until the press man cover guys had been cleared our by our receivers, or run a screen, or used Rainey on crossing patterns or used Rainey on a wheel route, we could have destroyed that defense, just by sending Manny and Burnham deep and just kept isolationg Rainey or Johnson for that matter against the middle linebacker.

"Have I had no eyes to see, no ears to hear, all of these years" Ebeneezer Scrooge. One day the Football Gods have to send the ghosts of Xmas Past, Present, and Future to visit Wally and get him "TO SEE".

Until then, it will be another player who is blamed or the Leos brain trust will be 'disappointed with'.

I'm pleased that you agree with me about Lokombo. We'll probably lose him either to the NFL or another team. Can't blame him. He played really well in 2015, with Sol E. out. He's shown he can play, with his limited chances.

It brings to mind another linebacker whose talents were not taken advantage of in a Leos uniform. Jamall Johnson was a stud linebacker who Wally mostly wasted on special teams. Johnson was signed by Tampa Bay and then signed with Hamilton, where he was a two time all-star and their defensive leader. It used to almost make me weep to see Jamall Johnson on the sidelines in a Leo uniform while our defense played.

Of course, Buono, signed Johnson back here in B.C. as a free agent towards the end of Johnson's career. Buono said, at the time of the signing "Jamall is a tremendous leader, very competitive, very vocal, a player who brings a lot of good energy into the locker room. I think he was one of the reasons Hamilton got as far as they did last year (the Ticats appeared in the 101st Grey Cup game).

Why Buono couldn't see those things when Jamall Johnson was here as a Leo in his prime is an interesting question. Too busy blaming players for 'lack of execution' as usual I guess. Now its Burnham's turn. :thdn:
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
OV - 54:40
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Very interesting reads guys - I haven't checked in here in awhile.

Lions seem to have a lot of pretty good young Canadian talent - that might emerge more and play bigger roles if Wally gives them the chance. Menard is already very good IMO - can swing in at both DE or DT; agreed that Husband was very good at C (maybe league best), so smart to have him playing; - along with Steward. plus Fabien, plus Vaillancourt (future all-star guard IMO) = potential very solid O-line fixtures ; Lokombo - could he get the shot to replace Bighill ?; Kenyan Parker ready for more playing time? - starter at corner? Adekolu might progress to more playing time, but Blaszko or Shaq Johonson might emerge too ?. Thompson to step-up to take over safety ?

Who knows with Wally thinking though. If it's only 7 NIs need apply ...
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WestCoastJoe
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OV - 54:40 wrote:Very interesting reads guys - I haven't checked in here in awhile.

Lions seem to have a lot of pretty good young Canadian talent - that might emerge more and play bigger roles if Wally gives them the chance. Menard is already very good IMO - can swing in at both DE or DT; agreed that Husband was very good at C (maybe league best), so smart to have him playing; - along with Steward. plus Fabien, plus Vaillancourt (future all-star guard IMO) = potential very solid O-line fixtures ; Lokombo - could he get the shot to replace Bighill ?; Kenyan Parker ready for more playing time? - starter at corner? Adekolu might progress to more playing time, but Blaszko or Shaq Johonson might emerge too ?. Thompson to step-up to take over safety ?

Who knows with Wally thinking though. If it's only 7 NIs need apply ...
Your comments re the players look bang on, OV.

We did well to draft Westerman and Menard. But IMO we missed picking some other good ones in recent years for the DL.

OL picks lately have been very good. Fabien, Steward, Vaillancourt, signing and promoting Husband. Possibly even Boyko. That would be a huge bonus.
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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