All things Kamloops Training Camp 2012

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WestCoastJoe
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TheLionKing wrote:Mike Benevides on Global confirmed Kabongo has agreed to terms and is driving west today
Big body. Experienced. Should be adequate.
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Rammer
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TheLionKing wrote:Mike Benevides on Global confirmed Kabongo has agreed to terms and is driving west today
Pretty fortunate to have his availability, the only positive of being the first team to lose our NI OL help.
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Rammer
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WestCoastJoe wrote:
TheLionKing wrote:Mike Benevides on Global confirmed Kabongo has agreed to terms and is driving west today
Big body. Experienced. Should be adequate.
Is a team oriented player, but takes on a few holding penalties, although that seemed to be reduced last season, once he was moved inside.
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MexicoLionFan
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Odie wrote:Twitter has reports of the signing of PAtrick Kabongo to add non-import depth on the O-Line.

Could be a good air-lift for us until Valli and Newman are back to health. Hopefully Valli is just a small tweak and he will be back up soon. Newman doesnt sound great at the moment... his history of knee issues might be working against him here.

That's a great move by Wally...I watched Kabongo quite a bit when we played the Esks last year, and he competed hard on every down...I like the competitive side to him...
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Hambone
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Rammer wrote:
WestCoastJoe wrote:
TheLionKing wrote:Mike Benevides on Global confirmed Kabongo has agreed to terms and is driving west today
Big body. Experienced. Should be adequate.
Is a team oriented player, but takes on a few holding penalties, although that seemed to be reduced last season, once he was moved inside.
Seems to me he also has a habit of picking up other undisciplined penalties like unnecessary roughness and objectionable conduct.
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B.C.FAN
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Monday, June 4
Afternoon training camp session report


Weather: 12 degrees, light rain. A future training camp in Hawaii would sound really good right now.
Players on the field: 66, give or take
Injured: Gs Dean Valli and Jesse Newman absent. LB Adam Leonard working out on his own on the sidelines. WRs Courtney Taylor and Michael Moore left early and didn't return.
Fans in the stands: 13

Offence:
The first team is polished and was unstoppable against the first-team defence in the two-minute drill at the end of the session.
SB Geroy Simon is amazing as usual. Always open. Always makes the tough catch. The only pass he didn't catch was a deep floater that was knocked down by Dante Marsh.
SB Arland Bruce can still make the tough catch in traffic. Travis Lulay loves his slots.
WR Kierrie Johnson showed great hands and amazing speed. Expect him to be a bigger part of the offence this year.
If any newcomer is going to crack the roster, they didn't show it today.
OL Matt Norman got starter's reps and backup reps at RG for the injured Dean Valli. He's not a starter but he got a good workout.
RT Jovan Olafioye looked to be hobbling between plays but he showed quick feet and solid technique between the whistles.
RB Tim Brown was impressive, with two long touchdowns in scrimmages.
RB Andrew Harris capped the two-minute drill with a touchdown and was always open when he slipped out of the backfield. He may be the best blocker in this position group.
FB Jordan Verdone, a converted linebacker, is a project. Position coach Kelly Bates was trying to school him on blocking technique.
QB Travis Lulay was as sharp as ever.
QB Mike Reilly made some good decisions with his feet and showed impressive quickness.
QB Corey Leonard seemed to take too long making decisions. No one else got meaningful reps.

Defence:
HB Ryan Phillips looks out of place among the starters. He was slow to react and missed tackles. Wide-side halfback has been the team's biggest weakness for several years until Tad Kornegay arrived last year and helped turn the defence from worst to first in the league.
NKL Anthony Reddick had two interceptions off Lulay in skelly, both on tipped balls. He and Anton McKenzie, though, had trouble against Geroy Simon in zone defence.
LBs James Yurichuk, Adam Bighill and Anton McKenzie all got reps with the first team at MLB. LB Beau Bell is a big hitter and has great range and could be in the mix for MLB. LB Rodney Paulk, last on the depth chart at the position, got an earful from the colourful defensive coordinator Rich Stubler. It was Paulk's only memorable moment. (Stubler also had a lecture for DE Rajon Henley, who seemed to be loafing and was generally unimpressive.)
DE Jeremy Geathers is buried in the depth chart behind Khreem Smith and Henley at rush end but showed great quickness off the line and could become a factor.
DT Khalif Mitchell feasted on the patched-up O-line. He and Eric Taylor are right where they left off last year.
DE Keron Williams had a quiet session. It must be tough to practise against the Lions' all-star tackles. (Geathers did most of his work against backups.)
DT Jabar Westerman was invisible, but it's hard to evaluate line play from the sidelines so I'll try to watch him more closely on Tuesday.
S Cauchy Muamba seems to have a lock on the job but J.R. LaRose showed his hitting prowess when he got reps in the middle. Opposition receivers pay a price when they enter his territory.
CB Byron Parker is a huge presence in the secondary but he and Phillips do not make a good pair on the wide side.
DB Jerome Dennis looks lighter and faster than when he played nickel last year.

Special teams
Paul McCallum and Hugh O'Neill attempted a lot of 52-yard field goals with the coverage unit. Only O'Neill hit one. McCallum's kicks all came up a yard or two short.
LS Sean Ortiz skipped nearly all his snaps to holders Mike Reilly and Corey Leonard. I hope that was by design. They did well to catch the ball on the bounce and set it up but it's hard on the kickers when the snap isn't clean.

Coaches
Rich Stubler is a yeller. I enjoyed him as defensive line coach. Now he has the entire defence in his sights, and he doesn't miss much. It's fun as a spectator to see him back. Some players on the receiving end of his comments may feel otherwise.
It was strange to see Mike Benevides take a backseat to his coordinators and position coaches. He was more Wally-like than Wally. The only time he got involved was at the end of practice when he took the starting D-line aside for some private words.
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WestCoastJoe
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Great post, BCFAN.

It is appreciated.

Get a look at Doege. See how he does against pros.
............

I wonder if Yannick Sage is on anybody's roster. Or Matt Morencie.
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SammyGreene
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Thanks BC FAN. Great report.

Enjoyed the inaugural coach's show as Benevides' is never really lost for words and provides great insight. Interesting to note the goal at camp is to establish eight Canadian starters, not the minimum required (seven). The position in question was safety, however, as BC FAN pointed out too it's Muamba's job to lose. Larose took quite a bit of heat for his inability to make plays last season on this board and it looks like the coaches might also be thinking to same after some off-season film review. He doesn't even seem to be in the picture to win his starter's job back.
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WestCoastJoe
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SammyGreene wrote:Thanks BC FAN. Great report.

Enjoyed the inaugural coach's show as Benevides' is never really lost for words and provides great insight. Interesting to note the goal at camp is to establish eight Canadian starters, not the minimum required (seven). The position in question was safety, however, as BC FAN pointed out too it's Muamba's job to lose. Larose took quite a bit of heat for his inability to make plays last season on this board and it looks like the coaches might also be thinking to same after some off-season film review. He doesn't even seem to be in the picture to win his starter's job back.
Missed the show. Good to hear Benny made good.

IMO LaRose is a hard hitter, but doesn't make enough plays on the ball, and really doesn't have enough speed.
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sj-roc
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WestCoastJoe wrote:
SammyGreene wrote:Thanks BC FAN. Great report.

Enjoyed the inaugural coach's show as Benevides' is never really lost for words and provides great insight. Interesting to note the goal at camp is to establish eight Canadian starters, not the minimum required (seven). The position in question was safety, however, as BC FAN pointed out too it's Muamba's job to lose. Larose took quite a bit of heat for his inability to make plays last season on this board and it looks like the coaches might also be thinking to same after some off-season film review. He doesn't even seem to be in the picture to win his starter's job back.
Missed the show. Good to hear Benny made good.

IMO LaRose is a hard hitter, but doesn't make enough plays on the ball, and really doesn't have enough speed.
Not sure if this link will last very long but you can grab the podcast here.
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TheLionKing
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Most excellent report. Benevides having his first string offence practicing against the first string defence should hopefully have the Lions ready to go right from the starting gate.
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David
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WestCoastJoe wrote:IMO LaRose is a hard hitter, but doesn't make enough plays on the ball, and really doesn't have enough speed.
Bennie has already told JR that he's not in the team's plans for safety. They want him to be a key contributor on Special Teams instead. The club is handing the keys to Muamba and Mahmoudi (for now) and it's theirs to lose. No immediate plans for an import safety, according to Coach B.

When the topic of 'hard-hitting' safeties was brought up on the Coach's Show tonight, Bennie said he's not necessarily looking for a hard-hitting safety, saying it usually means a receiver has already caught the ball when lick is applied.

DH :cool:
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Rammer
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David wrote:
WestCoastJoe wrote:IMO LaRose is a hard hitter, but doesn't make enough plays on the ball, and really doesn't have enough speed.
Bennie has already told JR that he's not in the team's plans for safety. They want him to be a key contributor on Special Teams instead. The club is handing the keys to Muamba and Mahmoudi (for now) and it's theirs to lose. No immediate plans for an import safety, according to Coach B.

When the topic of 'hard-hitting' safeties was brought up on the Coach's Show tonight, Bennie said he's not necessarily looking for a hard-hitting safety, saying it usually means a receiver has already caught the ball when lick is applied.

DH :cool:
Funny how few receivers enjoyed going into Hitchcock's area of the field and lead them to miss a few tosses their way. I am a huge proponent of the intimidation factor for a safety. And when a receiver does catch a ball and is rocked, you know that both sidelines react in opposite directions. Plus the safety has to be able to pull down those RB's when all else fails.
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DanoT
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I like the fact that they are going with 8 starting NI instead of the minimum 7. This means that if there are problems with Muamba at safety or Yurichuk at MLB, then an Import replacement at either of those spots does not require a ratio shift elsewhere as they would just drop to the 7 NI. And it can be done mid game.
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