Official Kamloops Training Camp Thread 2018

[Lion Guy]

I think that Jarious deserves a chance at OC, and I am looking forward to seeing the changes and new offensive system he brings in.

Each year over the past two years, BC's offense under Khari Jones had more passing yards, more rushing yards, and better time of possession than Saskatchewan, where Jackson served as passing coordinator.

I suspect we will see more of a dink and dunk, high-percentage style offense than under Jones, who seemed to like a more aggressive high-risk style of offense. Personally, I prefer the former, though also came to appreciate Jones' ability to adapt to personnel and defenses.

Jones couldn't organize a 3 house paper route. Our best off season move was getting rid of him and his plain useless offence.

[WestCoastJoe]

From Lowell Ullrich ...

“He has a good structure in the way he does things,” Jennings said of Jackson. “We’re going to utilize my strengths with (run-pass option) stuff like a lot of teams do but there’s going to be a good balance.”

“Without being too critical or comparing (to Jones), the one thing with Jarious is that it just look likes there’s a lot more motion and misdirection,” said coach Wally Buono.

“You don’t want to get too far ahead but you can see the play-action more, the quarterback is moving more, and you can see the ability to get the ball in the hands of playmakers.”

Or, with Joel Figueroa and Jovan Olafioye as replacement tackles and a much beefier David Foucault looking comfortable early at right guard, the Lions might simply be better because the quarterback won’t have to constantly consider running to safe his football life. Influences and statistics be damned.

That is how this fan sees it.

Protect your quarterback. Playbook. Game plans. Play calls. Personnel. Pass protection. Execution.

Attack the opposing quarterback. Glad to hear Odell Willis is looking good. He has had many very productive years in the CFL. He might have something left in the tank. Conservative defence, however, is not about attacking the quarterback. We will see ...

Wasn't motion and misdirection a big part of the polarizing Chap-ball offence?

My thoughts, Hambone ...

I was very supportive of Jacques. I found him very friendly on a personal basis. I believe he was able to dial up any kind of offence one might like. Pocket passing. Rollouts. Misdirection, et cetera. I think one will find that his offences were very productive. TDs. Yardage. Running game.

Was the offence usually restricted in its design, to please the Boss? I would say yes. Wally has always preferred simplicity and a conservative approach, dependent on execution over sophistication. And Wally had great success with his philosophical preference over his career.

Blitz spelled out for us the changes in our offence, which Jacques brought in, when our backs were against the wall.

JC was a target of criticism, of course. It goes with the territory.

Simple running game, with the focus on one inside zone read play? Again it fit Wally's preference. Execute. And Dan has been the architect of the running game.
........

The good news for fans such as myself, who long for our favorite football team to enter the modern age of sophisticated football is that we seem to be going there. Jarious has Wally's trust. Jarious has worked in a number of systems. He has put in a system that features a variety of attacks on the defence. No more QB as a target in the shooting tank, with a well-scouted passing game, with well-scouted routes, with DBs sitting on those routes.
.........

Wally is letting go to a large extent in his final year. He seems rejuvenated. He is allowing Jarious to thoroughly re-design the offence to take advantage of our personnel.

We will see about the running game. Variety et cetera. Not sure if we will see full scale change there.

We will see about the defence. Not sure if we will see a change of philosophy there, under DC Mark Washington, long time protege of Wally.

STs? Expect change and sophistication under Reinebold.

Just IMO, Hambone.

[WestCoastJoe]

Will we set the league on fire? Grey Cup champions?

It ain't that easy.

We see high level, sophisticated coaching out there. We see attack-oriented offence and defence and STs. One expects very high level performance from Calgary and Edmonton. Winnipeg and Regina will play tough. I would say they are on the way up.

But for fans like myself we see needed change here, rejuvenation.

Offence. Promising.

Defence. Conservative? Same old? Don't know.

STs. Hopeful.

Breath of fresh air. Year 16 of Wally's regime.

[Blitz]

Will we set the league on fire? Grey Cup champions?

It ain't that easy.

We see high level, sophisticated coaching out there. We see attack-oriented offence and defence and STs. One expects very high level performance from Calgary and Edmonton. Winnipeg and Regina will play tough. I would say they are on the way up.

But for fans like myself we see needed change here, rejuvenation.

Offence. Promising.

Defence. Conservative? Same old? Don't know.

STs. Hopeful.

Breath of fresh air. Year 16 of Wally's regime.

While I don't think it will be easy for Wally to 'let go' from the past, the fact that he is allowing Jarious to implement a new offensive philosophy shows that, at least for the start of this season, he is willing to change spots offensively.

But Wally does not have an offensive background. He was a linebacker and punter as a player and a defensive assistant (one season as a defensive coordinator) before he became a Head Coach.

Therefore, Buono has always been more distant from the offensive side of the football than the defensive side. Yes, he expected his offensive coaches to use the old Calgary spread offence playbook and expected them to 'execute' that system, but overall, he has been a hands off coach offensively. His offensive coordinators have always called the plays and done most of the coaching, including coaching our quarterbacks.

Buono's only specific involvement in coaching our offence has been to coach the Jumbo team, at various times, with dubious success.

Buono, on occasion, has also been involved with special teams. For example, last season, he became more involved with the return game, once again with dubious success.

Buono has always been more involved with the defensive side of the football. His philosophy of 'bend but don't break', his preference of rushing four defensive linemen, while playing passive zone defence have been hallmarks of his tenure in B.C. We did have a Dave Ritchie for three seasons and he broke that mold, with a dynamic defense that was the key to our 2006 Grey Cup season and he allowed Benevedes to hire Rich Stubler but neither defensive coordinator fit Buono's style of defense.

Benevedes and Washington were the two defensive coordinators that have coached defense the "Buono way'. But even 'little Wally' wanted more change than Buono. Benevedes had to lobby Buono hard in 2011 to allow him to use a 5 man defensive line rotation until Buono relented.

So we may be making offensive philosophy changes but it will be even more difficult for Buono to change his defensive philosophy for 2018.

Guess we will have to wait and see.

[B.C.FAN]

I took in the final two hours of Thursday practice, including the tail end of the padded session.

Solomon Elimimian, Joel Figueroa, Ricky Collins and Dakota Brush sat out and rode the bike on the sidelines. I didn't see Odell Willis on the field or sidelines.

In the absence of an official depth chart, here are my observations on who was taking first-team reps, at least in this practice:

OFFENCE
WR: Tyler Davis (Ricky Collins sat out)
SB: Manny Arceneaux
LT: Jac'que Polite (Joel Figueroa sat out)
LG: Hunter Steward
C: Cody Husband
RG: David Foucault
RT: Jovan Olafioye
SB: Cory Watson
SB: Bryan Burnham
WR: Shaq Johnson
QB: Jonathon Jennings
RB: Jeremiah Johnson
FB: Rolly Lumbala

DEFENCE:
DE: Gabe Knapton
NT: Junior Luke
DT: Claudell Louis
DE: Ivan McLennan (Odell Willis was not on the field)
OLB: Keelan Johnson and Dyshawn Davis both got a lot of reps
MLB: Jordan Herdman (Solomon Elimimian sat out)
NKL: Otha Foster
CB: Anthony Orange (formerly Anthony Jefferson)
HB: T.J. Lee
S: Anthony Thompson
HB: Garry Peters
CB: Marcell Young

JARIOUS JACKSON'S OFFENCE:
Imagine a little bit of every rushing or short passing play you've ever seen at any level of football: power sweeps, jet sweeps, toss sweeps, reverses, swing passes and screens to running backs and receivers. It was all on display in one practice. I'm not sure how much of it will get used. I'm not sure that some of it will work at this level, where players pursue well from sideline to sideline, but this was definitely not the familiar Lions' inside zone running game of past years.

DEFENSIVE BACKS:
It was nice to see T.J. Lee's familiar No. 6 in the secondary, but at a listed height of 5-foot-9 he was dwarfed by the new crop of DBs brought in by Ed Hervey. The other starters are about three inches taller, and they look even taller than that on the field.

SPECIAL TEAMS:
Special teams took up about half of the non-padded practice. Jeff Reinebold was mic'd up and barking instructions over the PA system to players at both ends of the field and anyone within about a half kilometre of Hillside Stadium. In the past, Wally has been heavily involved in coaching the return team at one end of the field while the special teams coordinator coached the kicking unit. With his mic on, Reinebold controlled both ends of the field. Wally held a stopwatch on the kickers. I saw him speak to a player only once, when he critiqued a punt by Mexican kicker Jose Maltos.

Another indication that things are different this year: Every kickoff was an onside kick. It's only one practice, and Reinebold obviously wanted to purrfect it but I've attended a lot of training camps over the past 50 years and I can't recall the last time I saw the Lions practise an onside kick at this time of year.

Maltos took all punting reps, working on directional punting, which was a weakness of Ty Long last year. Long sailed too many punts into the end zone for singles. Maltos's punts are ugly and they sound flat when they come off his foot, but from the 45 yard line almost every punt came down on or near the sideline inside the 20 yard line, which seemed to please Reinebold. Long and Maltos both took a lot of reps on field goals from convert distance (32 yard line). They both showed strong and accurate legs.

Mike Benson took first reps at long snapper but he's being pushed by rookie second-round draft pick David Mackie. Wally's stopwatch may determine who wins the job but I expect Mackie to be on the 46-man roster and on special teams in some capacity.

Cody Fajardo is the holder.

RANDOM NOTES:
I saw only a few minutes of team play in the padded part of practice and no 7-on-7 sessions so I can't say much about the quarterbacks and receivers, or the passing game in general. Jonathon Jennings and Travis Lulay took turns at QB. For this practice, focused on the new running and short passing game, the receivers lined up as they are listed on the depth chart, with Manny Arceneaux and Cory Watson closest to the QB, Bryan Burnham as outside slot and Tyler Davis and Shaq Johnson as wide receivers. I'll have to see how much they move around in live action.

More tomorrow.

[WestCoastJoe]

Excellent report from the Front, BCFAN.

JARIOUS JACKSON'S OFFENCE:
Imagine a little bit of every rushing or short passing play you've ever seen at any level of football: power sweeps, jet sweeps, toss sweeps, reverses, screens to running backs and receivers. It was all on display in one practice. I'm not sure how much of it will get used. I'm not sure that some of it will work at this level, where players pursue well from sideline to sideline, but this was definitely not the familiar Lions' inside zone running game of past years.

Variety. Change of pace. Keep the defence off balance. All good.

DEFENCE:
DE: Gabe Knapton
NT: Junior Luke
DT: Claudell Louis
DE: Ivan McLennan (Odell Willis was not on the field)

I hope Louis can mitigate the loss of Cummings.

SPECIAL TEAMS:
Special teams took up about half of the non-padded practice. Jeff Reinebold was mic'd up and barking instructions over the PA system to players at both ends of the field and anyone within about a half kilometre of Hillside Stadium. In the past, Wally has been heavily involved in coaching the return team at one end of the field while the special teams coordinator coached the kicking unit. With his mic on, Reinebold controlled both ends of the field.Wally held a stopwatch on the kickers. I saw him speak to a player only once, when he critiqued a punt by Mexican kicker Jose Maltos.

Another indication that things are different this year: Every kickoff was an onside kick. It's only one practice, and Reinebold obviously wanted to purrfect it but I've attended a lot of training camps over the past 50 years and I can't recall the last time I saw the Lions practise an onside kick at this time of year.

Letting go. Good.

Onside kicks. Good. If you don't practice them, you cannot do them in a game. I would say Reinebold is sending a message. To other teams. To his own team.
.................

OL. It looks like 3 NATs, 2 INTs as expected.

DL. It looks like Luke and Laurent sharing a spot at DT. Good.

[DanoT]

Very nice report BC Fan. Good to hear that Lulay was back out there as LU had reported that Lulay's knee had swelled up after Tuesday's practice causing him to miss Wednesday practice.

[CardiacKid]

Lowell Ullrich was very complimentary of David Foucault’s work in Kamloops which is very encouraging. The young man clearly struggled at times last year but seemed to settle in towards the end of the season. I am glad to see that improvement carrying on, not only from the standpoint of hoping our QBs remain intact but also for his own sake.

There has been a lot of discussion both here and in the media about the new offensive philosophy under Jarious and how it will seem fresh and new. No wish to rain on anyone’s parade but weren’t we looking at something similar happening when Tedford was at the helm with Cortes as OC?

Certainly a different time and place with different personalities at play but I guess I will take a wait and see attitude.

The postings from those Lionbackers more in the know than myself are certainly encouraging though....

[Hambone]

Last year by the time I left Montreal after watching the first 2/3 of their 3 game road swing I was literally begging them to let Long air it out instead of trying to cutely place directional punts inside the 20. Shanks abounded. I think he had an 11 yarder in Toronto. I figured it was best to air it out and if he missed the sideline and it wound up in the end zone for a single so be it. That's what he started to do and I think it was perhaps a pivotal moment for him. He started to relax after that and went on to have a great year. Directional punting is somewhat of an acquired skill especially for a punter with a US background where hangtime to force fair catches is far more important than direction.

[TheLionKing]

Like what I'm hearing and reading about the offence. Defences will be on their toes instead of pinning their ears and coming with the rush.

[TheLionKing]

Excellent report B.C.Fan. Well done !

[Blitz]

Good articles about Odell Willis and Jovan Olifioye posted below.

Hambone recently posted about concerns re: Olifioye's back. Olifioye just addressed the issue in the Province.

Lions offensive lineman Jovan Olafioye has scrimmaged with the team the last two days after he was acquired from the Alouettes and projects as the starting right tackle.

After playing all 18 games for seven straight seasons with the Lions, Olafioye missed six games with the Als last season and there were concerns about his back.

Back, schmack says the former most outstanding lineman.

“I don’t know what’s up with that,” he says. “I missed five games with a fractured hand. I missed one game because of my back and it was muscle spasms, it wasn’t the spine.

“People can say what they want to say. I know what’s going on and I’m good to go.”

Hervey says Odell will not play a traditional 3 technique defensive end position, with his hand on the ground , here in B.C. as he did in Edmonton last year and will rotate.

Ed Willes: Odell the role model? 'Wiser Willis' aims to boost Lions' pass rush

KAMLOOPS — Football men will tell you an elite pass rusher is harder to find than a black pearl and, while Odell Willis has been many things in his CFL life, he’s always been an elite pass rusher.

But for someone possessed with that rare and invaluable gift, Willis also spent the first part of his career bouncing from city to city like a bad cheque. Calgary one year. Two years in Winnipeg. A year in Saskatchewan then off to Edmonton. He was a productive player in each of those stops, which makes his constant movement something of a mystery.

But he was also something else, which helps clear up that mystery.
“Early on I was an a — hole,” Willis says, employing a popular compound noun to do with buttocks. “I know that now.

“When people constantly say things about you, some of it has to be true. In order to grow up as a man, you have to look at yourself in the mirror and ask, ‘what can I do better?’ I feel like I became a better person and everything became better for me. It was part of me growing up and accepting my own mistakes without making excuses.”

So it would seem he’s matured. Ironically, the B.C. Lions are now hoping he hasn’t matured that much.

The older — but not much older he’ll remind you — and wiser Willis was a crucial piece in GM Ed Hervey’s off-season rebuild of the Lions’ roster. With Gabe Knapton, who was acquired from Montreal in an earlier trade, the 33-year-old Willis was brought in to beef up a Lions’ pass rush that all but evaporated in the team’s 7-11 march to nowhere last season.

We’ll get to Knapton in a minute but, with Willis, the question concerns his age and how many RPMs are left in his motor. Last year, his fifth with the Eskimos, he recorded six sacks in his first seven games and finished the season with eight, leading some to conclude Willis had passed his best-before date.

You can guess what Hervey thinks of that conclusion.

“Anyone who’s trying to put out that Odell doesn’t have anything left in the tank, that’s bull crap,” the Lions’ GM said. “If you go back and look at his film he was at the three-technique (the traditional defensive end position playing with his hand on the ground) and that will wear anybody out.

“We’re not going to ask him to play the three-technique. We’re going to ask him to rush the passer and rotate. He will be fresh for the entire season.”

Hervey, as it happens, has been a charter member of the Willis fan club for some time. Five years ago, in one of his first big moves as the newly minted GM of the Eskimos, Hervey signed Willis as a free agent after a down year in Saskatchewan.

Willis now says that season in Saskatchewan — which started with a DUI in his home state of Georgia and unravelled from there — was the low point in his career. But he turned his life and his career around in Edmonton and he credits Hervey for helping him find his way.

“(The Eskimos) were my fourth team and I was rebellious,” Willis says. “But the thing that got me was (Hervey’s) honesty.

“He’s going to be honest with you. You want to know why you aren’t playing, he’s going to be honest with you. You want to know anything he’s going to be honest with you. In this league, that’s all you want.”
Hervey said his message to his wayward rush end was simple enough.

“Tough love,” he says. “I asked him what do you want your legacy to be: a talented journeyman or a great player? It was a message he was ready to hear.”

To date, Willis has been one of the stars of training camp. He’s still a blur coming off the edge and with Knapton, the Lions believe they’ve upgraded their pass rush while changing the locker-room culture.
Willis, who seems to be 33 going on 23, remains a fun-loving energy source who isn’t exactly lacking in confidence.

“I don’t put any limitations on myself,” he says. “Why would you think the time is near? The best pass rushers in the league are in their 30s. I don’t need any motivation. As long as God wakes me up, I’m good to go.”

Knapton, meanwhile, is coming off a subpar season with the Alouettes in which he recorded three sacks in 17 games after averaging 10 per season over the previous three campaigns. One of Hervey’s first moves when he took over the Lions was to trade under-achieving receiver Chris Williams for the Wyoming product.

“We’re looking to change the mentality of the locker-room to a blue-collar atmosphere,” Hervey said. “He’s a hard-working player who has a non-stop motor and he can play inside and out.”

Knapton just turned 29. Age isn’t an issue in this case. Location is.
“Sometimes a change is needed and it was in this case,” he said. “I think this is my year to break out. It’s going to be a good year for me.”

OK, not quite as colourful as his colleague at the other end of the Lions’ D-line, but each brings something different to the party. That might make this a good year for the Lions.

[B.C.FAN]

Players were in pads and helmets under the hot early morning sun Friday.

Solomon Elimimian, Joel Figueroa, Odell Willis, Ricky Collins and Dakota Brush again did not take part. First-team offensive and defensive units were unchanged from Thursday.

Jose Maltos took first-team kicking reps ahead of Ty Long. Don Sweet, the godfather of CFL kickers, was working with the two kickers. I think he coached most of the kickers in the West Division last year.

Jarious Jackson installed more elements of his run game and short-passing game. Jonathon Jennings and Travis Lulay again alternated at QB during non-contact drills. Cody Fajardo led the second team offence in contact drills.

Jordan Herdman did his best Solomon Elimimian impersonation at middle linebacker, making tackles all over the field.

Breion Creer, who is battling Claudell Louis for the international defensive tackle position, was the most noticeable D-lineman, but he was going mainly against the second team O-line.

Receivers and DBs had some good battles in 1-on-1s, skelly and team play. Danny Vandervoort always seems to get open deep and make great catches. I’m not sure that Cory Watson should be starting ahead of him. Kenny Lawler, who is taking third team reps behind Manny Arceneaux and Kevin Elliott at one slotback position, made some outstanding catches and drew the loudest cheer from his fellow receivers for a one-handed catch while going to the ground after being hit before the ball arrived. Brandon Rutley and Shaq Johnson had the only TD catches in team play but Johnson also had several drops, as sid Tyler Davis. Arceneaux and Bryan Burnham did their thing as usual.

Among DBs, cornerbacks Marcell Young and Anthony Orange stood out. Second-team HB Solomon Means, backing up T.J. Lee, had several knockdowns that should have been interceptions.

[David]

Thanks for the great report as always, B.C.FAN.

Joel Figueroa has a slight shoulder separation. Odell Willis has a slight concussion (I have no idea about the others, although Solly tends to get hamstring injuries this time of year).

No need to rush those two guys back as we know what they're capable of and their position on the depth chart is all but locked up. Still, while Wally beams about over-30 pass rushers like Odell, claiming it's an art that improves over time, persistent injuries do start creeping in at that age. That's an irrefutable fact.


DH

[SammyGreene]

Danny Vandervoort always seems to get open deep and make great catches. I’m not sure that Cory Watson should be starting ahead of him.

Another great report BC FAN.
Just let the kid play!
3rd overall pick in 2017 draft. He is supposed to be a potential impact national. Put him ahead of the 34-year-old Watson and tell him it's his job to lose with a veteran behind him for insurance.

I wish the Lions would be more aggressive in giving their growing national talent pool the opportunity to play.