Training camp 2021

[OV - 54:40]

Interesting read from BC Fan about the potential starting defence: lots of inexperience and rookies - 3 on the D-Line; at MLB; maybe one in the secondary, plus has Sayles ever played safety in Canadian ball before ? ( a 5-9, 176 size safety ?) Hopefully they make up for it with lots of hustle and athleticism and maybe they can gel fast ?


OTOH - the offence has tons of experience and proven players. Cottoy not listed as a starter in the receiver 5 pack, with Whithead getting the nod? (Hambone - did we make a bet there on Campbell going with 3 starting NI receivers ? ;o) )

Kicking game maybe a big concern too ?

[David]

Classy departure Tweet tonight from Will Arndt about his fellow training camp QB.




DH

[B.C.FAN]

Tuesday’s practice has been cancelled due to heavy smoke in Kamloops. There’s just one more scheduled practice on Wednesday before camp ends with the final scrimmage on Thursday.

[cms22]

hey, great content/comments in this thread... thank you

i'm wondering what people think about the 2021 vs. past seasons... seems like the CFL is pretty unique in that 1) the 17 american starters would have never played canadian football before CFL, 2) tons of player movement vs. NFL

i am wondering about the proper mix of things for the 2021 season.. here are a list of things you need to combine (no logical order to how i've listed them)

1) talent

2) youth vs. experience... i'm a big fan of youth. i've always thought "need NHL veterans with playoff experience" as almost laughable. i mean the players have played in playoffs in juniors/college/etc and it's still hockey......... CFL experience though is important as so many players haven't played much canadian football..... i do wonder about how game fit a 32 year old veteran will be after this huge lockdown. and i can't see how anyone's training regiment didn't get affected for a lengthy period. harder for 32 year-old to get things back.

3) turnover of roster... this may have been hervey's most grevious error............ you can't have 4 returning starters on D, or whatever number was...... players need time to gel together........... and hervey tried to pull wool over people's eyes saying he'd found canadian overlooked gems (termansen and herdman) when really he'd run out of money to sign any good players. had to bring shawn lemon back later too.

4) salary cap.

what will lions be looking like on canadian talent... 3 on oline, 2 (3?) at receiver. 1 at LB... where else?.....2 in defense?... are we going to go 7 or 8 canadian starters? 8 means that injury isn't that big a deal in-game.

[BC 1988]

Tuesday’s practice has been cancelled due to heavy smoke in Kamloops. There’s just one more scheduled practice on Wednesday before camp ends with the final scrimmage on Thursday.

From good news yesterday to bad news today--the Lions can't afford to lose too many of these few remaining practices. They need to be ready to go tonight if conditions improve.
https://weather.gc.ca/airquality/pages/ ... 007_e.html

Granted they should have been up there in May instead of now, but this has to make them think about the risks involved in having camp at TRU instead of in the Lower Mainland.

[DanoT]

Tuesday’s practice has been cancelled due to heavy smoke in Kamloops. There’s just one more scheduled practice on Wednesday before camp ends with the final scrimmage on Thursday.

From good news yesterday to bad news today--the Lions can't afford to lose too many of these few remaining practices. Granted they should have been up there in May instead of now, but this has to make them think about the risks involved in having camp at TRU instead of in the Lower Mainland.

Or the glass could be half full, in so much as the places on fire now will be fire breaks without any combustible fuel in the future. So there will be less likelihood of smoky skies next year.

[SammyGreene]

Based on BC FAN's training camp reports this isn't a huge surprise. Still, one of their bigger FA signings in 2020. Shows how well US recruiting has gone since.

Lions Transaction: Tuesday, July 27

The BC Lions Football Club today announced the following transaction:

Release from training camp roster: DE Chris Casher (A).

[B.C.FAN]

The Lions have released DE Chris Casher. He was one of their big free-agent signings after recording 34 tackles and 7 sacks in Calgary in 2019. He lost his first-team spot to Obum Gwacham early in camp but I thought he would remain in the rotation. His release leaves fellow free agent DE J.R. Tavai as the only defensive lineman on the roster with CFL experience.

[Hambone]

Interesting read from BC Fan about the potential starting defence: lots of inexperience and rookies - 3 on the D-Line; at MLB; maybe one in the secondary, plus has Sayles ever played safety in Canadian ball before ? ( a 5-9, 176 size safety ?) Hopefully they make up for it with lots of hustle and athleticism and maybe they can gel fast ?


OTOH - the offence has tons of experience and proven players. Cottoy not listed as a starter in the receiver 5 pack, with Whithead getting the nod? (Hambone - did we make a bet there on Campbell going with 3 starting NI receivers ? ;o) )

Kicking game maybe a big concern too ?

Maybe you got me this time.

Whitehead does bring a dynamic ingredient to the Lions receiving corps that they've been lacking for many years. Listening to Maksymic a day or two ago he's planning on using multiple receiving packages to mix things up for defenses. Reading between the lines I think that will mean while Burnham and Durant will be mainstays the other 4 (Shaq, Lucky, Rhymes and Cottoy) will do a lot of rotating to give opposing defenses a variety of different looks. Cottoy will still see a lot of playing time on offense.

I still believe coaches ratio decisions are based on what they have to work with, not a predetermined pigeon holing. Talent-wise the group of NAT receivers Campbell is working with in BC is uber deep compared to anything he had in Ottawa which usually amounted to Sinopoli and a bunch of scrubs. Through most of Campbell's Ottawa time Lavoie was the second most productive NAT receiver and 280 yards was his best year. If Campbell is as anti 3 Canadian receivers as you claim how have the Lions wound up with 2 starting NAT LBs? That is totally contradictory to anything he ever did in Ottawa. He never had even 1 starting NAT LB in his last 3 years in Ottawa but apparently is willing to go with 2 in BC.

As for Sayles at safety I don't think it matters if he's played it in Canadian ball. I realize 3 down ball is different from 4 down ball but I don't think there is much difference between safety in the CFL and free safety in 4 down ball. Most American DBs will have played free or strong safety. Size-wise Sayles is almost identical to the last really good BC safety; Barron Miles who rode his 5'9" 182 size all the way to the CFHOF. We'll have to see how BC Fan's reports this week (smoke permitting) lays out the secondary. They still have 13 DBs listed. Some of the position shifts in the past few days may have a lot to do with getting looks at a variety of guys in different positions. CFL rosters being as small as they are all teams have to identify who can be comfortable in positions other than the one they are projected to start in. That's critical when having to juggle mid game due to an injury. Understanding the responsibilities in the other positions also helps players work better as a cohesive unit.

[B.C.FAN]

As for Sayles at safety I don't think it matters if he's played it in Canadian ball. I realize 3 down ball is different from 4 down ball but I don't think there is much difference between safety in the CFL and free safety in 4 down ball. Most American DBs will have played free or strong safety. Size-wise Sayles is almost identical to the last really good BC safety; Barron Miles who rode his 5'9" 182 size all the way to the CFHOF. We'll have to see how BC Fan's reports this week (smoke permitting) lays out the secondary. They still have 13 DBs listed. Some of the position shifts in the past few days may have a lot to do with getting looks at a variety of guys in different positions. CFL rosters being as small as they are all teams have to identify who can be comfortable in positions other than the one they are projected to start in. That's critical when having to juggle mid game due to an injury. Understanding the responsibilities in the other positions also helps players work better as a cohesive unit.

Sayles is a ball hawk with good CFL experience who is used to covering a lot of ground as field halfback. He reminds me a lot of Ryan Phillips as a player. Many Lions' followers wanted to see Phillips play safety to read routes, direct traffic in the secondary and ideally minimize big plays and maximize turnovers. Phillips is now the Lions' DB coach. I suspect he wants to use Sayles' experience to stabilize a secondary that will likely have at least two new CFL starters.

IMO American players with no CFL experience are not well suited to the safety position. There are just too many differences between American and Canadian football. The Lions tried to go with a rookie American safety in 2019 and eventually abandoned that idea. It takes several years of CFL experience as a halfback or corner before a player is ready to make the switch to safety. Rick Campbell's defence aims to minimize big plays for the offence and maximize turnovers. Sayles can help the Lions achieve that.

[B.C.FAN]

Practice was cancelled for a second straight day Wednesday due to smoke in Kamloops. Like Tuesday, the team will try to do a walkthrough later in the day. Thursday is the final day of camp, with the team’s third scrimmage scheduled for 8:30 to 10:45 a.m., followed by final cuts.

[OV - 54:40]

Interesting read from BC Fan about the potential starting defence: lots of inexperience and rookies - 3 on the D-Line; at MLB; maybe one in the secondary, plus has Sayles ever played safety in Canadian ball before ? ( a 5-9, 176 size safety ?) Hopefully they make up for it with lots of hustle and athleticism and maybe they can gel fast ?


OTOH - the offence has tons of experience and proven players. Cottoy not listed as a starter in the receiver 5 pack, with Whithead getting the nod? (Hambone - did we make a bet there on Campbell going with 3 starting NI receivers ? ;o) )

Kicking game maybe a big concern too ?

Maybe you got me this time.

Whitehead does bring a dynamic ingredient to the Lions receiving corps that they've been lacking for many years. Listening to Maksymic a day or two ago he's planning on using multiple receiving packages to mix things up for defenses. Reading between the lines I think that will mean while Burnham and Durant will be mainstays the other 4 (Shaq, Lucky, Rhymes and Cottoy) will do a lot of rotating to give opposing defenses a variety of different looks. Cottoy will still see a lot of playing time on offense.

I still believe coaches ratio decisions are based on what they have to work with, not a predetermined pigeon holing. Talent-wise the group of NAT receivers Campbell is working with in BC is uber deep compared to anything he had in Ottawa which usually amounted to Sinopoli and a bunch of scrubs. Through most of Campbell's Ottawa time Lavoie was the second most productive NAT receiver and 280 yards was his best year. If Campbell is as anti 3 Canadian receivers as you claim how have the Lions wound up with 2 starting NAT LBs? That is totally contradictory to anything he ever did in Ottawa. He never had even 1 starting NAT LB in his last 3 years in Ottawa but apparently is willing to go with 2 in BC.

As for Sayles at safety I don't think it matters if he's played it in Canadian ball. I realize 3 down ball is different from 4 down ball but I don't think there is much difference between safety in the CFL and free safety in 4 down ball. Most American DBs will have played free or strong safety. Size-wise Sayles is almost identical to the last really good BC safety; Barron Miles who rode his 5'9" 182 size all the way to the CFHOF. We'll have to see how BC Fan's reports this week (smoke permitting) lays out the secondary. They still have 13 DBs listed. Some of the position shifts in the past few days may have a lot to do with getting looks at a variety of guys in different positions. CFL rosters being as small as they are all teams have to identify who can be comfortable in positions other than the one they are projected to start in. That's critical when having to juggle mid game due to an injury. Understanding the responsibilities in the other positions also helps players work better as a cohesive unit.

I don't think Campbell is "anti" 3 Canadian receivers; he is just a typical CFL thinker who almost always defers to 7 NI only need apply thinking (despite winning a GC when they ended up going with more like 10 or 11 NI starters in the play-offs & GC; him and Desjardins were back to 7 only thinking not long after); and yes, these CFL HCs will go with what they have to work with and the Lions have good Canadian LB and receiver talent so they will go with that as part of their 7 only. No Canadian D-linemen in the mix ? Is a Canadian getting to really compete as starting safety (like Jamie Harry - who was a "ballhawk" in U Sports ball) ?

3 interior O-Linemen, one or two NI receivers (or maybe a RB like the Bombers & Ticats) and then just 2 NI starters wherever on D is a typical way for a CFL team to get to 7 only these days. The Lions look strong there. Things could change or evolve though.

[B.C.FAN]

Training camp is officially over. The Lions have decided to pack up and leave Kamloops early. It was fun until the air quality worsened this week.

[B.C.FAN]

According to cfl.ca, the Lions have cut former NFL safety Tyvis Powell. Powell was given first-team reps at safety for the first 10 days of training camp before being replaced by Marcus Sayles. His release isn't a big surprise. In all the practices I attended, I didn't see Powell make any plays.

[Reg18]

With the news today about the move back to Surrey it looks toi me that we are ahead of schedfule and preparing to move to an in seasdon work out process. Im also thinking that theyhave cut the roster already to what they will look like starting the year. They haven't announced many more cuts but I believe that they have enough information to proceed. Those that report to Surrey will be our team with the odd move as necessary to meet league cutdowns. . they are taking the rider game very seriously. Im feeling very positive! Given last year's performance I think our team will be playing with a chip on their shoulders. It may be a statement game. Hopefully we play a smart physical game. If they have the single game betting working I will be betting on the Lions.