A Look at Receivers

[globespanner]

The loss of Nick Moore changes the staffing of the WR positions. Courtney Taylor moves to slotback. I think there will be some upheaval in terms of our Canadian WR as well. Hopefully K.Jones OC and Joe Paopao WR coach can coax more out of this group than Jacques did.

Here is my Overview.

The Starters

Courtney Taylor
I like this guy. Good Size. Great speed. Excellent footwork and speed in his cuts. For the most part great hands. He is smooth as silk. The difference between him and nick Moore is I was always a bit surprised that Moore made the tough catch. With Taylor I am surprised if he does not. He has every chance to be a league all star, Definitely will get more yards than Moore did last year if he can avoid injury.

Emanuel Arceneaux

Another big 6'2" 215 lb fast 4.5/40 receiver. Though his average reception was up last year by one yard over previous years I felt disappointed by his season. Maybe it was the injuries which cost several games that at times Lulay's arm strength was suspect. He seemed under-utilized. No chance of him losing his starting role. He is a big dangerous deep and red zone receiver

Shawn Gore
Another player all of us are waiting to have a breakout season.He teases us with talent. Sometimes he is plays like superman and sometimes he is Clark Kent. The SB slot needs a lot more production than he has provided. He mayn't be on Coach B's bubble but he is on mine. I think he could lose his starting position with a poor season.

The Contenders

Korey Williams
I am not sure how fast he is, but I am certain he is the fastest person on the field. Combine that with his elusiveness and he is always potentially dangerous. He scares DB's and opens the field underneath for his teammates. He lacks concentration at times. All that said he is the kind of player you want out there because he creates space. He is the right type of receiver to complint the others. lets see if he is a contender or another high speed pretender.

Ernest Jackson
Another big fast Arcenaux size receiver. He just could not get on the field last year after flashes of brilliance in 2012. This Kid has good hands and also runs the WR reverse well. Maybe make or break for him now

Marco Ianuzzi
A swiss army knife Canadian WR. Statistically regressed last year as did all of the offence. Plays a bit faster than he is. May have trouble holding off SJ Haldara who is an up and comer.

SJ Haldara
AS the year progressed last year there were whispers that this 2nd rounder was a force to be reckoned with. Big and tough with very good hands, there came comparisons to Jason Clermont. We can only wish to have a guy who can make tough catch and move the chains consistently. The big difference I see is how fast this big guy is. he has real ability to separate. I would like to see SJ at slotback where i think he would be a scary weapon. Should Shawn Gore falter this guy will run him down and take his spot.

The Pretenders

Alexander Fox
Shorter 5"8" slower 4.64/40 Canadian receiver who caught more than 1000 yds in receptions last year

Stephen Adekolu
Getting a second try at the CFL. adekolu is a Tall 6"04" 200 lb. I look at film of him as a slotback for Bishops. he seemed to get good separation for a big man. Caught back to back TD's to beat McGill Redmen.

Whitman Tomusiak
Territorial protection getting another shot for the lions. Really have no info on this young man

[WestCoastJoe]

Great review, globespanner.

Many insights into some subtleties, beyond the numbers. For me it is always about: "Can he make plays?" Some guys play faster than their 40. Some guys play bigger than their weight. And vice versa.

You are adding a lot to the site.

[South Pender]

Another good summary, globespanner; thanks. A couple of notes: (a) I think Manny Arceneaux is more of a 4.6 guy, not 4.5 (not that there's a big difference); (b) Courtney Taylor is the 4.5 guy, and at 6-2, 204, with a vertical of 36", he seems to me to be the heir-apparent to the Ranger position; (c) Korey Williams could be very fast, but we don't have data on him. We do know that he flopped pretty badly last year (although a lot of his failures were as a kick returner). (d) add Kito Poblah to the list. He's a big guy at 6-2, 215, and 4.5/40 speed. He had a good season with the Bombers in 2012 (with 41 catches), but was injured in 2011 and 2013. He's a NI, and I hope the Lions can get some real production from him. In my view, we're very strong at the NI receiver group with Gore, Haidara, and Poblah. I'm not very high on Iannuzzi.

A guy who, by all accounts, should be very productive for us at receiver is Ernest Jackson. He's 6-2 or 6-3, 220 lbs, with 4.56/40 speed, a vertical of 40.5" (which should get him above everyone), and excellent upper-body strength (he did 24 reps on the standard 225-lb. bench-press, really excellent for a receiver). He certainly has all the measurables, but there seemed to be times last season when he looked confused, unsure of the play, or just zoned-out. The problem with him may be between the ears.

In my view, we're set at receiver--both import and NI. I don't think we'll miss Moore. Not an area that needs help at this point. The big need, IMO, is D-line.

[JohnHenry]

Great receiver overview gs! That pretty much nailed it. I believe C. Taylor could be our new Geroy. He's capable of 1600 yds and MOP consideration (along with the QB passing him the ball).

Korey Williams was reported as the fastest guy in camp last year at 4.4. Arsenault was timed at 4.5. Unfortunately Williams struggled on special teams, limiting his usefulness. It's likely the Lions will keep T. Brown as a returner this season.

[Qman]

All i can say is .... hopefully we better get a few good receivers thru FA camps, because the depth is not there anymore.


We NEED SJ to step up and produce in the starting wide-side "token-canadian" WO position this year.

Ianuzzi its fill-or-kill this year. In wally's world, its keep progressing or your shown the door (or the #8 receiver position on some irrelavent eastern team). My view is he shows some flashes but can't stay healthy (sound familiar, thats what happened at harvard too).

same for Korey Williams ... guys with your skill set have be a revolving door ... Kierrie Johnson, Drops'em Collins, etc ...

[DanoT]

All i can say is .... hopefully we better get a few good receivers thru FA camps, because the depth is not there anymore.


We NEED SJ to step up and produce in the starting wide-side "token-canadian" WO position this year.

Ianuzzi its fill-or-kill this year. In wally's world, its keep progressing or your shown the door (or the #8 receiver position on some irrelavent eastern team). My view is he shows some flashes but can't stay healthy (sound familiar, thats what happened at harvard too).

same for Korey Williams ... guys with your skill set have be a revolving door ... Kierrie Johnson, Drops'em Collins, etc ...

The lions have Kito Poblah to replace the departed Paris Jackson as backup, Haidara to challenge Gore and Ianuzzi for playing time so there is some depth there.

Earnest Jackson and Korey Williams offer depth at import receiver and big time speed from Williams and playing with 2 RBs means probably having only 4 receivers, 2 NI and 2 I, I would suspect. And enough depth.

BTW although K. Johnson and D. Collins were not good enough to stick long term with the Lions, they both were on CFL rosters last season.

[David]

BTW, did anyone else see that NIck Moore has been given his own potato chip line that's being sold at a Manitoba grocer?!?

Story on "Nick's Quick Score Chips" HERE

Folks in Manitoba will discover that the receiver and the snack are a lot alike.....they disappear in crunch time. (okay, I kid. Actually Moore really came on strong last year. He struggled early on in his career but made some tough clutch catches last year.....the easy ones though? Not so much)


DH

[TheLionKing]

Folks in Manitoba will discover that the receiver and the snack are a lot alike.....they disappear in crunch time. (okay, I kid. Actually Moore really came on strong last year. He struggled early on in his career but made some tough clutch catches last year.....the easy ones though? Not so much)


DH

Very good David

[Rammer]

BTW, did anyone else see that NIck Moore has been given his own potato chip line that's being sold at a Manitoba grocer?!?

Story on "Nick's Quick Score Chips" HERE

Folks in Manitoba will discover that the receiver and the snack are a lot alike.....they disappear in crunch time. (okay, I kid. Actually Moore really came on strong last year. He struggled early on in his career but made some tough clutch catches last year.....the easy ones though? Not so much)


DH

:lol: I like the analogy David, well done, although not fair to Moore.

Thanks for the receiver breakdown globespanner, if you can follow it up with a linebacker synopsis it will be appreciated. I think that the receiver information is pretty accurate, but I do see Gore moving past his sophomore jinx season.

[notahomer]

BTW, did anyone else see that NIck Moore has been given his own potato chip line that's being sold at a Manitoba grocer?!?

Story on "Nick's Quick Score Chips" HERE

Folks in Manitoba will discover that the receiver and the snack are a lot alike.....they disappear in crunch time. (okay, I kid. Actually Moore really came on strong last year. He struggled early on in his career but made some tough clutch catches last year.....the easy ones though? Not so much)


DH

Balsamic vinegar and black pepper chips. SOunds okay but he still can't salt away a win late in the game! Hope they do better than the Simon potato chips.....

[B.C.FAN]

Good discussion. I'm not as high on Courtney Taylor as are some people on this board. He makes some tough catches but that's about the only thing I remember about him. His average reception last year was just 12.7 yards, compared to 17.4 yards for Emmanuel Arceneaux and 15.1 yards for Nick Moore. I'm not sure whether Khari Jones will make the ranger position a focus of his offence as Jacque Chapdelaine did but I would much rather see extra passes thrown to Korey Williams (16.0 yards per catch) or Shawn Gore (a team-leading 8 TD receptions). They both strike me as being more explosive than Taylor.

Marco Iannuzzi, S.J. Haidara, Kito Poblah and Whitman Tomusiak are all quality non-imports. There will be some good battles for game reps and roster positions. Poblah and Haidara may be the most athletic of that group. Poblah would be a surefire starter if he could just hang on to the ball better than he did in Winnipeg.

[WestCoastJoe]

I see more in Iannuzzi than most, it seems. And yet he is mostly potential. He has not really been given many reps. I do not think he has been getting a Buono dispensation for Italian brotherhood.

A deep group of NI receivers. I like Gore. He also seems to get limited reps for what he brings. Haidara shows very nice potential, relatively untested. I would like to see what Tomusiak can bring.

We need at least two import receivers firing on all cylinders. We should be able to get that. Arceneaux for one. I tend to see high end gliding speed in Arceneaux. He has been dynamic in the past. Injuries may have slowed him down last year. He has also shown the ability to run after catch.
..........

It seems we have the possibility of a very good offence. Some O Line questions remain. OC is new.
...........

Lots of concern expressed about our free agency activity, and about our draft. But we seem to be addressing needs. I would say that Wally and staff seem to have confidence in our NI safety group. I would say that except we made a big push to acquire Craig Butler. So safety remains a concern.

New guys all over the place. OC, DC, players.

With good personnel work, I would say that finding quality imports from the huge pool of talent available is not that much of a problem. Drafting and developing non imports is more of a challenge, it seems to me. Based on what we know at this point, there is no reason to think we cannot compete for the Cup. Hopefully we get to find out.

[SammyGreene]

Again an excellent breakdown here globespanner.

David that is hilarious about Moore's chip deal. Maybe we were spoiled with all those great years with Geroy but I was shocked there was a bidding war for a soon to be 28 year old import receiver who has had one 1,000-plus yard in the CFL and it took more than $150,000 to sign him.

My greatest concern is Areseneaux who is coming off ACL surgery and, like Lulay, will likely be eased into full-time action. He looked explosive early in the season but clearly slowed down in the stretch run when he was playing on a bad wheel. I distinctively recall Lulay trying to hook up with him deep a few times in the Western Semi with Areseneaux having little to no separation from the DB. With his size and big stride he can easily have a dominating season IF he puts that serious injury behind him.

I echo the comments of BC FAN and WC Joe too. I think Taylor is more a meat and potatoes guy who can make the tough catches than be a game breaker.
I just don't think Chapdelaine properly used Gore whose athleticism and strength were often utilized in those end arounds or in traffic. He took some hellacious hits. The couple of practices I went to last year they threw some deep post routes to him I was surprised at how fast he was. Hopefully Jones will stretch the field with him more.

Williams had that electrifying kick return in the pre-season game against Calgary then never could live up to that hype when he replaced Brown in week #2. But I thought he showed some good signs as a receiver. A great TD catch in traffic against Edmonton then turned nothing into a something thanks to his athleticism later in the year against the Riders. Wouldn't be shocked even he is one of the bigger surprises coming out of camp.

Jackson has also shown flashes of brilliance over the past 2 seasons and could be ready for a greater role.

Ianuzzi had good chemistry with Lulay in 2012, especially in the red zone, that was lost last season. Hopefully a bounce back year as we very well could be relying on three Canadian receivers if the o-line requires more American help. S.J. Haidara showed great potential and I would love to see him have a more expanded role.

During the Lions good run from 2004-2006 three Canadian receivers had significant roles — Clermont, Thelwell and Jackson. Comparable contributions from this group could help ease the pressure on the Lions lack of non-import depth elsewhere. We have also been extremely lucky at how durable Harris has been the last 3 seasons. Should he get dinged, again it would be asking more from the Canadian receivers.

[Shi Zi Mi]

And they sign 3 more.....

http://www.bclions.com/article/leos-ink-receiving-trio

[South Pender]

And they sign 3 more.....

http://www.bclions.com/article/leos-ink-receiving-trio

Wow. Didn't see a real need there, but its all about competition as Pete Carroll would say. Of those three, Webb looks the best to me: good size at 6-2, 204 Lbs., excellent speed with a 4.50 40, and agility, with a 4.00 20-yard shuttle. He also had a 40" vertical, which is really good. So the measurables are there, the only questions remaining being can he catch, get separation, fight the ball, etc. He looks good at this point.