As I look ahead to the 2017 CFL season, it would not be wise for any CFL team to be shopping a perennial all-star lineman due to salary concerns. Wally should have planned for the SMS much better than this.
As I look at the CFL, Calgary, with Dickenson and Hufnagel and Bo Levi Mitchell are going to be a very good team again in 2017. Edmonton will be improved, with Ed Hervey bringing in good players, with Maas in his second year as a HC, with Reilley at quarterback, and their defense way ahead, personnel wise, than they were at this stage last year. They lost Walker but Bowman is back and the Eskimos will be tough. Winnipeg has solidified its quarterback situation and they signed away Stanley Bryant from the Stamps to add to their offensive line talent. The Riders, after a first year of turmoil under Chris Jones, should be better this season.
The Rough Riders not only signed the most free agents for the 2017 season but they also signed coveted Calgary offensive lineman Derek Dennis (341 pounds). The Riders will also have a healthy Brendon LaBatte on the left side to compliment Dennis. At the receiver position the Ridres have Duron Carter, Naaman Roosevelt, Bakari Grant, Chad Owens and Rob Bagg. as well as Caleb Holley, Ricky Collins Jr., Joe Craig and Armanti Edwards. They also re-signed impact defensive end Willie Jefferson before he got to free agency, ex-NFL tailback Daniel Thomas. The Rough Ridres also signed ratio changer and safety Marc-Olivier Brouillette. There will be no free ride playing the Riders this season.
So in the West, both Wiinnipeg and the Riders hoped to improve by paying big bucks to two talented free agent offensive lineman and we are looking to trade our best offensive lineman. Doesn't make sense to me. There will be no easy games in the West this season and we were only .500 in the West Division last season, with 3 of those 5 wins coming at the expense of Saskatchewan.
If we want to go with four Nationals on the offensive line, it makes sense to me to move Hunter Steward to left tackle, his natural position and a spot he played very well at during the 2015 season before his injury. We could then move Jovan back to right tackle where he will do a much better job than Antonio Johnson ever could. If Stewart gets hurt, we would either have to insert an International in his place and go with two National receivers or we will have to play a National at left tackle. We had hoped for Brett Boyko to join our Leos but he is signed right now by San Diego. We could also draft a Nantional left tackle for depth.
In terms of salary, we don't need to pay big bucks for a fourth International receiver. There are less expensive options than Nick Moore, although he is a good possession receiver but he also has been hurt a lot in his career. We have many National and International recieivers on the roster who could slip into the wide slot spot for 2017. Marco Iannnuzzi is also an overpaid National receiver who has not stepped up his game, dispite 6 seasons as a starter.
We also likely won't be able to feast on the East, as we did last year. Montreal will be greatly improved. They will have a knowledgeable coach in Chapdelaine on the sidelines rather than the Jim Popp show that hurt them so much last year. They also signed Ernest Jackson’s arrival and he will compliment a healthy S.J. Green and veteran Nik Lewis. In Toronto, with Mark Trestmann back in the CFL, Ricky Ray will be throwing much more quickly and Toronto's offence will become much more complex as well as more difficult to stop. It may take some time but they will be better.
Hamilton will have Collaras to start the season and he should return to his 2015 form. Defensive tackle Ted Laurent, defensive ends John Chick and Adrian Tracy as well as Canadian defensive end Justin Capicciotti provide a solid base of both national and international talent for the Tiger Cats on defense and they also have Simoni Lawrence at linebacker. Even though Ottawa lost some key players to free agency including Ernest Jackson, but don't think they have been decimated. Ottawa was not going to sign Chris Williams. Ottawa signed Diontae Spencer and Kenny Shaw out of Toronto and Spencer gives the Reddblacks the speed they lost with Chris Williams. Ottawa has Greg Ellingson and Brad Sinopoli as well as emerging Juron Criner.
So as I look at the CFL for 2017, our Leos look to have an exciting lineup but it looks as if every CFL team will be better this year. No time to be shopping a perennial all-star offensive lineman. They are coveted (as Bryant and Dennis were this off-season). Wally needs to find a different way to manage his SMS for 2017 and different decisions are required than choosing this option.
Protecting the quarterback, opening holes for the running attack are priorities for our offence. No sense having an exciting young quarterback in Jennings, a good receiving corpps and talented running backs like Johnson and Rainey, if you don't have the horses in front of them to allow them to do their job to the best of their ability. Winning usually takes palce in the trenches first.
This is what Wally said last year at training camp.
Throughout the offseason and first few days of training camp, Wally Buono has repeated his mission statement over and over: If the Lions want to get back to the CFL penthouse in November, they must own the line of scrimmage. Having Jovan Olafioye at left tackle will no doubt play a big part fulfilling said mission. Entering his 7th season in orange, the Detroit native still has the excitement and mentality of someone just breaking into the pros. “It’s always fun to come to camp and see the guys you haven’t seen in awhile,” Olafioye said. “In football or any sport, you become a family.”
The big left tackle, who famously said he would “run through a wall” for Buono when the head coach announced his return to the sidelines in November. Since migrating north, Olafioye’s resume has become as impressive as any CFL lineman you will find. Six CFL All-Star selections, six more divisional nods and the 2012 league Most Outstanding Lineman Award to go along with his Grey Cup win in 2011.
New draftee Charles Vaillancourt has fit in quite nicely. Don’t think for a second that doesn’t have something to do with having a good group of veterans like Olafioye to lean on. “You can’t ask for more,” Vaillancourt said. “He is so good with his technique and just by observing you pick up so much about how they play. Everything we can pick up from watching and asking questions is great.”
“This is my football home,” Olafioye declared. “I am a BC Lion.”
"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)