Leos/Riders Round 2 - Game Day Thread

[DanoT]

Injured lists. Jones really loads up. 16 injured, or so to speak.

And there sit Dillon Guy and Jeremy Zver. He sure seems to like hunting and fishing through our roster.

Anybody of interest to us on his lists?



2017-08-12_1308.png.

Wally tried to sign an O line player from Bombers PR but no go.
http://3downnation.com/2017/08/12/bombe ... tempt-get/

Zyver is from Regina so I can understand him wanting to stay with the Riders.

I don't know where Guy is from but he has chosen to stay on the practice roster with a likely non playoff team who are now starting just two NATs on the Oline and he has turned down a chance to dress on the 44man roster for the Lions who originally drafted him, and the Lions are starting 4 NATs on the Oline.

[Blitz]

Injured lists. Jones really loads up. 16 injured, or so to speak.

And there sit Dillon Guy and Jeremy Zver. He sure seems to like hunting and fishing through our roster.

Anybody of interest to us on his lists?

2017-08-12_1308.png.

Wally tried to sign an O line player from Bombers PR but no go.
http://3downnation.com/2017/08/12/bombe ... tempt-get/

Zyver is from Regina so I can understand him wanting to stay with the Riders.

We should never have lost Zver, a second round pick. All we had to do was put Jas Dhillon on the injury list or practice roster (where its unlikely he would have been picked up).

We also could have put Zver on the injury list. But Wally wanted to try to cheap out with the lower pay of a practice roster spot for Zver and it backfired on him. Then he was stuck searching for a backup like Zver ever since he lost him.

Now, instead of Zver, we have Goscana (5th rounder of Calgary) and Andrew Jones (released last season) and made an unsuccessful attempt for Spooner.

Looking forward to this game but worried too....due to it being the second game of a back to back and the fact we handled Regina so well last time.

A great start would demoralize the Riders but if they can get a lead or hang in there with us in the first half, then its going to be a battle.

[pennw]

The thing with Zver is , he's a Saskachewan native , so may have wanted to stay there as some do . Had we have done something else to have kept him out of Jones hands , would he perhaps have returned to the Riders anyway after he becomes a free agent ? Should home town loyalties be a consideration when drafting ? To some players. It's a non-issue , others want to play for their home team .
As for Dillon Guy I thought he was from Ontario , so no idea why he would want to stay with the Riders , if offered a better spot here .

[Blitz]

I sure hope we can run the football effectively again against the Riders. We had over 200 yards rushing last game. That will be difficult to duplicate but we need to run the football.

Its interesting that the two CFL teams that are rushing the football least (Regina, Hamilton) have struggling offences. Montreal, B.C. Calgary, and Edmonton lead the CFL in rushing.

There was a time that the CFL had almost moved to a pass and catch league. But the running game returned. Here in B.C. I credit Hufnagel, who served as a consultant to our offence in 2007, for reestablishing the importance of the running game with our Leos.

We led the CFL in rushing in 2007 and although there was resistance from players as Dickenson and Simon to a less pass focused attack that season, our success in 2007 as the CFL's best offence (Jarious won 9/11 games for us as our third string quarterback) was contigent on running the football.

An effective running attack keeps defenses off balance. doesn't defensive lines to tee off, forces defensive backs to be looking into the backfield more, sets up play action, and makes linebackers lives often miserable.

Last week, we got back to more of our offensive identity.....with a very solid ground game, a vertical attack, and we also stretched the field horizontally enough to keep the Riders off balance all game.

[DanoT]

A big question for me is why are the Riders going with 4 INTs on the O line instead of playing Guy or St. John, the 1st overall pick from last year? Are these guys that bad? If Guy isn't good enough to play or even dress for the Riders do we really want him on the Lions 44man roster?

[Blitz]

A big question for me is why are the Riders going with 4 INTs on the O line instead of playing Guy or St. John, the 1st overall pick from last year? Are these guys that bad? If Guy isn't good enough to play or even dress for the Riders do we really want him on the Lions 44man roster?

Its difficult to understand Jones thinking in Saskatchewan. I can understand the four Internationals on the offensive line, even if it means that Stl John isn't starting. At least that was working for Regina, except for last game, when our Leos did get some pressure on Glenn.

Until last weeks game against our Leos, The 38-year-old Glenn began this season with the best five-game totals of his 17-year career. So far this season Glenn is completing 70.7% of his passes, has thrown 11 touchdown passes, and has a 98.6 % quarterback efficiency average. If the Riders could give him a running game, he would be even more effective.

What I find difficult to understand is Jones philosophy on defense in Regina. Jones won four Grey Cups with different teams as a defensive coordinator with blitzing defenses and press man coverage. I could understand why he was reluctant to do that for part of last year in Regina until he was able to get more talent in his secondary.

But Jones has been reluctant to go back to the style that he has been so successful with in the past. What has he got to lose? The Riders are 8th in CFL defense.

That passive style in the secondary, that our defense also played last year, is also not getting the Riders any interceptions. Last week, the Roughriders did not have a single player on their roster who had registered an interception this season.

Saskatchewan’s two interceptors this season were from defensive lineman Jonathan Newsome (who is now on the Ottawa Redblacks’ six-game injured list) and Sam Williams (who is on the Roughriders’ practice roster).

Its difficult to understand Jones thinking, when it comes to the Riders defense. Last week they rushed their four defensive linemen 70% of the time but they didn't get good pressure on most plays and Lulay dissected them in the first half.

[SammyGreene]

Always look forward to Lions games at Saskatchewan, especially the brand new and very impressive Mosiac. Looks fantastic full and guessing it will be again today.

If there was a game for Jennings to return, this is it. If he wasn't close to 100 percent then I would have held him back to the Ottawa game Aug. 26. No way his first start should be the Stamps next Friday. So get rid of the rust today, his timing back and hopefully be close to all cylinders in 5 days.

I'm actually hoping Burnham is given today off and, again, will be back to 100 percent for Calgary. Hoping Gaitor is ready for next week too.

For sure back to backs are never easy but Lions left a lot of points on the field at BC Place and a few more of those drives to the end zone would have resulted in an early blow out. Just take care of business today and hopefully come out of it healthy.

I know all teams deal with short weeks but this one is brutal for the Lions. Four days from now they are doing their pre-game walk thru at BC Place for one of their biggest home games of the year.
Meanwhile, the Stamps are coming off a bye week and have had plenty of time to prepare for the Lions. Hell, Calgary could send a couple of coaches to Mosiac today if they really wanted to. With what really is shaping up as an imbalanced league this is significant disadvantage for the Lions.

[JaboVancouver]

Nice to see a lot of us really have no idea what the hell Chris Jones is doing/thinking. I still feel he doesn't make it through the season, barring major changes on the scoreboard. Defence is supposed to be his thing, and the Riders have been sorely lacking in all areas on D. If it weren't for the tire fire in Hamilton, there would be a lot more noise about that.

Leos should take this one, unless the crowd somehow wins it.

[CardiacKid]

It's unfortunate about Adekolu being released, I thought he shined in the limited opportunities provided and showed a real toughness and ability to catch difficult passes. Plus he is a very personable guy who got involved with the Leo's community efforts.

I believe Quinn Smith is on the Stamps PR and might be another potential target.

I can see Spooner wishing to stay with the Bombers but in the case of Guy, I wonder if the economics of playing in Regina overcame any thoughts of potentially wallowing in the soap opera that is Riderville.

Meanwhile I will still occasionally venture online to keep tabs on Brett Boyko's status.

[CardiacKid]

If the Lions are in a similar position this game as last, namely having a stranglehold on the score board, I hope they don't let up until the final whistle.

Really put a stamp on the game and put the league and themselves on notice they are a force to be reckoned with.

Plus if Duron Carter is effectively shutdown this game, I suspect it will be a real test of his character. I hate to admit it but I would be mildly amused if Sideshow DC Chillin' re-emerged to become a distraction. I find it very interesting that Boris Bede is back to his rookie form after Carter and his crew of toxic miscreants were jettisoned by the Als.

[B.C.FAN]

Bryan Burnham has been scratched due to his nagging foot injury. I don't know if he'll be replaced by Maurice Morgan or if that will allow Nick Moore to play slotback with Chris Williams taking fulltime reps at boundary WR.

[WestCoastJoe]

Feelin' the buzz. Game time coming up.

[TheLionKing]

Will this afternoon be the day that Rainey gets untracked ?

[TheLionKing]

2 and out. Good start

[TheLionKing]

Field goal attempt wide. Lions surrenders a single point