Ed Willes is back on the Lions' beat and sets the scene with DeVone Claybrooks reflecting on the many roster changes the Lions have made as they ride a four-game winning streak into Edmonton after starting 0-5 and 1-10.
Ed Willes: Revamped Lions will present a whole different test for the EskimosLet’s see, the Lions coach said as he took inventory of everything that’s happened to his lineup over the last three months. They’ve got a new left guard (Hunter Steward), a new centre (Philip Norman), a new right guard (David Foucault) and a new right tackle (Justin Renfrow).
On the other side of the ball there’s a new rush end (Shawn Lemon), a new tackle (David Menard), a new middle linebacker (Maleki Harris), a new weak-side backer (Isaiah Guzylak-Messam) and a new field corner (Crezdon Butler). The punter, Josh Bartel, had been there all of one game and there’s a new return man in Ryan Lankford to consider.
Throw in safety Branden Dozier, who’d played three games to that point in the season, and Claybrooks was looking at 12 new starters since the start of the regular season.
“I was watching the game film and I’m saying, ‘Oh man, this guy’s different. That guy’s different,” said the Lions’ head coach. “We’ve definitely evolved our team. It’s a different time for us.”
Yes, a little different than 1-10.
“It took longer than expected,” Claybrooks continued. “I mean, we never thought we’d start that way but we’ve put ourselves in that hole and now we’re trying to dig our way out.”
One bit of bad news for the Lions is that Lemar Durant is out of the season after suffering a foot injury against Toronto. With Jevon Cottoy out with a hamstring injury last week, the Lions finished that game with Rashaun Simonise and Benjamin Plu as two of their five receivers. They'll need to make changes to their ratio if Cottoy isn't back this week.