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The Lions issued a new training camp depth chart on the eve of the Calgary preseason game. There are two changes to the projected starting lineup on offence:

1. Dobson Collins is listed ahead of Nick Moore and Kierie Johnson at WR (x). That's the battle I'm most interested in watching during preseason.

2. Dean Valli is isted ahead of Andrew Jones at right guard. Jesse Newman, who was listed as the starter at the beginning of camp, is now listed as backup to Jon Hameister-Ries at left guard.

Interestingly, Kamau Paterson is not listed as a starter. Peterson is listed behind Shawn Gore at slotback (w). Akeem Foster is still listed ahead of Marco Iannuzzi as the other WR.

There are no significant changes to starters or backups on defence.

TRAINING CAMP REPORT, SATURDAY, JUNE 18, MORNING SESSION

There are only four quarterbacks remaining in camp. Matt Johnson was released today.

Among those sitting out the morning session were FB Rolly Lumbala, DB Michael Carter and CB Dante Marsh. I didn't see Korey Banks on the field or the sidelines.

Stanley Franks, who has been out with a hamstring injury, started practice, then sat out. David Hyland got most of the reps at wide-side halfback. Travis Williams played Marsh's short-side corner position and looked good. Junior invitee Jordan Linnen played some wide-size corner and should have a good future.

Geroy Simon is clearly still the class of the receiving corps, at age 35 and counting. Steve Black and Shawn Gore are both solid starters. The other two starting spots are less clear. Nick Moore was the most impressive of the other receivers but Dobson Collins and Akeem Foster are still listed as the fourth and fifth starters. Kierie Johnson's lack of height is noticeable. At five foot 10, he's four inches shorter than Moore and Collins.

The defensive line dominated the offensive line in team play. Pass protection was solid but there were no holes for the inside running game. The domination was most noticeable with the second units. The pecking order seems firmly established on the offensive line. There are still a lot of linemen vying for positions on the defensive side.

Thanks for the report, BCFAN.

Here is the latest depth chart from the Lions' website, as of June 18th.

Collins still listed as #1 wideout.

Henley and Bryant #3 at DE and DT respectively. Wally has said he will not release players he truly wants to keep. He has cleared it with his bosses. Good to hear. No point trying to run the team on the cheap. Bring back the Taxi Squad, erh ahem ... the Practice Roster, or the Injured List.

Travis Williams is no doubt lighting a fire under Ryan Phillips.

Bit of a concern at safety IMO. Is LaRose going to be healthy enough to count on? Will Arakgi show the instincts for a position he has not played before? IMO Muamba is the longer term solution there.

Looks like Newman is a backup at this point, behind JonHR at left guard. IMO the O Line looks solid. Olafioye seems very versatile indeed. Not sure if we can keep Sage and Baboulas both. Be nice if we could. Dean Valli gets a new life at right guard. IMO he is full value for it. Hard worker. Got the girth, etc. Just needs to relax and play. Keep the prefrontal cortex work to a minimum.

does rgr stand for really great receiver??

I had a lot of fun at training camp during my several visits over the week I was in Kamloops (Staurday eve, all day Sunday, Monday eve, Thurs eve and Fri am). A great bunch of guys, and I especially enjoyed my conversations with Travis Lulay, Paul McCallum, Jesse Newman, Keron Williams, Ryan Phillips and Jason Arakgi. Travis and RP will remember me as "the guy with the Montana State Bobcats jersey" and I think Jason got as big a kick out of our "Varsity Blues" moment as I did. Great memories and good times - looks like a very cohesive team with lots of talent and great personalities. Go Lions!!!!

TRAINING CAMP REPORT SATURDAY, JUNE 18, AFTERNOON SESSION

The final two-a-days of training camp couldn't come soon enough for many players. The list of those sitting out the Saturday afternoon session at some position groups was longer than the list of those playing.

On defence, Korey Banks, Dante Marsh and Stanley Franks again sat out. Davis Sanchez and rookie DB Michael Carter took part in early, non-contact drills only. Brent Johnson was another notable on the sidelines during the afternoon session. On offence, receivers Shawn Gore, Steven Black and Nick Moore didn't practise, along with FB Rolly Lumbala.

With three key receivers and four key pass defenders on the sidelines, the quarterbacks mainly played catch with Geroy Simon for two hours. Geroy's dominance against second-and third-teamers serves to emphasize the fact that at this stage it's pretty easy to tell who's a starter and who isn't. For receivers, you could probably make a decision based on who catches the ball consistently and who doesn't. There were plenty of passes dropped in position drills and skeleton, but to players' credit, there were few drops in high-spirited team sessions. In addition to making numerous touchdown catches against the likes of David Hyland, Hamid Mahmoudi and J.R. LaRose, Geroy had the catch of the day, a diving grab while being simultaneously hit by LaRose on a deep crossing route. Akeem Foster showed why he has been pencilled in as fifth receiver. He caught some key passes in traffic for first downs in the final team session of the day. Being the tallest B.C. receiver at six foot four no doubt helps QBs find him in traffic. Ryan Phillips had the only interception of the afternoon and also returned a fumble.

Two non-starters on defence who stood out as potential starters were Anthony Reddick and Travis Williams. Reddick took all reps at Banks' nickelback position and was a force, as always. He showed last year that he has the speed, size and smarts to play just about anywhere. He deserves more reps. Williams, who spent part of last year on the practice roster, is filling in admirably for Marsh on the hot corner. He broke up two deep passes, including one in which he ran stride for stride with Geroy on a fly pattern. That was the only time Geroy didn't catch a ball thrown his way.

On the negative side of the ledger, Kierrie Johnson dropped a potential touchdown pass when he got behind third-string cornerback Cauchy Muamba. Wally Buono doesn't take many notes during practice but he did pull out his notebook for that one. Johnson also appeared to mistime his jump on an open post pattern at the back of the end zone.

Wally also got involved when third-string centre Adam Baboulas and rookie quarterback Corey Leonard fumbled three exchanges in team session of goal-line offence. Wally pulled Baboulas out of the lineup after the second fumble but he later went back in and had another bad exchange. The team only runs a certain number of plays in each scenario and having three of those plays ruined can ruin an entire practice. Other than those bad exchanges, I was impressed by Leonard's poise and decision-making in the pocket in the final team-play session. He threw accurately to the right receiver (Foster) for first downs while under pressure. He's a keeper.

I'm looking forward to Wednesday. I hope most of the regulars are ready to go by then and the final few position battles are settled under game conditions.

One decision that Wally will have to make involves Kamau Peterson. He's probably the Lions' third or fourth option among non-import receivers, ahead only of Marco Iannuzzi. Peterson's experience and blocking skill are valuable to the team but is his pricetag in line with the role the Lions seem to have for him?