Prefontaine to the Eskimos!

[Rammer]

How do the Argos trade Pre to the Eskss, well they just picked up Mike Vanderjagt. The CFL kicking game just improved in Eskimo land.

[Solar Max]

Somebody in Tarana been smokin' too much BC weed, mon.

Stupidest move ever (scratch that, these are the ARGOS we're talking about) , and once more the Evil Empire benefits.

[Rammer]

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=239300& ... pStory_cfl

It will be interesting to see how much that kicker position is going to end up costing the Eskimos, as they traded for Pikula and O'Mahony, now Prefontaine. Still he is a great pickup considering from where they were headed this season. I wonder what happens to Kean, as he was also a 1st round selection just last years draft.

[Solar Max]

Word out of Edmonton was that Kean could not punt, if memory serves. Since the Esks would prefer to use one P/K and not a Punter and a Kicker, Prefontaine fits the bill nicely. It puts O'Mahony in a pretty bad spot though, and at least Pikula seems to have left the game in favour of a business opportunity at home in Ontario.

I'm still shaking my head at this move on the Argos part, though. Granted they had some issues with the type of punting that Prefontaine does, mainly not high but deep, sometimes not allowing the cover team to get downfield fast enough, and the fact that he was shaky PKing last year outside 35 or so, but given the smack on the noggin during that first game last year and the concussion, it's understandable that he had an off year.

But Vanderjagt??? The Ricky Williams thing was dumb, this is asinine, IMO.

[B.C.FAN]

But Vanderjagt??? The Ricky Williams thing was dumb, this is asinine, IMO.

Vanderjagt has an NFL pedigree. Isn't that all that counts in Toronto?

[Solar Max]

But Vanderjagt??? The Ricky Williams thing was dumb, this is asinine, IMO.

Vanderjagt has an NFL pedigree. Isn't that all that counts in Toronto?

I guess. And after all, Godfrey/Rogers rented the Bills for 10 million a game, so P.T. Barnum must have been right.

[Bosco]

How much leg does Vanderjagt still have?

At this point, I don't see this as an upgrade for the Argos.

Very strange.

[KnowItAll]

Mikes PCT last yr was still notably better than Noels last 2 seasons, for whatever that is worth.

is fg kicking supposed to be harder or easier in the NFL??

[Rammer]

Mikes PCT last yr was still notably better than Noels last 2 seasons, for whatever that is worth.

is fg kicking supposed to be harder or easier in the NFL??

Interesting question and one that may never have a solid answer, so lets call this one even.

[Blitz]

I thought Edmonton was the most improved team, based on the off-season, and picking up Prefontaine makes them better! I hate it when the East helps out our enemy!!

[Solar Max]

I thought Edmonton was the most improved team, based on the off-season, and picking up Prefontaine makes them better! I hate it when the East helps out our enemy!!

No doubt this makes the Esks better, given the choices of Kean, the now departed Pikula, and Duncan O'Mahony.

Notwithstanding who the Argos get for Prefontaine, are they better at P/K positions with Vanderjagt at 38 years old than they were yesterday?

Not a chance, IMO.

[Blitz]

Totally agree Solar Max...but if the Eskimos gave up a first rounder in 2009 for Prefontaine...as is being reported in some quarters...it's a dum move longer term...but there is a lot of pressure in Edmonton for the Evil Empire to make the playoffs this season!!

[sj-roc]

Mikes PCT last yr was still notably better than Noels last 2 seasons, for whatever that is worth.

is fg kicking supposed to be harder or easier in the NFL??

I'm no expert but I understand FG kickers in the NFL have to kick directly off the ground (no tees alllowed like in our league) so I would say harder in the NFL in that case.

Still, the Argos do seem to have this fascination with recycled NFLers... Andre Rison, Ricky Williams, David Boston and now MV? What, was Steve Christie unavailable?

[Solar Max]

Totally agree Solar Max...but if the Eskimos gave up a first rounder in 2009 for Prefontaine...as is being reported in some quarters...it's a dum move longer term...but there is a lot of pressure in Edmonton for the Evil Empire to make the playoffs this season!!

I think most of us have come to the conclusion that Danny Maciocia is in a position where he and his club must make the playoffs this season, or be sacrificed at the altar of Hughie. Football is a tough game, but it's also a business before its anything else, at least at this level.

So DM drafts Kean last year in a very early spot, but reportedly, he can't punt. Danny knows that Sean Fleming is retiring at the end of '07, so he wants to ease the Rook in there with the tutelage of the wily old master. Trouble is, Kean still can't punt.

So DM gets Pikula, but he heads back to Ontario to get a job. Then comes "White courtesy phone" O'Mahony, who lasts mere minutes it seems before the ghost of NFL past rears its head in the Centre of the Universe.

So DM scrambled, and twisted, and might just have come out smelling like a Wild Rose from all of this.

[Hambone]

Mikes PCT last yr was still notably better than Noels last 2 seasons, for whatever that is worth.

is fg kicking supposed to be harder or easier in the NFL??

Vanderjagt didn't play last year. He last played for Dallas in 2006. He's also now 38 so is no spring chicken. Prefontaine turned 34 in December. omebody else in this thread mentioned NFL pedigree. Well Mike had a pretty good CFL pedigree before he went to the NFL. As for FG kicking it theoretically is more difficult in the NFL because they don't get the benefit of the little platform tee that is used in the CFL. They have to kick off the turf down south. For the Argos this likely is all about improving their FG kicking. Vanderjagt has a career 86.5% success rate in the NFL which the last I heard was the best in NFL history. Prefontaine was good on only 66.7% last year and 69.1% over his career. When Vanderjagt played for the Argos in 1996 & 1997 he also handled the punting chores and has a career 43.8 yard average with a net ave. of 36.0.