The depth chart for tomorrow is up already. Apparently I should have paid more attention to training camp, since I was surprised by a few things.
The offensive line is pretty similar, apart from Simeon Rottier at right tackle, with new pickup Ramsay as his backup. Gauthier is the left tackle, Dyakowski at left tackle, Hage at center and Hudson at right guard. Some guy named Dewit is backing up at center, with Morencie backing up Hudson. A veritable festival of non-imports, with nary an import to be seen. With Jimeniz on the nine game injury list, it will probably stay that way. Hopefully Rottier can hold up his side.
For the receivers, not much difference from the end of last year. James and non-import Bauman are the receivers with the slotbacks being McDaniel and non-import Stala. Bruce again is listed as backing up Bauman, like they did last year, which makes no sense, but he'll be out there all the time. Cobb is the running back, with two year man Darcy Brown, out of St. Mary's is actually listed as the starter. I predict a shitload of five receiver sets with Cobb in the backfield. Glenn starts. That's eight Canadian starters on offense. Crazy and good.
On defence, Long and Hickman start as the ends, with Bolden in the middle and non-import Kirk listed as also starting in the middle. McIntyre is listed as a backup, but I assume he'll be in a lot for Kirk.
Linebackers, Knowlton, Floyd and Johnson. Easy.
In the secondary, Bradley and Tisdale are the corners. Dennis and Shivers are the defensive backs, with non-import Beveridge starting over Barker at safety (a bit of a surprise). That's potentially ten Canadian starters, although Kirk and Bauman strike me as not being true starters, no matter what the chart says.
Deangelis kicks and Palardy punts. Hopefully Palardy can do the job.
For Winnipeg, they apparently don't have it listed yet. I'll check and go over it tomorrow if they deign to list it.
Showing posts with label bluebombers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bluebombers. Show all posts
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Friday, July 31, 2009
CFL Previews, Week 4, Part 2
Winnipeg at Toronto,
Finally QBs Michael Bishop and Kerry Joseph will square off on opposing teams. Or maybe Saskatchewan played Toronto late last season, I can't remember. Anyways, apparently Winnipeg is starting the very recently acquired Bishop on the road in Toronto this week. Generally not a plan for success, but he probably can't do much worse than former starter Stefan LeFors, he of the truly sad completion percentage. Bishop does bring some upside by being able to grab some yards on the ground and also complete the occasional bomb, but he isn't particularly good. Maybe later on in the season, he will help Winnipeg's reasonable defence to some wins. Toronto doesn't look particularly good after getting rid of Arland Bruce and also sitting their other decent receiver Reggie McNeal, a converted quarterback. Probably Toronto tries to get the ball into capable running back Jamal Robertson's hands as much as possible both on the ground and in the air. If Toronto wins tonight, they will be one game back of last year's win total. Better than what I would have thought in some ways.
Toronto 24, Winnipeg 14
Saskatchewan at Calgary,
Calgary is looking hot and Saskatchewan is looking a bit like a fading team after week four. Calgary is at home which should in theory help, although there will probably be some green in the stands. Saskatchewan's defence is good, their offense is more inconsistent than anything else. Calgary has lost one of their best receivers for the season, which shouldn't help. Basically I'll pick Henry Burris over Darian Durant.
Calgary 40, Saskatchewan 29
In somewhat perplexing news, the CFL will offer repeats of CFL games on iTunes for $2.49, available after the broadcast. Considering they are available for free on the TSN website I'm not sure how much of a market there is for these, but I suppose any way to make some extra money on something you've already produced can't hurt.
Finally QBs Michael Bishop and Kerry Joseph will square off on opposing teams. Or maybe Saskatchewan played Toronto late last season, I can't remember. Anyways, apparently Winnipeg is starting the very recently acquired Bishop on the road in Toronto this week. Generally not a plan for success, but he probably can't do much worse than former starter Stefan LeFors, he of the truly sad completion percentage. Bishop does bring some upside by being able to grab some yards on the ground and also complete the occasional bomb, but he isn't particularly good. Maybe later on in the season, he will help Winnipeg's reasonable defence to some wins. Toronto doesn't look particularly good after getting rid of Arland Bruce and also sitting their other decent receiver Reggie McNeal, a converted quarterback. Probably Toronto tries to get the ball into capable running back Jamal Robertson's hands as much as possible both on the ground and in the air. If Toronto wins tonight, they will be one game back of last year's win total. Better than what I would have thought in some ways.
Toronto 24, Winnipeg 14
Saskatchewan at Calgary,
Calgary is looking hot and Saskatchewan is looking a bit like a fading team after week four. Calgary is at home which should in theory help, although there will probably be some green in the stands. Saskatchewan's defence is good, their offense is more inconsistent than anything else. Calgary has lost one of their best receivers for the season, which shouldn't help. Basically I'll pick Henry Burris over Darian Durant.
Calgary 40, Saskatchewan 29
In somewhat perplexing news, the CFL will offer repeats of CFL games on iTunes for $2.49, available after the broadcast. Considering they are available for free on the TSN website I'm not sure how much of a market there is for these, but I suppose any way to make some extra money on something you've already produced can't hurt.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
CFL Previews, Week 4, Part 1
Hamilton at Montreal
Montreal is head and shoulders above all the over teams in the league right now. Provided Calvillo stays healthy, they should continue as a wrecking ball throughout the league. Calvillo's McManus like quick release is murder on defences and their own defence has been playing fantastic. Not a good recipe for the Cats, who have moved from terrible to decent this season but not great. Porter will start and hopefully his relatively high completion percentage will get some first downs in the first half, keeping the ball away from Montreal's offense and avoid Montreal getting away from them. Haley will start at middle linebacker for the injured Otis Floyd, which is not good news. Hopefully the other linebackers can step up. Montreal is at home, and unfortunately will probably win fairly easily.
Montreal 43, Hamilton 28
Toronto at Winnipeg
This one was already a tough one to call, but things have gotten weirder with news that receiver Arland Bruce is being left at home for disciplinary reasons. Bruce then spouted off about coach Bart Andrus and quarterback Kerry Joseph. Makes one wonder if Bruce will stay an Argo. Certainly one normally would side on the coach with this one, but Bruce is one of the best receivers in the league and the Argos are already down a bunch of non-import receivers. Sometimes as coach you have to find ways to keep your unruly superstars happy. The Argos won't be able to replace Bruce with just any NFL minicamp reject. Not having Bruce would normally doom the Argos, but they are playing Winnipeg. Stefan LeFors completion percentage is ridiculously low and he was hurt in last week's game against the Cats. I can't even remember who Winnipeg has as their backup QB and I'm not looking it up. Their is a game plan for the Argos to win, run the ball with Jamal Robertson more than in the past and have Joseph scramble for yards. Mac product Mike Bradwell should start as a non-import receiver and has looked good when he has had a chance to play. Somewhat disturbingly, I'm picking the Argos, Winnipeg is that bad.
Argos 27, Winnipeg 17
Montreal is head and shoulders above all the over teams in the league right now. Provided Calvillo stays healthy, they should continue as a wrecking ball throughout the league. Calvillo's McManus like quick release is murder on defences and their own defence has been playing fantastic. Not a good recipe for the Cats, who have moved from terrible to decent this season but not great. Porter will start and hopefully his relatively high completion percentage will get some first downs in the first half, keeping the ball away from Montreal's offense and avoid Montreal getting away from them. Haley will start at middle linebacker for the injured Otis Floyd, which is not good news. Hopefully the other linebackers can step up. Montreal is at home, and unfortunately will probably win fairly easily.
Montreal 43, Hamilton 28
Toronto at Winnipeg
This one was already a tough one to call, but things have gotten weirder with news that receiver Arland Bruce is being left at home for disciplinary reasons. Bruce then spouted off about coach Bart Andrus and quarterback Kerry Joseph. Makes one wonder if Bruce will stay an Argo. Certainly one normally would side on the coach with this one, but Bruce is one of the best receivers in the league and the Argos are already down a bunch of non-import receivers. Sometimes as coach you have to find ways to keep your unruly superstars happy. The Argos won't be able to replace Bruce with just any NFL minicamp reject. Not having Bruce would normally doom the Argos, but they are playing Winnipeg. Stefan LeFors completion percentage is ridiculously low and he was hurt in last week's game against the Cats. I can't even remember who Winnipeg has as their backup QB and I'm not looking it up. Their is a game plan for the Argos to win, run the ball with Jamal Robertson more than in the past and have Joseph scramble for yards. Mac product Mike Bradwell should start as a non-import receiver and has looked good when he has had a chance to play. Somewhat disturbingly, I'm picking the Argos, Winnipeg is that bad.
Argos 27, Winnipeg 17
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The Hamilton Tigercats, Worst of the Worst
So Hamilton the team with the second worst record, plays the team with the worst record. Hamilton is coming off a convincing win, Winnipeg off a convincing loss. A chance for Hamilton to somewhat move back into contention and continue to build momentum with two straight victories. Uh, no. Hamilton lost 37 to 24.
I think the key to this game was the inability to convert on two third and ones (actually one was second and one) via quarterback sneak in the first half. As Ron Lancaster says (and I'm paraphrasing), if you can't gain a yard, you don't deserve to win. Richie fumbled on one and the right side of the line appeared to be blown off the line for the other. For most of the first half, Winnipeg looked like the worse team and making these first downs likely would have led to scores (or in the case of fumble, not allow Winnipeg an easy way to the one yard line). Obviously in the CFL, teams that are ahead generally play a bit better than teams that are behind. Winnipeg was in a bit of turmoil this season with Glenn coming back. Getting ahead solidly in the first half could have easily led to a Hamilton win. Instead Hamilton was always just a bit behind and couldn't make the winning drive in the fourth quarter, when Williams' pass was tipped and then run in for a TD.
Williams play was decent, he ran for 99 yards, although he only passed for 14 completions out of 27 attempts for 204 yards. Still those failures to execute on those third and ones can at least in part be hung on Richie. Caulley was decent running for 99 yards on ten attempts for two TDs. JoJo Walker was again the top receiver with five grabs for 73 yards. Apparently he's good. Who knew? Both Bauman and Mitchell had no catches. Thanks. The three import offensive line? Mediocre at best and poorly matched against the Winnipeg front four. We're probably stuck with this variant for a while, despite the need for imports elsewhere. Hopefully George Hudson can come back for Labour Day.
On defence, good early, mediocre later. Moreno had a big game with eight tackles and an interception ran back for a TD early in the game. The defensive line? No pressure. Glenn had tons of time to throw and the Cats got burned. Hell Glenn managed to track down a botched snap and make a throw to prevent intentional grounding without being sacked by our sorry line. The Cats have released so many people on the defensive line, that the only one I really know is McKay-Loescher and I only know him because he is Canadian. Maybe some NFL cuts will help out, although I have a feeling they will do a little, get invited to camp, suck early in the regular season and then be booted in July. Maybe we can clone Joe Montford. I thought the secondary didn't play bad considering.
I don't have really a lot to say about the game. They certainly didn't get blown out, but the Cats just don't seem to be able to get their offense and defence synced to win games. Probably why they are two and six. At least Toronto lost against Montreal last week, so if we win on Labour Day, we're tied for second, with a sweep of the season series. Still good, hell decent teams find ways of beating the Winnipegs of this world. The Cats still have a ways to go.
I think the key to this game was the inability to convert on two third and ones (actually one was second and one) via quarterback sneak in the first half. As Ron Lancaster says (and I'm paraphrasing), if you can't gain a yard, you don't deserve to win. Richie fumbled on one and the right side of the line appeared to be blown off the line for the other. For most of the first half, Winnipeg looked like the worse team and making these first downs likely would have led to scores (or in the case of fumble, not allow Winnipeg an easy way to the one yard line). Obviously in the CFL, teams that are ahead generally play a bit better than teams that are behind. Winnipeg was in a bit of turmoil this season with Glenn coming back. Getting ahead solidly in the first half could have easily led to a Hamilton win. Instead Hamilton was always just a bit behind and couldn't make the winning drive in the fourth quarter, when Williams' pass was tipped and then run in for a TD.
Williams play was decent, he ran for 99 yards, although he only passed for 14 completions out of 27 attempts for 204 yards. Still those failures to execute on those third and ones can at least in part be hung on Richie. Caulley was decent running for 99 yards on ten attempts for two TDs. JoJo Walker was again the top receiver with five grabs for 73 yards. Apparently he's good. Who knew? Both Bauman and Mitchell had no catches. Thanks. The three import offensive line? Mediocre at best and poorly matched against the Winnipeg front four. We're probably stuck with this variant for a while, despite the need for imports elsewhere. Hopefully George Hudson can come back for Labour Day.
On defence, good early, mediocre later. Moreno had a big game with eight tackles and an interception ran back for a TD early in the game. The defensive line? No pressure. Glenn had tons of time to throw and the Cats got burned. Hell Glenn managed to track down a botched snap and make a throw to prevent intentional grounding without being sacked by our sorry line. The Cats have released so many people on the defensive line, that the only one I really know is McKay-Loescher and I only know him because he is Canadian. Maybe some NFL cuts will help out, although I have a feeling they will do a little, get invited to camp, suck early in the regular season and then be booted in July. Maybe we can clone Joe Montford. I thought the secondary didn't play bad considering.
I don't have really a lot to say about the game. They certainly didn't get blown out, but the Cats just don't seem to be able to get their offense and defence synced to win games. Probably why they are two and six. At least Toronto lost against Montreal last week, so if we win on Labour Day, we're tied for second, with a sweep of the season series. Still good, hell decent teams find ways of beating the Winnipegs of this world. The Cats still have a ways to go.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Assorted Injury Stuff
First off, congratulations to Richie Williams being named the offensive player of the week and to defensive back Chris Thompson being named defensive player of the week. When was the last time, the Cats took those two awards in the same week? Beats me and I'm too lazy to look it up.
The injury to starting nonimport guard George Hudson in last week's Winnipeg game apparently means we are back to three imports on the offensive line according to this week's depth chart. Jonta Woodard comes back to play left tackle after sitting out last week, a Ticat victory. Cavka, an import goes to guard and import Charles Thomas plays the other tackle position. Dyakowski and Hage, both nonimports play the remaining guard and center positions respectively. Last time the Cats started three imports on the offensive line, I was excited and figured the Cats running game would bust out all over. Instead the offensive line sucked Argoly and gave up eight sacks.
Hudson's injury along with Lumsden still being out, brings a load of ratio madness. Tre Smith has to sit out this week due to the ratio and nonimport running back John (no not the Star Wars guy) Williams gets to see the field. Whether he gets to actually carry the ball is questionable, but I'm a firm believer that in the CFL the running backs are a fairly fungible commodity anyways. Although in five years in the CFL, the most yards he has gained in one season was 39 with the Argos in 2006. Cauley I assume will carry the ball the most this week against Winnipeg. Admittedly injuries have hurt the Cats offensive line, but the Cats have to do a better job of stocking up on Canadian talent in that area. Starting three imports there is a waste of an import spot.
On a better note, Jykine Bradley is back at corner back, after recovering from his collision with Edmonton's Jason Tucker. Printers is still out with his thumb thingy, however with the bye week next week and the Labour Day Classic being on a Monday, I assume he and Lumsden will be back (depending on his ankle thingy, which is also a bit mysterious).
I could go through Winnipeg and their injuries, but apparently their center comes back this week and takes over from former Cat and Mac product Ryan Donnelly (who probably would be useful for the Cats as a backup/inevitable starter this year). However I think their line is still hurting. Apparently Stegall will play too.
More game analysis tomorrow...
The injury to starting nonimport guard George Hudson in last week's Winnipeg game apparently means we are back to three imports on the offensive line according to this week's depth chart. Jonta Woodard comes back to play left tackle after sitting out last week, a Ticat victory. Cavka, an import goes to guard and import Charles Thomas plays the other tackle position. Dyakowski and Hage, both nonimports play the remaining guard and center positions respectively. Last time the Cats started three imports on the offensive line, I was excited and figured the Cats running game would bust out all over. Instead the offensive line sucked Argoly and gave up eight sacks.
Hudson's injury along with Lumsden still being out, brings a load of ratio madness. Tre Smith has to sit out this week due to the ratio and nonimport running back John (no not the Star Wars guy) Williams gets to see the field. Whether he gets to actually carry the ball is questionable, but I'm a firm believer that in the CFL the running backs are a fairly fungible commodity anyways. Although in five years in the CFL, the most yards he has gained in one season was 39 with the Argos in 2006. Cauley I assume will carry the ball the most this week against Winnipeg. Admittedly injuries have hurt the Cats offensive line, but the Cats have to do a better job of stocking up on Canadian talent in that area. Starting three imports there is a waste of an import spot.
On a better note, Jykine Bradley is back at corner back, after recovering from his collision with Edmonton's Jason Tucker. Printers is still out with his thumb thingy, however with the bye week next week and the Labour Day Classic being on a Monday, I assume he and Lumsden will be back (depending on his ankle thingy, which is also a bit mysterious).
I could go through Winnipeg and their injuries, but apparently their center comes back this week and takes over from former Cat and Mac product Ryan Donnelly (who probably would be useful for the Cats as a backup/inevitable starter this year). However I think their line is still hurting. Apparently Stegall will play too.
More game analysis tomorrow...
Thursday, July 10, 2008
This Week's Non-Tigercat Games
I suppose I should comment on the three non Tigercat games this week, considering the importance of these games early in the season for the East division standings.
Ok, the first game, Calgary at Montreal, which is just about to start. I think Montreal is slightly favoured and with some justification. I think this game will really prove if Montreal is actually for real. Montreal has always been good at home (as have most CFL teams) so they have to have some edge there. I'm not really a huge fan of Henry Burris. He has always seemed to me to be a big numbers guy without a big winning record. Anyways, I'm going with Montreal, with the caveat that Calvillo will get injured (heartwarming cancer story notwithstanding) for a number of games at some point this year, wherein the team will go into a tailspin. Not this week though.
The Argos at Edmonton. A hard game to pick. If the Argos can't get their defence going, they are done. With all the Bishop waivers BS week, I can't think it will help the Argos offence, although teams often seem to have a habit of kicking ass for one game in such a situation and then sucking. With all the Argos' former NFLer receivers injured, I can't think their offence will do much. Ricky Ray? I don't trust prematurely balding quarterbacks for some reason (although I might have been horribly scarred by Jason Maass). Ray to me is another big numbers guy who doesn't have the winning percentage you would think. I know he has won a Grey Cup, but then so has Marcus Crandell. Crap versus crap, I'll pick the home team.
BC at Winnipeg. Neither of these teams is very good so far and one thing we do know now is that Jarious Jackson is not very good and that Buck Pierce has my dreaded Stamp of Brittleness(TM). No Joe Smith this week either at running back. Winnipeg isn't terrible and with a bit of better play in the first game versus the Argos in the second half, they may not be 0-2. Glenn is decent, although better with Milt Stegall in the lineup. I have to take Winnipeg at home, decent quarterback plus a good running back.
One final point, what is up with these Amway ads (sorry Quickstar) on TSN? I like John Tesh's line about proudly operating as Quickstar in North America. I guess operating as Amway would just be embarassing.
Ok, the first game, Calgary at Montreal, which is just about to start. I think Montreal is slightly favoured and with some justification. I think this game will really prove if Montreal is actually for real. Montreal has always been good at home (as have most CFL teams) so they have to have some edge there. I'm not really a huge fan of Henry Burris. He has always seemed to me to be a big numbers guy without a big winning record. Anyways, I'm going with Montreal, with the caveat that Calvillo will get injured (heartwarming cancer story notwithstanding) for a number of games at some point this year, wherein the team will go into a tailspin. Not this week though.
The Argos at Edmonton. A hard game to pick. If the Argos can't get their defence going, they are done. With all the Bishop waivers BS week, I can't think it will help the Argos offence, although teams often seem to have a habit of kicking ass for one game in such a situation and then sucking. With all the Argos' former NFLer receivers injured, I can't think their offence will do much. Ricky Ray? I don't trust prematurely balding quarterbacks for some reason (although I might have been horribly scarred by Jason Maass). Ray to me is another big numbers guy who doesn't have the winning percentage you would think. I know he has won a Grey Cup, but then so has Marcus Crandell. Crap versus crap, I'll pick the home team.
BC at Winnipeg. Neither of these teams is very good so far and one thing we do know now is that Jarious Jackson is not very good and that Buck Pierce has my dreaded Stamp of Brittleness(TM). No Joe Smith this week either at running back. Winnipeg isn't terrible and with a bit of better play in the first game versus the Argos in the second half, they may not be 0-2. Glenn is decent, although better with Milt Stegall in the lineup. I have to take Winnipeg at home, decent quarterback plus a good running back.
One final point, what is up with these Amway ads (sorry Quickstar) on TSN? I like John Tesh's line about proudly operating as Quickstar in North America. I guess operating as Amway would just be embarassing.
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