Where Do We Go From Here?

[WestCoastJoe]

A-R-C-E-N-E-A-U-X

Nice pic of Arceneault, ummm Arcenio, umm Arseneaux, errr Emmanual, ummm Manny. Yeah that's it. Manny.

LOL Give it up, WCBF. People are going to mess up on spelling his name. Both of them.

I'm thinking we should claim him as a Non Import. I expect some of his roots are Cajun, which would go back to Acadian French, Canadian.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eaux

[Blitz]

Not sure whether this season is Brent Johnson's last. He signed a contract extension in the off season.

Its Brent Johnson's final season TheLionKing.

With regard to our recievers, right now Simon, Bruce, Gore, and Foster are our starters along with the fifth reciever (we are usually in a five receiver set) last game being Nic Moore. Previous to that it was Johnson and previos to that it was Collins.

The backup for Foster is Innanuzzi and the backup for Nic Moore last game was Paris Jackson.

What I suggested in my original post is that we use the fifth receiver position, presently being played by an import (eg: Moore, Johnson, Collins) and use the import elsewhere and start Paris Jackson in that spot, while backed up by Innanuzze, who would also get rotational reps.

Jackson is an experienced rangy reciever with excellent hands and he knows our offence well. I believe we would get more out of the position with Paris and Innanuzzi that the import at present and there are a number of spots where that import could be used (offensive guard, center, safety) are examples of where it could be more advantageous.

[Blitz]

Good summary, Blitz. I agree with most of what you say. The battle for the Grey Cup is wide open and any team other than Toronto appears to have a shot, although I'm not quite ready to pronounce the Riders a threat in the West.

I think Kierrie Johnson has a lot more upside than any of the contenders for short-side wideout. His speed alone makes him a huge threat. He had 12 passes directed at him in his only start. He caught 6 of them for 84 yards before leaving early with a dislocated shoulder. If he is healthy, he will get a good shot to reclaim that position.

I've been a huge Anton McKenzie fan since he was a special teamer in Saskatchewan. He's probably been the unsung hero of the B.C. defence this year. He's second on the team and seventh in the league in tackles despite sharing time with James Yurichuk in the early going. He is a big reason the Lions have been so succesful against the run since he reclaimed his weakside linebacker position in the 4-3 defence. Sol-E gets all the attention but no one has had more tackles than McKenzie in the past three games.

The in-season acquisitions of Kornegay, Dennis, Ruffin and Smith, the return from injury of Reddick and Henderson and the return to the practice roster of Henley have given the Lions great depth at most defensive positions. That's a vast change from the beginning of the year when the defence was undermanned and several players tried to play through injuries and/or play out of position.

The arrival of Arland Bruce has added some much-needed consistency to the explosive but inexperienced receiving corps. If Johnson and Hameister-Ries can come back from injury this month, the team's offensive depth will be vastly improved.

I like Nic Moore more than Kerrie Johnson but they are two different types of receivers..Moore is tall, rangy, runs good routes while Johnson is quick and shifty. Depends on what you want from the position although I prefer Paris Jackson over both at this point.

You've also been more of an Anton McKenzie fan that I am but I thought he played one of his best games ever last week.

Certainly agree with you that we have great depth on defense right now and I am very positive on Henley and hope he can get a start and get an opportunity to utilize those moves of his.

[B.C.FAN]

You've also been more of an Anton McKenzie fan that I am but I thought he played one of his best games ever last week.

I just realized that McKenzie leads the league in tackles for a loss with 8. Keron Williams, Joe Lobendahn and Chip Cox are next with 5. Elimimian has 1. The league doesn't put out a press release and doesn't even make it easy to compare such stats. McKenzie does his work silently and often in anonymity, knifing into the hole to stop the ballcarrier and then picking himself up off the bottom of the pile while radio and TV broadcasters happily blather on about something less significant than what just took place.

[Blitz]

You've also been more of an Anton McKenzie fan that I am but I thought he played one of his best games ever last week.

I just realized that McKenzie leads the league in tackles for a loss with 8. Keron Williams, Joe Lobendahn and Chip Cox are next with 5. Elimimian has 1. The league doesn't put out a press release and doesn't even make it easy to compare such stats. McKenzie does his work silently and often in anonymity, knifing into the hole to stop the ballcarrier and then picking himself up off the bottom of the pile while radio and TV broadcasters happily blather on about something less significant than what just took place.

I also recall teams running on Anton McKenzie at will during two previous seasons here. I believe the development of Eliminian has helped McKenzie's game, in that he is not trying to do too much. His pass defense has also improved. No question that having so many good linebackers at the end of last season and in training camp has also pushed McKenzie.

Your stat regarding McKenzie's tackles for a loss is illuminating. Certainly our linebackers are playing very well right now, our run defense has greatly improved in the 4-3 and our pass defense has also improved dramatically as soon as we went with Marsh/Banks on the short side and Kournegay/Phillips on the wide side. We haven't had a touchdown scored against us for the past 40 offensive series played.

[David]

I like Nic Moore more than Kerrie Johnson....

I find this intriguing. What is it about Nick Moore that you like more than Johnson, Blitz? Both have had challenges hanging onto the ball, but Johnson shows far more upside due to his blazing speed and KR abilities (although he needs to put on about 10 lbs). Moore hasn't shown me much during his limited time here.

Still, I am fine with whichever receiver can help our Leos. I'd also love to see Paris get an expanded role with the club!

DH

[WestCoastJoe]

I like Nic Moore more than Kerrie Johnson....

I find this intriguing. What is it about Nick Moore that you like more than Johnson, Blitz? Both have had challenges hanging onto the ball, but Johnson shows far more upside due to his blazing speed and KR abilities (although he needs to put on about 10 lbs). Moore hasn't shown me much during his limited time here.

Still, I am fine with whichever receiver can help our Leos. I'd also love to see Paris get an expanded role with the club!

DH

IMO they both have potential.

Moore is smooth. Sneaky fast. Attributed with very good hands. Good pattern runner. Johnson has that explosive speed. Also noted for good hands.

Pick 'em.

I agree that with our NI receiver depth, we should use Paris Jackson and Marco Ianuzzi as a starter tandem. Use the import elsewhere.

[Blitz]

I like Nic Moore more than Kerrie Johnson....

I find this intriguing. What is it about Nick Moore that you like more than Johnson, Blitz? Both have had challenges hanging onto the ball, but Johnson shows far more upside due to his blazing speed and KR abilities (although he needs to put on about 10 lbs). Moore hasn't shown me much during his limited time here.

Still, I am fine with whichever receiver can help our Leos. I'd also love to see Paris get an expanded role with the club!

DH

IMO they both have potential.

Moore is smooth. Sneaky fast. Attributed with very good hands. Good pattern runner. Johnson has that explosive speed. Also noted for good hands.

Pick 'em.

I agree that with our NI receiver depth, we should use Paris Jackson and Marco Ianuzzi as a starter tandem. Use the import elsewhere.

I like Moore for the reasons WestCoastJoe stated above and I like his height and size...and am partial to tall recievers, talent being close to equal.

Johnson has that explosive speed and is also quick and shifty as I previously mentioned. He also had a rep of having very good hands, like Moore, so I was surprised by his drops in his first game, since he is usually doesn't take his eyes off the football until he has it secured. However, Johnson also showed in his first game that he can be a dangerous receiver.

Guess I prefer Moore because I believe he would be tougher to nullify and I believe he has more upside....but that's just a subjective view, a gut sense rather than based upon fact at this stage.

[joe kapp22]

I like Kiere Johnson a bit better then Nick Moore, his game is better suited to the wide field imo, he can take a bubble screen 80 yds for a score, Moore is not that type of player.

[B.C.FAN]

I like Kiere Johnson a bit better then Nick Moore, his game is better suited to the wide field imo, he can take a bubble screen 80 yds for a score, Moore is not that type of player.

I've come to that view too. Moore has better size. He showed better hands when I saw them in camp. But Johnson is a special player who can get open deep or take a short pass and turn it into a big gain.

At the start of the year, I thought Calgary had by far the best receiving corps in the league, but B.C.'s receivers have produced almost the same number of yards and touchdowns as Calgary's through the first 9 games, despite having a less experienced quarerback. Right now I wouldn't trade B.C.'s receivers for anyone else's.

[LFITQ]

At the start of the year, I thought Calgary had by far the best receiving corps in the league, but B.C.'s receivers have produced almost the same number of yards and touchdowns as Calgary's through the first 9 games, despite having a less experienced quarterback. Right now I wouldn't trade B.C.'s receivers for anyone else's.

The issue of course being that Calgary has had the same receivers throughout the season, whereas the Lions have had to put theirs together as the season has progressed. The receiving corps for Calgary today looks pretty much like it did in week 1 - BC's is a far different story. And that is the rub with me. Everyone had doubts about the receiving corps coming out of camp, except the coaches. Now the coaches have had to jockey a receiving corps together and change it completely from what it was at the end of camp. Making me left to wonder, exactly what it is those coaches did at training camp?

It seems like the woes of the team all stem from Training Camp and the Lions just came out of the Preseason a little later than other teams.

[notahomer]

...
It seems like the woes of the team all stem from Training Camp and the Lions just came out of the Preseason a little later than other teams.

IIRC, this has been a problem for quite a few training camps now. Not all could be blamed on anybody. IIRC, one particular training camp had a lot of rainouts and I think the team came out a little rusty that season. Not sure if Lionbackers have been happy with a training camp since (I can't vote because I can't attend). Different reasons but the basic idea seems to be the same. Perhaps the Lions did (insert too much, too little, etc....) during training camp and have struggled as a result.