Lions ink former NFLer Lavelle Hawkins

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sj-roc
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Tedford has recruited one of his former college players, a 2008 NFL draftee.

http://www.bclions.com/article/lions-in ... le-hawkins
The BC Lions have added some NFL depth to their receiving corps with international receiver Lavelle Hawkins signing with the team.

Hawkins was originally selected by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft (126th overall). Through five seasons with the Titans, he hauled in 71 receptions for 771 yards and a touchdown. His most productive year came in 2011 as he appeared in all 16 regular season games for Tennessee and tallied 47 catches for 470 yards.

The former University of California grad, who also saw time with the San Diego Chargers in 2013 as a returner, will be reunited with his former college head coach Jeff Tedford when he reports to the Lions in late-April for the club’s offseason workout.

“Lavelle is an elusive and talented receiver who brings significant experience to our team,” said Tedford. “He’s a gifted route-runner who will be able to take advantage of our larger field and I look forward to seeing how he will contribute to our offence.”
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David
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This is a big signing. Everyone talks about the need to upgrade the O-line and the need for a better pass rush, but IMHO, our receiving corps needed the most in terms of upgrading. We just weren't that good, especially when we lost slotbacks Taylor and Burnham.

Losing Ernest Jackson hurts, but by signing Hawkins and Collie, we have gone a lone way to upgrading - with 2 and 1/2 months still to go 'til camp.


DH :cool:
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squishy35
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I wonder if he attended one of the camps in Texas or Las Vegas?
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Rammer
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David wrote:This is a big signing. Everyone talks about the need to upgrade the O-line and the need for a better pass rush, but IMHO, our receiving corps needed the most in terms of upgrading. We just weren't that good, especially when we lost slotbacks Taylor and Burnham.

Losing Ernest Jackson hurts, but by signing Hawkins and Collie, we have gone a lone way to upgrading - with 2 and 1/2 months still to go 'til camp.


DH :cool:
You need the hogs to give the QB time to utilize any talent the receiving corps has. Conversely, a good D-line can make a good opposition receiving corps look ordinary.

If you have a good O-line you can even make Glenn look better than average and definitely Tate. So I still think that having that OL is top priority for the Lions, although with a healthy Hunter Steward the flexibility of the OL gets much better with the current roster. Win the LOS and you win the game, way too often the Lions were on the short end of both sides of the ball on that front in 2014.
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B.C.FAN
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Hawkins looks like another possession receiver, similar to Taylor and Arceneaux. He does not appear to be the deep threat that Tedford has been seeking to complement the incumbents.
“Lavelle is an elusive and talented receiver who brings significant experience to our team,” said Tedford. “He’s a gifted route-runner who will be able to take advantage of our larger field and I look forward to seeing how he will contribute to our offence.”
Hawkins was timed at 4.59 seconds in the 40 at the 2008 NFL combine and 4.47 seconds at Cal's pro day that year. Those are decent times but they don't establish him as being any faster than Poblah and Gore, the two fastest incumbents, both of whom have the advantage of being Canadians.
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cromartie
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Still waiting for some line depth. Training camp possession wide receivers with the wrong passport aren't really what the club is lacking.
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cromartie wrote:Still waiting for some line depth. Training camp possession wide receivers with the wrong passport aren't really what the club is lacking.
Depth is fine but I don't mind seeing what Malone can do with the young group BC has especially if Fabien has both physically and mentally put his knee injury behind him and can push Valli aside. The pieces are there to have a very good OL that could be together for 6 or 7 years. Olafioye at 27 would be the old man on a line of Steward, Hardrick, Norman, Fabien and Olafioye.
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WestCoastJoe
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Hambone wrote:
... I don't mind seeing what Malone can do with the young group BC has especially if Fabien has both physically and mentally put his knee injury behind him and can push Valli aside. The pieces are there to have a very good OL that could be together for 6 or 7 years. Olafioye at 27 would be the old man on a line of Steward, Hardrick, Norman, Fabien and Olafioye.
Yup. Very much looking forward to seeing what Malone can do with our OL, especially the nationals.

We have drafted a good number of highly rated nationals for the O Line in recent years. Hopefully the coaching change will be a breath of fresh air. Keep it simple. Pound the D Line. Know your assignments. Be physical, not analytical.

IMO one of our failings with the O Line under the previous regime was paralysis by analysis. Overly complicated stuff. Doubts and indecision with the players. Changing philosophy. Changing systems. Changing cast of players, with many, many discards.

It will be interesting to see how Dan Dorazio does in Regina. If he keeps it simple, they should be OK.
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cromartie
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Hambone wrote:
cromartie wrote:Still waiting for some line depth. Training camp possession wide receivers with the wrong passport aren't really what the club is lacking.
Depth is fine but I don't mind seeing what Malone can do with the young group BC has especially if Fabien has both physically and mentally put his knee injury behind him and can push Valli aside. The pieces are there to have a very good OL that could be together for 6 or 7 years. Olafioye at 27 would be the old man on a line of Steward, Hardrick, Norman, Fabien and Olafioye.
Like you, I'm not too worried about the offensive line. It's the defensive line that I'm underwhelmed by, and where we need bodies sooner rather than later. Receiver is one of the least of our worries at this point.
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cromartie wrote:
Hambone wrote:
cromartie wrote:Still waiting for some line depth. Training camp possession wide receivers with the wrong passport aren't really what the club is lacking.
Depth is fine but I don't mind seeing what Malone can do with the young group BC has especially if Fabien has both physically and mentally put his knee injury behind him and can push Valli aside. The pieces are there to have a very good OL that could be together for 6 or 7 years. Olafioye at 27 would be the old man on a line of Steward, Hardrick, Norman, Fabien and Olafioye.
Like you, I'm not too worried about the offensive line. It's the defensive line that I'm underwhelmed by, and where we need bodies sooner rather than later. Receiver is one of the least of our worries at this point.
Yep, I would go with that too. Many of our woes came from a lack of DLine pressure. It doesn't matter how good your linebackers or secondary is if you don't have pressure up front.
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The Cal-to-B.C. pipeline continues with two more signings:
Lions add two on offence
Tuesday, April 7th, 2015

BCLion.com Staff

The BC Lions Football Club announced this morning that international receiver Cameron Morrah and running back Brendan Bigelow have signed with the team.

Morrah brings some NFL experience to the Lions after spending three years with the Seattle Seahawks from 2009 to 2011. The former California-Berkley grad appeared in 27 games over three seasons with Seattle hauling in 16 receptions for 194 yards.

Bigelow joins the club following a notable four-year stay at California-Berkley as well as a training camp stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014. In college, the speedy back piled-up 877 yards on the ground over 155 carries with five majors in addition to 42 receptions for 305 yards. A threat on special teams, Brandon added 1,363 yards on 62 kickoff returns.

Both additions to the Lions will be in action later this month when the club hosts an offensive mini-camp from April 27th to 29th.
I don't know how many of these signings are a result of former players reaching out to Tedford for a last chance or Tedford reaching out to former players who he thinks could be an upgrade on the current roster. I suspect it's more of the former. Either way, with Morrah added to the receiving corps, the Lions have an overabundance of international receivers with NFL experience. That will be a great position group to watch at camp.
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B.C.FAN wrote:The Cal-to-B.C. pipeline continues with two more signings:
Lions add two on offence
Tuesday, April 7th, 2015

BCLion.com Staff

The BC Lions Football Club announced this morning that international receiver Cameron Morrah and running back Brendan Bigelow have signed with the team.

Morrah brings some NFL experience to the Lions after spending three years with the Seattle Seahawks from 2009 to 2011. The former California-Berkley grad appeared in 27 games over three seasons with Seattle hauling in 16 receptions for 194 yards.

Bigelow joins the club following a notable four-year stay at California-Berkley as well as a training camp stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014. In college, the speedy back piled-up 877 yards on the ground over 155 carries with five majors in addition to 42 receptions for 305 yards. A threat on special teams, Brandon added 1,363 yards on 62 kickoff returns.

Both additions to the Lions will be in action later this month when the club hosts an offensive mini-camp from April 27th to 29th.
I don't know how many of these signings are a result of former players reaching out to Tedford for a last chance or Tedford reaching out to former players who he thinks could be an upgrade on the current roster. I suspect it's more of the former. Either way, with Morrah added to the receiving corps, the Lions have an overabundance of international receivers with NFL experience. That will be a great position group to watch at camp.

Nice to watch if the Lions have a QB to get the ball out to the receivers.
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squishy35
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Morrah played at 6'3" and 250 lbs in the NFL..... that would be a tremendous target going through the middle zone.... :)
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B.C.FAN
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squishy35 wrote:Morrah played at 6'3" and 250 lbs in the NFL..... that would be a tremendous target going through the middle zone.... :)
That seems to be where Tedford is going with the receiving corps. Here's LU's take on it:
Of the two though, the Morrah signing is much more intriguing if for no more than his vital statistics. At 6-3 and 250 pounds, the Lions now have a receiving candidate that hasn’t existed for the last few years in their offence. If the new coach wants a possession receiver who can not only block but potentially create mismatches in a league of smallish linebackers, he now has one.

Morrah had that kind of role for a couple of seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, and his signing suggests that Tedford sees the need for the Lions to have a bigger target in their offence, much like former colleague John Hufnagel once did when he brought in Teyo Johnson in a tight end role with Calgary, or when Wally Buono and Bob O’Billovich found Marc Boerigter. All right, how about Jason Clermont?
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WestCoastJoe
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B.C.FAN wrote:
squishy35 wrote:Morrah played at 6'3" and 250 lbs in the NFL..... that would be a tremendous target going through the middle zone.... :)
That seems to be where Tedford is going with the receiving corps. Here's LU's take on it:
Of the two though, the Morrah signing is much more intriguing if for no more than his vital statistics. At 6-3 and 250 pounds, the Lions now have a receiving candidate that hasn’t existed for the last few years in their offence. If the new coach wants a possession receiver who can not only block but potentially create mismatches in a league of smallish linebackers, he now has one.

Morrah had that kind of role for a couple of seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, and his signing suggests that Tedford sees the need for the Lions to have a bigger target in their offence, much like former colleague John Hufnagel once did when he brought in Teyo Johnson in a tight end role with Calgary, or when Wally Buono and Bob O’Billovich found Marc Boerigter. All right, how about Jason Clermont?
Fifth Qauarter blog
Not afraid to change things up. :thup:

Make the defences react to what you bring. :thup:

Absence of tight ends in the CFL. Smallish LBs. Adapt. Adjust. Make the defences adapt.

This fan likes it. Morrah might or might not be the right guy, but I like the thinking, the concept. :thup:
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

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