Chris Williams now a Leo

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Blitz
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This is an excellent signing. Williams gives us speed as a receiver to compliment Manny and Burnham but as a returner we can now spell off Rainey more and use Rainey on offence for more touches,
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
Lionsfan65
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Chris Williams has been one of my favorite non-lions players over the past few seasons, he does some pretty crazy stuff, in one of our games against Ottawa last year he had 5 catches for 155 yards. I think his speed and his skill set will compliment Manny and Burnham very well, and with him, Manny, Burnham and Moore this will be quite the conundrum for opposing defences.
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aklawitter
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expect pooch kicks, squib kicks, and out of bounds kicks from opposing teams this season!
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David
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Burnham and Moore re-sign. Then Williams signs here....the rookie import receivers we just signed in the off-season are like #*@% ! :surrender:


DH :cool:
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DanoT
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David wrote:Burnham and Moore re-sign. Then Williams signs here....the rookie import receivers we just signed in the off-season are like #*@% ! :surrender:


DH :cool:
With Moore and Williams coming off injury shortened seasons there are no guarantees of a full recovery, still the signings are a risk worth taking. But the new rookie receivers might still get a sick feeling when they see tape of Williams. Of course it will be mild when compared to how opposing DBs are going to feel when lining up against the Lions receivers corps.
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The_Pauser
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I absolutely love this signing. Williams brings an element to our receiving group that we just don't have. Burnham and Moore are great possession receivers. Manny is a nice big target going downfield, and now we have a short speedster who can burn opposing defenses. We have options all over the field. As long as our O-line holds up this should be the best offense in the CFL, given the weapons available.
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DanoT
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The_Pauser wrote:I absolutely love this signing. Williams brings an element to our receiving group that we just don't have. Burnham and Moore are great possession receivers. Manny is a nice big target going downfield, and now we have a short speedster who can burn opposing defenses. We have options all over the field. As long as our O-line holds up this should be the best offense in the CFL, given the weapons available.
Agreed, as long as Moore and Williams make full recoveries. :cr:
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CardiacKid
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I don't know about anybody else on the board but this totally came out of left field. Don't get me wrong, I totally love this signing but it is very intriguing. I thought once Burnham was back in the den, Wally would take the foot off the pedal in regards to upscaling the receiving corps. But no, instead he signs the guy who could very well be the fastest guy in the league and has 4 successive 1,000 yd seasons. I wonder if Wally was motivated by the same agenda that led him to sign Sinkfield last year? Or maybe Williams let it be known he wanted to be in BC?

Yes, there is the element of risk with this but I can't see Wally taking too big a gamble on signing Williams. I expect the salary being loaded on the back end is a means of self-protection.

Hopefully Khari Jones can get Williams involved and keep him involved. He had definite dips in his form with the RedBlacks last year and I sometimes thought his confidence looked shaky. But to a large degree it was all relative as he looked to shatter the record books at the start of the year.

I totally love this signing; easily one of the most exciting and entertaining guys in the league.

Only downside...if I buy his game-worn jersey, no way in hell is it going to fit me. I won't even be able to pull it over my head.
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CardiacKid wrote:I don't know about anybody else on the board but this totally came out of left field. Don't get me wrong, I totally love this signing but it is very intriguing. I thought once Burnham was back in the den, Wally would take the foot off the pedal in regards to upscaling the receiving corps. But no, instead he signs the guy who could very well be the fastest guy in the league and has 4 successive 1,000 yd seasons. I wonder if Wally was motivated by the same agenda that led him to sign Sinkfield last year? Or maybe Williams let it be known he wanted to be in BC?
I was surprised we were in play for Williams..... I wonder if he was salivating over the chance to have an arm like Jennings throwing downfield to him as much as we are salivating about him being our deep threat. Jenning's arm and willingness to go for the long downfield throw may have made some difference in Williams willingness to come to BC.
Figaro
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I think the happiest man in town today is Jon Jennings. He has Burnham who can catch anything in his area code - Manny, who when he is on is the best in the CFL and now the speed of Williams!!

Let me throw that ball says Jennings.

With Williams taking some heat off Rainey hopefully we will get to see him more in the backfield.

Offense has electricity - O-line in tact - and speed to burn in key possessions with a quarterback, now experienced and totally unafraid of defences. I am pumped for this season. Offense looks much better and we have yet to evaluate new talent at training camp. Odd Ianouzi was resigned along with Moore off injury.

Defence? The big loss for me was Gaitor. He was all CFL. Let's make sure young Parker gets his time - I sense an all-star year from him if given a chance.
Lionsfan65
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CardiacKid wrote:Only downside...if I buy his game-worn jersey, no way in hell is it going to fit me. I won't even be able to pull it over my head.
You could wear it as a hat. Start a new trend.
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WestCoastJoe
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Was Rainey overworked last year? Don't think so. This fan certainly does not want to see his touches reduced.

On the roster

Internationals: Arceneaux, Burnham, Moore, Williams, Long, Richards

Nationals: Gore, Iannuzzi, Adekolu, Blaszko, Johnson, Norwood, Peterson

Last year's final depth chart

WR Gore

SB Manny

SB Sinkfield

SB Burnham

WR Iannuzzi

FB Lumbala

RB Rainey at backup

PR/KR Rainey, Iannuzzi, Sinkfield

4 or 5 receivers depending on whether Lumbala is in the backfield. Empty backfield has 6 receivers.

Possible to have 4 Int receivers on the field this year. But it seems to get tight on the ratio.

Sinkfield does not seem like a priority signing. Williams could fit in there. Same role for Rainey this year as last.

It seems there is room for Williams, but it almost seems like too much of a good thing. Is there risk with his signing? Dunno ... Not financially. Wally is very good at the budget. Will Williams fit in? Will Rainey feel his role is diminished? Can you ever have too much talent? It gets tricky.

Gotta trust Wally and his staff on this one. That is a load of talent we have at receiver, spilling over onto kick returner and sometime running back.

Just IMO ...
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TheLionKing
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I'm just hoping Khari Jones devise an offence that takes advantage of our receivers' skills
Blitz
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TheLionKing wrote:I'm just hoping Khari Jones devise an offence that takes advantage of our receivers' skills
I believe our offence has the most talent in the CFL for 2017. The offensive line is all back and if we wanted to, we could move Steward to his natural position at left tackle, move Olifoye back to right tackle, play Fabian and Vaillencourt at guard, and use four import receivers. Johnson and Rainey at tailback, Jennings at quarterback, Lumbala at fullback when we insert him, and this offence is loaded.

However, if we just use one running play (inside zone read) and only throw deep and deep intermediate most of the time, as we did last season, Chris Williams will not solve those issues with our offence. Our offence will beat down the weak teams but it won't beat a Calgary or a good defence that plays us man with a two deep safety configuration.

To me, the key to getting to the Big Dance in 2017 is a better pass rusn and more aggressive pass defence (and they go hand in hand). We had the least turnovers of any defense last season and struggled to get a good pass rush without blitzing and our passive zone pass defense was too conservative. A better offensive scheme, a better pass rush, and more aggressive pass defence and we have more than enough talent to win it all.

I wish we had Gainor back. I agree that Paker is good enough to play wide side corner and we could go with an import safety - its more than time we gave up on a National safety and did what we did in the 'good old days' with Barrin Miles and went with an import there.

Rainey and Williams as returners - mind blowing.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
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Hambone
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WestCoastJoe wrote:On the roster

Internationals: Arceneaux, Burnham, Moore, Williams, Long, Richards

Nationals: Gore, Iannuzzi, Adekolu, Blaszko, Johnson, NORWOOD, Peterson
Norwood is an International. While his dad Brian did have a cup of coffee with Calgary back in 1989 Levi didn't come around until a few years later. He was born in Richmond VA while Brian was an OLB coach with U of Richmond Spiders and graduated from high school in Midway TX when dad was DC at Baylor.
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