With the season on the rocks, should we be sellers before tomorrow's trade deadline?
If we were to sell, the likely strategy would be to sell off veterans for Canadian talent and draft picks. Some veterans who might attract buyers include:
Moore - steady veteran receiver
Arseneaux - Tough, strong leadership
Williams - who wants to take a chance?
J Johnson - Reliable, smart RB
Bazzie - why not go for the playoff check?
Elimimian - not going anywhere.
Ianuzzi - decent National depth
Don't think we'll see much happen, but wouldn't mind picking up a few futures.
Trade deadline -Lions sellers?
Moderator: Team Captains
I don't expect the Lions to be sellers, especially with ownership, management and coaching all unsettled, but I can add a few more names of players who could be available for the right price.
Chris Rainey (veteran hasn't had much support)
Hunter Steward (pending free agent)
Charles Vaillancourt (potential starter elsewhere?)
David Foucault (ditto above)
Bryant Turner Jr. (lost starting job to a national)
Tony Burnett (lost starting job to Awe)
Kenyan Parker (could start elsewhere)
Buddy Jackson (veteran can't crack the lineup)
Anthony Gaitor (someone take him please)
Chris Rainey (veteran hasn't had much support)
Hunter Steward (pending free agent)
Charles Vaillancourt (potential starter elsewhere?)
David Foucault (ditto above)
Bryant Turner Jr. (lost starting job to a national)
Tony Burnett (lost starting job to Awe)
Kenyan Parker (could start elsewhere)
Buddy Jackson (veteran can't crack the lineup)
Anthony Gaitor (someone take him please)
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I would be very surprised if there is much movement at the trade deadlines ..........by all teams.
It isn't about BC so much, more on a contender looking to fill an injury or glaring weakness. BC may have the right piece to fill a need, but not sure any team is in real need other than Edmonton and they are BC's only legit chance to catch IMO.
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CFL trade deadlines being what they are more often than not if 1 trade happens it can be considered a frenzy to coin the overworked NHL schtick. Last year I think the Capicciotti trade to Hamilton was the only one. The year before there were a couple deals as the Riders were having a mini-garage sale. Even then the Messam deal only happened because Cornish was out for Calgary and doubtful to return.
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I do not expect to see Wally trading away players to teams gearing up for the playoffs. We are not mathematically eliminated from the post-season. If he sold a key asset, it would just increase the perception of a team and an organization in a downward spiral.
If we win the next one, and the Eskimos lose the next one, the game is on.
I am not putting any great hopes in such a scenario, but stranger things have happened. We still have good talent. And one thing about Wally is that he never gives up. The many high character guys on our team have not given up.
At this point, I have mixed feelings. If things broke our way, that would be very cool. I have great affection for many of our players. If things do not go our way, well, we have had time for lowered expectations to set in.
I would hope that we play with pride as the season draws to a conclusion.
If we win the next one, and the Eskimos lose the next one, the game is on.
I am not putting any great hopes in such a scenario, but stranger things have happened. We still have good talent. And one thing about Wally is that he never gives up. The many high character guys on our team have not given up.
At this point, I have mixed feelings. If things broke our way, that would be very cool. I have great affection for many of our players. If things do not go our way, well, we have had time for lowered expectations to set in.
I would hope that we play with pride as the season draws to a conclusion.
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.
Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.
Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
I believe we will play with pride. Other than the second Riders game, this team has hustled and played hard. I don't see a lack of effort out there by the players at all and I doubt we will see a lack of effort.WestCoastJoe wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:30 amI do not expect to see Wally trading away players to teams gearing up for the playoffs. We are not mathematically eliminated from the post-season. If he sold a key asset, it would just increase the perception of a team and an organization in a downward spiral.
If we win the next one, and the Eskimos lose the next one, the game is on.
I am not putting any great hopes in such a scenario, but stranger things have happened. We still have good talent. And one thing about Wally is that he never gives up. The many high character guys on our team have not given up.
At this point, I have mixed feelings. If things broke our way, that would be very cool. I have great affection for many of our players. If things do not go our way, well, we have had time for lowered expectations to set in.
I would hope that we play with pride as the season draws to a conclusion.
In fact it would not surprise me to see us play better in these remaining games. The bigger question will be whether the Eskimos and Riders will go into a slump or not. Stranger things have happened and the season is not over, even though the odds are not good.
Jennings is playing better. Manny has his speed back. Burnham is a tremendous competitor with talent. Shaq Johnson has had a good rookie season.
If we could get Vaillencourt healthy and back at guard, Steward at left tackle, our offensive line would be better and we could play four Internationals at receiver.
Still, we've put up a lot of yards offensively and Jeremiah Johnson has also had a good season.
The bigger problem is on defense and how do you fix it. Bazzie is back, but until we get a better pass rush, getting our defense fixed is not goin got happen.
With Sol E., Awe, and Fenner, our linebacking unit is talented. The second area needing fixing is our defensive backfield but how does it get done?
Yell and Lee are very good defenders so our boundary side is fine. Yes, Lee got burned against Ottawa but that happens....overall, Yell and Lee have had a good year.
The problem is our wide side and I don't believe we can just fix the problem with personnel. Its more of a scheme issue. The problems of our wide side from last season were not changed with new personnel, whether its been Thompson, Purifoy, or Gaitor at field corner, whether its been Gaitor, Jackson, or Purifoy at wideside half, or whether its been Purifoy or Thompson at safety.
Anthony Gaitor played excellent last season at both boundary halfback and boundary corner - the two toughest spots in the secondary. He also beat out Buddy Jackson for a starters job this season. I don't believe his play is a question of his ability. Purifoy also looked confused on a play in our last game. Very often this season there has been confusion on coverage between Gaitor, Purifoy, and Thompson but there was also confusion when we had Purifoy playing safety, Gaitor playing halfback, and Thompson playing corner.
I still wish we were playing Fenner at halfback and Purifoy at nickel but even leaving that alone, I wonder about the mix
Sometimes I wish we played more man defense. Its easy to hold a player responsible for a completion in zone defense when its not his man.
I can recount numerous times this season when the corner thought he had the flat and the halfback was taking the deep route outside and the safety was taking the post and the halfback went with the receiver running the post pattern. When the outside receiver catches a deep ball and the corner is 10 yards up when the reception is made and in a chase position it can look as if the corner blew the coverage when the play was not his fault.
Calgary was up on us by 30 points in the West Final last year at half time. Calgary knew our zone vulnerabilities and coverage problems and exploited them. They would have done so, no matter if we had Barrin Miles, Larry Crawford, and Les Brown at the peak of their careers, covering our wide side.
Can we please goat Dave Ritchie out of retirement??
"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)
According to LU, the Lions have a whopping 27 players who will be free agents after this year. He talked to Manny Arceneaux and Micah Awe about the factors that could be behind the team's losing record.
“If the guys that’s in it for the long haul show up these next weeks of football, things can work in our favour. But when confidence wavers, just be a man about it and let guys know,” said Arceneaux, one of a handful of veterans who have never missed the CFL playoffs.
As one of 27 players who will be without a contract for next season, Arceneaux warned that some teammates might be more interested in padding their statistics for possible employment elsewhere.
“Maybe there are guys thinking, ‘I want to play in the NFL.’ If you’re not getting the job done here you’re definitely not going to get the job done there,” he said. “You got to be realistic with yourself. A lot of things people rely on is potential. We’ve been relying on potential too long and (the job) hasn’t gotten done.
“It’s kinda sort of a joke to me? (like), how did we get into this position?”
One thing I’ve heard from the veterans is that this is the most talented team they’ve been on. I found that very ironic,” said Awe, who played in three college bowl games and had just one losing season during his four-year stint at Texas Tech.
“We’ve always heard the cliche that hard work beats talent. To me, that’s not necessarily true. When talent can’t figure it out, it doesn’t matter. We have the talent. We’re not executing.
“Either we’re really good or really bad and nothing between.”
B.C. Lions can’t explain why season is slipping awayJon Jennings is near the bottom of nearly every passing category for quarterbacks this season. B.C.’s offensive line has allowed more sacks than every team but Toronto and have the least combined defensive sacks and pressures, which is also aided by the secondary allowing 29 pass completions of 30 yards or longer.
- WestCoastJoe
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Talent. This fan agrees with those players that feel the team is very talented. INT D Line not so much, however.
Factors as quoted ...
Sacks given up
Not enough sacks
Not enough pressures
Long passes given up
......
And then there are ST trick plays allowed
Weak kickoff return schemes
Not running JJ24 enough
Not utilizing CR2 effectively
Not utilizing CW80 effectively
Offence bogging down when teams read the tape, and we give the D exactly what they expect
JJ10 getting injured vs the TiCats
Lulay getting injured
And no doubt a few other factors ...
General management? Could be.
Coaching? Could be.
It certainly is not just about execution.
Like the old baseball manager Rocky Bridges said: "I coached 'em good, but they sure did play bad."
If the team plays poorly, and the results are bad, quite a lot of that comes back to the coaching.
Just IMO ...
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.
Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.
Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
Well, no trade deadline deals. Not surprising. I guess that given the salaries in the CFL, its not good form to uproot people so late in the season. And then there is the salary cap which really limits deals. And the playoff format probably plays a role.
While we are not mathematically eliminated, the chances of making the playoffs are extremely slim, though not hopeless. I guess I can keep my hopes up for another week. Good news is that if we squeek in, we will be the hottest team in the league!
While we are not mathematically eliminated, the chances of making the playoffs are extremely slim, though not hopeless. I guess I can keep my hopes up for another week. Good news is that if we squeek in, we will be the hottest team in the league!
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Good news is that if we squeek in, we will be the hottest team in the league!