You stood in the face of adversity bold and courageous B.C. Fan, especially in your support of Jaques Chapdelaine. And probably there was no tougher critic on this board than myself regarding him...for a number of years I thought JC would send me to the psych ward. I see the metamorphosis of Jaques Chapdelaine last season as a miracle whereas you always believed that he was always made of the right stuff. Eiethe way, things are good right now...and I've become a big JC fan.B.C.FAN wrote:I don't like Eric Tillman. I would be happy to see this trade blow up in his face and for the Argos to have a successful season, for the good of the league and as a reward to David Braley for his willingness to bail out troubled franchises. I don't know whether that puts me in the majority or the minority. I've always felt like I was swimming against the tide on Lionbackers. Now that Javy Glatt has retired, Jacques Chapdelaine has won another Grey Cup and Anton McKenzie and Kierrie Johnson have been getting love on this site, I'll have to find another unpopular cause.WestCoastJoe wrote:For me at least, as much as this is a discussion of Ricky Ray's merits as a QB, it is also a discussion of Eric Tillman's merits as a GM.
Along the lines of "someone's kind of quarterback," it must be obvious that I am no longer a fan of Eric Tillman. He is not "my kind of GM." He may well build a contender in Edmonton. He has built contenders and championship teams before. But his style with the media rankles for me. I don't buy what he is selling. So if the Ricky Ray trade blows up in his face, I am OK with that.
But there is a really good chance that he will build a contender in Edmonton and survive as a GM. I would say he has started to compile pretty good talent in Edmonton.
Your comment regarding Eric Tillman, I believe has a lot to do with the comments regarding the Ricky Ray trade. I think the fact that it was Eric Tillman who traded Ricky Ray impacts some football fans views.
I really don't think the trade was about Eric Tillman's ego. He's too smart a general manager to make a decision just based on ego. I don't believe Tillman wanted his Eskimos to just be respectable...he wants to win it all, as he has in the past and felt that the Ricky Ray era needed to end in orfer to do that. As for the trade, it wasn't great but it wasn't horrible either.
For WestCoastJoe I have a preferance in terms of quarterback style. I really believe the CFL game is best sutied to a mobile quarterback. When you look back at most of the outstandign ones..from Jackie Parker to Russ Jackson, Ron Lancaster, Joe Kapp, Warren Moon, Matt Dunnigan, Tracy Ham, etc. they could all break down a defense with their legs as well as their arms.
Of courser there have been some excellent pocket passing quarterbacks from Sam Etcheverry to Anthony Cavillo, Dave Dickenson, and Ricky Ray. However, pure pocket passing quarterbacks have to really excell at what they do. Quarterbacks like Anthony Cavillo and Dave Dickenson read defenses very quickly, had very quick releases, and threw downfield with high accuracyAlso, while not highly mobile, quarterbacks like Dickenson and Cavillo have also been cagy, smart runners who have shown the ability to take off with the football at critical times to make big plays.
Ricky Ray is not my style of quarterback because he does not read defenses quickly, does not have a quick release, and dumps off too often when he should go downfield. I see him now as a very good but not an exceptional quarterback.
Travis Lulay only completed 58% of his passes last season. But he is a more dangerous quarterback than Ricky Ray because he challenges defenses more, he can roll out and put pressure on the edge, and he can break a defense down with his legs.
Yes Ricky Ray won two Grey Cups for Edmonton. In 2003 he lead a very talented Eskimo team to a first place finish in the West and a Grey Cup victory over Montreal. That was the last time the Eskimos ever finished first in the West. In 2005, Jaason Maas replaced a struggling Ricky Ray to lead the third place Eskimos to a Western Championship win over our Leos and then Ray came back and played lights out in the Grey Cup game.
In the first half of the 2000's most defenses were not as sophisticated as they have been for the past six seasons. Defensive coordinators like Rich Stubler and Dave Ritchie led the way to new ways of playing defenses with multiple formations, zone blitzes, nickelbacks, dimebacks, and different personell packages.
Since 2005, when they finished in third place the Eskimos have often struggled. For the first time in 35 years the Eskimos missed the playoffs in 2006 and missed them again in 2007. The Eskimos finished fouth in the West in 2008 but became the crossover team. The Eskimos finished third in the West in 2009 but missed the playoffs again in 2010 before finishing in second place last season and losing to our Leos in the Western Championship. While Edmonton's overall lack of success for a number of seasons can't all be laid on Ricky Ray, the fact is that Edmonton has not been able to return to those glory with Ray at quarterback for a number of seasons now...and last season, when they finally returned to having a good team, they did it on the back of Stubler defensee, as the Eskimo offence finished sixth in points scored in the eight team league.
Sometimes you have to turn the page. Edmonton could have stayed wth the status quo or taken a risk. They've taken a risk that could make things worse but the risk also offers a potentially greater reward than they were getting with Ray at quarterback and his salary was onerous to boot.