Qman wrote:Dusty wrote:Assuming that a trade happens, I think there will be a huge learning curve for an inexperienced left tackle, especially one coming from the NFL, given the prevalence of full scale blitz packages that are used/shown in the CFL. When the huddle breaks and it looks like you've got 12 defenders spread across the line in front of you, experience (or at least quick learning) counts. JJ may be using his feet a lot more without Jovan as opposing DC's will look to exploit the outside of the line with DB blitzes and/or find some gaps up the middle by faking the outside blitz and getting the tackles/guard to move sideways....
yes, don't see David starting right away unless he blows wally away in camp. most likely hunter moves outside and the work david in. LT isn't a position you can accept a learning curve. MTL was only offering him 80k, which means they weren't blown away with him starting right away. its like we are getting a bonus 1st round pick. i think we are getting another player (starter) for JO as well.
We likely are getting another player for Jovan as well.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one. First of all, we didn't need to trade Jovan to start four Nationals. We could have moved Steward out to left tackle, inserted Vaillencourt at guard, and moved Olifioye back to right tackle.
Secondly, Wally didn't begin by wanting to trade Olifioye. Instead, he wanted Olifioye to take a pay cut, which he refused, unless Wally was willing to give something from the back end of a restructured contract...and he wasn't.
The signing of Chris Williams was expensive as was the signing of Swayze Waters. However, we also lost Adam Bighill, who was well paid. But we also had to pay out a lot more money to sign Burhham, as well as we had to sign other Leo free agents plus we also signed some new free agents from other teams. These signings were more expensive than the SMS cap we gained from the loss of Bighill, Lokombo, Leone, Bazzie, and Gaitor.
I see Chris Williams as a bit of a gamble due to his ACL injury. Williams signed with the Tiger Cats in 2010. In 2012, the 5'7", 170 pound Williams set a new CFL record for return touchdowns in a single season. Williams finished the season with 16 touchdowns, 1,298 receiving yards and 1,117 punt return yards.
After an outstanding season Williams did not want to return to the Tiger-Cats under his current contract and said the Tiger-Cats violated a provision within the collective bargaining agreement that could lead to the final year of his contract with the Tiger-Cats being voided.
After failing to show up for mandatory training camp at the start of June 2013 the Tiger-Cats placed him under suspension. An independent arbitrator ruled that Williams' contract with the Tiger-Cats was legal and binding. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice over-ruled the decision of the independent arbitrator, declaring Williams was not bound to any contractual obligations with the Tiger-Cats, making him a free agent in the view of the CFL Players Association.
Williams kicked around with the NFL New Orleans Saints and the Chicago Bears until 2015, when he was signed by Ottawa on a one year deal. Williams finished the 2015 season with 1,214 yards on 88 receptions with 5 touchdowns Williams and the Redblacks agreed to a contract extension for one year for 2016. Partway through their Week 16 match-up against the Roughriders Williams was forced to leave the game early with a knee injury. Williams was enjoying another very productive 2016 season with 1,246 yards on 77 receptions when he tore his ACL in game 15.
Williams was not used much on special teams for Ottawa in his two seasons there. Williams was unable to break one" for the RedBlacks in the 2015 season and was eventually replaced in the role of returner by Jamil Smith and was sparingly used as a returner for Ottawa in 2016.
Dejardins chose not to sign Williams prior to free agency this past season. Ottawa elected to go after Kenny Shaw and Diontae Spencer from the Toronto Argonauts, players who are younger, cheaper, and potentially less problematic. The biggest question mark is whether Williams will be the same player he was before. He had games of 176, 187 and 130 receiving yards in his first three starts with Ottawa in 2016, but only two 100-yard games from Week 4 to Week 16, when he suffered his catastrophic knee injury.
Willams had surgery on his knee on October 28th, 2016. The recovery, as it was in the case of Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Zach Collaros, can be long and arduous, depending on the individual. For example, it took 11 months after his injury for Collaros to finally made his return. So its hard to know how long it will take for Williams to recover but its not out of the realm of possibility that we will not have Williams for a good chunk of this season.
There is a sense that some Leo fans are expecting Williams to be lining up at receiver for the season opener. That is possible but unlikely.
Swayze Waters really cost us a lot of money. Had Hamilton not also been interested Waters would have cost us a lot less. But with Leone's field goal kicking a serious problem for two seasons and then going to the NFL, Wally was put in the embarrassing position of having to get McAvoy to phone McCallum towards the end of last season after Buono had tried to get McCallum to 'retire' during our 2015 training camp and bad feelings from McCallum had been the final chapter of his long, very successful career here in B.C.
Wally, after two experiments in trying to convert a punter into a field goal kicker (O'Mohoney and Leone) without success and feeling the need to have success at both punting and field goal kicking for this season, with a very good team for 2017, paid big bucks for Waters.
Winnipeg is the only other CFL team using an International for punt/kicking duties. Its was not a good situation to be in for 2017. So the two biggest reasons why Wally asked Olifioye for a pay cut was the signing of Williams and Waters.
I hope is that trading for Facault (and whomever comes with him) and saying goodbye to Olifioye turns out to be a good one. If Facult turns into a starter then it will be. But if Williams does not recover well and Facault does not become starter material or play here for long, then Wally has focused on short term success for longer term loss because Olifioye has a number of future CFL All-Star seasons left in him.
Wally is not going to be here with our Leos as GM long term. He is focused on NOW. Leos fans want to win now too but most will be cheering for our Leos when Wally is no longer HC/GM. I am looking at the Olifioye trade long term as well as short term.
I sure hope it works out for our Leos both in the short term and the longer term because we are sure trading an outstanding player.