Which one player should had Hervey re-signed?

[SammyGreene]

Entering the final week of the regular season a number of former Leos have stood out for their new teams. None more than Cody Fajardo who is was a 3rd stringer here a year ago. No one would have predicted what he has done with the Riders but he at least could have been a solid No. 2 here behind Reilly if given the opportunity.

However, if there was just one player that might have made a difference from Week One who would it be?

I threw in Solly even though he was actually released from his contract. However, Sukh Chungh's salary would have retained him.

[B.C.FAN]

A good case can be made for any of them but I chose Shawn Lemon. The Lions let him go and had no one to replace him. The defence suffered as a result.

[DanoT]

Bo Lokombo was the Lions top Canadian in 2018, was a special team beast while leading the team in ST tackles, and is now a starting free safety with the Als. I always thought that the Lions should have tried Bo at FS.

Winston Rose leads the CFL in ints (or is near the top).

One of Hervey's dumbest moves was to completely gut the Lions linebackers by moving on from Elemimian, Lokombo, Awe, Foster. Newcomers Toomer and Haynes look to be keepers but Toomer should be getting reps at MLB.

[David]

A strong case could be made for putting Bo Lokombo and Micah Awe on this list instead of Otha Foster (who has effectively retired).

Unfortunately, some of the choices aren't black and white. When you choose to spend nearly $1M on two players (Reilly and Chungh), there are going to be SMS casualties. So while I would have loved to see Solly retire a Leo, I can understand why Ed would look to spend less at linebacker (I just think he could have been treated better here....something that Rick LeLacheur addressed with Season Ticket Holders on the call).


DH

[SammyGreene]

Bo Lokombo was the Lions top Canadian in 2018, was a special team beast while leading the team in ST tackles, and is now a starting free safety with the Als. I always thought that the Lions should have tried Bo at FS.

Winston Rose leads the CFL in ints (or is near the top).

One of Hervey's dumbest moves was to completely gut the Lions linebackers by moving on from Elemimian, Lokombo, Awe, Foster. Newcomers Toomer and Haynes look to be keepers but Toomer should be getting reps at MLB.

Damn Danny, bang on with Lokombo and that was oversight on me. Now added. Posey too who would join Collins in the 1,000 club had he not missed 5 games.

[JohnnyMusso]

I went with Solly. He is a great leader and still can be very productive. They really missed him this year. He is leading the Riders defence this year and may get 100 tackles again.

[SammyGreene]

So while I would have loved to see Solly retire a Leo, I can understand why Ed would look to spend less at linebacker (I just think he could have been treated better here....something that Rick LeLacheur addressed with Season Ticket Holders on the call).


DH

The fact that #56 was almost immediately issued to another player (Toomer) was an absolute no no given Elliminian ranks near the top of the greatest Lion defensive players of all time.

[Gridiron Ernie]

I hesitated ever so briefly (considered Lokombo for his potential) before concluding without a doubt in my mind that the biggest missed "should have" re-signing was Mr. Solomon Elimimian. As mentioned, the man is a leader, through and through, on the field, off the field, and anywhere you'd want him in between. He was sorely missed this campaign. Our loss was the Riders' gain. Hervey underestimated that loss. He couldn't very likely have afforded Sol E, given our free agency signings. But that IMO most significant miscalculation is on Hervey.

[Toppy Vann]

I went with Sol E because the poll gives you only one choice and the DEF struggled with no clear leadership on the field.

However, the players losses that led to this debacle are multiple.

Basically the choice of a QB who basically forces a HC to play him only must have led Fajardo to reject coming back. Coaching staff must have known from before what progress he'd been making in practice at least, but had he stayed he'd have played the same as O'Brien has - very little.

Even the dumping of $160K ST players has shown up as poor decision making.

All the combined with a rookie HC who seems not to have influence on the OFF structure and schemes despite having defended against it last year.

[Hambone]

I don't like to play the "what if" 20/20 hindsight game. In a salary cap world it's too easy to cherry pick players who maybe should have been retained. In picking who should have been kept one should also have to pick a player of similar contract value who should have been dumped instead or not added in free agency.