Lionbackers.com

Taking a stab at this today. Here are my selections. Plenty up for debate (e.g. Ty Long over Paul McCallum at kicker) but one thing's for sure. This "team" would be nearly unstoppable if all played on the field in their prime. I tried to stick to the ratio too.

Quarterbacks
14 Travis Lulay
13 Mike Reilly

Running Backs
33 Andrew Harris FB
46 Rolly Lumbala FB

Receivers
84 Emmanuel Arceneaux
85 Shawn Gore

Slotbacks
16 Bryan Burnham WR
81 Geroy Simon
1 Arland Bruce III

Offensive Linemen
61 Joel Figueroa LT
62 Cody Husband C/G
64 Angus Reid C
67 Hunter Steward G
63 Jovan Olafioye RT

Defensive Linemen
97 Brent Johnson DE
96 Khalif Mitchell DT
79 Eric Taylor DT
94 Khreem Smith DE

Linebackers
56 Solomon Elimimian MLB
44 Adam Bighill LB
51 Micah Awe LB
8 Boseko Lokombo NKL

Defensive Backs
45 Jason Arakgi S
31 Dante Marsh CB
24 Korey Banks DB
21 Ryan Phillips DB
6 T. J. Lee DB
2 Davis Sanchez CB

Special Teams
40 Mike Benson LS
1 Ty Long K
3 Richie Leone P
2 Chris Rainey KR
32 Yonus Davis PR


DH

Jason Arakgi was never a starter at defensive back. He was a regular on Special Teams.

Don't remember Davis Sanchez starting for BC either . A great DB for the Als though.

pennw wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 12, 2020 9:14 am

Don't remember Davis Sanchez starting for BC either . A great DB for the Als though.

Sanchez is from the Vancouver area and finished the last year or two of his career with the Lions.

TheLionKing wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 12, 2020 12:20 am

Jason Arakgi was never a starter at defensive back. He was a regular on Special Teams.

I wanted to acknowledge his special teams prowess as the choices were Tad Crawford, JR LaRose, Kenyan Parker, Cauchy Muamba, and Anthony Thompson.

Brandon Dozier didn't play a full season for us in 2019, but I suppose it should be him.


DH

I think I would have taken Keron Williams at DEnd over K. Smith. He was listed as a tackle but he seemed to play an awful lot at the end position.

Picking an all-decade team is tough. Do you choose a player with one or two excellent seasons over a longer-term starter with many good seasons?

Players such as Geroy Simon, Arland Bruce, Brent Johnson and Davis Sanchez were most productive in the previous decade. Simon, Bruce and Johnson were all major contributors to the 2011 Grey Cup team but they were at the tail ends of their careers. Johnson retired after the 2011 season. Simon and Bruce's production tailed off sharply in 2012, their final season with the Lions, but I don't know if anyone is more worthy of making the all-decade team.

I would definitely exclude Sanchez, though. He was a ratio-changing cornerback in the previous decade but only played one full season with the Lions in 2010. He suffered a career-ending elbow injury during the Lions' 0-5 start to the 2011 season, in which his side of the field was badly exploited by opponents. The secondary instantly improved when he was replaced.

B.C.FAN wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 12, 2020 12:06 pm

Players such as Geroy Simon, Arland Bruce, Brent Johnson and Davis Sanchez were most productive in the previous decade. Simon, Bruce and Johnson were all major contributors to the 2011 Grey Cup team but they were at the tail ends of their careers. Johnson retired after the 2011 season.

Choose all the starting players from the 2011 Grey Cup game to represent the all-decade team. Fair enough?

B.C.FAN wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 12, 2020 12:06 pm

I would definitely exclude Sanchez, though. He was a ratio-changing cornerback in the previous decade but only played one full season with the Lions in 2010. He suffered a career-ending elbow injury during the Lions' 0-5 start to the 2011 season, in which his side of the field was badly exploited by opponents. The secondary instantly improved when he was replaced.

Point taken. Sanchez was my alternate at CB. I would put TJ Lee on the corner and have Sanchez there if ratio dictated. But yes, his best years outside of the Chargers were with the Als.


DH

I don't think Lokombo played SLB, he was mostly a WLB with the Lions.

Robbie wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 12, 2020 2:28 pm

B.C.FAN wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 12, 2020 12:06 pm

Players such as Geroy Simon, Arland Bruce, Brent Johnson and Davis Sanchez were most productive in the previous decade. Simon, Bruce and Johnson were all major contributors to the 2011 Grey Cup team but they were at the tail ends of their careers. Johnson retired after the 2011 season.

Choose all the starting players from the 2011 Grey Cup game to represent the all-decade team. Fair enough?

There's always some bias towards championship teams, so a good summary would be:

1. The 1964 BC Lions would be the all-1960's decade team.
2. The 1985 BC Lions would be the all-1980's decade team.
3. The 1994 BC Lions would be the all-1990's decade team.
4. The 2006 BC Lions would be the all-2000's decade team.
5. The 2011 BC Lions would be the all-2010's decade team.

With all due respect to the 2000 BC Lions team, the are by far the least popular and are overshadowed by the 2006 and 1994 teams.

And among the non-Grey Cup decades:

6. The 1959 BC Lions with the only playoff appearance would be the all-1950's decade team.
7. The 1977 BC Lions with the only playoff win would be the all-1970's decade team in an otherwise very pitiful decade.

Excuse the liberty, but just gonna' slip this into this thread, though it's a wee bit off, in that Mr. Wake was with us for his couple sterling seasons in the previous decade (2007 & 2008) -- however it's a noteworthy release by the Titans in the world of NFL news. Amazing to think he's 38 and still was excelling prior to his mid-season injury. https://3downnation.com/2020/03/12/tita ... eron-wake/