Lionbackers.com

Depending on the progress of Jevon Cottoy it looks like the Lions might be going with three National receivers along with Durant and Shaq Johnson.

Just curious if Joey Augustin might fit as a second International. 6' 4" and only 25. Remember some of the fans saying he looked good in practice last year.

Murdoch wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 19, 2020 10:52 am

Depending on the progress of Jevon Cottoy it looks like the Lions might be going with three National receivers along with Durant and Shaq Johnson.

Just curious if Joey Augustin might fit as a second International. 6' 4" and only 25. Remember some of the fans saying he looked good in practice last year.

I’d be happy to go into training camp with Augustin as the a projected starter at boundary WR. The Lions have 7 rookie American wide receivers and 3 second-year Global receivers to push him.

If the Lions have money to add veteran starters anywhere, they have much bigger priorities at DB and linebacker

Edmonton has signed Justin Renfrow. He was probably underappreciated for his steady play at right tackle in the second half of the season and his solid work in the community this offseason before free agency. I wish him well. He's a class act.

ESKIMOS SIGN JUSTIN RENFROW

The Lions have signed national WR Devon Bailey, who was the sixth overall pick by Edmonton in 2014 but was an unsigned free agent last year after two seasons in Saskatchewan. He has great size at 6-5 but was considered a disappointment in his 5 seasons in the league. He may be best remembered for one catch in double coverage by Winston Rose and Anthony Thompson at B.C. Place in 2018.

CFL receiver Devon Bailey made one of the craziest catches in double coverage you’ll ever see

The Lions also signed American WR Nih-Jer Jackson, a rookie from Southeastern Louisiana University. That gives them 18 receivers under contract. They usually take 16 to main camp.

LIONS SIGN FREE AGENT WIDE RECEIVER DEVON BAILEY

I see JC Abbott has weighed in on how the Leos did in free agency. I don't disagree with his rating to the extent that I'm familiar with the given player, but that said it was interesting to me how high he is on National DB Derek Jones who admittedly wasn't on my radar. I remember the name from last year with the Bombers, but can't say he stood out for me. Anyhow, it's nice to hear good things about him. Abbott sees him as one of the best under the radar moves by any team. Meanwhile, I'm still thinking (as expressed more than once before) our secondary and our linebacker crew are looking pretty thin. Here's hoping we have some diamonds in the rough rookies coming to training camp. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/19/anal ... ent-moves/

Yea, I hear ya Ernie. I am starting to think that there are "football eyes" and then there are my eyes that saw the same thing as you in Derek Jones.

Likewise, my eyes saw an average SAM linebacker in the Redblacks' Anthony Cioffi. Football eyes saw him (and signed him) as safety with the NFL's Jets.

My eyes saw a stud wide receiver in Joey Augustin making circus catches in the 2019 preseason. Football eyes didn't give him a single regular-season rep despite an underwhelming Duron Carter.


DH

Gridiron Ernie wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 19, 2020 4:53 pm

I see JC Abbott has weighed in on how the Leos did in free agency. I don't disagree with his rating to the extent that I'm familiar with the given player, but that said it was interesting to me how high he is on National DB Derek Jones who admittedly wasn't on my radar. I remember the name from last year with the Bombers, but can't say he stood out for me. Anyhow, it's nice to hear good things about him. Abbott sees him as one of the best under the radar moves by any team. Meanwhile, I'm still thinking (as expressed more than once before) our secondary and our linebacker crew are looking pretty thin. Here's hoping we have some diamonds in the rough rookies coming to training camp. https://3downnation.com/2020/02/19/anal ... ent-moves/

Slightly off-topic, but speaking of JC Abbott, I think he's one of the great young CFL journalists out there and it's nice to see someone with some youth step in and contribute. He and Justin Dunk are two sources to follow online as they offer quality content. He has massive shoes to fill since LU no longer does this, but so far he seems to be filling them quite well.

Matt Baker too. I know he works for the team so there's always some bias as he's not independent, but I really enjoy the content he puts out about the Lions and CFL.

so looking at all the changes and the players we already had,

am i right to say we need to find some new talent in the defensive secondary and at linebacker?......... i'm thinking all other areas have adequate talent levels (quantity and expected quality)

great article.....

things that caught my eye in the article,

1) jones as canadian safety starter?

2) campbell heavy on canadian DL (or was it that went over ratio in general?)... i think DL, which has really surged as a spot to stuff one canadian. DT makes sense. running game doesn't matter that much in CFL

3) ryker matthews rated an "A" signing

4) micah johnson rating an "A+" signing...... call me a pessimist but i guarantee this will prove very optimistic.

i should have mentioned, we don't have the canadian DL talent. in fact, they just left.. the writer makes this clear.

it's hard to know whether "canadian dline starter(s)" is a campbell preference, or if that's just how it happened to evolve in ottawa??

cms22 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 20, 2020 8:00 pm

so looking at all the changes and the players we already had,

am i right to say we need to find some new talent in the defensive secondary and at linebacker?......... i'm thinking all other areas have adequate talent levels (quantity and expected quality)

Secondary coach Ryan Phillips was the featured guest on this week’s team podcast with Matt Baker and Travis Lulay. I was hoping he would discuss personnel and depth In the secondary but he didn't say much other than that Victor Gamboa is a smart, hard-working young player and that the loss of nickelback Chris Edwards left a big hole.

Looking at the players under contract, nickelback is still a question mark but the best bets for starters are Garry Peters, Aaron Grymes (when healthy), TJ Lee, Victor Gamboa, Keon Lyn and Isaiah Guzylak-Messam (who played more linebacker than DB last year). That’s still a pretty good secondary but there’s not a lot of depth.

Linebacker is pretty thin unless the Lions choose to play a Canadian on the weakside. Jordan Herdman-Reed, Isaiah Guzylak-Messam and Adam Konar all have experience at the position but I’d rather see Americans Kevin Haynes and Dyshawn Davis in that spot. Haynes could also play in the middle unless Korey Toomer returns after the XFL season. It will be worth watching him for the next couple of months in Seattle.

cms22 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 20, 2020 8:06 pm

great article.....

things that caught my eye in the article,

1) jones as canadian safety starter?

2) campbell heavy on canadian DL (or was it that went over ratio in general?)... i think DL, which has really surged as a spot to stuff one canadian. DT makes sense. running game doesn't matter that much in CFL

3) ryker matthews rated an "A" signing

4) micah johnson rating an "A+" signing...... call me a pessimist but i guarantee this will prove very optimistic.

i bet we go with an all american defense this year with the change in the ratio this year.

Lions sign Dominique Rhymes https://www.bclions.com/2020/02/21/lion ... ue-rhymes/

VictoriaFan wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:10 am

Lions sign Dominique Rhymes https://www.bclions.com/2020/02/21/lion ... ue-rhymes/

I guess that ends the Derel Walker speculation, and the prospect of pencilling in Joey Augustin as a starter. I’ve heard mixed reviews about Rhymes in Ottawa but his stats last year were almost identical to Walker’s in Toronto, both with over 1,000 yards receiving on bad teams with unstable quarterbacking.

Rhymes:
65 catches on 112 targets for 1,056 yards (avg. 16.2 yards), 5 TDs and 10 catches of 30 yards or more

Walker:
65 catches on 113 targets for 1,040 yards (avg. 16.0 yards), 6 TDs and 10 catches of 30 yards or more

The Lions have added another ex-Ottawa receiver, Caleb Holley. He had 48 catches for 487 yards in 14 games last year, mainly at boundary slotback (Bryan Burnham's position).

https://www.bclions.com/2020/02/21/free ... gns-lions/