Lions sign QB Dolegala

[DanoT]

From 3D Nation:
https://3downnation.com/2024/02/14/b-c- ... -dolegala/

A very good signing, imo. He's 6'7"..Yikes!

[MacNews]

I think he has more upside than Evans and Prukop will be a huge improvement at short yardage.

[Toppy Vann]

I was intrigued by both Dolega and Cornelius Taylor as FAs and leaned a bit to Dolegala despite no evidence to back it up.

Dolegala has potential to develop but they best get some off season development that helps him read the field better and cut out INTs.
Prokup wants to play so his signing is good but what's his role beyond 3rd down short yardage.?
Would they give these two some packages? And can they give these guys reps in practice?
I like how Rick Campbell runs the offense in game like pressure at practice but can they do this with back ups.

I was sort of listening to Rick Campbell mention the short yardage game on Global at 6 pm news last night and mentioning more signings might be possible that evening suggesting that a new back up was still being spoken with.

The question I have is if the offense is going to be the same next year irrespective of the talent?
I look at WPG as the standard and all Grey Cup appearances in the last few years and most assuredly upcoming will go through Winnipeg.
Status quo hopefully is not the Lions option.

Stanback is a great signing but once he sees he playbook and the reality sets in that BC had the lowest run/pass ratio in the CFL, he might question being here.

For the life of me I can't figure out what was happening last year as Dominique Davis just didn't seem right yet BC did the same old thing with the same old results. Was Davis unhappy or where was his head? He like many other QBs showed promise earlier on.

[Johndryden]

I think signing Jake was a great move. He was one of only two QB’s to have two plus 400 yard passing games last season. VA was the other QB. I cannot believe the Riders didn’t re-sign him but that’s their loss. The guy has an amazing arm and at 6’7 can see all the field. Very solid #2 who will push VA!

[don corleone]

Many are looking forward to seeing Dolegala throw the ball but I personally don't see him getting a lot of game day reps with V.A. being the starter barring injury. Could be more succession planning at this point with Dolegala being only 27 and Adams 31. I believe Dakota Prukop will be the busier of the two Lion backups for the season ahead.

It's hard to say if J.D. had other options. Taylor Cornelius is a similar style player still unsigned. Weird to me that the Riders stuck with Trevor Harris given he is unlikely to be back in 2025. Harris's only chance of another year is to win the GC imo. Even now I would go with Mason Fine ahead of Harris this year and doubt the win / loss record will be much different.

[Johndryden]

Many are looking forward to seeing Dolegala throw the ball but I personally don't see him getting a lot of game day reps with V.A. being the starter barring injury. Could be more succession planning at this point with Dolegala being only 27 and Adams 31. I believe Dakota Prukop will be the busier of the two Lion backups for the season ahead.

It's hard to say if J.D. had other options. Taylor Cornelius is a similar style player still unsigned. Weird to me that the Riders stuck with Trevor Harris given he is unlikely to be back in 2025. Harris's only chance of another year is to win the GC imo. Even now I would go with Mason Fine ahead of Harris this year and doubt the win / loss record will be much different.

Not suggesting Jake should supplant VA but he is a solid option if VA has health issues .. God forbid.

Harris is probably in his last year which makes me very surprised the Riders did not re-sign Jake or didn’t recruit someone better than Mason Fine who is not a CFL calibre QB.

[DanoT]

Many are looking forward to seeing Dolegala throw the ball but I personally don't see him getting a lot of game day reps with V.A. being the starter barring injury. Could be more succession planning at this point with Dolegala being only 27 and Adams 31. I believe Dakota Prukop will be the busier of the two Lion backups for the season ahead.

It's hard to say if J.D. had other options. Taylor Cornelius is a similar style player still unsigned. Weird to me that the Riders stuck with Trevor Harris given he is unlikely to be back in 2025. Harris's only chance of another year is to win the GC imo. Even now I would go with Mason Fine ahead of Harris this year and doubt the win / loss record will be much different.

Not suggesting Jake should supplant VA but he is a solid option if VA has health issues .. God forbid.

Harris is probably in his last year which makes me very surprised the Riders did not re-sign Jake or didn’t recruit someone better than Mason Fine who is not a CFL calibre QB.

Obviously the Riders coaching staff thinks Mason Fine is a CFL caliber QB, so what is it about him that makes you think he isn't CFL caliber?

[Hambone]

Many are looking forward to seeing Dolegala throw the ball but I personally don't see him getting a lot of game day reps with V.A. being the starter barring injury. Could be more succession planning at this point with Dolegala being only 27 and Adams 31. I believe Dakota Prukop will be the busier of the two Lion backups for the season ahead.

It's hard to say if J.D. had other options. Taylor Cornelius is a similar style player still unsigned. Weird to me that the Riders stuck with Trevor Harris given he is unlikely to be back in 2025. Harris's only chance of another year is to win the GC imo. Even now I would go with Mason Fine ahead of Harris this year and doubt the win / loss record will be much different.

Obviously it will take a VA injury for Dolegala to get anything more than garbage time reps. Same thing goes for any #2 behind an entrenched starter. Totally agree that barring a VA injury Prukop will be busier.

I doubt Dolegala is part of a succession plan. VA is under contract thru 2026. Dolegala is signed thru 2025 at which point he'll be 29. I'm splitting hairs here but the age difference though isn't a full 4 years. It's 3 years and 3 months. At that point if he's shown enough to be considered a shoe-in to replace Adams at the end of his contract he's not going to wait another year. He's going to look for an opportunity to move to a team that needs a starter for 2026 as opposed to waiting until 2027.

Mace is a rookie HC with a rookie OC. He wants his HC career to get off to a good start. No way would he start out by entrusting his own job security in a totally unproven talent like Fine, in the most important position on the field, when he has a seasoned proven veteran like Harris. Risking things on Fine could earn Mace a one and done Claybrooks-like career. In the meantime Mace will ride with Harris thru this the final year of his contract. At that point they can decide if they can entrust things on Fine or Patterson or maybe they find out Jack Coan is their next franchise QB.

[Hambone]

Many are looking forward to seeing Dolegala throw the ball but I personally don't see him getting a lot of game day reps with V.A. being the starter barring injury. Could be more succession planning at this point with Dolegala being only 27 and Adams 31. I believe Dakota Prukop will be the busier of the two Lion backups for the season ahead.

It's hard to say if J.D. had other options. Taylor Cornelius is a similar style player still unsigned. Weird to me that the Riders stuck with Trevor Harris given he is unlikely to be back in 2025. Harris's only chance of another year is to win the GC imo. Even now I would go with Mason Fine ahead of Harris this year and doubt the win / loss record will be much different.

Not suggesting Jake should supplant VA but he is a solid option if VA has health issues .. God forbid.

Harris is probably in his last year which makes me very surprised the Riders did not re-sign Jake or didn’t recruit someone better than Mason Fine who is not a CFL calibre QB.

Riders have added former Notre Dame QB Jack Coan. What surprised me most about Saskatchewan's offseason moves at QB was that they opted to bring back 3 of the 4 2023 backups in Fine, Patterson and Pipkin. I thought they'd only bring back 2 to open up a spot for an additional young CFL newcomer. As for Fine vs Dolegala I don't know if either will become a CFL calibre starting QB. Fine is much smaller but far more mobile. Dolegala is big and strong armed but with Danny McManus mobility. He's definitely no D-Mac when it comes to making reads thus tends to force the ball due to late decisions.

I'm not sold on Jake to be any more than a journeyman calibre backup in BC but BC didn't have much for options looking for a veteran backup in free agency and Dolegala didn't have much for options for a new home. Much will rest on Maksymic and whether he can teach Dolegala how to get through his reads and progressions far faster than he showed last year.

[don corleone]

Not suggesting Jake should supplant VA but he is a solid option if VA has health issues .. God forbid.

Harris is probably in his last year which makes me very surprised the Riders did not re-sign Jake or didn’t recruit someone better than Mason Fine who is not a CFL calibre QB.

V.A. getting hurt would not be something new. It's football. Maybe Hambone can help us with the odds.

V.A. also didn't make it until he was 29 so Dolegala still has time. The reps he got last season will help him immeasurably. Prukop is capable as well imo. Lion's have a good group at a decent price.

I actually liked what I saw from Mason Fine last year. They should have played him after he came back from injury given they lost 7 in a row to close out but I guess they were planning on making the playoffs with Jake. I like Antonio Pipkin as well who is another young guy with good size and a fair bit of experience. Bottom line is they all need to play to get better. Coan and Patterson are the same. It's a backward step to play Harris but they want to make the contract look good so everybody on board with that.

[don corleone]

Obviously it will take a VA injury for Dolegala to get anything more than garbage time reps. Same thing goes for any #2 behind an entrenched starter. Totally agree that barring a VA injury Prukop will be busier.

I doubt Dolegala is part of a succession plan. VA is under contract thru 2026. Dolegala is signed thru 2025 at which point he'll be 29. I'm splitting hairs here but the age difference though isn't a full 4 years. It's 3 years and 3 months. At that point if he's shown enough to be considered a shoe-in to replace Adams at the end of his contract he's not going to wait another year. He's going to look for an opportunity to move to a team that needs a starter for 2026 as opposed to waiting until 2027.

Mace is a rookie HC with a rookie OC. He wants his HC career to get off to a good start. No way would he start out by entrusting his own job security in a totally unproven talent like Fine, in the most important position on the field, when he has a seasoned proven veteran like Harris. Risking things on Fine could earn Mace a one and done Claybrooks-like career. In the meantime Mace will ride with Harris thru this the final year of his contract. At that point they can decide if they can entrust things on Fine or Patterson or maybe they find out Jack Coan is their next franchise QB.

Good post. Agree completely.

Still say Claybrooks did an excellent job as a first year coach. That team played well down the stretch. Ironically it was a star veteran QB that weighed down the team imo.

Claybrooks problem was he was hired by a GM who was also under attack. Watch for Hamilton this year.

[don corleone]

Mace is a rookie HC with a rookie OC. He wants his HC career to get off to a good start. No way would he start out by entrusting his own job security in a totally unproven talent like Fine, in the most important position on the field, when he has a seasoned proven veteran like Harris. Risking things on Fine could earn Mace a one and done Claybrooks-like career. In the meantime Mace will ride with Harris thru this the final year of his contract. At that point they can decide if they can entrust things on Fine or Patterson or maybe they find out Jack Coan is their next franchise QB.

By your logic on Mace, could be Sask will be players in F.A. again next year. If none of their 4 others get playing time it will be the same as this year. Just me but I 6 game Trevor Harris asap and see what I have while saving as much SMS as possible only they gave him a big bonus. It's a nice story but I'm picking the Riders last.

[Ryan]

I think he has more upside than Evans and Prukop will be a huge improvement at short yardage.

I like this signing for many of the reasons noted above. As for helping on short yardage - it seems to me almost anyone could be an improvement over the continual mess on short yardage the last few years!

[Hambone]

By your logic on Mace, could be Sask will be players in F.A. again next year. If none of their 4 others get playing time it will be the same as this year. Just me but I 6 game Trevor Harris asap and see what I have while saving as much SMS as possible only they gave him a big bonus. It's a nice story but I'm picking the Riders last.

I can't buy that. Maybe just me but using the first 6 games to experiment at QB when they have a seasoned veteran available is just asking to dig themselves in a big hole when they desperately need to get off to a good start. The Riders start off with an arguably soft schedule starting with @ Edmonton and @ Hamilton before getting Hamilton @ home. Then it gets much tougher for the second half of their first 6 with Toronto @ home, @ BC and Winnipeg @ home. The only way Fine starts Week 1 is if Harris is hurt or Fine blows Harris away through training camp and preseason.

Keep in mind the Riders open 2024 still stinging from the embarrassment of the 7 game losing streak that ended 2023. There will be zero patience in Riderville for any stumbling out of the gate. Pitchforks will be out and truckloads of manure at the ready for O'Day's front lawn if they get off to anything less than a promising start. Last year the Riders were 3-2 when Harris started, 1-3 when Fine started and 2-7 under Dolegala. Fine's lone W was a 26-24 home victory over Ottawa.

[DanoT]

Mace is a rookie HC with a rookie OC. He wants his HC career to get off to a good start. No way would he start out by entrusting his own job security in a totally unproven talent like Fine, in the most important position on the field, when he has a seasoned proven veteran like Harris. Risking things on Fine could earn Mace a one and done Claybrooks-like career. In the meantime Mace will ride with Harris thru this the final year of his contract. At that point they can decide if they can entrust things on Fine or Patterson or maybe they find out Jack Coan is their next franchise QB.

By your logic on Mace, could be Sask will be players in F.A. again next year. If none of their 4 others get playing time it will be the same as this year. Just me but I 6 game Trevor Harris asap and see what I have while saving as much SMS as possible only they gave him a big bonus. It's a nice story but I'm picking the Riders last.

I'm picking Riders to finish last IF they 6 game Injured list for Harris...But they won't. Every rookie HC wants/needs a veteran QB.