Main Menu

Recent posts

#1
Quote from: bunker on Today at 05:46:08 PMTo me, Willie was a big part of the problem of no pressure. Jake was obviously not impactful in the middle, but Willie mostly made one attempt to go wide, and once it didn't immediately work, he would back off and spy the QB while waving his arms around the line of scrimmage. Sometimes that was due to a double team, but often it was not. Vaughters was actually more impactful most of the time in terms of pressure.

I don't know if  Willie's play was a product of instructions from Younger, a bit of laziness, or lack of motor due to age and too many reps. But I hope it changes this year. Hopefully the disruption caused by Ceresna will open up more opportunities for him. And hopefully the 2 new "J" ends get some reps leaving Willie fresher when he plays. He took far too many reps for his age last year.

I wouldn't have brought Willie back and I wouldn't have brought Stanley back.
#2
Offside Forum / Re: 2026 Olympics
Last post by theaardvark - Today at 07:43:32 PM
Canada Sweden dust up over "double tap" in curling is so Canadian...  I bet id they wore gloves, they'd have been on the ice...
#3
Shane has been given the call, "We're not going to offer a contract" by MOS.  With all the young NAT LB's, its not a mystery why, he's a ST leader and a glue guy, but I guess he's just aged out...

Thanks, Shane, for the great plays, especially that GC saving chase down.
#4
Offside Forum / Re: 2026 Olympics
Last post by Pigskin - Today at 05:59:52 PM
Canada picks up another medal in speed skating. 8 medals now.
#5
To me, Willie was a big part of the problem of no pressure. Jake was obviously not impactful in the middle, but Willie mostly made one attempt to go wide, and once it didn't immediately work, he would back off and spy the QB while waving his arms around the line of scrimmage. Sometimes that was due to a double team, but often it was not. Vaughters was actually more impactful most of the time in terms of pressure.

I don't know if  Willie's play was a product of instructions from Younger, a bit of laziness, or lack of motor due to age and too many reps. But I hope it changes this year. Hopefully the disruption caused by Ceresna will open up more opportunities for him. And hopefully the 2 new "J" ends get some reps leaving Willie fresher when he plays. He took far too many reps for his age last year.
#6
Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on Today at 04:23:41 PMThe difference is Sask. often used blitzing LB's to add pressure while Younger used the extra man in pass coverage.  Bizarre formation in the ESF highlighted by TSN had Tony Jones stranded in the flat in pass defence a couple of times while the Als ran the ball straight up the middle.
One of the issues with the 3 man front wasnt just the lack of pressure by that group, it was they didnt even create enough disruption for the blitzing lb to be effective. We did have to do a better job of not telegraphing which lb but also tying up more olinemen to create opportunities
#7
Quote from: Tecno on Today at 02:48:56 AMExcept so many here bash the 3-4 scheme to the point that they want it run 0 or maybe 2 times a game.  I was a bit shocked to see SSK running it maybe up to 10 times in the GC, especially since I didn't notice them running it much in the reg season.

Maybe that was their special wrinkle for the GC...

Agreed on your final sentence.  I want to see a pass rush at least as good as HAM or EDM was generating in '25.  Getting anywhere close to '25 SSK effectiveness will be gravy.

But your point about "why invest in DT then go 3-4" is a non sequitur, as proven by SSK in the GC.  If we are good enough then we can get pressure even with 3.  We all want to see more 4-3, but the Ceresna signing does absolutely nothing to prove that will be the case.

Heck, Younger could see Ceresna and be thinking "yay, now I can run MORE 3-4 and get some pressure!".  You never know.  However, I'm the odd man out here thinking Younger/Hall have a method to their madness and will figure out how to make it all work.

The difference is Sask. often used blitzing LB's to add pressure while Younger used the extra man in pass coverage.  Bizarre formation in the ESF highlighted by TSN had Tony Jones stranded in the flat in pass defence a couple of times while the Als ran the ball straight up the middle.
#8
Quote from: Blue In BC on Today at 03:32:26 PMGauthier could probably play for another couple of years. Football rosters always have to make these kinds of decisions. Succession choices caused by draft players that are younger, less expensive and appear to have more upside.

We drafted 3 lB's in 2025 so something had to give in theory. I don't know what the injury was for Novak or whether he could also get bumped by a new player this season. Regardless, we also have Cadwallader so we're pretty deep at the position.

Veteran leadership will be missed but we'll adjust.

It's not impossible that another team doesn't look to add him to their roster although he may have other plans.

He might even have a thought of a coaching career in his future? IDK, but always liked him for his effort on ST's.

Hallett kind of fell into the same category and his retention may mean that Kelly and Ball are not quite ready to take over his role.

Gauthier was working as a certified electrician for Haut Electric during his off-seasons, he's probably embedded in Wpg. enough to stay in the community.

The video below suggests the CFLPA may have helped with his career transition.


#9
Gauthier could probably play for another couple of years. Football rosters always have to make these kinds of decisions. Succession choices caused by draft players that are younger, less expensive and appear to have more upside.

We drafted 3 lB's in 2025 so something had to give in theory. I don't know what the injury was for Novak or whether he could also get bumped by a new player this season. Regardless, we also have Cadwallader so we're pretty deep at the position.

Veteran leadership will be missed but we'll adjust.

It's not impossible that another team doesn't look to add him to their roster although he may have other plans.

He might even have a thought of a coaching career in his future? IDK, but always liked him for his effort on ST's.

Hallett kind of fell into the same category and his retention may mean that Kelly and Ball are not quite ready to take over his role.
#10
Offside Forum / Re: 2026 Olympics
Last post by blue_gold_84 - Today at 02:51:25 PM
All indications are Morrissey will be out again tomorrow vs. FRA. It doesn't sound like he's been ruled out the rest of the way, though.