Off-Season Other Teams News

[TecnoGenius]

On Zac?s pass to Lawler that was intercepted in the d zone, if you replay it we had a receiver wide open on a ten yard hook on the sideline.  It would have been a Fajardo special.  Zac  apparently didn?t see it and. Put it up  For Lawler. Zac had faith in his receiver to go get it.  Unfortunately Lawler, couldn?t get his balance on the poorly thrown pass and he couldn?t go get it. The result was an easy int by the DB.

I broke down that play on another thread somewhere.  The open guy was Demski.  A timing out at the sidelines would have almost certainly worked.  He was less open than he seems because MTL ran this crazy handoff D scheme.  It appeared to be man: 3 on 3.  But it was a weird zone look where as the R's progressed in their routes the D guys all swapped assignments.

Kenny had his guy plainly beat as the defender was stuck inside trailing by a mile.  That's why Zach threw it.  But as Kenny moved towards the corner, Ento dropped his guy as he was crossing into someone else's zone.  The routes were designed to confuse, but instead Thorpe caused the confusion by doing this weird change-up.  Like much that night from MTL, the design was high risk (Ento did just barely make that INT) and high reward.  It's to goad the QB into throwing into zone when he's sure it's man an he sees the open WR.

From Buck's standpoint the play was a failure, I think, because Demski and Kenny were too close together: the key aspect that allowed Ento to change assignments.  Demski ended up basically at the GL, and Kenny maybe 15Y in the EZ.  That's not enough separation on a 30-40Y (plus 5-10 for the outside angle) pass.  It was a bad play design against a team that likes the high stakes INT.  If Demski had curled back at the rail instead of fading to the GL then Ento has to stay with him and be too far to adjust when the ball is released, or leave Demski wide open for either big yardage or at least close to 1st down.  Zach could have waited until he saw which way Ento was going.

Even worse was Kenny was waiting for the ball and likely is the only guy who can get it if Zach throws farther back to the corner.  Kenny is circus gumby who can make the wicked catch, so why are we throwing him wait-for-it helmet-height balls?  Throw it over Ento and Kenny climbs the ladder.  Zach's overthinking it and trying too hard to feather it in as a perfect, easy to catch ball.  That's not what is required at that moment with that receiver.  Yes, Zach thought Kenny was wide open with no coverage, but the entire O should have planned around the freaky Thorpe scheme and their penchant for takeaways.  There should never be the words "he's wide open" going through Zach's head.  It should be "how can someone else get there?".

That last thing is that we ran a similar play earlier, at a similar point on the field, with the Woli TD attempt where it was just batted away (Ento??).  It didn't work then, why did we think it'd work in the 4th?  It was the same mid-EZ underthrown nonsense.  Even worse, around that play they show our O on the sidelines and Zach has his live mic on and they are directly discussing this play and how they are going to do it again.  And that's heard by everyone including the MTL D who I'm sure had one guy tasked with watching the broadcast.

We didn't need to go for Kenny TD shot at that moment, and I'm not really sure why we did.  The dink & dunk was still working ok.  You're in FG range so you need to keep dinking or you need to put a ladder ball up in the back corner for Kenny where it absolutely cannot be INT'd.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Legendary CFL pass rusher Charleston Hughes officially announces retirement from pro football

The 40-year-old made the announcement via a statement to his Twitter account on Friday, tagging all three of his former CFL clubs. He last saw action with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2022 but did not sign with a team last season after becoming a free agent in February 2023.


https://3downnation.com/2023/12/29/legendary-cfl-pass-rusher-charleston-hughes-officially-announces-retirement-from-pro-football/

[blue_or_die]

3DN reporting the Stamps aren?t allowing Kilam to get interviewed for Mace?s staff. Really plays into their ?steadfast succession planning? to deny an assistant an opportunity for a promotion. Hope they?ve been telling Kilam great things to keep him happy in Calgary?

[theaardvark]

3DN reporting the Stamps aren?t allowing Kilam to get interviewed for Mace?s staff. Really plays into their ?steadfast succession planning? to deny an assistant an opportunity for a promotion. Hope they?ve been telling Kilam great things to keep him happy in Calgary?

For Killam, promotion would be HC, not staff...

[Jesse]

For Killam, promotion would be HC, not staff...

Yeah, I guess they would want him for STC and Assistant HC, which he already is in Calgary, right?

No real reason to leave.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Veteran QB Dane Evans retires from CFL.

https://3downnation.com/2024/01/01/veteran-qb-dane-evans-retires-from-cfl/


Thought he would eventually finding a starting job if he was patient enough, guess not.  Kinda leaves BC in the difficult position of finding or developing a competent backup, I don't think they have any viable candidates stashed in their sock drawer.

[blue_or_die]

For Killam, promotion would be HC, not staff...

Not sure what the Riders would be offering.

[dd]

Veteran QB Dane Evans retires from CFL.

https://3downnation.com/2024/01/01/veteran-qb-dane-evans-retires-from-cfl/


Thought he would eventually finding a starting job if he was patient enough, guess not.  Kinda leaves BC in the difficult position of finding or developing a competent backup, I don't think they have any viable candidates stashed in their sock drawer.

Wow, I didn't see that coming. Evans is better than anything they have in Ottawa and Hamilton, and if Harris is delayed coming back, Saskatchewan. Heck if we lose Brown to FA, he would be pretty good as our backup!!

[blue_gold_84]

Lions re-sign WR/returner Terry Williams through 2025: https://www.cfl.ca/2024/01/03/lions-extend-terry-williams-through-2025/

[Blue In BC]

EDMONTON ? The Edmonton Elks announced on Wednesday that they have released American wide receiver Steven Dunbar Jr.

Hmmm. I wonder what his options are and potential SMS hit. If we don't think we're going to be able to re-sign Schoen, Woli and / or Bailey, he might be an option depending on SMS hit.

That said, it's a timing issue. We might sign our guys later and Dunbar could sign somewhere in the next week??

As usual during the off season we have many players potentially going to free agency. We'd probably like them all back but who can we afford. I have little doubt they all will want to return but SMS will be the criteria.

[blue_gold_84]

Lions re-sign DL Sione Teuhema through 2025: https://www.cfl.ca/2024/01/03/lions-ink-dl-sione-teuhema-to-two-year-extension/

[blue_gold_84]

Roughriders re-sign WR/returner Mario Alford to one-year deal: https://www.cfl.ca/2024/01/04/run-it-back-alford-riders-agree-to-one-year-extension/

[Stats Junkie]

Dave Naylor confirmed that Bo Levi Mitchell has restructured his contract for 2024 and will remain in Hamilton. Farhan Lalji followed up with details:
$225k hard money including $50k signing bonus
$72k playtime bonus available
$15k incentive bonus
Announcement tomorrow.

Kudos to TSN for credting another Twitter account as their source. Meanwhile, 3Down is late to the part (as usual) yet getting credit from others for breaking the news. I was surprised 3Down credited Jeff Hamilton for breaking the Paul Boudreau story.


Farhan also reporting that Taylor Cornelius will be released tomorrow. Dave Campbell says Edmonton is close to signing MBT.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Dave Naylor confirmed that Bo Levi Mitchell has restructured his contract for 2024 and will remain in Hamilton. Farhan Lalji followed up with details:
$225k hard money including $50k signing bonus
$72k playtime bonus available
$15k incentive bonus
Announcement tomorrow.

Kudos to TSN for credting another Twitter account as their source. Meanwhile, 3Down is late to the part (as usual) yet getting credit from others for breaking the news. I was surprised 3Down credited Jeff Hamilton for breaking the Paul Boudreau story.


Farhan also reporting that Taylor Cornelius will be released tomorrow. Dave Campbell says Edmonton is close to signing MBT.

Wow, BLM took quite the cut to stay in Hamilton, that's aprox. half what he signed for last season, his original deal was 3 years for $1.62 million.

[ModAdmin]

Derek Taylor
@DTonOB
3h
The first dead money in this new CBA, I believe.

Wonder where Cornelius will end up in a depth role? Winnipeg, perhaps?
Quote
Farhan Lalji
@FarhanLaljiTSN
3h
Hearing the #Elks are releasing QB Taylor Cornelius. He will be owed 100k guaranteed for the coming season. @SportsCentre