BC Lions / Nathan Rourke discussion

[Blue In BC]

No kidding. I'm optimistic that he'll continue to do well at least in the short term. He has all the tools. At the very least he's been extremely entertaining and Lions fans are starting to come out more than in recent seasons. That's good news for Vancouver and the CFL.

Vancouver needs to have success in order for the CFL to do well and build on recent seasons.

If they win in Ottawa maybe we see 40K at home against the Bombers.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Tonight the Argos defense could not cover the Lions receivers.  Too often Lions receivers were wide open and Argos coverage was loose.  Certainly O'Rourke looked good but the Argo defence was burned time after time.  Won't be as easy with the Bombers but I agree the Bombers will have to step up to the challenge.

Bombers get 3 shots at BC this season, if the Lions want to claim the top rung, they will have to defeat the best team.

[bluebeard]

mmmmm...I'm eating crow now.  Never thought that BC would be as good as they are.  Will it make a difference playing on the road and in the elements??  No dome and perfect conditions.  We have to handle them and put Rourke on his back side a few times.  He has had it way to easy.  BC goes to Ottawa next I believe.  Should be a better test for them and will show us if they are for real.

[Pigskin]

I can't believe people didn't see the talent this kid had last year.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I can't believe people didn't see the talent this kid had last year.

A couple of good late season games last year don't mean much, he's opening eyes this year by continuing to do very well.

[the paw]

It?s not just that Rourke is playing great (which he is), but he rejigs their whole ratio.  His National status allows them to start 3 imports on the OL, which fixes their biggest problem from last year.

The fact that they have 2 studs at LB and went out and acquired Canadian assets at DE, means they play 3 on defence, which really lets them load up on offence.

That receiving corps is scary.  Cottoy is a beast, and the other 4 are all threats as well.  Speed, size, hands, jump balls, the can do it all.  Their RB went down, but they have 2 more on the PR, and it turns out Their fullback is a Mackie truck.  Who knew?

BC always has good DBs, and the LBs are very good.  If their defensive line has found their mojo, this team has all the elements to compete for first. 

[dd]

He is the real deal and so are the Lions. I have them at #1 in the league. Showdown coming up with us soon to see who?s who in the zoo

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

He is the real deal and so are the Lions. I have them at #1 in the league. Showdown coming up with us soon to see who?s who in the zoo

It won't hurt the Bombers to lose an early season game to the Lions to get them riled up for a rematch, better than losing a late season game anyway. Week #19 will be the test, by week #21 they may both be resting players for the playoffs.

[Stats Junkie]

Rourke is the real deal. I had a feeling he would do well but not this well. It is still early in the season.

There have been a number of busted coverages that he has taken advantage of.

On the Cottoy TD, Rourke did a pump with Cottoy at the 20 and hit him at the 1 for the TD. Cottoy was the only player outside the hashmarks when Rourke did the pump. Most QBs would have made the throw at that point and let Cottoy run it in.

On the post game show they talked about Rourke's contract which allows the Lions to surround him with talent. $85k was number thrown out.

Mackie got a lot of attention on the post game show as well. He mentioned the support he got from teammates who told the OC not to change the offence too much for Mackie.

There seems to be a good culture in BC this year, very similar to Winnipeg. Personal stats are fine, but all that really matters is the win each week.

[ModAdmin]

No kidding. I'm optimistic that he'll continue to do well at least in the short term. He has all the tools. At the very least he's been extremely entertaining and Lions fans are starting to come out more than in recent seasons. That's good news for Vancouver and the CFL.

Vancouver needs to have success in order for the CFL to do well and build on recent seasons.

If they win in Ottawa maybe we see 40K at home against the Bombers.

The rout against Edmonton gave Lions fans enough to stimulate increased interest.  34,082 attended that game.  BC looked unbeatable. The fans were entertained.

Next game against the Argos drew a measly 14,006.  Guess Lions fans are not yet convinced/entertained enough although it's hard to fathom.  Hopefully the next few home games for the Lions will see the renewed interest.

[GOLDMEMBER]

The rout against Edmonton gave Lions fans enough to stimulate increased interest.  34,082 attended that game.  BC looked unbeatable. The fans were entertained.

Next game against the Argos drew a measly 14,006.  Guess Lions fans are not yet convinced/entertained enough although it's hard to fathom.  Hopefully the next few home games for the Lions will see the renewed interest.

wow 14,000 guess gotta bring in Neil Young now!

[TecnoGenius]

I can't believe people didn't see the talent this kid had last year.

He underwhelmed a couple of times.  And once teams got some film they started eating him alive.

However, he has a great zippy throwing style and he doesn't pause for beans once he makes his decision.  Real hard to defend against that.  He leads the receiver well and/or hits him dead on, and even though he has heat on every ball his style seems eminently catchable... not a single receiver whiffed on those heaters.  It actually was quite astounding.

Now teams have 2 full games of film on him.  Can they crack the nut?  The youngsters often look unbeatable until the teams adjust to the film.

At this moment Rourke looks better than Fajardo did on his first 2 real starts.  I still doubt Cody can be a top QB.  Could Rourke be a future superstar??  I wouldn't bet against it.

But let's see how some real, competent, West teams fare against Rourke & Lions first.  We'll see if he's the real deal or if he turns into an INT machine and starts looking worse than Cody.

Personally, I hope he does well.  Fun to watch.  Good story.  Good for the league.

[Tiger]

Rourke did a lot of small things well and was very intelligent/efficient with his actions.  That said no one has rattled and pressured him.  Even if you now have film it is hard to game plan good decision making.

[Blue In BC]

The rout against Edmonton gave Lions fans enough to stimulate increased interest.  34,082 attended that game.  BC looked unbeatable. The fans were entertained.

Next game against the Argos drew a measly 14,006.  Guess Lions fans are not yet convinced/entertained enough although it's hard to fathom.  Hopefully the next few home games for the Lions will see the renewed interest.

The crowd did look very small against the Argos. Part of that is the Argos are not a great draw. The other thing is that good weather finally arrived and fans were anxious to enjoy other things.

We'll see whether the dominating result of that game and the away game increase the interest. Bombers should be a great draw for a crowd.

[CrazyCanuck89]

Rourke did a lot of small things well and was very intelligent/efficient with his actions.  That said no one has rattled and pressured him.  Even if you now have film it is hard to game plan good decision making.

Toronto did try to rattle and pressure him.  The problem is he can can take off and run, throw to his check down or take the hit.  They talked about Rourke's opinion on taking hits.  He views it as relax your muscles, take the hit and you won't get injured.  Same thing applies to studies done on car crashes.