Younger's defense

[Blue In BC]

Saw Ayers take a good amount of reps last game, but he sure didn't make a positive impression
 Once again OShea's favorites hurt us in terms of an effective roster
We can't afford the luxury of having 2 imports only effective on special teams.
 Its also worrisome that our safeties did not seem to make any tackles other than running plays

Ayers is the 3rd player on ST's. We have Castillo, Vaval and Ayers. Ayers is seeing some reps on defence but he isn't effective. He's not a 1st year player otherwise might cut him more slack as a defensive player.

I like his work on ST's but you have to ask yourself is he the best option we have to use on defence? In 2 games he's had 1 DT and no ST's.  That's a small sample for 2026 but it's still a question on roster decisions.

We might argue that Elsbury at center is the other choice. Our pass pro has been good but our run game was a flop in this last game. I can't grade his performance so it's a rhetorical question. Other than the fact he's on the field for every offensive play.  Anyone know how many reps Ayers gets on defence?

If JSK didn't get injured would he be on the AR instead of Ayers to beef up the rotation?

[RebusRankin]

Ayers is the 3rd player on ST's. We have Castillo, Vaval and Ayers. Ayers is seeing some reps on defence but he isn't effective. He's not a 1st year player otherwise might cut him more slack as a defensive player.

I like his work on ST's but you have to ask yourself is he the best option we have to use on defence? In 2 games he's had 1 DT and no ST's.  That's a small sample for 2026 but it's still a question on roster decisions.

We might argue that Elsbury at center is the other choice. Our pass pro has been good but our run game was a flop in this last game. I can't grade his performance so it's a rhetorical question.

If Ayers was Canadian we'd all love him as a ST ace but he's not and thus a poor use of a roster spot.

[Blue In BC]

Speaking of LB's: McManis, Sankey, CJ Allen and Awe were all available in free agency. We choose JSK. He may have been a better fit or a better SMS cost or we spoke to the other guys and they choose elsewhere.

Allen is a Canadian starting LB.

I think many of us here were surprised we re-signed K. Wilson. He's steady but he's been getting less effective each season. 

[Blueforlife]

Speaking of LB's: McManis, Sankey, CJ Allen and Awe were all available in free agency. We choose JSK. He may have been a better fit or a better SMS cost or we spoke to the other guys and they choose elsewhere.

Allen is a Canadian starting LB.

I think many of us here were surprised we re-signed K. Wilson. He's steady but he's been getting less effective each season. 

JSK would have been very good and the right price.  S#it happens.
Wilson was fantastic last year.  We shall see how he plays this year, least of our problems imo.

Those other names would have been too expensive but yes deadly.

I'm in favour of the 7 man rotation but it comes down to a ratio issue. Our secondary was left out to dry and I'd prefer Texada over Kelly. Scmekel might be a better option in the short term to change that ratio. He has CFL experience. Having 3 import rookie DL may work as the season progresses but is it now? Even Kornelson might be a better option. If he's not why do we keep him around?

I don't know how many times I need to mention that the simple solution is taking out Ayers and let the Canadian LB's sub in for his role on defence. Yes he's great on ST's but is that a luxury we can't afford elsewhere.

I didn't say that Texada needs to start. He needs to be a DI and if not him find anther import DB, perhaps one we had in TC.  Lamont comes to mind.

Texeda likely > Kelly after seasoning

I think Willie is no longer that effective......he mostly backs off the line and looks for a pass knockdown.   He lead the league last season in knockdowns....however he isn't great at pressuring the QB or against the run....even when Ceresna is double teamed.    Our DBs seem small and not that fast and our LBs aren't very aggressive.   Wilson had two tackles and the Cats ran for 170 yards?
Zach and 430 yards passing and on most nights that's enough to win games.....a sure dropped TD pass to Nields and a pick in the end zone didn't help either.   We may have to rely on our offence to outscore opponents however we need our running game to be a big part of that.   Brady had 32 yards on 8 rushes....not good enough

Full stop disagree on Willie, he will have another good season.  It's not all about sacks.  He contributes in so many ways.  Generational talent who can still play.  Least of our worries.  His stats on QB pressures are very good.  I don't have the latest figures but last year he was featured on a graphic (TSN) and was near the top.  Calling all stats nerds to update this take!

Bad pick, agree on run game, bad drop.

I think the defense is over-complicated in a ineffective way.

It's cool in theory that we have guys like Woodbey, Griffin, Kramdi, Smith, etc who can be anywhere at any time... but it seems like all we're doing is creating open zones by having guys drop out of traditional looks.

If teams were trying to run a tricky offense we'd probably be pretty well set up. But as it stands - simple ground game and pass attack exploits us while players scramble around the field on D.

For the most part I think we have the athletes to get it done. Though I'd rather someone else at safety, Jones at MLB (sorry Kyrie but it's over), and we all love Willie but outside of the knockdowns he's a "meh" player at best.

Simplify the D and let them make plays... if they can't, well then we know what positions we need to upgrade ASAP.

The defensive scheme is proven, effective and generally highly regarded and being complicated/flexible/heavy rotation is what makes it great.  We rotate everyone, everyone can do multiple jobs, pillar of strength, helps greatly with player development and next man up.  Not a great start.  Run D worries me.  I think we can fix it.

Wilson is full stop done done.  Yes Jones is very good.  LB crew miss Kramdi.  He shouldn't be at S but we have no other better option (yet).

Willie is a top player at the end of a great career that still have a lot to give.  Nobody will ever call him "meh" with any certainty or validity. See above.

Disagree with most of what you said but thanks for your take.  Agree that we have the players, could use a good safety and maybe another corner.

[Blue In BC]

JSK would have been very good and the right price.  S#it happens.
Wilson was fantastic last year.  We shall see how he plays this year, least of our problems imo.

Those other names would have been too expensive but yes deadly.Texeda likely > Kelly after seasoning
Full stop disagree on Willie, he will have another good season.  It's not all about sacks.  He contributes in so many ways.  Generational talent who can still play.  Least of our worries.  His stats on QB pressures are very good.  I don't have the latest figures but last year he was featured on a graphic (TSN) and was near the top.  Calling all stats nerds to update this take!

Bad pick, agree on run game, bad drop.
The defensive scheme is proven, effective and generally highly regarded and being complicated/flexible/heavy rotation is what makes it great.  We rotate everyone, everyone can do multiple jobs, pillar of strength, helps greatly with player development and next man up.  Not a great start.  Run D worries me.  I think we can fix it.

Wilson is full stop done done.  Yes Jones is very good.  LB crew miss Kramdi.  He shouldn't be at S but we have no other better option (yet).

Willie is a top player at the end of a great career that still have a lot to give.  Nobody will ever call him "meh" with any certainty or validity. See above.

Disagree with most of what you said but thanks for your take.  Agree that we have the players, could use a good safety and maybe another corner.

Import LB's don't tend to be among the highest paid players on defence. The Lions have some big $$$ players on their roster and still managed to sign Sankey. JSK might have been a good addition but Sankey would have been a better addition.

Lions released Awe when they signed Sankey so I don't think he's more expensive than JSK.

Whether these LB's were considered a good team fit is another issue. I don't know if we even considered any of the alternates I suggested or how much difference in SMS hit.

I think I did suggest signing Sankey over K. Wilson might not have been as much as we think. We'll see if they list salaries across the league at that position at some point.

EDIT: Based on 2025 salaries Sankey was earning about $50K more than JSK. Both were allowed to go to free agency so both might have seen a drop from 2025.

My proposal would have been release K.Wilson, not sign JSK. Sign Sankey and use either a rookie import or our Canadian LB's as depth. Or whatever else fit into the budget.

[Blueforlife]

Import LB's don't tend to be among the highest paid players on defence. The Lions have some big $$$ players on their roster and still managed to sign Sankey. JSK might have been a good addition but Sankey would have been a better addition.

Lions released Awe when they signed Sankey so I don't think he's more expensive than JSK.

Whether these LB's were considered a good team fit is another issue. I don't know if we even considered any of the alternates I suggested or how much difference in SMS hit.

I think I did suggest signing Sankey over K. Wilson might not have been as much as we think. We'll see if they list salaries across the league at that position at some point.

Sankey would have been very expensive imo.  Went to highest bidder no doubt.

Agree we need the salaries!

[Blue In BC]

Sankey would have been very expensive imo.  Went to highest bidder no doubt.

Agree we need the salaries!

Tony Jones is our only LB whose salary is listed at $117.5K in the unofficial roster file. That would have made him # 13 of 15 in 2025. John Jones was shown to be at about $3K more landing at # 12. So there is a bit of cumulative cost involved.

AJ Allen is reported to be earning $490K over 2 years, up from $111K last year. His advantage is he's a Canadian but that's big money.

[Blueforlife]

Tony Jones is our only LB whose salary is listed at $117.5K in the unofficial roster file. That would have made him # 13 of 15 in 2025. John Jones was shown to be at about $3K more landing at # 12. So there is a bit of cumulative cost involved.

AJ Allen is reported to be earning $490K over 2 years, up from $111K last year. His advantage is he's a Canadian but that's big money.

I would bet our LBs are a good deal and those stars as suggest before were too expensive.   That's a good deal for TJ. 

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Import LB's don't tend to be among the highest paid players on defence. The Lions have some big $$$ players on their roster and still managed to sign Sankey. JSK might have been a good addition but Sankey would have been a better addition.

Lions released Awe when they signed Sankey so I don't think he's more expensive than JSK.

Whether these LB's were considered a good team fit is another issue. I don't know if we even considered any of the alternates I suggested or how much difference in SMS hit.

I think I did suggest signing Sankey over K. Wilson might not have been as much as we think. We'll see if they list salaries across the league at that position at some point.

EDIT: Based on 2025 salaries Sankey was earning about $50K more than JSK. Both were allowed to go to free agency so both might have seen a drop from 2025.

My proposal would have been release K.Wilson, not sign JSK. Sign Sankey and use either a rookie import or our Canadian LB's as depth. Or whatever else fit into the budget.

I don't think Younger would be interested in old school linebackers like Sankey or Moncrief, he's looking for players with speed and mobility over brute force, even on the D-line.  Not enough beef on the defence IMO.

As for A.J. Allen he is now the highest-paid linebacker in the CFL due to his Natl. status, earning $240,000 in hard money with a maximum value of $246,000.

[Blue In BC]

I don't think Younger would be interested in old school linebackers LB like Sankey or Moncrief, he's looking for players with speed and mobility over brute force, even on the D-line.  Not enough beef on the defence IMO.

As for A.J. Allen he is now the highest-paid linebacker in the CFL due to his Natl. status, earning $240,000 in hard money with a maximum value of $246,000.

That would be fine if the front 7 could get pressure on the QB and the secondary could cover until they did. How did that work out for us in 2025 and so far in 2026? We can't stop a team when we need to and the game is on the line.

That was true often last year when we needed to force a 2 and out. Even worse as we've already seen this year, stopping a team with 2nd and 20 yards is almost always a fail. Longer the yardage needed the worse we seem to be.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

That would be fine if the front 7 could get pressure on the QB and the secondary could cover until they did. How did that work out for us in 2025 and so far in 2026? We can't stop a team when we need to and the game is on the line.

That was true often last year when we needed to force a 2 and out. Even worse as we've already seen this year, stopping a team with 2nd and 20 yards is almost always a fail. Longer the yardage needed the worse we seem to be.

The D-line played very well against VA and the Stamps, not sure what the Ti-Cats were doing but even when the Bombers brought the house they managed to pickup every loose pass rusher. Credit has to go to BLM for getting rid of the ball so quickly with accuracy, he knew his target before the snap and was right almost every time.

[Blue In BC]

The D-line played very well against VA and the Stamps, not sure what the Ti-Cats were doing but even when the Bombers brought the house they managed to pickup every loose pass rusher. Credit has to go to BLM for getting rid of the ball so quickly with accuracy, he knew his target before the snap and was right almost every time.

Rountree had 124 yards on 23 carries. There were more run plays than pass completions. Total was 171 yards. Against the Stamps we gave up 150 yards rushing. In neither case can you make an argument that the DL played well. 

[Blueforlife]

That would be fine if the front 7 could get pressure on the QB and the secondary could cover until they did. How did that work out for us in 2025 and so far in 2026? We can't stop a team when we need to and the game is on the line.

That was true often last year when we needed to force a 2 and out. Even worse as we've already seen this year, stopping a team with 2nd and 20 yards is almost always a fail. Longer the yardage needed the worse we seem to be.

Way to early to know how our defense will perform this year.  Last year near the top in pts allowed.

We didn't have defensive problem last year, our O sucked.

Got pressure game one, laid a egg game 2.  Bo is looking like he is 30 again.

Run D worries me so far but so much time to adjust.

Lets give it a 1/4 to 1/2 season before we claim to know what this team will be like for 2026.

We are deep at LB, we had a stud go down, that sucked but over paying would have too.

[Blue In BC]

Way to early to know how our defense will perform this year.  Last year near the top in pts allowed.

We didn't have defensive problem last year, our O sucked.

Got pressure game one, laid a egg game 2.  Bo is looking like he is 30 again.

Run D worries me so far but so much time to adjust.

Lets give it a 1/4 to 1/2 season before we claim to know what this team will be like for 2026.

We are deep at LB, we had a stud go down, that sucked but over paying would have too.

You're failing to understand or see what is a systemic problem. Points are not the only measurement. Yards given up, field position gained and TOP allowed.

It has little to do with what we've seen so far this season. It's the same problems we've had last year.

Yes our offence was a problem. OTOH, we couldn't push the opponent off the field often enough. I used the example of allowing a 100+ yard drive in both games so far.

This is not new. Often in games where the score was close, we COULD NOT push the opponent off the field. A good defence does that. 2 and out.

We've overpaid a multitude of players. Without knowing what the budget looks like we can't really say we couldn't have afforded Sankey for example. We made choices and we'll see how it works out.

[TrueBlue4]

Here are my 2 cents worth after 2 games.

I think our O will be ok BUT we will need to be a lot better running the ball.

Our D in my opinion are not physical enough. And our pass coverage is way too passive. We have way too many uncontested catches. Now I know that every D gives up those type of catches but to me we do that more than any other team. I also think that Wilson is not the middle linebacker we need. I rarely notice him in the game- don't recall him making any hit on a RB in the backfield or at the line. Kramdi at Safety is also a failure- need him at SAM OR WIL. There has to be an intelligent, fast, hard hitting Safety out there. Cam Allen before he got hurt I thought was a step behind the play most of the time this year. I know not a large sample size but...