TGIGD Rider fans! That's for Thank God It's Game Day. It's been roughly seven months since the Riders last suited up for action on the field. Tonight they face off against the reigning Grey Cup Champs, the BC Lions.
The Riders are lead by new head coach Kent Austin, who is expected to put the ball in the air a lot throughout the season. What does this mean for the running backs in camp, a lot! Shermar Bracey is the most seasoned Rider veteran among the tailbacks, and that's not saying much. Last year he saw limited action, filling in only when Keith was injured. Perhaps his biggest game came late in the season versus the visiting Montreal Allouettes, where he started the game off with a 60+ yard carry for a touchdown. He is competing for the starting job against former Bomber tailback, Henri Childs and Feddie Russell. Russell is expected to be taking on the return duries this year due to his quickness and explosiveness. That leaves the starting duty of tailback between Bracey and Childs.
At Quarterback, Joseph is facing competition from long time CFL veteran Marcus Crandell, last year's fourth stringer Darian Durant and new-comer Drew Tate. Many people feel that Drew Tate will be the face of the future for the Riders. He has a good head on his shoulders and has shown some flashes of elusiveness. Many on-lookers have likened Tate to a young Doug Flutie. Whether Austin and company are able to groom this young pivot into the next Doug Flutie remains to be seen. With Joseph and Crandell nearing the ends of their careers, Tate will have to start maturing and showing his talents early.
If the Riders plan to pass the ball as often as 75% of the time, they'll need good hands at the receiving end. In the off season Tillman picked up free-agnents Kahill Hill and Thyron Anderson and traded for D.J. Flick. In the Draft he picked up David McCoy, whose expected to return to college next season. The starters are expected to be Dominguez and either Flick or Armstead on the outside and Fantuz and Anderson on the inside, expect to see Flick/Armstead and Hill to come in for the 5 and 6 receiver sets. Austin has mentioned that the Riders will often employ the 5 receiver package, which should include Dominguez, Armstead, Flick, Fantuz and Anderson. This package brings to the table a healthy mix of speed, size and possession. Austin and Tillman have done well to field a good, well rounded receiving corps.
The offensive line, for me is an area that is showing a bit of concern. The only returnees are Jeremy O'Day and Gene Makowski. Those two represent possibly the two best Canadian O-Lineman in the CFL, and definitely the best Canadian duo in the league. Along with those two we should expect to see Wayne Smith and Mike Abou-Mechrek. Vying for the final spot are Marc Parenteau, and Jermese Jones (both former Winnipeg Bluebombers).
On defense, the look will be the same , but the faces will be much different. On the defensive line, I'd expect to see former KC Chief, Eddie Freeman to make the most noise at DT to replace Nate Davis. Either than that the defensive line will be the same with Jurineak and Perry at the ends with Schultz in the middle. At linebacker, many are expecting T.J. Stancil and Reggie Hunt to play on either side of the feisty sophomore, Maurice Lloyd, leaving the very capable Kitwana Jones coming in for pass rush. At the defensive back positions, the holes left by Omarr Morgan and Davin bush will more than likely be filled by either Justin Airabin, Sean Lucas, Lance Frazier or Rontarius Robinson. At Safety, the position will be shared by Canadians Tristian Clovis and Scott Gordon.
This years teams will be highlighted by areas of growth and areas of strength and areas of weakness. Below are the areas I feel fall into those categories:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
This first game against BC will be a good test for the new-look Riders. It will give fans a chance to find out if all the off-season moves were worth the price. I'm expecting a game filled with mental mistakes, mostly committed by the Riders....which should result in a BC win.
Tonight's result:
Lions - 34
Riders - 17
That's all I got for today!
Enjoy the game - GO RIDERS!
The Riders are lead by new head coach Kent Austin, who is expected to put the ball in the air a lot throughout the season. What does this mean for the running backs in camp, a lot! Shermar Bracey is the most seasoned Rider veteran among the tailbacks, and that's not saying much. Last year he saw limited action, filling in only when Keith was injured. Perhaps his biggest game came late in the season versus the visiting Montreal Allouettes, where he started the game off with a 60+ yard carry for a touchdown. He is competing for the starting job against former Bomber tailback, Henri Childs and Feddie Russell. Russell is expected to be taking on the return duries this year due to his quickness and explosiveness. That leaves the starting duty of tailback between Bracey and Childs.
At Quarterback, Joseph is facing competition from long time CFL veteran Marcus Crandell, last year's fourth stringer Darian Durant and new-comer Drew Tate. Many people feel that Drew Tate will be the face of the future for the Riders. He has a good head on his shoulders and has shown some flashes of elusiveness. Many on-lookers have likened Tate to a young Doug Flutie. Whether Austin and company are able to groom this young pivot into the next Doug Flutie remains to be seen. With Joseph and Crandell nearing the ends of their careers, Tate will have to start maturing and showing his talents early.
If the Riders plan to pass the ball as often as 75% of the time, they'll need good hands at the receiving end. In the off season Tillman picked up free-agnents Kahill Hill and Thyron Anderson and traded for D.J. Flick. In the Draft he picked up David McCoy, whose expected to return to college next season. The starters are expected to be Dominguez and either Flick or Armstead on the outside and Fantuz and Anderson on the inside, expect to see Flick/Armstead and Hill to come in for the 5 and 6 receiver sets. Austin has mentioned that the Riders will often employ the 5 receiver package, which should include Dominguez, Armstead, Flick, Fantuz and Anderson. This package brings to the table a healthy mix of speed, size and possession. Austin and Tillman have done well to field a good, well rounded receiving corps.
The offensive line, for me is an area that is showing a bit of concern. The only returnees are Jeremy O'Day and Gene Makowski. Those two represent possibly the two best Canadian O-Lineman in the CFL, and definitely the best Canadian duo in the league. Along with those two we should expect to see Wayne Smith and Mike Abou-Mechrek. Vying for the final spot are Marc Parenteau, and Jermese Jones (both former Winnipeg Bluebombers).
On defense, the look will be the same , but the faces will be much different. On the defensive line, I'd expect to see former KC Chief, Eddie Freeman to make the most noise at DT to replace Nate Davis. Either than that the defensive line will be the same with Jurineak and Perry at the ends with Schultz in the middle. At linebacker, many are expecting T.J. Stancil and Reggie Hunt to play on either side of the feisty sophomore, Maurice Lloyd, leaving the very capable Kitwana Jones coming in for pass rush. At the defensive back positions, the holes left by Omarr Morgan and Davin bush will more than likely be filled by either Justin Airabin, Sean Lucas, Lance Frazier or Rontarius Robinson. At Safety, the position will be shared by Canadians Tristian Clovis and Scott Gordon.
This years teams will be highlighted by areas of growth and areas of strength and areas of weakness. Below are the areas I feel fall into those categories:
Strengths:
- Receiver: Anchored by veteran Matt Dominguez this group has a healthy mix of possession receivers (Dominguez and Fantuz) and deep threats (Flick and Armstead). This group should pout up some nice numbers with Austin leading the team.
- Defensive line: Anchored by veterans Fred Perry and Scott Schultz, this group should perform well. Even with the powerful Nate Davis gone, this group should cause disruption to opposing offenses.
- Linebackers: With names like Reggie Hunt and Kitwana Jones, coming back, throw into the mix names like Maurice Lloyd, Josh Buhl, and T.J. Stancil, this line backing corps has very good depth. Even with injuries this group shouldn't miss a beat.
Weaknesses:
- Running back: All running backs are relatively new to the CFL, with very little game experience, the learning curve for Bracey, Childs and Russell will be quite steep.
- Defensive backs: With 2006 team interception leader, Davin Bush gone, along with group co-leader Omarr Morgan gone, this group has some rather large shoes to fill. This group will take some time to gel.
- Offensive Line: Last year under new Coach George Cortez, the group struggled. This group is going to have to adjust to yet another new coach and 3 new faces. This group, anchored by long-time Rider Gene Makowski will have some growing to do together in order to get the running game together and allow Joseph some time to find his receivers.
This first game against BC will be a good test for the new-look Riders. It will give fans a chance to find out if all the off-season moves were worth the price. I'm expecting a game filled with mental mistakes, mostly committed by the Riders....which should result in a BC win.
Tonight's result:
Lions - 34
Riders - 17
That's all I got for today!
Enjoy the game - GO RIDERS!
No comments:
Post a Comment