2023 and beyond, what still needs fixing

Last Night was just plain a cluster f**k!!
For starters we need a QB, I don’t believe Fine nor
DOLEGALA is our future, still think Cody should still be here, but we could argue that forever.

Our O-Line still sucks, very small improvement, but not by much. 3 years now O’Day has had a chance to fix it, he has not. We still have offensive woes. I know we are missing major key receivers, but still. And the O play calling is a joke!!

Season end… Reynolds, O’Day and Dicky need to go, as well as Jeffrey. How many more years do we need to see this kind of product on the field. It was hard to watch the game last night and I believe the players have stopped believing in the system, and you can’t blame them. Down in our end deep 15 plus yards plus to go 2nd down , and Jeffrey calls a run… not once from season start but many times. Last night we are on the 2 yard line, and 3 times send Morrow, should of used the QB instead… oh right DOLEGALA can’t hang on to the ball. Been a fan 50 plus years and this season is just a s**t show!!

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It sure is a s**t show and you have my sympathies. I hope things get better for you and those rabid football fans in Saskatchewan… and Hamilton… and Edmonton. The sickness is spreading.

Anyway, here’s the obvious (I didn’t come up with this)…

Every team has the SAME budget.
Every team has the SAME opportunities to snag players from all over this planet.
The ONLY thing that every team doesn’t have is above average leadership.

That’s normal. By definition some teams must have leadership that’s either above average, below average or average. Since this is a professional sports league, competition forces the below average leaders to get weeded out and replaced by (hopefully) better leaders.

BUT, unfortunately we’re starting to see the same below average leaders left in charge of the same below average teams for longer periods of time and that’s not ‘normal’… or reasonable. As a result, Hamilton, Saskatchewan and Edmonton are not getting better year after year and their totally frustrated fans are left wondering what it’s going to take to shake things up at the top.

So to answer your question, “2023 and beyond, what still needs fixing(?)”

Leadership. I think that most of us agree on this point. Clean house. At the end of this season an ownership that learns from its mistakes would bring in a new GM who can take your team in a new direction. An ownership that doesn’t care, or is somehow limited in what they can do due to monetary constrictions is likely prepared to sail through these same crap-infested waters all over again next season.

Randy Ambrosie (I need to point the finger somewhere) must take the bulls**t by the horns here and work with CFL brass on a solution to a contract problem that has too many teams stuck in their own self-inflicted muck. If our league wants to keep getting better year after year we can’t force individual teams that make crippling long-term leadership choices to die every season and destroy their fanbase in the process. They’re dragging themselves and the rest of the CFL down to financial ruin. IMHO we have to throw these floundering teams a life-line and collectively chip in to ‘buy out’ those toxic multi-year contracts that allow persistent losing to unnaturally persist in a competitive environment.

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Some random thoughts about this dumpster fire and rather than bump twenty treads i’ll try this. Lets start by going back to last season.

Fajardo should have been six gamed. Who allowed a guy that needs his legs to be effective to carry on? For what it’s worth, Durante was no Goode either when he was hobbled. So many times they kept KEY drives going with their feet. Continuing to play cost CF and Maas their jobs in my opinion and that is the reason that CF didn’t play hurt last game in my opinion (aside from the fact we were ready for him). Lesson learned with those two i suspect.

We could have used the extra six games of experience for our backups. We could have used the cap space and perhaps found some Oline help? I blame the media for promoting the “he gives us the best chance to win” crap. I blame the media for the role you played in driving a wedge through the team with the Marino crap and the Williams crap. Like it or not this was two guys fighting for their teammates. They did need to learn some hard lessons on how to go about this but not from your soap box. You seemed to need this more than the team needed your help. I blame O’Day for his management of our cap space. I blame Dickenson and Mass for their handling of our QBs. They didn’t just hurt us last year, it also hurt us this year.

Dickie suggested that we need to hit the gym, get stronger and get in shape. Please allow me to translate this as some of you clearly need the help. In jock speak this means that your balls need to drop and you need to man up. If you read this any other way then you are not a real jock and if you play for the team then you shouldn’t be. Does Dickie need to be more obvious? Maybe he is in the room. Maybe it is simply just a lack of character that the chopper mommie generation doesn’t respond to? Perhaps we need more recruits from east somewhere like St Louis or Detroit? Would that just give the media too much fuel?

O’Day. Stop recruiting players with an bad injury history. We need guys we can depend on. Also, last season we had a run blocking oline, this season it’s more about pass protection. We are better at that contrary to popular belief as teams need to throw more than three players at us to achieve the same result. It is often five or six now. Unfortunately they seem to suck at run blocking. Do we have the money for players that can do both? Do you think Dickie can motivate these guys to hit the gym? Re-sign the ones that can block and are five percent stronger heading into next season. Give them a raise. As for the team in general, we need to play smarter. Is that on recruiting or coaching?

The QBs.
Fine needed to focus on the short game for a couple reasons. The first being that teams were throwing everything at the line. Argos especially were sending six constantly for a quater and a half. They shut that down until Dolegala entered the game. He took advantage of it. Fine is missing his deep attempts and not seeing the medium stuff. Think he is rushing his reads due to his inexperience and is still shell shocked from his experience from last year when he was tossed under the bus. Game might slow down for him yet but at the moment i don’t believe his receiving group is completely sold on him. He needs to stay focused on the goal.

Dolegala. Two seasons in a row he’s started a game with only one full first team practice? What the hell? Did you notice the Als started to blitz him as well when he entered the game? That’s what happens when you enter a game with no reps and no game experience. PS: when you first look to one side the entire defence shifts there. There should be five open receivers on the other side of the field or at least one fewer safety.

Jeffrey, same issue Maas had for the most part. How do you fix a problem that needs to be fixed by executing certain pass attacks? Teams will stop blitzing if we can connect on the deep ball often enough. Teams will stop pressing the short patterns if we can hit the medium regularly for big yards. When CFs feet stopped working last year it all went down the crapper and the kids aren’t there yet. As for the play calling, you can’t outguess the other guys if we can’t execute. Just extend the drive if possible and go for the home run when it makes sense. Please make them learn to progress through their reads in practice. Our next biggest problem is that our defence needs a ball control offence because they don’t have the legs to play a full game. Jake needs to find a short game.

First possession of the game in Montreal i could see that we were going to roll over and play dead. Where do i send the treats for that neat trick??? That’s it for now. Needed that~ Thanks!

I see what’s wrong here. You guys need Sir David Attenborough to explain the mating habits of franchise quarterbacks… and how to attract them.

Sir David: “In nature really good quarterbacks are courted by horny GM’s who tend to attract them by displaying their gawdy plumage. By ‘gawdy plumage’ I mean ‘money’. Unfortunately this approach often means that after acquiring a suitable mate for his team, the GM soon discovers that he lacks sufficient gawdy plumage budget to protect his prize from marauding predators. Look! Here’s one now on the edge of not getting his contract renewed due to his inability to provide a superior nest of large hulking offensive linemen… UGHH!!! SO MUCH BLOOD!!! WHY DO I MAKE THESE VILE NATURE FILMS???”

The O-line is the first concern. The lack of talent on the O-line is due to cost cutting process and that is what is really killing us . Question is does team have the financial ability to get the in their prime O-line players?

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The answer to your question is yes.

Riders' release financial report for 2022 season | CTV News.

A better question is “does the football management have the skill to identify which players are the most talented? and would they be willing to spend that money to get the player or do they want to spend it on coffee makers, ping pong tables and golf clubs?”

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Interesting!

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SMS ? We did spend a bunch this year on Oline and QB. Believe we have some cap space due to a bunch of six gamers. How much is a question for the GM.

They’ve had 3 y ears to rebuild the team since Covid, and this is where we are, headed for the basement, looks like edmonton will be licking their chops to play riders again. What happened to being a perrenial winner. ?

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That’s just the fluff that they tell people so that they’ll buy seasons tickets etc. If they really wanted to win they would have gone over the salary cap like the Blue Bombers, Argos, and Alouettes did last year.

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Ya well maybe they should hire a football guy to be president so he can hire the right football people to run the team, why would an accountant know who a good football gm. Would be. Just because he’s a local, doesn’t mean he knows what he’s doing. We’re headed for last place. Nuff said

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They may have spent a bunch on the oline, but they didn’t spend it smart.

30 sacks given up and no run game.
That’s on ODay. Spending money doesn’t guarantee you find talent.

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Lots of injuries. Tough to build a line when it’s a different group every week.

As for this BC game! Saw some intensity with the team that’s been lacking for a great while. They still need some polish but overall, well done!!!

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The oline wasn’t good when it was healthy. Injuries hurt, but the starting point was still weak.

Riders pulled this game out in spite of coaching. Dolegala did very well. I’m still not sure why CD is so in love with Fine.

BC had one sack when they brought seven. As for the rest of the season we’ve been juggling the Oline all year. As a run block unit i’d agree that they are weak but their pass protect is improved. Should add that i think their run blocking improved this game because Jakes arm pulled bodies out of the box.

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Counting last night, the Riders have given up 31 sacks, behind only Ottawa, and worse than Edmonton. That sack total could actually be much worse, as Harris has a very quick release and was able to get the ball out numerous times where other qbs would be sacked. Even so, he got hit a lot back there. Including at the start of the year when the line was healthy.

Pass protection is poor. Run blocking also poor.

Olines need continuity to play well as a unit.

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Other teams seem to manage just fine. Why can’t the Riders? ODay simply can’t find guys or evaluate talent very well.

They have a very young offensive line. Let them play together for a few seasons and they’ll develop not only physically but as a unit.

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How many qb’s get broken legs during this learning curve?

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