i’m thinking Elks are going to be good this year. i can’t wait for training camps to start. 
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****For all the gloom and oh we need Canadians there’s not enough Canadians - this should be proof of where our grassroots Canadian game is… Edmonton just signed all their draft picks and a few more Canadians.
Most excited about Brodrique and Taylor. Frankly I was slightly surprised Taylor was still there when we got to our territorial pick but that was like, double bonus.
I expect both will play this season in some capacity.
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I like the sound of this quote from training camp…
“We were sitting together, and it was crazy thinking we know 90% of the people here,” says Elks quarterback Taylor Cornelius. “It’s been great coming in – familiar faces, familiar coaching staff, familiar playbook, all those things.”
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You’ll be happy to hear that 3Down Nation did NOT rank the Elks last in their early Power Rankings at the start of this season:
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Probably more to do with the writers having no confidence with the Als QB
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I always find it funny because even in a 9 team league - power rankings are so much a guess.
I DO however think the two wildcards in that power ranking are Edmonton and Ottawa. Ottawa was far better than their record and improved their defence a ton.
Edmonton - 2nd year rebuild, I think will surprise a lot of people. Calgary will be OK, it’s whether VA can get it together in BC and whether the Riders have an O-line and someone who can run between the tackles, and whether that defence is anywhere near as good as last year, having lost some key and experienced pieces at linebacker and free safety - two guys who call the defence on the field.
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But the question mark is at QB for the Eks, can Tre Ford lead the team?
Or is the position open
Elks are signing a lot of DB’s since the start of camp. Not unexpected as it was one spot we were pretty meh last season. Mind you they had to cover for the “never where he should have been” Carter all the time too.
I was a bit disappointed to see Lyon go last season but we got pretty good trade equity in that trade. That and he was good on the field but maybe there were other things there they didn’t like.
Plus we signed an interesting international D-lineman from Basingstoke England. Played at Yale in collage.
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Pre season game 1 had a few pleasant surprises. Doege for one at QB. Made some good choices and some nice throws - and on the other end that French kid looked pretty good. One bad drop but he was doing the right thing and making some great grabs the rest of the game.
O-line looked well prepared and opened great run lanes all day, under the guidance of the Oline coach that moved here from Riderville. Pretty obvious he was not the problem last season.
Brodrique looked OK. I would like to see how he does after a week of film. Certainly athletic and looks like he has skills - just needs to get experience.
Dline looked good. Plamondon, Charles-Pierre, and Raine looked good and we had pressure most of the game.
Gotta like a kicker named Faithfull. He missed one but looked good otherwise.
On the other side of the coin - no doubt we will be losing a few DB’s this week. Secondary looked confused in places and run cover was weak on the WLB side and Calgary picked it apart.
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Taylor made some good plays too. Think he’ll be versatile backup Hutter at safety and Makonzo at SLB.
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Yes he did. Pretty amazing all the good Canadian Linebacker talent we have in Edmonton. Konar, Makonzo, Brodrique, Wesley and Woodly Appolon.
Pretty much speaks to where we are talent wise when you look at the depth chart from Calgary and see all the Maple Leafs beside names. Makes you realize that the ratio is becoming irreverent.
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You guys have talent everywhere. If that one defensive tackle can get down to at least 330lbs, I think he’ll do well if Pelley get an NFL shot. Even Harry and Johnson on the Corner would be good.
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Well this year it is put up something better or shut up. The mad scientist experimentation is over.
Jones’ team either performs better, win or close loss, or it’s time for him to go for good.
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No question he’s getting his NFL shot.
I thought Canadians Plamondon at DE and Charles-Pierre at DT showed really well against Calgary. American Raine who played at DT on the other side looked good too.
4 of the front 5 on offence LG, C, RG and RT AND all their backups were Canadian as well for that game.
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Surprised we haven’t seen any roster moves this week. Maybe they are gonna coach 'em up and give them another shot this week?
We don’t play in Preseason week C so I guess we will have to wait until the depth chart is posted to see what the plan is against the Bombers.
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