...I was very heartened when we signed all of our pivots to new contracts and knowing Mack I know, with the vested interest we have in all of them, we don't want to hang any of them out to dry..That's why i'm wondering what Macks plan for the o lne guys are in 2012...We have January, Morley, Khan, Butler, Swiston, Greaves, and Kowalchuck...Hardly an o line to get excited about...I don't know what happened to Douglas, although i wasn't enthralled with his performance in any event...Are we going to bring in some Americans or are we going to hope that our young guys, like Greaves, are going to win a starters spot...Big questions...I hope Mack has this all worked out (I'm sure he does) cuz as it stands right now I can't see our offensive performance being any better than it was in 2011 AND we all know it was lacking ...With 3 qb.s under wraps, does one get packaged off in a trade with another player for a quality player or are we tinkering with letting the status quo prevail... :roll: Anyone have any guesses?????? I know Mack said awhile ago he wasn't opposed to having a look at Gauthier...One of the few he has even mentioned in this offseason...Guess we'll see
So what do we have
Canada West Lineman of the Year, 6'9" 342 pound left tackle Swiston
First Team CIS All Canadian, 6'7" 280 pound tackle Dunn
3rd year man Sorenson, plays both guard and tackle
2nd year man Kowalchuk, plays guard and tackle
2nd year man Greaves, plays guard
I'm freakin pumped at the possibilites these guys bring. Brendan who??????
That's the spirit :lol:
I like the bunch. I think there are 5 young guys there that can develop into a good Oline. There are 3-4 guys in that list that can make up a good chunk of the starting oline for the next number of years. Throw in maybe another pick this year. The only issue I have is that there is no center in that bunch, though maybe Sorensen might have played some. LaBatte seems to have been their primary option to replace Khan and he's out the door. That's where a guy like Tim O'neil from the stamps who just signed with the TiCats might have been useful - experienced, played C and guard, could push Khan and some of the younger guys in camp. Labatte at guard is replaceable, there may be some drop off, but like I said in a different posting elsewhere, Greaves started a couple games at guard when Labatte moved over to centre late in the season and looked pretty decent. Besides, this unit was tied with Edmonton for giving up the most sacks in the league last season so should we be excited that the rest of the line is back? As for Douglas, he wants to check out his NFL options from what I read last week but there is a chance he could be back. The still have Kelly Butler on the roster, though he played in January's RT spot 2 seasons ago and from his wikipedia page it looks like he's been a RT everywhere he's played, not sure if he can play the left side like douglas did, or if January can flip over. At any rate, they had 4 NI tackles in camp last year, I would bet they have 4 this year again.
Greaves is an interesting prospect, he’s a converted defensive tackle, so last year was his first ever games on oline and he did ok but how much were the guys around him “cheating” to help him out is unknown. But he’s a very interesting experiment.
Agreed. And he’ll have plenty of competition from the other 4 young NI Olineman. At the very least they have Sorensen around who has had prior starting experience in BC. He struggled out there at times but that could also be because he was thrown into the mix when he wasn’t ready and after a year or so of sitting and learning he might be ready to have an impact. At any rate, should be a heck of a battle to watch in TC. Nothing like knowing there is an open spot to raise the intensity.
Actually Greaves first game as a starter was the Labour Day game in 2010. Douglas was injured so Labatte was moved to tackle and Greaves played in Labatte’s spot.
Thanks
Douglas wasn’t injured. Labatte played centre, Khan sat, Greaves played guard. Douglas started all 18 regular season and the playoff games at tackle.
You are referring to 2011 - I said 2010. From Greaves profile at the Bombers’ website:
[b]2010 [/b](Wpg): Drafted as a defensive lineman, Greaves was converted to the offensive line in training camp and spent the entire season on the active roster. [b]He dressed for five games and made one start at left guard on Labour Day.[/b]From the National Post:
Injuries to Andre Douglas and his backup Luke Fritz have forced the Bombers to shuffle their offensive line; Brendon LaBatte will move from left guard to the left tackle where he will line up against Roughriders defensive end Brent Hawkins. Rookie Chris Greaves will fill in at left guard.[url]http://sports.nationalpost.com/2010/09/03/cfl-picks-week-10-thank-goodness-its-labour-day/[/url]
[quote=""Blue Blood""]
You are referring to 2011 - I said 2010.
[/quote]
Fair enough. My mistake, it didn't register that you were referring to 2010. My apologies.