FIVE TIGER-CATS NAMED 2018 CFL ALL-STARS
Brandon Banks
Luke Tasker
Brandon Revenberg
Don Unamba
Delvin Breaux Sr.
The full list of All Stars here
steve milton?
[ltr]@miltonatthespec[/ltr]
7m7 minutes ago
#Ticats had zero #CFL all-stars last year. 5 announced today. Banks, Tasker, Revenberg, Unamba, Breaux. 2015 last time they had five.
Nice to see one of our O-LINE recognized in Revenberg. Next year Ciraco should be even better in his 2nd year and if the Cats choose their 1st round picks wisely over the next couple of years they could really beef up their skill and depth at that position. Our O-LINE could be the envy of the league with many more All Star selections in the future.
Congratulations to the ticats selected…Banks, Tasker, Revenberg , Unamba and Breaux Sr. We also had 2 selections(Hughes and Coleman) on the D-line that we let go or traded at the beginning of the season, not to mention Gainey…although he didn’t play too well when he was here.
Williams doesn’t count as a Ticat?
Edit: Wrong Williams. :-[
Why are the Ticat and Eskimo uniforms identical in the graphic? Maybe someone felt it wasn’t worth creating a separate look for EDM since they only placed one player.
For that matter, why are the CAL and OTT uniforms different in the graphic, when they are the same in real life?
All of them are amazing players, I hope they all have a great 2019 season.
Yeah, I was going to mention that. Very difficult to discern Ottawa from Calgary too.
It is truly interesting that some of us hail the 5 Tiger-Cat all stars and yet disparage their coordinators who put them in the position to be successful . If the CFL announced a second team all star roster, then probably Ryker Mathews, Jeremiah Masoli, Larry Dean, and Ted Laurent would be named.
Players play and teachers teach. They are successful together. When they fail, they fail together. It is the nature of sport. Our team is stronger now than it was last year, at this time . Team continuity is important, so having most of our guys back should be the goal .
The Eagles were Super Bowl Champions last year . This year they are struggling . Did the coaches suddenly get stupid ? No, they didn’t ! In a long season, stuff happens : key players get hurt, bad weather messes up a game plan, balls bounce the wrong way. Did I mention that key players get hurt ?
Behind every good TiCat player is a good coach. Keep the faith . 2019 will be an even better year !
Pat Lynch (the old guy)
Well put.?
Now, let’s see how many of the critics pipe in to shoot down your opinion.
I’m with you…continuity’s (as much as possible) is important at key positions.
Not official, but one journalist did come up with a second team all star roster.
O’Leary’s Alt-Stars: The best of the rest in 2018
His list includes Laurent, Dean and Saunders from the Cats. His QB is Reilly.
Interesting that the cats were the only Eastern team with any players on Defense.
I’m gonna go with your bad bounces theory since everyone in the organization from 2000 onward is infallible. ;D
Would that make the organization infallible for 46 years ? :
Pat Lynch (the old math wiz)
No mention of the mediocre one. Kinda funny since some posters around here have him as the best in the league! Hmmm…
I assume that you are referring to our quarterback as is your wont. I do believe you’ll find a reference in my first paragraph . Reading is an acquired skill.
Pat Lynch (the old guy with 46 years in the rear view)
Very well said, Pat.
One thing I take from alk these all-star lists is that Unamba is on two most important ones. This means he will be one of the Ticats FA’s looking for the biggest raise along with Banks, Saunders, Dean,Revenberg,
and Mike Jones I would guess that Simoni’s salary is already pretty high and Breaux was the highest paid corner in the league so he can’t ask for much more if he doesn’t try the NFL.
Here are some of the players that will likely be looking for a big raise whereby I would not sign him at all or not a big raise.
Mike Daley ( sign Steffan instead for less than he originally signed for)
Filer ( over rated and aging and can spend big money elsewhere and Girard and Rice can replace him)
Mike Jones ( after a great year statisically due in large part to so many key injuries. Let’s let soneone else overspend on him as we have Buren with more upside and likely a lower priced Chambers due to injury.
I like Unamba but I think he will be asking for more than he is worth and we could replace him with national potential ratio buster Landon Bennett who looked good this year on specials and in his start at Sam linebacker in the last game at home
I think we lucked out that Masoli is not a free agent as he coud ask for top dollar.
I thinks Banks and Saunders should be high priorities as they are proven weapons i n this offence. Simoni, Dean; Breaux, Revenberg, Mathews, Palmer and Brooks are also priorities providing they have reasonable price tags.
I think we might see the end of :
Mike Filer
Mike Jones
Mike Daley
Don Unamba
Tracy
Cappicotti
Westerman
Leonard
Lirum
Neill
Whitlock
Howsare
Gerbear…why do you think Filer is over paid and over the hill? Do you remember hearing his name much relat d to sack, not rn blood clot no.
I think he is the anchor of our Oline and should be a priority. Oline stability is what builds successful teams.
I don’t agree with your assessment of Mije Jones…how can you speculate he’s overpaid and will ask for big $$. He’s a perfect fit for JJ offence. He mad some huge catches and got better and better as the ear w3nt on. Sign him, then let the chips fall where they may in traing camp.
Revenberg is not a FA
Cats have looked for years to solve their SAM LB problem. Now that they had the best in the league play for them I am pretty sure they will want to keep him.
And there is no Landon Bennett. I assume you mean Jackson Bennett.
The team is going to have to make some tough decisions and some that will not be popular. We also know we desperately need a rush end and FA Jefferson from Sask or Davis from Cal would not come cheap but would make our overall defence better and we sure could have used one of those guys in the eastern final to put Harris on his butt a few times. I like Unamba and I agree that we have been looking for a good Sam since Knowlton was let go. Assuming we go after an exensive FA DE then others can’t be signed .
Banks and Saunders are must signs and will cost alot especially Banks. Breaux is a must sign if he doesn’t get NFL interest and I think we need to go after Ciante Evans or Wall both from Calgary if Breaux leaves.
I think Dean and Simoni are must signs as well for their continuity and leadership a dynamic duo of speed and strength and tackling ability. With all these free agents some will have to sign elsewhere. Palmer and Mathews are must signs as well as whenever they played I saw very little pressure coming from the outside and that includes 2 games versus BC’s Willis and Lemon.
With Unamba making all the all-star teams the interest in him will be high and his agent will be sure to point that out. Would rather not sign Dean or Simoni ? Both these guys have performed at an all-star level for many years and would be very difficult to replace . As we can’t sign everyone.
I feel the OT’s are the most important part of the Oline as we saw when Mathews and Palmer were not playing we were having pass protection problems.
You can see typically an OT gets the nod for best Olineman in the CFL. Bryant has won this award the past two years. I can’t recall the last time a Center has won this award. I feel the Guard positions are the next most important position I can use Revenverg’s eastern nomination as an example and Bomben is another good example. I would like to keep Filer but Math suggests that our new star DE will cost alot and Banks will likely be in the top 5 paid players in the league and Saunders,Dean, and Simoni will be payed very well. The cap is only a bit over 5 million so some players will be asking for more than their worth. So I feel we will have to not sign some players and I Identified Filer as a guy that as a national and veteran must be making decent money and looking for a bit more. So I chose him as someone we’d rather lose than the FA’s I mentioned. I feel center is the least important part of the Oline and I have never been a big fan of his and would rate him as average and thus likely overpayed. Ticats have been nurturing Girard at Center and he has played well when called upon. Rice could also convert over to Center.
Unamba has one great year and is an all star sam on all teans chosen.So , there is no question there will be great interest from other teams and he won’t come cheap. I’d rathet spend the money on Simoni, Dean and Banks who have played at all star levels for several years and are team leaders and fan favorites. I feel Unambs wil be way overpriced and I feel we have a diamond in the rough in national Jackson Bennet as he is very athletic and tackles well and has the right size and speed to play SAM. Jackson has been an excellent tackler on special teams and looked great playing SAM in pre season as well as in the last game vs MTL I see him as a future star and ratio buster .If Bennett were to start at SAM ir would give us great ratio flexibility and likely allow us to start 3 import dlineman and only 1 national receiver…Saunders too wil be asking for alot and had he not been injured may have lead the league in receiving and with Banks ,Tasker, and Addison and Chambers / Buren could break cfl records as June Jones mentoned this week.
I am still not a big Mike Jones fan as I feel he got most of his stats when we had all the injuries to banks, saunders, tasker, tolliver and Chris Williams .With these injuries often times Masoli would go to Jones much more often than If he had the other options This helped to inflate Jones numbers to make him the 2knd best national receiver behind only Sinipoli. National players get paid well if they are a starter and have good stats more so than an import receiver with the same stats For example Andy Fantuz was paid much more money being a national than had he been an import as it is very diffucult to find a national receiver even close to his ability while you could easily find an import to match his skills So , Mike Jones hits the market as the leagues 2knd best receiver statistically last year . Numbers can be misleading since Jones played many games where he was one of the only guys that knew the offence well and thus Masoli went to him more than in regular situations. I don’t even think Jones is the 2knd best receiver on the ticats. I think Buren has more upside and Chambers is better and more proven Jones can ask for a large amount of money being the 2knd best national. He is not a go to type receiver and some team will pay him for the stats he put up. I think we should spend this money on the players I mentionedinstead of overpaying for a year that will never be repeated.
I would love to keep Unamba and would be ok with Filer and Mike Jones but there isn’t enough money to go around as we all know we need a stud rush end like we had in Joe Montford. The two guys I mentioned are like that. With Orlondo now the head coach and alnost certainly the DC as well we will likely see Courtney back at safety over Daley ( nice guy way too slow) Courtney had a stellar year on special teams putting on some beef and hitting harder and tackling better .
