Als at Ticats - 11/3/17

Alouettes de Montréal
#1

Game will be a gauge of how desperate the quarterback situation is going into 2018. If the future in-house, what is the estimated time of arrival? If not, will the Als overpay and/or dangle their 1st overall pick to other teams in order to find an arm and thus calm the masses?

From Herb Zurkowsky:

-With Luc Brodeur-Jourdain only dressed on an emergency basis and both Sean Jamieson and Kristian Matte being unavailable, newly signed Cory Tucker (who was released during training camp) and Vincent Brown (who was traded to BC in the Jovan Olafioye/David Foucault deal) are expected to start on the OL. Tucker is supposedly starting at Center and Brown at Guard.

Tucker was a Tackle in college, and I am not certain he has ever played Center before. Before this week, Tucker was a Grad Assistant at Kent State.

-Nik Lewis is not playing.

-Tyrell Sutton sits. (If Dillon Campbell gets the nod, then the Als would have 3 players who literally just showed up and in the starting lineup.)

-Gabriel Knapton may not play.

-Nicolas Boulay tore his ACL in the last game.

From Davis Sanchez on Als This Week:

-BJ Cunningham has the skillset to be a #1 receiver. Thought the Als used both him and Ernest Jackson as #2's ths year.

-Believes the team currently has the worst receiving group talent-wise (as well in other positions) in the CFL and has no problem cleaning house. Says Als need to bring in a 2-3 guys to fight for the top 3 receiver spots.

-Thinks Matt Shiltz biggest asset is not his physical tools but his competitiveness. Is the QB that Sanchez has most hope for going into next season.

-Likes the current Guards and Tackles on the OL.

-Says team's talent level is lacking.

-Used himself as an example by saying that even though he had his best year (in 5) during 2009 and was considered a ratio changer, he was at the age where Jim Popp decided the position had to get younger.

-Likes Jonathon Mincy, Dondre Wright, and Chris Ackie in the Secondary.

-Would be willing to clean house at every position except OL because of the difficulty of finding non-import lineman. So to Sanchez, all import positions would be open for competition.

-When asked whether getting rid of the veterans would hurt the leadership of the team next year, Sanchez replied that the veteran leadership currently on the team is done anyway because he does not believe they will be back next season.

-Estimates there are 5-6 guys the team will absolutely keep. For everybody else, their job is in jeopardy.

-While he believes Marcus Brady and DeVone Claybrooks are HC candidates, Sanchez says the Als have to select and offensive coach who has a system. That is, the team has to bring in somebody who has a proven record and commands respect on offense.

-Praised Tyrell Sutton for being the CFL RB he would select and is the best player on the Alouettes.

#2

The coming draft class is IMO the most promising crop of Offenisve linesmen of any draft in the history of the CFL. Kazoo has already given away the #10 pick. If he gives up the #1 pick he will basically be giving away two potential career starters on the oline.

Decisions like that are franchise altering for a decade. This Franchise is like the Titanic after hitting the iceberg.

#3

Johnny wouldn't be surprised, if Reed traded the number 1 pick for a long snapper... ::slight_smile:

#4

As of yesterday, there were only 20 Nat. players on roster. While Luc Brodeur-Jourdain will dress -for emergency- there are only 6 OL; I expect that Nat. OL Timothy Mitchell-McGill- will be added to roster. Most probably, 4 Int. OL will start, affecting ratio; I expect that only 3 Int. WRs will dress.

Presently 20 players on injured lists, including 14 Nat. players; 8 OL injured,including 6 Nat. Never seen that before. The other 3 East teams presently have a total of 5 injured OL,including 3 Nat.

Let's hope that the QB's won't be injured.

Richard

#5

Richard I agree all the o-line injuries, particularly at Guard, have been crazy. But still only a minor reason for the team`s poor performance.

#6

IN
Justin Zimmer (not listed on the website roster for last week's game)
Vincent Brown
Cory Tucker
Dillon Campbell
Antonio Pipkin
George Johnson

OUT
Brandon Stewart
Nicolas Boulay
Anthony Morris
Sean Jamieson
Darian Durant
Nik Lewis

#7

Can anyone recall if we`ve ever played an International at centre since the team returned in 1996?

#8

Hope Matt Shilz has good pair of shoes and his is ready to use his legs.

Do not foresee the outcome being different from the last time these two met.
Another blowout loss to end the season at 3-15.

#9

I definitely can't recall the Als starting 4 Int. OL in a regular season and playoffs games.

Richard

#10

Is anyone reallyinterested in this one?

I think they need to clean house, starting from the top, i.e. new owners, a new football-savvy, well-connected to NCAA/NFL football GM, scouts...etc. Next, a HC who has a pedigree, position coaches with same, and then good players who have most of their career ahead of them, not careers that are in the rear-view mirror.

That would likely mean several seasons of mediocrity while the serious rebuild is underway. Compared to this season, however, a mediocre season would be an improvement.

The final question is: Would Montreal fans, who have witnessed the debacle of the last 5 seasons, be tolerant and patient enough? Or is football in Montreal about to go down the drain once again?

From where I sit, the future of football in Montreal doesn't look rosy!

#11

C'est ce qu'il faudrait, mais Boivin a eu le génie d'annoncer il y a 3 semaines que ça ne sera pas le cas. Aussi, le scénario d'une fermeture devient de plus en plus probable.

La gestion de Reed et compagnie est un désastre qui n'ira qu'en s'amplifiant si un tel virage n'est pas opéré. Apparemment, tout le monde l'a compris sauf les Alouettes.

#12

Was it all due to mismangement at that position?

Off season
-traded Foucault in the Olafioyie trade. One wonders if they needed to include him, or could have played hard ball with Wally, who was desperate to cut salary.
-had Jake Piotrowski retire

  • saw Ryan White leave in free agency. He was eventually cut from Regina and never picked up.
  • cut Jacob Ruby. He got picked up in Edmonton and is a regular back up.

To cope withall those movements and injuries (Brodeur, Blake, Matte, Gagnon)the team:
-signed Chris Greaves
-promoted Sean Jameison from the practice roster
-traded for Matt Vonk from Saskatchewan
-eventually resorted to dressing three, and now four Americans on the O-line.

I think having local guys like White and Foucault, and a young guy like Ruby would have been better then what they've had to resort to.

#13

Based on your breakdown, think you answered your own question.

#14

While Greaves, Jameison, Vonk are certainly not elite, I don`t think Foucault (he disappointed in BC, not able to start at either G or T), White (cut by Sask. as you said), and Ruby (still unproven, a regular backup is still a backup) would have made much difference to the injury situation.

It`s funny with Ruby. Last year everyone including Vercheval called him a turnstile. He moves to Edmonton and people think he is suddenly a stud.

#15

While the injuries to Nat. OL are not the only reason for the Als record, to me it is amongst the main reasons; yes, add the bad year for Durant, poor defensive tackles, but injuries,particularly to Nat. players ,particularly OL, are the number 1 reason. I don't care what others may think.

After 5 games, the Als had given 3 QB sacks; in the next 12 games-all games where 3 to 4 original OL were injured, they allowed 39 sacks; I expect 6 to 8 to be added tomorrow. These injuries,particularly to Nat. players have affected the ratio.

As I wrote before, other teams had injuries, but no team was affected as the Als by injuries to Nat.players; furthermore, these teams, particularly Edmonton, had QB's that allowed these teams to win games.

Richard

#16

Richard, not counting QB and assuming the team was healthy, where would you rank the Als overall player personnel, 1-9?

I rank it at No. 9, exactly where they stand.

#17

Difficult to "count" excluding QB,Sheldon. It's a dream,but give me Mike Reilly and I would rank in the top 5.

Richard

#18

How many extra wins do you think this team would have if you subbed Durant with Reilly?
IMO at most 3 but most likely 2.

So just for fun let's give them 4 extra wins. More than double what they managed to win. That would put them at 7-11.
That would rank them tied for 7th. and if the Lions win next week 8th. out of nine teams.

Yes QB has been an issue but the problems with this team are far, far greater than the QB position. You could place AC in his prime and this team would not make the postseason.

It is important to see the situation with honest and realistic eyes.

#19

11 :wink:

#20

Problèmes au niveau du personnel des joueurs, selon mon humble opinion.

  1. Quart-arrière. Il faudra éventuellement se décider à monter un jeune quart-arrière, avec les aléas que cela suppose. Je pense que les supporteurs pourront mieux comprendre ça que d'amener un vétéran qui cumule les inepties (Glenn, Durant).

  2. Porteurs de ballon. Il n'y a pas de substitut/successeur crédible à Sutton.

  3. Ligne offensive.Il y a trop de joueurs vieillissants(Brodeur-Jourdain, Olafyoye, Blake, Matteet Simmons) et pas assez de relève de premier plan (Gagnon). Donc, il y a de gros problèmes offensifs à régler et ça ne se fera pas instantanément.

  4. Receveurs. Il manque au moins un receveur de premier plan, un receveur rapide avec de bonnes mainset il faudra un successeur crédible à Giguère. Johnson pourrait devenir ce successeur, mais il est encore difficile de se prononcer maintenant.

  5. Ligne défensive.Knapton n'était tout simplement pas là mentalement cette saison. Je ne sais pas ce qui s'est passé avec lui, mais il est sans âme depuis le début de la saison. Bowman est manifestement sur les derniers milles, même si je crois qu'il peut donner encore au moins une bonne saison dans une rotation avec un joueur plus jeune. Les Alouettes doivent absolument renforcer le milieu de la ligne. Ils ne l'ont pas fait avec la présence de Westerman et Shologan, et n'ont pas trouvé de joueur qui a su s'y imposer.

  6. Secondeurs. Cox prend sa retraite et possiblement Hebert aussi. Hebert peut peut-être encore donner une saison en rotation avec un jeune, mais puisque les Alouettes doivent lui trouver un remplaçant, autant commencer maintenant. Ils doivent également trouver un remplaçant à Woods, où personne cette année n'a été convaincant. Pour remplacer Cox, peut-être que Dozier pourra s'y révéler, mais je pense qu'il serait préférable de trouver un gars de tertiaire qui pourrait être converti en secondeur, un peu comme on avait fait avec Cox. C'était quelque chose que notre ami D&P avait proposé et je trouve que ça avait beaucoup de sens. Ethan Davis sera probablement libéré et peut-être que ce poste lui conviendrait mieux que demi défensif.

  7. Joueurs canadiens. Le contingent de joueurs canadiens actuel des Alouettes est un des plus faibles que nous ayons vu depuis longtemps. Les Alouettes devraient trouver le moyen d'avoir 8 partants canadiens pour se donner la flexibilité nécessaire lorsqu'un d'eux tombe au combat. Je me souviens de cette période bénie où les Alouettes pouvaient remplacer Josh Bourke par Skip Seagraves ou Michael Ola sans affecter négativement le niveau de l'équipe.Il y a de bons jeunes canadiens dans l'équipe (Wright, Ackie, Beaulieu, Johnson), mais pas assez pour être en surplus dans le ratio.