Camp

Day 1:
Apparently Rory Connop has been transferred to the retired list....really weird. Not sure if that is a roster shuffle for a few days or if he actually packed it in...pretty stunning if he did. Shuffling happens early in camp of course, but the retirement thing is weird. Could be moves to see more bodies quickly...put 2 internationals head to head for a few days, pick 1, move on.

Armanti Edwards also moved to retired...hope that is not the case either...would love to see him going for a WR spot...solid player, great athlete...also a QB

DB David Barks and OL Darryl Johnson also listed as retired. I think it was Barks they were fairly impressed with...not sure

The pace is night and day different this year....so much faster...there is no lapse between action.

Seeing a few players shuffling to spots they are not accustomed to...so that is interesting

The RB action looks piles better than last year...which isn't saying much because they were sidelined so much of camp.

So tough to say much on day one....

Pace was fast

DD looked sharp. I posted in another thread observations from minicamps that he was looking sharp...seems to be holding true...would have to say this is the best i've seen him throwing in camp...I'd say Coleman is pushing for the #2 spot early....but we will see how he looks with pressure in his face and his first choice covered

Brooks was owning the secondary...he was a beast out there. Secondary is obviously going to be better this year...not that that is saying much lol. Gainey looked probably the best overall...shocked me....but the secondary will look better tomorrow.

Picton is taking reps on the 2nd line...he lined up at C a bit...he was looking pretty good. Didn't know what to think of him before and figured him more or less as a body on the roster...but he is looking pretty darned good actually...really nice to see

A couple guys looked pretty sharp at OT...Coleman stood out early

Bagg was running SB routes...not sure if he is helping show some things or if they actually want to play him inside. Not a lot of slot experience out there, so he might just be being a leader

Kawamoto...a NI they found via the mini's looked really good....like he could be a NI diamond found. Marquez Clark also looked really good Import wise. Roosevelt stood out as well, which was nice to see.

lots to absorb day 1

is St-James on the sidelines ?

Nope. Someone there said he stated he was willing to sit until the season starts…which is a pretty stupid move for him…he will be way way behind and his value decreases. Also makes him less appealing down the road should there be NFL interest

probably the reason to re-sign Fulton ?

The reason to sign Fulton was that his tryouts in the NFL didn’t pan out. He did a few. They wanted to re-sign him before.

Ya it was a pretty solid practice. Like you said, no downtime, just go go go.

You can sure tell that Dickenson is back at special teams. A lot more special teams drills than what Dyce did.

Didn't notice anyone out of shape coming into camp. Didn't see a bunch of guys sucking wind like in the last few years.

Demski looked ready to go but I was disappointed that he was not with the first line. Still it is early, perhaps they wanted to mix them up a bit on the first day or two and a lot can change over the course of camp.

Someone said that Connop has already left Saskatoon so I do not think we will see him back.

I also agree that Doubles looked good today. Doesn't seem to be staring down his target either as much. No wobbly ducks and has a pretty good touch on the ball already and seems to be in sync with his new crew early on. Good, I hate the BS excuse that Doubles has been given over the last few years saying he needs time to adjust to his new crew. With the absence of Dressler and no option of him coming back it finally sunk in his head to look around a bit more.

One other thought, damn our place kicker is small. They list him at 5' 7" - 180 but it looked more like 5' 6" maybe and $150 if you are lucky. Way smaller than Smith was who was listed at the same dimensions last year.

Yeah....Dickenson's presence was nice. I felt STs was pretty good last year as well, but he is a solid coach for sure. Crapinga had a poor day though....hopefully just some rust.

Connop is apparently done done...like his retirement is for real. because he showed up I would suspect that they tried to move him to OL and he said F it....or the new drug policy didn't pan out well for him...but that is only a "possibility" not trying to put any truth into that

those 2 Canadians they picked up from the minicamps looked really good. the WR non-import depth is impressive. Their last pick in the draft looked really good there as well. Hell...Haidara may have been the best WR! Chambers needs to step up, because day 1 he was the worst NI WR out there hands down. Really impressed with the group after one day.

Yes no one last year was any good at that position I guess either.

Biting my tongue to the point of drawing blood, otherwise I would be getting banned.

Jesus…give it up man…it is done and over with…it is a new season. Every thread spins into this crap. Nobody has said he isnt good…get over it…why do you need to dredge this up on the first day of a nice fresh start to the season along with ever other thread that should happen to come up.

umm your the one that brought up the fact they are lacking at slot back not me. But we all know Jones is god so he can do no wrong, I'm sure it will work out..

OH FFS…yes, they are lacking SB experience…but you instantly turn that into a Dressler thing. They are also lacking in DB experience, but have some guys that look like they might have potential. I am talking about camp…you are crying about dressler still and spinning everything into that…same as basically every post…it is dressler should still be here and jones sucks…beyond brutal

You might not like Jones because he ditched your favorite player, but NOBODY has called him a god and yes, errors have been made and always will be, but he is a hell of a lot better than the previous GM and still learning in his first year. Meanwhile Dressler can go play somewhere else for fair market value instead of here for fair market value…yes…i know he was offered less than he gets now by about 15-20%…he never countered…there’s loyalty for you…didn’t even care enough to attempt a counter offer.

Hmm somebody seems a touch sensitive on the subject. Look I was just poking the bear so to speak. If your going to throw a hanging curve ball don't expect me to just let it float on by... Ain't going happen my friend.

no…just sick of the same song and dance every time…finding anything that can be spun into…dressler good jones bad…people say he is god and he is not dammit…they are stupid stupid stupid. I picture my kid when she was little holding her breathe at this point. This is a new season and is a good time for a new start for a 3 win team. Out with the old leadership that was a part of that 3 wins, in with the new…and day 1 was exciting to see and hard to keep up with…as much as I liked that the previous staff tried their own thing with camp and liked the new twist to it all it was clear it didn’t work…back to hard grinding full out tempo…only kicked up several notches.

All right fair enough but even you have to admit something seems odd or off about the rash of retirements. I mean what 4 in one day? Seriously? Perhaps one or two max due to just not wanting to go through it but 4? Yeah something tells me there may be more then a few that are not buying the kool aid Jones is selling.

some of the NIs picked up not through draft or standard free agency just look promising as all hell....that is what I am liking so far

Adams...i think is a longer shot at DB but who knows...we will see over the next week

Kawamoto has amazing hands and is fast...i know the secondary comes on slower in camp but he just knew how to get open

Roseway...guys were backing way off on him and he was still flying past them

Stanford...though a late draft...could have been the steel of the picks...he is impressive....high round, maybe 1st round, potential but stood up interviews and was pretty coy...I guess he is pretty withdrawn with a lot of people...if his head stays in it he could be a gem

finding NI guys like this and having them stand out in camp and make me think Chambers needs to step up...that is promising

Exactly what is this koolaid Jones is selling? How has he spun/sold anything on these retirements. That is just your hateon talking. He was vocally pissed about Price. George was out of anyone’s hands. He made a trade for a guy that had some red flags but was still a good trade…I mean if you don’t like that trade then you can’t like having initially picked up Fulton…basically identical moves…older with NFL pr time used up, 4th rounder traded…both premier tackles displaced by Canadian passports…personally I thought that was a great trade. Connop today was a shocker, but i guess he got a really good job offer.

I said a while ago…like a month or 2 ago…this was going to happen. It is a combination of a lot of things…and the Bombers (I believe) were hit the worst until today…not sure where it is at now, but it has touched every team this year, and it is only going to get worse.
low dollar
the sickenning wealth gap between new players and vets
new drug testing
people recognizing the harm to their bodies more…I mean NFL contracts are getting walked away from

At any rate…this is supposed to be about camp…there are lots of other threads for this or a new one can be created.

“Shuffling happens early in camp of course, but the retirement thing is weird”. Sound familiar? You talk about me having a one track mind yet you keep saying I’m just jones bashing. Those are your own words stating that you thought it was a bit odd about the retirement thing not mine. I bring it up and agree and you slag me again. Geez talk about cutting someone some slack. If you now don’t think it is so “wierd” as you put it then fine but don’t lay that on my doorstep.

And now use what I said in context and not try to put a spin on it. I said that it was weird on the 1st day of camp…because it is weird…but it was later explained through the media that Connop, the only player I was referencing…not the retirements as a whole, accepted a good job offer last minute…so yes, it did come across as weird until it came out what went down. Imports :“retiring” upon camp is not that unusual…just teams are starting to officially retire them the past couple of years because it means that they can’t turn around and jump ship to another club.

And I do say you are Jones bashing because that is all you do towards him every chance you get since the Chick/Dressler moves. He is far from perfect…but there is no valid reason to stomp on him every chance…if he fails miserably, have at it…but hey…to each their own…thats your thing…I will give him a chance and have liked a lot of his moves and shaken my head at a few things along the way…which is going to happen with any GM.

Fine I will make you a deal I will not post one negative thing about Jones until the mid point of the season. If the Riders are less then 500 at that time then the gloves will come off and I will ride him like a rented mule. If the Riders are at 500 or better then I will admit he has the team going in the right direction. Lets see what happens then. Oh one final thing though you pointed out he is better then what we had last year and that may be true, again lets see what happens but a broken watch would have been better then what we had last year, at least it is right twice a day which you couldn't say about cory last year.