Cobourne, What took Hamilton so long?

I know that Coburne was forced into duty do to the injury of Chevon Walker but it is hard to understand how they have kept him off the 42 game day roster until an injury.
The Ti Cats have gone with only one true tailback in import Walker all season but you would think that Cobournes many abilities would have gotten him onto the game day roster before now.
I know that their is the ratio to consider but certainly Walker could have used a blow from time to time. Cobouren also a great receiver and blocker to go along with his still very good running ability.
Hamilton also has a space on their roster for an import as they do not have a return specialist. Instead using three starters to split the duties. Giguere and Walker on Kick offs and Williams on Punts and FG misses have spread things out.
They were able to find room for two import running backs in tonights game imagine how much more he could have added to the Hamilton Offense. Besides the things mentioned above Cobourne was once a great special teams coverage player. It just seemed that the had the depth with the ratio to ba able to add him to the 42. The fact that they have 3 quality NI receivers in Fantuz, Giguere, and Stalla( who really does not even start) to go with Williams and Bakari grant. Onrea Jones also an excellent reciever to go along with Aaron Kelly scracthing one or both of them if needed whil Grant was heathy would have seemed like less a risk and Cobourne more of an Asset.
Even dressing Simon CC as the 6th receiver may have been an option. Three top rated NI FB/TE/ST Brown, Stephanson, and Fournier would cover a lot of special teams and are a huge part of their TE set especially Brown and Stepnason with Fournier really the ST of the bunch. Their ability as pass catching TE would have laso helped in the passing game.
Now a very heavy load on Walker playing 100% of the plays at tailback except for emergency and returning KO has certainly led to him being a bit worn and possibily vulnerable to injury.

If a Hamilton fan can help me to figure out why they chose not to at least find some space on the game day 42 give me some insight

Who couldn’t?

This has been discussed already.

The issue is the import ratio. Walker does return kicks but he's not really that good at it.

Coach doesn't want to have 2 import running backs on the field if they both don't return kicks.

I didnt realize that was the reason in light of the situation do you think that Cortez may rethink this in light of the situation and perhaps give it a shot with Both Walker and Coburne dressing together as tonight the new comer did return kicks in place of Walker or will they go with a plan that Terry Baker may return and return kicks as Walkers back up relieving Walter of that duty. and releasing Coboure and his High salary. Baker is also a very good RB
Just looking for some insight from Hamilton fans who know a lot more about this than I do

19 touches, 141 yards.

Love the intensity, competitiveness and consistent excellence.

Ummm, .. that's about it.

http://cfl.uploads.mrx.ca/league/images/en/photo_gallery/2012/10/crop_19026091555.jpg

Well eve since Walker got hurt the Cats have had 2 import RB on the roster and wheteher Walker was good at it or not he has returned kicks in almost everygame he has dressed. Rumor was that cobourne would not play special teams well he is doing it now. I just do no think that Cortez wanted Cobourne and it was a management decision after Mallet was out for the season and Cobourne only playing for his old 150k salary rubbed Cortez the wrong way for some reason.
If he was on the roster to begin with he and Walker would already have a chemistry of sharing backfield time.
The game that Walker got hurt in the 1st half the cats were playing great butcoming out the second half with Stephanson at TB made them one dimensional as he is not fast enough to the holes for a pro tailback and the CATs O became one dimensional and they lost miserably that game.
He finally has also began to use Stalla more as the 5th receiver instead of Onrea Jones or even Aaron kelly when grant was hurt.
The are now fighting for their playoff spot but with 5 games left still can gel together and with the additions on defense along with the return of Knowlton.
A home game in the playoffs should they get their would be huge. They are 4 point behind Toronto and play them the last game of the season at Rogers. they also have two more home games, next week vs BC and week 18 vs Winnipeg who I would think would be dying to beat especailly as it is the last regular season game at Ivory Wynn. Edmonton seems to have the tuffer schedule by a bit.
If they can gel it together in the next 4 games on defense they could turn out to do well in the playoffs. If D Webb does not drop those 2 INTs in the 1st half they probably would have beat the ESKS

Not sure if that was a typo, but there are 4 games left, not 5.

Tiger-Cats are 5-9.

typo caught it after i entered it but the gist is the same

Walker had 38 yards on only 3 touches.

People crow about Avon’s ability to get “2 yards when you really need it”, but he got stuffed on 3rd and 1 at 3:01 of the 4rth quarter.

Avon’s a good player, but he’s become like Nick Setta: a good player who some fans granted an aura of infallibility which is totally out of proportion to his actual performance.

I love Avon’s competitiveness and intensity too, but I don’t think his results are as consistent as some folks want to give him credit for. And as someone observed a few weeks ago, many of Avon’s 20 or 30 yard runs are plays that Walker likely would have taken to the house. I also think people underestimate the fear that a big play RB like Walker puts into the hearts of linemen and linebackers, and that can create other opportunities for the offense.

There's more to the rb position and for my liking Avon brings more of a total package than Walker, albeit Walker would be better in a flat out run to the end zone type of thing but as I say, that's just one dimension of a total rb package. Avon wins that one hands down.

Right now Avon is the no. 1 rb until we are officially eliminated from playoff contention, then with Avon's age yup, you must look elsewhere to Walker or whatever.

our coach is a tool thats all u need to know

hey safetyblitz....where are u getting your stats from?. Walker had 2 carries for -6 yards. Yes he can get that big play, but that doesn't happen all the time in a game. And colburne got stuffed, because the coaching staff has that stupid play where Burris is taking a long snap and hands the ball 5-6 yds behind line of scrimmage. Is doomed to fail from the start....

I was replying to Kirk, who cited Cobourne’s “19 touches, 141 yards”, which included not only Avon’s 13 rushes for 86 yards, but his 6 catches for 55 yards. Walker’s 3 touches, including his 44 yard gain on a screen pass, netted 38 yards.

Yes he can get that big play, but that doesn't happen all the time in a game.
It happened in 3 touches against Edmonton. Good thing we stopped giving him opportunities. :roll:
And colburne got stuffed, because the coaching staff has that stupid play where Burris is taking a long snap and hands the ball 5-6 yds behind line of scrimmage. Is doomed to fail from the start....
So when Walker gets stuffed, it's all his fault, but when Avon gets stuffed, it's all someone else's fault?

With respect, you have to look at the context in which an RB is getting stuffed.

A running back getting stuffed 5-6 yards behind the line because of formation and the O-line’s inability to run-block is not at fault.

A running back getting tackled for no gain or minimal gain because he doesn’t hit the open hole (or doesn’t hit it fast enough) or because he’s shy of putting his head down and churning out tough yardage north-south is definitely at fault.

Not saying Walker is always in the latter category or Avon in the former category, merely that the context determines culpability, just like an INT that first bounces off a receiver’s fingertips versus an INT where the QB stares right at his receiver before throwing an easily intercepted ball.

As I have said it is ashame that Cortez did not better plan and dress both earlier in the season. Both getting used to their roles and both getting a good amount of PT allowing the Cats to have Wlker on the field to be a Big play threat while also using cobourne in a set of packaged plays for him. A two back offense, in which to guys are both are put into the gme plan with different packages can be very successful.
Saskatchean carefully planned this out for Jock Sanders and Korey sheets for the fnal 6 games and it worked great up until Sanders got hurt.
Two backs splitting time takes an organized plan. Hamilton does not appear to have that.
There was even a point in the season where the BC Lions were uding Tim Brown a lot as a change up RB to Harris. it was well planned out and worked great. Now as we come down the stretch Browns playing time at RB has signifigantly diminished and Harris is playing very strong.

Agree with your comments 100%. What bothers me is that many folks here do ignore context, and/or have selective memories. People try to claim that Avon is good for positive yards every time, even when there is no hole. Some folks try to act like “Walker 2 for -6” tells the whole story. Looking at his two rushes in the Edmonton game, on the first at 4:30 of the 1st quarter, there are clear problems in execution at the point of attack that don’t appear to be Walker’s fault. The first collision is actually between Walker and our left tackle. His second rush at 7:28 of of the third, a defender was 5 yards into the backfield before the play could begin to develop.

It has become fashionable on here to make the generalization that Walker is only capable of getting yards on sweeps and screens, and I don’t think that’s justified.

And I still like Avon. I think he’s played well. But I think many here have a grossly distorted perception of him and Walker.

Sorry safetyblitz, but I believe this argument has been settled.

Cobourne has played in just 6 of 14 games. Yet he ranks 8th in the league in rushing, and is averaging 96 rushing yards per game (which I've gotta think surpasses all the other starting RBs). He has an outside shot at a 1,000 yard season, if he averages 109 yards in his last 4 games. He has an even better shot at being an Eastern all-star at RB for the season. His superior blocking skills are a fact, not an opinion. Not to mention the career highlights, which include the Grey Cup MVP award, and the leadership skills he brings to the team.

The fact that he spent so much time on the bench this season says more about the coaching staff than any of the players.

This being Cobourne's swan song, I hope Walker has a long and productive career ahead of him, and that one day, with a lot of work and experience, he can become as good and as well-rounded a player as Cobourne.