At the final Ticat practice before Friday's game against Edmonton - tomorrow will just be a walkthrough - and there are a few notable absences and changes.
On offence centre Marwan Hage and offensive tackle Brian Simmons aren't practicing - Mark Dewit and Belton Johnson are in - while Aaron Kelly replaces Bakari Grant at wide receiver in a move that does not seem injury-related. Grant had some drops againat Montreal.
On defence, strong side linebacker Markeith Knowlton is still out of action - like Hage, he isn't even on the field. Jason Shivers has moved from safety to linebacker while Canadian DB Ryan Hinds shifts to safety from corner and newcomer Loyce Means is at the wide corner. Got all that?
It is possible that Hage and Knowlton will play - I'm sure Bellefeuille will tell me after practice that a final decision hasn't been made. And while both are vets and therefore don't need as much practice time, it's extremely rare for a player to miss the final day of practice and still play. I can think of only one example: the must-win final game of 2009 season against the Bombers when Knowlton didn't practice but played on a bum ankle. (The infamous boat celebration game.)
Shivers at LB? Don't know what to make of that move. ..
I am looking forward to seeing how Hinds does at safety, however. .. if he does well, and the new guy can handle the corner, then when Markeith returns to action Shivers can take a seat. . .
I’m more worried about Knowlton being replaced by Shivers. Especially given Shivers tackling abilities. Maybe he’ll be better at tackling if he isn’t also having to cover the long ball? Puzzling that they would move Shivers up the LB, move Hinds out of his normal spot, and bring in a new guy at corner, rather than start one of our backup linebackers. Especially against Ray, who can often slice and dice secondaries. I expect that if there were a chance of Knowlton playing, they would have just replaced him at practice and let everyone else get their reps at their own positions.
Guess we’ll just have to see what happens. Maybe Hinds will shine in the new role. Wonder how he is on the safety blitz?
What does it say about the quality of our LB back ups if they move Shivers to LB. I would not be happy if I was a LB.
Plus they could move Auggie from his useless position of FB.(how many carrries?) to LB where his years of experience would be a help.
Y’know, I’ve been wondering why we haven’t seen much from him either? There was some “hype” about him switching from LB to FB and then we here or see nothing. :roll: Anybody know what’s up with Auggie? I’d like to see him used a little more.
You need speed at SAM linebacker or you’ll get eaten alive. Particularly against a gunslinger like Ray, the coverage ability at SAM linebacker is more crucial than sheer physicality. Ideally you’d like to have both (see Knowlton, Markeith).
I too am worried about Shivers in a position where he will be relied on more than ever to tackle. I've seen him do a lot slidin' off opposing players but not much stickin to them. The only saving grace for him being up front is that he will have all star help with Johnson and Williams. Maybe that's what the coach is counting on.
Ok, so if he is not useless on special teams then logically that you can assume that he is fast and can tackle..so why not move him back to LB where he started when in Edmonton as an experienced replacement if Markeith cannot go. You can move him to the weak side too. He is wasted as a FB IMO.
“Fast” is relative. According to the roster, Auggie is 235lbs and 31 years old. Hustling downfield on a coverage team is one thing, trying to cover a starting RB or receiver one-on-one is quite another. And JJ is brilliant on the weak side: why change his responsibilities for the sake of shoehorning in a sentimental favorite in Auggie? Plus I think Auggie’s most natural position would be the middle, and there’s no way you move Rey Williams out of there. Auggie’s experience would allow him to step into one of the LB spots in an emergency, but at this stage of his career, I don’t think you game plan to put him in there.
Looks like Knowlton will play. Hage will not. Simmons will not.
Gone from last weeks 46 -- Hyland (released), Michael Carter (PR), Kyle Jones (INJ), Simmons (INJ).
The 4 additions -- Jeremy Kelley, Loyce Means, Darius Powell and Wladichuk all from the PR.
Interesting.
Wladichuk was already on the roster; othe addition was Johnson, along with Kelly,Means and Powell. Addition pf 4 imports and deletion of 2 imports and 2 non-imports. Now 26 imports and 20 non-imports; 4 of the imports will be on reserve/won't play.
Actually, Shivers as LB for Knowlton may not be so bad. He is no Knowlton, but the schemes seem to have that position covering speedy people going downfield, and if the staff feels Shivers has the speed to play safety and DB spots, he certainly has the speed to play Knowlton's position. I do not feel so bad about Shivers being in that spot, but would hate to see Augie, tho I like Augie, play that spot, Ray would have a field day.
The clock has to be running out for Coach Chamblin and his defensive schemes. The secondary has taken a lot of heat but I feel they have been put in these situations by their coordinator. The focus of the releases have come at safety and who has played the majority of the games? Hyland never appeared to be given a shot. Francis played well on special teams and lead the team in tackles in a loss to BC that should never happen. Then Knowlton goes down and they say Shivers will play linebacker are you kidding me this would be horrific. I was happy to hear Knowlton will play. One of the players who was released was well suited to fill in and versatile but the coaches say Jason Shivers can do it please how many tackles can one player miss in a game or finally tackle them in the endzone. I will make a prediction max protection by EDM and a long day for the secondary in man to man coverage. I heard Greg Marshall is looking for a job.
...Shivers at linebacker, the guy can't tackle so how is he suppose to play linebacker? :roll: I would take Hood at linebacker over Shivers ANY day of the week
As for Hinds at safety and then Loyce Means at corner? why not give Rwabukamba a try? but by the looks of the depth chart, there are once again no changes to the d-back field...so much for changing it up until we found the right combo? but still even if Means got the start at least it would have been a change up, to bad because I'm really getting sick of watching receivers run past our db's (Except for Ryan Hinds) like they are playing a tyke team
When was the last time we got an interception!? I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this comment (because it involves the NFL :roll: ) but I watched my Ravens beat Pitt this weekend and they got 3 interception...in one game (when was the last time the Cats got 3 in a game?), the Ti-Cats only have 5 in 10 games!
I generally love every part of this team but when it comes to the DB's its starting to get on my nerves the lack of success and the lack of change for the unit, and I am not one to complain about any part of the team, but its sickening to watch. I'm tired of HEARING changes will be made, but then they never come to fruition, if this is the combo Chamblin thinks is a winner, then we are going to continue to get burned and miss tackles in the secondary for the rest of the season :roll:
Once again, I stand corrected. You’re right Richard, Wladichuck was a reserve last week, so he was one of the 46.
This week, we can count on T. Grant being one of the 4 Reserves plus, most likely B. Grant, Powell, and Kelley. I wouldn’t be shocked though to see Knowlton sit out and either Kelley or Powell being the surprise to dress.
