With Nauytn McKay-Loescher and J.P. Bekasiak starting at the DE positions, the opposing OL will have to double team them quite often. This will lead to plenty of QB pressure from the DT's, but do not think the OL will be able to stop both J.P. and especially Nautyn for too long. The sacks are coming in large amounts this year for the Ticats.
I don't think either DE will be compared to Montford anytime soon.
They are both young and mainly unproven.
I am still worried about what their production will be.
Glad to see you are optomistic Allday.
I haven't seen enough of either guy to make that call.
They are both young, JP is raw and strong. While Nautyn has proven himself to be a very aggressive and a strong pass rusher.
He had some good numbers in BC considering the playing time he was given.
I also like jermaine reid playing backup, he is also a solid D-Lineman
Most of J.P. Bekasiak's training camp reps have been occurring at defensive tackle. His presence as either a starter or part of a three man defensive tackle rotation will help to strengthen the middle of the Ticat defence.
plus both him and reid are HUGE
Not only are they massive -- but lean. Looking at Bekasiak you'd think he's a 250 lb lb not a 300 pound d lineman. The guy reminds me a bit of Claridge -- all muscle.
I still think we need a good big import DT to backup our talented rookies.
That makes sense. I have heard nothing about playing Bekasiak at DE -- he is a natural DT.
Oski Wee Wee,
methinks you may be thinking backwards. Rookies are backup and learn the game while the other guy gets the start.
I'll bet Bekasiak has a dozen knock-downs this season.
His reach puts him well over 9 feet. An awesome sight.
Most importantly, he is very tough to move. Once he gets the experience to consistently collapse the pocket on passing downs, look out. His run-stopping skills are very good for a kid of his age.
Oski Wee Wee,
That's something we were missing with Bad-News-Belli, too. Hopefully our DTs will have better instincts than in years previous (I.E. know when to pass rush and when to congest the line.)
Well, having a tandem at DT in a 4-3 (or a combo of nose tackle and DEs in a 3-4) that can work together is essential to wreak havoc on great defences -- Mosca-Barrow and Walker-Skillman are two prime examples. The better pass rusher of the two might get more ink and/or praise (read Barrow and Walker), but it's the run-stopping immovable object that the disruption truly revolves around.
Angelo Mosca and Rod Skillman stand out in my mind as two defensive tackles who relished that role and their collaborations with their partners in the middle made the sum of the effort larger than the individual parts to be sure.
What made Philbrick more recently so good is that he had a number of DT partners but still excelled. He was the anchor of the 1999 championship team. Make no mistake about it.
Oski Wee Wee,
i think that collier will really help us this year do we all for get what he did in ottawa in 2005
As long as he remains healthy, I agree. McKay-Loescher and he will be a solid rotation hopefully at one end spot. If Josue can step up at the other end position, things will certainly get more promising.
I see Jermaine Reid as being capable of playing either tackle or end, so he gives us a lot of flexiblity no matter how things shake down.
Oski Wee Wee,
With Bekasiak, Wayne, Loesher, Reid, Dunbrack, and Gibson, I could see the Cats rotating through six Canadian D Linemen early in the season. An all Canadian front would certainly give Coach Taaffe lots of options for the Offence. If Karikari and Shaw(or Beveridge) start in the D backfield then all three phases of the team get a huge boost in depth. The O line has some holes with Hudson and Cheron down but maybe four of the five positions could be Canadian. Woodard is a keeper but if Dyakowski doesn't make the Saints, Who knows? Maybe I'll get my All Canadian O Line as well.
I must go now and bring down my Canadian Flag for the evening.
Pat Lynch (the old guy in section 7 )
I'll be interested in seeing how Quinton Caver shows at DE. I saw him play a fair bit with the Chiefs. But the depth of Canadian talent across the d-line this year is remarkable. If the youngsters play to form the potential for a solid rotation of fresh legs could really wear teams down later in games.