I have been stunned by the action the Cats have taken in the trade market. The deals rank from good to great to… controversial? But one position has seemingly remained drastically and eerily under the radar; D-line. While I don’t think anyone can argue that the line play didn’t improve as the year went on, most notably late in the season, it remains an area of concern. In a passing league pressuring the QB is a must. Too often last year the pass rush got to the QB a step too late and the Cats were far down the list of sacks for most of the season. One could argue that not getting enough pressure / contain on Printers cost the Cats the playoff game. So, Obie… what have you got for us?
Any improvement in any area is a good thing but I don't think D-line is an area of concern. Hickman, McIntyre, Adams and Long will do just fine.
It's true that our pressure was lacking early on but they were tinkering with the line in the early part of the season. Near the end we were ranking higher up in sacks. Where did we finish - was it third? Some of that pressure came from the linebackers but however you get pressure from the front seven is fine by me.
Lack of pressure on Printers was not the reason we lost the east semi. Our boys were in Casey's face all day long, even sacked him a few times. The problem was Printers doing his Houdini-Straight-Jacket-Escape act. I think that was what broke our back. So many times I was sure he was on the turf with at least three guys on him and he comes scurrying out of the pile - and throws a bomb! It was frustrating. Anyway, I thought we got great pressure on CP in the playoffs. Printers is just very slippery, for any defense. Any other quarterback would have been sacked about 7 times that day.
I don't think Obie is worried much about the d-line, as long as they stay healthy. If anything we could use some depth on the line though. When Adams went down last year it hurt us. There will be some new faces in camp but I doubt we'll be seeing new starters on the d-line and I don't think we need them.
Whatever, we sacked Casey 5 times in that game. At times he had lots of time, but that's normal. You're not going to get ridiculous presure on a qb on every single play, there's no guy in the CFL who is dominant so I'd rather see us try and find one through scouting.
Wow. I am not as confident as you are about the current state of the D-line. MacIntyre and Adams are the only two that have proven anything to me. Adams is a given, but even MacIntyre is not a sure thing. I recall the others having good games but nothing consistent. What I would suggest is that there are 5 or 6 guys in the D-line group who COULD be solid gamebreakers but none have shown to be stars YET. I for one am not comfortable hanging the quality of the defence on guys who COULD be great, because it's through the play of the line that the game/season is won or lost. We need one or two guys who force the O-line to adjust to their being in the game.
Oh yeah, 5 sacks because Printers was not afraid of the rush and was willing to hold the ball for a long time. When a QB plays like that, there are going to be some sacks. Getting in a QB's face all game is not enough. He has to be put on his back or be forced to get rid of the ball faster than he wants to. This just wasn't happening in that game. At least not nearly enough. Clearest evidence is that the Cats lost.
I guess you were watching different games than me. Adams missed most of last year although talented. Mcintyre didn’t have anywhere near the kind of season that Hickman and Long did. I think you need to watch the season over…
Yes, but there really isnt any dominating lines in the league, except for maybe B.c. Which line has more than 2 guys who are constantly bringing it? I still think there are guys out there 'available' who are probably a lot better than any rush ends currently playing in this league.
as for the post above, Mcintyre missed a lot of games also, but I like him he has a motor that doesnt stop, as for Hickman and Long they were inconsistant, Hickman was a beast early in the year then disapeared for most of the season, could be due to playing through an injury or not being conditioned properly for the CFL game.
Problem with that is one guy Protecting will no be looking after Kevin and Company
Bigger concerns than the D-Line. Still worried about the secondary, our RBs, and the run-blocking of our o-line.
I just thought I would add that I was pleasantly surprised by Matt Kirk late last season. I wasn't sure when Obie signed him as I didn't know much about him but the more I saw his play, the more I liked him. I hope he can be a factor this season or pick his game up to the next level this year.
PS - don't change my subject line. Thanks.
I totally agree.When I saw Kirk’s stat’s I was thinking “why? how is this guy going to impact a terribly weak DL”?
He definitely showed us this season that he is capable of being a dominant Canadian DL and I can’t wait to see what he accomplishes in 2010.
i wouldnt be too worried about DBs… i think they need to bring in one or two guys so that they have room to cut. RBs i think that we need to look at though with Cobb starting and KK questionable at best we need to be able to look at a legitimate backup who can take some reps here and there (being successful) and possibly take over for Cobb if (God forbid) Cobb gets injured. looking at the current roster, we have 2 other RBs Tre Smith who has been in the league for 2 years, rushed 430 yards (65 attempts, with 6 fumbles) and Andre Sadeghian who has rushed for 14 yards in three attempts in his rookie year (2007) with BC. Neither of these two have really had a chance to prove themselves to fans, so it is questionable - obviously - how good they can be.
Tre Smith is a good backup for both KR and RB. That makes him valuable.
I would cut KK and invite 3 good RB prospects to camp to compete for playing time behind Cobb.
Could use some stiff competition on DLine and RB, hopefully Obie has it coming.
I can see Obie trying 3-4 KR's, 10-12 DB's this includes every DB on our roster already + new ones coming in, 2-3 DL, 2-3 WR, 1-2 RB's, 0-1 QB, 1-2 OL, 0-1 LB