This coming from a fan of a team that hasn’t figured out how to win a Grey Cup in an 8 team league since the 1980’s. Thanks for the advice, moron. Now, back under the bridge, little troll.
He's only 29 or 30 years and admitted that he still has a lot of football left in him. Before he left, he was our best o-lineman. Don't get your hopes up CFLisbest, this signing will DRAMATICALLY affect the performance of the Eskimo offensive line(which was looking better and better towards the end of the season). And this hasn't been the only change on offence. Ranek is a fine replacement for Troy Daivs(who had to be cut due to his large salary). He's just as capable as Troy Davis at rushing the ball, but possibly a little decline in blocking ability. The addition of Jacques Chapdelaine as offensive coordinator will change the bland and predictable offence that we've used for the past 3 or 4 seasons(and finally force other teams' defences to question what we are going to do). Receivers will be the weak spot on the Esks this coming season. The loss of Hervey won't be all that bad, as long as an import like Stamps(who has already been compared to Hervey) or Wallace comes out of camp looking good. Mookie was still effective last year, and probably will be again this season. As of now, I'd predict Tucker, Mitchell, Gaylor, Stamps, Woodcock, and Peterson emerging as our starters.
The Esks secondary will be amongst the best in the league with recent acquisitions: Morgan, Samuels, Goss, Garret(?), Buhl(?), Larose. Gass as our MLB will be solid. But outside linebacking could pose a problem on defence(unless a newcomer like Heard, Bell, Shabazz, or Perryman step in; or Dalton/Winn steal the spots). The d-line will be a strongpoint and create a lot pressure with Alston, Braidwood, Guillroy, Brown, and Warner.
With the important losses at key starting positions that the Riders underwent, I'd be more worried about your own team, cflisbest. I doubt the Riders will have a season anywhere near the one they had last season(which wasn't all that impressive). And good luck with Austin. :thdn:
Some Rider fans need to realize that in order for them to justify others trolling in their own haven, they must refrain from doing so in other teams' forums.....
Mobley was released from the Eskimos a few months ago, we’ve known about this for a while! Today he just officially announced retirement(probably because no one picked him up).
Sure the Esks have a few spots to fill and a few question marks still, it just appears to me as if the Rider’s losses are more severe.
The Esks have only lost a few starters(and most of them were adequately improved upon or replaced)…
Improvements:
replaced Danny Maciocca with Jacques Chapdelaine as OC
signing Lefsrud will probably force Roundtree* out of a starting spot on the o-line
lost Frank, Durden, Brady, Craver in secondary but replaced by Morgan, Goss, Samuels and Bell.
traded for Ron Warner who will most likely start on the d-line
signed Stephen Lefors who will probably force Jason Johnson out of a back-up QB job
drafted Warren Kean to potentially take Flemings spot in the coming years
lots of depth at D-line, O-line, Secondary, and import WRs at camp
Adequate Replacements:
lost Troy Davis but replaced him with Josh Ranek
Unknown(Questionable) Replacements:
lost Ed Hervey, replaced by Strang, Stamps, Wallace, or Zeigler
lost OLB Singor Mobley, and Gerald Dixon to be replaced by Heard, Onatulu, Garret, or Perryman
As you can see, it appears as if the Esks may have a weakness in finding personnel to fill out the starting OLB spots, as well as some of our import receivers. But overall, the team has solidly rebuilt from last season and solidified themselves in almost all positions. If you want to keep on persisting that the Riders are better off than the Eskimos this coming season, I suggest you complete an evaluation ont he Riders like I just did with the Esks.
123, while you are correct that we did not lose Mobley, rather we released him the same can be said for the rest of the players not returning. If there were any of those names that they wanted back or could afford to keep, they would have been kept and not lost.
While there is a lot of room for optimism here and they have certainly brought in new faces, don't forget that doesn't guarantee us a better season.
As far as receivers go, it's impossible to tell right now who will win those jobs except for obvious incumbents. As far as the rest of them go let's see what they do in camp. Just because someone has had a cup of coffee in the NFL doesn't mean they will be successful here. How can you say that Zeigler will even make the team at this point, for example. You are guessing.
Let's not start acting like Bomber fans here and just because we sign some guys that have some credentials all of a sudden we are back in the playoffs.
It should be competitive camp and we should see a lot more creativity from the offence with Chapdelaine calling the plays. Other than that, nothing is certain at this point and trying to make predictions about who will be staying is silly. Now, if you are a scout or know someone on the inside then perhaps you may know a little about who the staff is high on at this point.
Other than that it is pure speculation. Don't forget that as knowlegdable as some posters are on esksfans, it is still just personal opinion. If you notice, most of those posters are very reserved at this point regarding predictions of how the team will do.
Let's wait and see. As far as the Riders go, who gives a crap about them as long as we finish ahead in the standings. They are perennial losers and will do well just to shake that handle this season with a new gm and coach.
Everything I've posted obviously is pure speculation and opinion. But at this point IN MY OPINION, the Eskimos are better off than the Riders personnel-wise on paper. We'll obviously have to wait and see how the team gels, as we all know that no one can predict the future.