My thoughts on the TICATS AT WINNIPEG game

Hamilton Tiger-Cats
1

Burris was awesome . He showed great vision , confidence , athleticism . good play selection , good throws and excellent mobility and running and grit too no slides .

Avon was pretty good for the amount of training camp he has had …was determined . Chevon walker showed flashes again
But not as good as the Argos game . Porter was a bit better but still makes me nervous and I think he does not camouflage the running plays well .

Brian Simmons has another bad night on the OLINE and if he makes the starting lineup then well his competition isn’t very good. The other tackles did not stand out which is likely good for olineman.

Jeffers Harris showed once again a lot of grit and I hope he makes it . This guy is sort like MCDANIEL was for us up the middle . Kelly has all sorts of potential and size and did ok tonight and I think they like him . I was not impressed with DUWALT or Onrea Jones tonight and I’d take Duwalt over Jones and Murphy as kick returner and back up receiver .

For me I’d keep Harris and Duwalt and let Jones , Murphy and likely Kelly go …maybe could keep one on the practice roster ? Jones seems soft to me and Kelly has the dropsies and never seems to gain separations and is not good after the catch .

Giguerre played a good game and Stalla looks to have lost a step to me .

I really don’t like Darcy Brown but he is getting all the reps .

On the OLINE …I felt they all did ok except Simmons .Let’s keep Claytor, Hennessy , or Dile over this guy …When a guy goes to the outside he just pushes him and the guy takes just a longer route to the qb .
Porter got wiped out twice in the last 2 weeks and both times due to Simmons
On specialty teams I really notice Kanya out there and patrick jean mary and Eiben .

Eiben showed his experience as well on defence …a very smart guy and knows where to go .
I felt Rey Williams gets outsmarted and seems out of position too often but he is fast and strong and that makes up for it .

Kanya play very well at MLB when given the chance and I think he has to make this team . We might see Richardson, Yannick carter and Hood let go to keep KANYA and patrick jean mary ?

On the DLINE :

My goodness …both Boudreaux and R. Brown had great games again and will make the decisions very tough because everyone felt Crable was the guy to come in and make an impression but he has not done much at all . Low energy guy .
He has great credentials having had played with New England and having bee drafted high out of Michigan but hmm ?
Rose played great last year and has only been ok this year . Mcelveen has been ok as well . I personally do not like what I have seen from Powell as he seems all rush and not good containment and not committed to the run .
Eddie Steele looked good fro what it is worth but they have no non import to back him up so he can’t start right now anyway

My guess is Powell goes and one of Mcelveen and Crable going .

Starting Line would be Boudreaux , Rose , R. Brown, Peach with one of Mcelveen and Crable going to practice roster .

Db’s :

Turrenne has not looked so great the 2 games . He looked great last year so that will keep him the starting corner .
Wilkins has looked great and he will earn a spot or practice roster spot . Ray also looked very good and hard hitting at safety . I think Lewis did not look so great and Clem Johnson will likely be gone as well. Marcel Young , Bo smith and Dee Webb all look good enough to stick around with Collins , Thomas and Hinds injured .

I say the corners will be Wilkins and Turrenne while Hinds is injured with half backs being Young and Webb and Bo Smith being the extra guy and Ray mannng the safety unless they move Webb to safety and start Bo at halfback . I see Hood being cut .

So my cuts that I presume are :

Onrea Jones
Deon Walker
Josh Mavety
Brian Simmons
Darius Powell
Shawn Crable or Jermaine Mcelveen ( 1 goes to practice roster , 1 gets cut )
Dile , Claytor, Hennesy ( One makes team , 1 goes practice roster , 1 gets cut )
Jordan Brescacin
Dewayne Lewis
Clem Johnson
Jonathon Hood
Aaron Kelly (goes to practice roster )
Tyrell Francisco
Garlins Duclervil
Sam Fournier
Louie Richardson
Seamus Postuma
Bryon Bullock

Injured list

Milt Collins
Ryan Hinds
Yannick Carter

2

very astute observations gerbear and most predictions are likely on the money.

one caveat may be Josh Maveety who was 3/3 PK last night.

Cortez will have a tough decision to make.

3

Agree with you about Simmons. Our quarterbacks will be running for their lives with him on the line. I thought Wilkins was getting beat often especially when teamed with Smith. Knowlton looked disinterested while playing with the 2nd string. I would say with Eiben showing so well that he may be on the bubble.

4

I agree with much of what you've expressed, gerbear9, particularly your comments on Burris, Walker & Cobourne, Simmons, Darcy Brown, Eiben, Kanya, Boudreaux, Ronnell Brown and Steele. While Stala may have "lost a step," I'd say there's no question he's still "Sticky" and will contribute when he gets on the field. The decisions on who stays and who goes will be based, in addition to what the players have shown at camp and in the P.S. games, on ratio use plans, what each player can contribute on Special Teams, how likely any player might accept a Practice Roster position, age and dollars. I'd be very surprised, for instance, if, as you suggest, McElveen or Crable were offered and, if so, accepted a PR agreement.

5

There is no way Aaron Kelly and Onrea Jones get cut before TJH. Those two guys have been better than Jeffers-Harris in training camp and both exhibition games.

I'm not sure what the deal with Simmons is. He played so well last year, but he was brutal last night.

Marcell Young looked great in both games.

Imo, the defensive line should have McElveen and Peach on the ends, Brown and Rose as tackles. Neither Powell or Crable impressed me. Boudreaux showed some flashes so maybe he can be a pr guy. Ronnell Brown was wreaking havoc last night. :thup:

6

I didn't watch the game...just the highlights this morning. Our biggest weakness based on that footage...the secondary looked brutal, especially on some of the floater completions Brink made. Hopefully most of the guys we played back there during that span of the game get cut.

7

The reason Eiben is starting that Hinds is injured and they need a non import to start on D. They would be foolish to release Knowlton and he has way more left in the tank than Eiben

8

I have been a porter guy, but he gets that one big pass and then nothing. And his handing off seems brutal.

9

I’m not sure what to think of Porter to be honest…
The TD pass to Kelly was picture perfect, yet on the next series he throws two near picks in succession.

Timing appears to be QP’s achilles heel over the years. The ball is usually a second too late in many cases, especially with wide open receivers.
Accuracy does not seem to be the issue.

10

Disappointed in Knowlton. Head down, missing tackles. Throws a shoulder and RB bounces off him for a big gain. How about head up, wrap him up? Wilkins did the same thing.

Thought Wilkins was horrible, Kanya disappointed too. Defense is worrisome.

Whole offence looked great, especially the line giving the QBs time, and RBs wholes.

Just wished porter looked a little more decisive out there. he still seems a half step behind. The game still seems a little too fast for him, although he did throw a terrific TD pass.

11

No, even with Eiben on the field we had Bucknor in there. The only way Knowlton starts is if we start Steele or use Stala as our 5th receiver. (Or sign Boulay and start him at safety)

12

I saw the exact opposite. I was very unimpressed by the line the entire night. I felt like the QBs had almost no time and it was Burris’ mobility that made up for it. I think if that was Ricky Ray or Kevin Glenn back there, they would have got killed. That said, it doesn’t concern me too much because two starters were out (Hage and Belton Johnson), but I didn’t think the line was very good last night

13

Correct. And in my opinion, Stala should be the team’s fifth receiver. Right now, Onrea Jones has been in that spot, and I think that putting Stala in there would be an upgrade. That’s no shot at Jones, who has been excellent, but starting Stala makes more sense to me.

14

It doesn’t matter who was on the field together last night, as far as the ratio goes.
There is no ratio in pre-season. They could have had 12 imports on the field together if they wanted.

15

Right. But we still played the 1st half with 7 non-imports. Those being the 3 interior linemen, two receivers, and both Eiben and Bucknor on defense. Hinds coming back doesn’t really change how we use our ratio because he’s just going to replace Bucknor.

16

Creehan's defense needs some intensive care, also the special teams are scarey.

17

Are you forgetting Darcy Brown? From what I remember, he was on the field a lot, mostly as a blocker. He even carried the ball up the middle once. First time I’ve seen him do that, which seems a bit odd for someone labeled as a fullback, in my opinion.

I don’t remember seeing Stephenson in there at all, although I could have just missed him.

18

Stephenson got some time in the 3rd and 4th quarter.

19

I love it how fans can see the games so differently.

One aspect that was a pure pleasure to watch was the potency of Burris’ mobility. It changes everything!

20

On this I can 100% agree. I have been and will continue to be a Kevin Glenn fan, but having a mobile QB back there does make a big difference. I’m also happy that my inital concerns over Burris being washed up appear to have been overblown. He has looked great so far and I look forward to seeing it continue into the regular season.

Also, it appears as if the loud mouth of Winnipeg, Jovon Johnson, wasn’t impressed with what Burris did last night (http://cfl.ca/article/burris-sharp-head … lar-season). He also seems to take issue with Burris actually putting forth an honest effort. I can’t wait to hear the excuses he’ll come up with when Burris shreds them again in the regular season.