O-Line Needs Peter Back!

I am not saying that this has worked out. But in 2013, I don’t think drafting Gaydosh number one was crazy. (At the time, the National DT we had was Bulcke. Hazime was the back-up and is a good player, but smallish for a DT. Austin couldn’t know then that Laurent would become available or that Atkinson would get well.)

After that, the first five you mention were off the board. (From them Watman’s clearly great and probably Craighead is too if healthy; I don’t think Steward and Sewell have played much and MacMillan is difficult to judge as Ottawa has at least as much an OL problem as the Cats do.)

About your remaining three: if you want “crazy”, it is pretty hard to defend choosing Urban with the idea of converting him to an O-Lineman. As I said in my previous post, Brett Jones, the next pick would have been way better. Not sure I would highlight Albright as a miss but yes Bergman was a great 6th round pick by Calgary that a lot of other teams passed over. But at the time Cats might have reasonably thought that the young national O-Linemen they had: Baillargeon, Filer, Husband and Rice were better bets than any O-Linemen available after the 2nd round. (Later in 2013 they also picked up Reinders and Rockhill.) D&P’s points about coaching and player development are relevant to why these players haven’t fared better.

So yes they pick Brett Jones and Bergman and they’re probably in good shape now. But that’s 20/20 hindsight. And if Dyakowski and Wojt had not suffered such serious injuries, we might not be talking about it at all.

About 2014, of the O-Lineman available when the Cats had a chance to pick, who would you have gone with?

Good post.

My point is that a good offensive line in this league requires good Canadians on that line. Obviously in order to get good, Canadian offensive linemen you’re going to have to draft some. To me, not drafting any offensive linemen in consecutive years is asking for trouble. When you look at the teams that have been consistently competitive year in and year out, the Stamps, the Lions, the Als, they’re usually drafting more than one offensive lineman each year, let alone every two. If you don’t believe in spending a top pick on an offensive lineman, then at least use a couple late-round picks and try to develop someone.

I don’t have a problem with the Gaydosh pick. As you said, it’s easy to have a problem with the Urban pick. I would argue that instead of double dipping at safety (Daly and King) and fullback (Dell and Prime), we probably should have spent a pick or two on an offensive lineman. Of course, the Simon Le Marquand pick certainly didn’t work out either.

As for this past year, everybody knew it was a poor draft class. How many of the offensive linemen will turn out, I have no idea. But drafting four defensive linemen when we already had Bulcke, Hazime, Nadon, Fortin, Atkinson, and the rights to Gaydosh, seems a little excessive (pointless?) to me. Also, I’m sure Austin and Tillman had been in contact with Ted Laurent while he waited to see if any NFL teams had interest in him. Instead of drafting so heavily at a position in which you only start one Canadian, I would have liked it if they at least tried to draft and develop an offensive lineman.

Ben Heenan of the riders is expected to be a free agent at the end of the season.....however....

gary lawless @garylawless · 2h 2 hours ago
few in #cfl circles expect Heenan to sign elsewhere but do expect him to test market and establish his worth before re-upping with #riders

Sorry, I couldn't resist the tease!!!!

It has been the MO of Austin to draft THE BEST AVAILABLE PLAYER in each round, according to the team's rankings. There are many schools of thought about drafts ie: best player available, draft per your needs, build-up a certain position in order to trade, to draft a player you are sure your rival wants, etc.

Things may change this draft year. I think we need O-line and receiver depth. Perhaps a GOOD RB or FB. Remember, there are only 6 rounds in the CFL draft and 9 teams drafting. The 54th player picked will be a long-shot to make any team, at best.

Over the past number of Canadian drafts, some of the higher potential choices (usually the first round) have opted to try the NFL first.

That has made the selection process for many CFL GM's perilous and very much a waiting game for those who dare take the chance.

The problem with having an O-line problem is that it's the least plug-and-play position IMO on the field barring QB. Unlike the defensive line, where you can just slot in a dynamic DE and still be effective, an O-line depends on continuity and familiarity with the other four guys as much as individual talent. So if you have an O-line problem, you absolutely have to be patient in addressing it, because chances are you won't fix it in one offseason. You could assemble the best O-line available and they might still need half a season or even a full season to come together as a group. After a poor season, it's so tempting to blow up the line and try again, but doing so will just put you back at square one.

:thup: :thup: :thup:
:thup: :thup: :thup: :thup:

I liked D&P's post too. It may help that the Cats are likely going to stick with International OTs: National OTs are scarce and expensive. Instead they are probably moving to National DTs.

Anyway, if you only have to worry about Nationals for the interior OL, it might be a little easier. I just don't know whether Filer will develop into the answer at OC, although I am almost sure it would help if he had a healthy Dyakowski on his left and a healthy Wojt on his right, with Simmons back at OT.

Sort of relevant, unfortunately Rottier got hurt for Edmonton and I see they are likely to go with an International, just like the Cats did, even though they have National backups Myddelton (who they traded for from the Cats) and Andrew Jones (one of the free agent O-Linemen recently available).

[url=http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/10/28/who-steps-in-on-eskimos-offensive-line]http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/10/28/w ... nsive-line[/url]

A few posts back, Jordan02's response to me was also good. Looking forward, maybe the Cats besides doing what they can in the free agent market, can trade some of their National DL assets (like the rights to Gill but probably more) to get a young O-Lineman. This is where I think drafting all those late round defensive linemen (especially Girard in the 6th round: he has good stats this year at Montreal) may yet pay off, because at least one can be a back-up if there is such a trade. It was an odd draft for the Cats: two first-rounders and then nothing until the 5th, in a pool the experts all said was weak.

The O-Line has been driving me crazy all season, but to pick up one a previous post, having a short yardage passing game is essential (I think it's called a "check down"?) and I think not having Fantuz on Saturday really exposed the weaknesses on the O-Line. Fantuz would have helped last week but on the last play of the game the O-Line, with help, couldn't stop a three man rush! If you can't beat a three man rush you don't deserve to win. Toronto's O-Line was textbook perfect on a few plays when we brought pressure, forcing the defenders to the outside and allowing Ray to step forward and make a pass. I haven't seen that kind of play from the Cats' O-Line this year.

Well as I said on a previous thread about this subject,the fact that because we have had to utilize 3 imports due to injuries this year to both Wojt and Dyakowski,that none of the four rookie imports used this season have impressed. Two of these imports(Alford,Young)are both long since gone from the team,both being released earlier in the season and the two present imports on the line(Olson,Lewis)have both been in and out of the lineup for most of the season.Simmons has been forced to play guard all season instead of his usual Tackle position. Filer while in his 3rd season is in his first year as a starter at center,leaving Figueroa as the lone starter on the line from last season,but now playing Left instead of Right tackle. Tim O'Neill is the other starter,but was utilized as more of a swing man last year filling in at both guard and center when needed.The Cats other veteran OT Marc Dile had only dressed for around 2 or 3 games this season before an injury forced him to be 6 gamed as well. So as you can see the O-Line has been a cluster f--k from day one this season. It's interesting to note how the O-Line looked in last years Grey Cup as compared to the present and it's not hard to see how all the instability all season is the major problem here.

Ti-Cat O-Line 2013 Grey Cup Roster...........Ti-Cat O-Line roster at present(depth chart vs Tor)

LT-Brian Simmons (Marc Dile)...................LT- Joel Figueroa
LG-Peter Dyakowski...............................LG-Tim O'Neill (L.Rice)
OC-Marwan Hage...................................C- Mike Filer
RG-Greg Wojt (Tim O'Neill)......................RG-Brian Simmons(Joel Reinders)
RT-Joel Figueroa..................................RT-Jake Olson (Jeremy Lewis)

other O-Linemen(Grey Cup roster).............other O-Linemen(present )

OC-Mike Filer (practice).........................OG-Peter Dyakowski(6 gm IL)
OG-Carson Rockhill(practice)...................OG-Greg Wojt (6 gm IL)
OL-Landon Rice (practice)......................OT-Marc Dile (6 gm IL)
OL-Joel Reinders(practice)..................... OG-Carson Rockhill (practice)
OL-Cody Husband (injury list)

Looks like Fantuz and CJ Gable who were expected to play this week won't be back.
Luke Tasker (Son of NFL great Steve Tasker) is also doubtful for Friday.

[url=http://www.thespec.com/sports-story/4947031-focus-is-only-on-the-redblacks/]http://www.thespec.com/sports-story/494 ... redblacks/[/url]

Exactly, Bobo. There is a big difference in personnel between what we had then and who has been playing for most of this season. That has become a big factor in the pass protection and running game this season.

P.S…Cody Husband is now with the B.C. Lions…

I realize that Husband is out in BC,he is currently listed on their IL. I listed him for last years team.Under the circumstances I kinda wish he was still here,met him once,the guy was a monster in size,a walking talking skyscraper with arms.If I'm not mistaken though he is from BC and wanted to play closer to home,so asked for his release in the off season.