1! I hope Addison is finally ready to go . This would mean Dunbar sits. Dumbar was 0 for 4 in completions and he fumbled the one l when we were in scoring position late in the half. The play where Dane Evans stripped the ball from the argo defender in our end.
I hope Mason Bennet is a go as he gives Laurent a rest on passing downs.
Here is a decision . Beverette and Frey are great on special teams and both made key blocks in Papi Whites td kick return. We either dress both or sit one and dress a backup import dB. D. Lawrence has gotten injured twice the past few games and we were forced to move safety Adeleke to half back which is a drop in quality and Stavros k moves to safety where he has done well .
So, we either dress stribbling and D. Lawrence and one of frey or beverette
Or we dress frey and beverettte and Lawrence or stribbling
I would roll the dice a dress both Frey and Beverette because they are so good on special teams as seen vs the argos....and Adeleke has shown he can sub in at half back in case of injury. Also if Andrew Harris is killing us in the run game we could add frey or beverette as a 4th linebacker and move adeleke to halfback with no safety on certain likely running downs like 2knd and 4 or less.
Frey and Beverette are both backups at every line backer position except Sam from Frey. Beverette could play all 3 and even halfback in a pinch
Obviously , Dane Evans will start . He better.
I think Masoli's days in Hamilton are over due to his mediocre and inconsistant play and big starter salary znd he is aging and slowing down.
I agree with Addison/Dunbar observations and also hope Mason Bennett is good to go. And of course Dane Evans!
Pending medical clearance, one other possible solution for the Desmond Lawrence injury might be to start the exact same defensive lineup that finished in Toronto with Mike Daly dressed as the 6th DB. If there is an injury back there it may require some shuffling of positions, but that just seems to be how we set up our roster on game days in 2021.
With Daly being Canadian, and having 3 Canadians start on D,this solve also creates the opportunity to sit Ternowski instead of Dunbar Jr.Then with only the 4 Canadian O Linemen needed for the ratio, we would have total flexibility in using whoever we want regardless of passport at the skill positions.
I think Daky is far too slow and not string enough to even play special teams
anymore. I think Stavros K has already passed Daly as the backup safety and Cross is not far behind . I predict Daly is not signed by the Ticats next year
We need to start import running back don Jackson so at least one national receiver will have to start. Adeleke is a great national safety but not a starter at halfback
Maybe someday soon Natiinal DE Mason Bennet might start and then we can go with 5 import receivers but national DT Laurent is getting older and slower so we may need to play an import at his position in the future as good national DT’s are hard to come by . Another option is if national sam linebacker cross gets good enough to start
When I said big in regards to Masoli…I meant salary. Evans has an incentive based salary where he gets paid the more he starts . If we want to keep Evans we will have to give him more guaranteed money like 200 to 300 k which is what Masoli is making so we can’t keep both …Evans is on the rise and Masoli is in decline…Masoli might end up in Ottawa or nowhere next year or will have to sign for backup money. Ottawa might want trevor Harris back
On this post, I agree with everything you say. My comment on "big, in your previous post, was to say that Masoli’s contract isn’t big, compared to other starters. I’m not convinced Masoli will remain “in decline,” next season, if he gets to start elsewhere.
How are we going to defend against T. Harris and the loaded Bomber Offence ?
If we make adjustments to stop Harris we fall into the Bomber trap , they then pass the ball or sweep around the ends.....
Can we stop the Bomber bookends on D ?....They destroyed our offence in 2019 Grey Cup game ?
Looking at the challenge against WPG, from our offensive view, I'm thinking it might be helpful, for Dane, to practise this week behind a 4-man OL to get a feel for what it's going to like, on Sunday.
For the first time this year we must have quick hitters, slants, hot reads on offence. Otherwise it will be difficult. Thankfully Dane is very good at making those passes.
Our O-line still isn’t up to par. They must have a big effort to give us a chance to win. Time for plays to develop is key if we are ever going to stretch the field.
Don Jackson will give his best effort no doubt. Hopefully he gets some holes to shoot through.
Our D looks great. The line, line backers are all solid. Having Desmond out is not optimal but the Kat man has played pretty well and Tunde is a flat out baller who can play anywhere back there. At least we have had this line up for a couple of games now and know how to use them.
You have to pick your poison against the Bomber offence but I think first and foremost you have to stop the run. If you don’t then it really opens up a lot of play action and buys Collaros extra time. Secondary will have to be on their game to stop Lawler, Adams and they can’t leave Demski uncovered underneath.
If they can put together long offensive drives that will be even better. Keep pounding with Don Jackson even if it’s not going anywhere early. Agree on working some of the shorter/ intermediate passes. If Addison is only 80% I’m not sure you take a chance putting him back in and having him reinjure himself. Have been a bit disappointed in Dunbar in the playoffs but he did snag at least 4 passes in the first half on Sunday(Gerbear you might have been thinking about the Mtl game). He’s also a big physical target who can help block for the smaller receivers.
Would be really nice to get Frankie back but I doubt that’s happening so I think they have to dress Stribling no matter if Lawrence is playing or not. We are taking a chance juggling the secondary during the game every week
Agree 100% about the O-Line. They were destroyed in the 2019 Grey Cup and this year they are even weaker. They will have their hands full trying to contain the Jeff bookends. Otherwise it could be a long day if Dane keeps getting knocked to the turf. The interior of the Winnipeg line is nasty also. Richardson has arms like a bear and moving him out of the way to open running lanes for Jackson will be tough.
Waiting for the Ticats to unleash first overall draft pick Jake Burt as a force in the GC o:) What a brilliant 1st overall pick .
Joking aside, the Ticats will IMO have to show lots of diversity on offence to win this game; bang the run game with both Jackson & T-Erlington to have different style backs for the D to think about; and spread the ball around to all receivers (including using Kalinic who had the 25 yard gainer against the Argos in the East final - CFL Ds are never ready for that play to an H-back but the OCs are too dumb to remember that); not sure i get the dislike of Dunbar - guy is a solid receiver IMO; i'd also throw in a deep play to Ternowski who the D would likely not think is getting the ball. And start Evans but have some packages for Masoli with run option - I'd even start him the first series and go to roll out with run option right away - that would get the D guessing; then go back to Evans and the quick pass game, but have Masoli go in once in awhile.
But this means serious offensive game planning, not deferring to this is what we do only;. Abandoning the ground game early if it gets stuffed a few times, and then expecting Evans to sit in the pocket mostly, is a recipe for failure IMO
In addition to all the points above, looking forward to Malik Carney causing havoc in the backfield.
On offence, looking for some screen passes to Don Jackson; slowing the rush down.
On a broader note - most games won this year we had points from Defence and/or Special teams (including FG kicking). We definitely need those points!
