Tiger-Cats look Good!

I can see Hamilton spoiling the Argo's Grey Cup plans.

Just look at your new Offense:

QB - Burris
RB - Martell Mallett
WR- Chris Williams
WR- Andy Fantuz
WR- Terence Jeffers-Harris
WR- Dave Stala

At least one of the Ontario clubs are going to be good this year.

Unfortunately, the offensive line will be suspect. Without an offensive line, the star players on offense that are mentioned will be no help. The defensive line is another weakness that I hope will be addressed. Our DB are rather young but they are coming along. Linebackers are one of the best in the league provided they are played to their abilities. The quarterback is well beyond his prime. Not sold on the coaches yet.

Frankly I could only see a possible third place finish, but fourth seems like a better bet.

Brox

Yikes. I just took a closer look at the rest of the team. It looks like you guys might have a lot of shootouts...it's all tied up 54-54.

The LB core looks great, but the O-line and D-line are a big question marks. There will be many battles in training camp.

Brox:

I'm not quite that pessimistic about this upcoming season. Especially with George Cortez.
I can see us finishing the season in second place given the core of talent we have....which would be very respectable. No predictions beyond that.
I suspect a fourth place finish will spell disaster. Bob Young has already waited too long for this team to be a contender.

I have similar concerns, especially around the d-line, but am more optimistic about how they’ll compete.

On offence, O’Neill should be a good replacement for Jimenez; if he doesn’t get called for procedure or holding every third play, he’s already ahead of the game. It’s the lack of depth there that I’m worried about.

On defence, we lost a couple of good ones from the line, so half of them will be new to us. But Obie has brought in a lot of bodies to look at, so with any luck at all, we’ll be ok.

The rest of the team, I’m pretty comfortable. I like the Burris move, as he is (or at least was?) a mobile QB with a strong arm. Which should help Porter - one playbook for both QBs means he should be able to come I to a game without completely changing the whole game plan.

I’m hoping that some of those new linebackers are here to be converted to defensive end. That could help.

2012-04-13 00:00:00

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced today that the team has signed four offensive linemen: imports Nick Claytor, Marc Dile and Nick Hennessey as well as Canadian Adam Rogers.

Claytor, a 6-6, 285-pound native of Gainesville, Georgia, spent five weeks on the Ticats practice roster last season after three years at Georgia Tech.

Dile, a 6-4, 300-pound native of Orlando, Florida, suited up with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills following a four-year collegiate career at South Florida.

Hennessey, a 6-6, 293-pound native of Salem, Massachusetts, earned first-team All-Patriot League honours at Colgate prior to signing with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills in 2009. He also served on the B.C. Lions’ practice roster in 2010 and 2011 in addition to a stint with the UFL’s Omaha Nighthawks.

Rogers, a 6-5, 310-pound native of Woodville, Ontario, played in 16 games over two seasons (2009-10) with the Edmonton Eskimos before joining the Ticats practice roster last September and dressing in the Black and Gold’s season finale. He was named a CIS First-Team All-Star twice during his five-year CIS career at Acadia.

I'm not getting my hopes up too much this season. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of moves and improvements to the team, but there are also a lot of questions.

Was Burris's last season a fluke, or is he over the hill?
Andy Fantuz came of an injury last year, is he still the same?
Cortez hasn't had a head coach spot, how will he handle it?
Will our young receivers has a sophomore slump?
Is Mallet going to be the same Mallet after a year off?

I'm expecting a playoff appearance, anything else is bonus.

Nice to see the o-line signings. The thing is is there a weak team in the East? I don’t think so, parity, so it’s going to be a battle. :?

I still feel the Argos are the weak link in the East. Montreal may have aged a little more and Winnipeg might have not resigned as much talent as they would have liked but Toronto still has no one for Ray to throw to except Owens and Mann (who while good is by no means great). Their O.Line is still suspect and they’ve lost a few DBs which will open then up a bit more.

My biggest worry is the defensive line. Especially now that Ricky Ray is in the division. If we can't get pressure with four, we're pooched.

Don’t forget the Argos also picked up Jason Barnes as a free agent this year. And Durie was a threat out of the backfield last year. They don’t have a ton of depth, but they’ve got some real good guys to start. They’re Canadian receivers are pretty solid too, if unspectacular. Combine that with some interesting new faces signed this spring, and the Argos may have more weapons than you’d think.

Montreal is the weak link this year. Too old… I think calvillo is staying one year past his prime. Winnipeg wont be amazing either, but their offense got a whole lot better with the firing of their former OC. toronto has plenty of receivers to throw to and whoever thinks otherwise is a fool. Barnes, Owens, Mann, Durie. It will be a dog fight for top spot between Toronto and Hamilton but I think Hamilton will come out on top, series will be split 2-2.

Toronto has Mann, Owens, Barnes, Durie.We have Stala, Fantuz, Grant, Williams, Harris.Call me biased but I like our group a heullva lot more :cowboy:

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh How much field position will we lose because we don't have a suitable punter, or anyone to get the ball bast the 25 yard line on kickoffs??

How many points will we leave off the board because we can't make 45 + yard fieldgoals?

Jim Daly is our special teams coordinator and the exquisite pedigree he brings from sasktown..... :roll:

Unless we plan on scoring 7 TD's a game this season, it's hard to win without a special teams unit, a very important third of our game....sad way to send IWS out... :frowning:

Ouch!!!11

Based on that statement we dont have a chance, i think i will pack it in now :roll: Thanks for ruining my year !

I’m sorry. I have always been an eternal optimist but for some reason, I get physically ill when thinking about our pending special teams situation. I guess that I’m still depressed over the loss of our 2011 MVP, King Medlock :cry: . I pray to my personal Lord and Saviour bob Young that I will get proved wrong this season… :smiley:

I continue to have reserved optimism for our Ticats. There remains many unanswered questions
at this point, so all we can do is wait until we're about 6 games into the season at this point.

Generally, I approve of the changes to our coaching staff and playing personnel and remain hopeful. :thup:

I don't know how Jim Daley will be as a coach this year, but does anyone else think that the Riders special teams were bad because they didn't have the best players out there. He couldn't have been that bad, they made it to the Cup that year. Just trying to be optimistic.

I'm not absolutely sold on Burris, but if anyone knows this guy it's Cortez and I'm sure he's working on an offense that will maximize his mobility and abilities, and minimize his exposure.

Speaking of George Cortez he has a LOT of coaching experience in just about every position on the field and in the NCAA, NFL and here in the CFL as well. He's as well qualified for this job as anyone you will ever find. I think he'll be a great head coach, provided his staff and the players don't let him done. After all, IT IS a team sport.

And yes, the OL and DL and secondary will continue to worry me until the season starts and we see some results. I'm hoping Obie and his staff will work their scouting magic again.

Meantime, I will remain positive and excited for the upcoming season.

P.S...Since signing Congi I'm more relaxed about the kicking game. We were totally spoiled by Medlock last year. The man was unreal as a place kicker. Congi will get the job done.