Well it is that wonderful time of year again and the road to the 100th Grey Cup has just begun. If you are new to the forums this is where you can come to read up on what your fellow Ti-Cats fans have observed while attending this years training camp. If you are a seasoned vet of this awesome forum, welcome back!
Over the years I have attended almost every training camp session at least once a day, except last season(stupid work lol) and come back to this discussion and post the positives and negatives I witnessed during the session I attended.
I look forward to this discussion every year, reading everyone's experiences and providing my personal insight on what I witnessed through out this years training camp..
I hope everyone will enjoy this years discussion, whether its because you can't make it out to the practices and just want to know how certain players are doing, or you can make it out and want to contribute to the discussion.
Not being in a position to attend any of the training camp workouts myself, I am definitely looking forward to reading people's impressions of the various players. I'm particularly interested in the players in the trenches, as that's where I'm most concerned about our depth and experience.
Alright so I just got back from the practice a little while ago…
Today I mostly watched the receivers but as the training camp goes on I will pay more attention to the rest of the positions…
#11 - Samuel Giguere: It is almost unfair that he is attending the rookie camp, he looks like a man among boys out there. Not only does he have massive amounts of talent but he also has massive amounts of muscle, coach Creehan even jokingly commented “good job 11, you look like a free safety”. Heck Sam makes linebackers look small out there lol. Not to mention he runs great routes, creates massive separation from defenders, catches the football extremely well.
You can clearly tell Sam has used his time in the NFL as a great learning experience. He definitely worked hard and deserved to play down south, and now lucky for us, for the next 3 seasons at the very least we get to witness the execution of all that practicing and working out. I can’t wait for the season and continuing to watch him throughout this training camp.
After the main practice the punters and return players stayed out with the coaches and ran some drills. That is when I noticed that surprised me…
#76 - Josh Bartel: Probably the biggest surprise out of any of the rookies I watched today. Bartel has a MONSTER leg on him. Josh was crushing punts from the goal line to the opposite 35-40 yard line consistently. On occasion he would “shank” one and it would land on the Center line or 50, to be honest if our punters shank kicks to the 50 from the goal line I would take that any day. The best part is Bartel is considered a Non-Import because he have has no previous US football experience and was born in Australia playing Aussie rules football. Bartel impressed me a lot today with his punting, I can’t wait to see how he kicks field goals.
Well this article isn’t good news. We won’t be seeing our 8th an 13th and a third-round draft pick this year.
Laval linebacker Frédéric Plesius (eighth overall), Calgary offensive lineman Carson Rockhill (13th overall) and third-round selection Arnaud Gascon-Nadon, a defensive lineman, have all opted to return to the CIS without giving the pro level a shot
and we may never see them. They seem to think the quickest way to play in the NFL is to play another year in university
rather than testing their strength and skills at a CFL training camp against seasoned pros. Pretty goofy reasoning, I’ll say.
Staying in school another year may not be the best way to get to the NFL, but signing a two or three year contract with a CFL team is a pretty good way to ensure you don’t get there. I can see why some players might decide to go that way.
As for Obie’s criticism of the system that allows players with another year of eligibility to return to school without signing with the team that drafts them, maybe he should remember that the system didn’t force him to draft all those players with a year of eligibility left; he could have passed on one of two of them and mixed it up a bit, maybe picking couple more fifth year players?
And I’m not sure I would agree with that agent’s comments about the worthlessness of players finishing their degrees. Football is a very short career, and a few years of making $50-60K doesn’t set a person up for life. Even a short NFL career doesn’t pay enough to sustain a person for the rest of his life. These players need to know that there’s a lot of life left after their football career is over, and that degree they worked on might just help them earn a living. Maybe some of these players are thinking about that, and not just thinking about the short term?
I understand your points, CFIO and do agree that school is important. I just worry that these guys don't truly understand the risks they are taking. They could seriously impact their chances of being signed anywhere by having a bad year or (God forbid) getting hurt.
Now he knows why these guys slipped in the draft. As for the rule changes they are needed but there is no way to address that till the Ottawa franchise comes into the league as it would affect them greatly. Ottawa`s deal is structured around existing draft rules.
As for Plesius and AGN there were red flags all over those two guys as far as their interest in the NFL also the problems with AGN at E-camp. These guys know enough that they likely won`t see the field except for special teams for a year or two.
The best thing is just to add rounds to the draft and let teams manage their roster count for training camp. The next time teams like Hamilton want rule changes limiting roster moves during camp well maybe they should think twice. Cause now they are short 3 NI bodies and all they can do is use 3 of their 12 roster moves to fill those slots before camp`s even started.
I can’t attend any training camp sessions, so am very happy to be able to follow developments here. Thanks to all those who do attend and give their thoughts.
I’m not really surprised that Bartel can punt. If you’ve ever watched any Aussie Rules football… I have been there and seen it a bit, watched a fair bit on TV… it’s really an amazing game and these guys can really kick it. I have no idea if he’d be able to place kick it, but they punt it on the run a lot, so who knows, we could even see some onside down-field punts this year. That would be an awesome sight!
For sure, it’s always a risk. And the players would probably be able to finish their degrees after they retire from football if it’s important to them, although picking up the books after being out of school for a few years can be difficult. It all depends on the person.
I think in the case of the guys who think they have a shot at the NFL, I can definitely see why they wouldn’t want to sign on with a CFL team right away. Their thinking is probably that, if they have a chance at the NFL, they’d probably make the CFL team (talent plus NI status = guaranteed spot?), which would prevent them from heading south for two or three years. Better to wait a year before committing.
When you listen to Mac's Jason Medeiros and his excitement and happiness to being at camp, as compared to SOME of the Laval supper heroes who don't even have the time to show up, makes me know who I would want on my team. Go Cat's. :roll:
CatFanInOtawa wrote "Staying in school another year may not be the best way to get to the NFL,
but signing a two or three year contract with a CFL team is a pretty good way to ensure you don't get there.
I can see why some players might decide to go that way.".
Players with eligibility left in the C.I.S. realize they are not obliged to sign any contract
after participating in training camps of CFL teams, are you not aware of that, CFiO,
They would be stupid to sign a 2 or 3 year CFL contract, CFiO.
They intend to make the NFL after another season, don't they CFiO?
CIS schools don't look good to NFL teams on their resumes
no matter how many years that they excell there
They are too crafty to sign any CFL contract, and very cocky
to think that our training camp would not be a valuable experience
for them to test their strength and skills against seasoned pros
They might get that cockiness knocked out of them if they did.
But teams also aren’t obliged to invite players to camp without a contract. Sure, the handful of junior football players who get brought in as a developmental opportunity may not have contracts, but since CFL player contracts aren’t guaranteed anyway, I don’t think a team has much to gain by allowing a drafted player to report to camp without a contract.
A BIG THANK YOU to those who can attend the practices and training camp and report back their observations. Because of work and family, I cannot be there (and would love to be), so to be able to read over the discoveries from those of you who can, is really a lot of fun and something I look forward to.
What a miserable day it was yesterday.. I was 1 of only 4 fans who stayed the entire practice through the cold and rain. But I toughed my way through it with all you guys in mind :lol: ..
From what I saw yesterday it was a tough day for QBs and receivers as the football was very slippery but with that being said there were players who proved it wasn't a factor.
#11 - Samuel Giguere: I don't want to sound like a broken record but Sam is the real deal, he catches EVERYTHING he gets his hands on even in tough weather like yesterday. I have been extremely impressed with him so far and hope he continues his improvement and works him self into a starting position come season start.
#17 - Nick Fanuzzi: Out of all the quarterbacks Nick was the guy who looked to be struggling the past two days. He just doesn't look like he has the accuracy or arm strength to be a player in this league. The other two rookies are more athletic and have a much better arm. I see Forcier and Harris battling for the 3 spot in the main camp.
#29 - Chevon Walker: He looks like he might be one of those good running back finds for Obie.. Walker has great hands out of the backfield and looks very elusive when he has the football. Walker made a couple great catches out of the backfield one being a one handed grab in traffic with pressure from two defenders barring down on him. It will be interesting to see how he blocks in the two preseason games, but from an early analyses he looks to be the front runner to be Mallett's back up(if Grant isn't cleared to play).
#92 - Robert Rose: Rose is a big guy, he is also surprisingly quick as well. I think he will be a very strong candidate for the starting defensive end spot. I look forward to seeing how he does against our vets in the pass rush and one on one drills. I think Rose and Greg Peach will make a great 1, 2 punch this season.
#68 - Jason Medeiros: Now it is hard to watch the offensive line man because they are almost always working in the far corners of the field. But what I could see of Medeiros is that he is taking snaps at center and looks surprisingly good there. Jason might just have a spot on the team if he continues to work hard and prove he is versatile in playing multiple positions in the interior line. Being a hometown boy also gives him a plus 1 in my books also :lol:
I can't wait for Sunday now.. I will be watching Fantuz almost exclusively so don't count on a detailed report come Sunday night LOL :lol: I have been a HUGE fan of Andy's since he was lighting it up in college, and sad to say I wanted Hamilton to tank his draft year so that we could pick him. Now that he is playing for Hamilton I am on cloud nine! lol
:lol: I have been a HUGE fan of Andy's since he was lighting it up in college, and sad to say I wanted Hamilton to tank his draft year so that we could pick him. Now that he is playing for Hamilton I am on cloud nine! lol