Whitaker/Sutton

Ce camp d'entraînement devrait se présenter comme celui d'une belle compétition pour le poste de demi offensif partant chez les Alouettes.

C'est un peu un paradoxe, car Worman a généralement la géniale habitude de ne pas faire courir ses porteurs de ballon. Après tout, c'est leur première qualité alors pourquoi s'en servir?

Néanmoins, les Alouettes présentent déjà 4 demis (Whitaker, Sutton, Messam et Lumbala) auquel s'ajoute Johnny White. Ça fait quand même pas mal de monde sur un seul poste et ça devrait donner toute une compétition pour somme toute agir essentiellement comme bloqueur.

Je suis curieux de voir qui remportera la palme, mais si Whitaker est aussi en forme qu'il le dit, ce sera très relevé

Messam did not impress may much last tar and I wonder if his lack of ST contributions will b his doom.

I like Sutton, and expect him to be on the roster and contributing substantially. Whitaker I love, but after his recent injuries I am not certain I want the Als depending on him. RBs generally come out of nowhere and I wonder if we won’t see someone in TC. There is also Johnny White (signed late last season). He is athletic, witness his flipflop from RB to DB a couple of times in university, and good enough to stick around in the NFL until he maxed out his minimum veteran salary (often the ticket to leave).

I was always a Whitaker fan but like GHT a little concerned by his recent injury history. Thought Sutton did an excellent job, showed both power and elusiveness.

As for Messam I still think he will be released before training camp.

Certainly having the hopes that Whitaker can return to form would be great but IMHO Sutton at his point may just be plain out better. Messam will have value if the Als do not feel they have room for him. He may not be a starting RB anymore but being a game day 42 man roster back up if Sutton were to get hurt Messam can certainly come in and do a solid job to finish out any game and he would be part of the 20 NI roster spots and the Als can use their DI spots at other positons of need.
Lumbala also could become a fine game day back up RB similar to a Matt Walter in Calgary while being a full time teams player.
If Sutton should be out for awhile they would likley have another Import RB who would spend his time on the 46 and come off and get pl;ugged in as the starter.

Tend to agree that Sutton may be the better RB now, but if healthy Whitaker offers a more dangerous option coming out of the backfield. Good one-two punch.

I am very curious on how this will end up. Is there be a good source for daily updates on training camp when that begins, or is training camp mostly hush-hush to the public?

Running back is an area of concern at this point. Will Whitaker return in health? For some reason when thinking of Whitaker, my mind always shifts to Estelle- a great corner who also suffered a leg injury and, was never able to return for duty. I can still, very clearly in my visual memory see Whitaker going down last season clearly very injured. This was action that was horrible to watch. He had finished written all over him and, this was a year after that injury.
With AC gone, the team will require a running attack but there are questions to be addressed as Sutton was the only competent one last season. Messam ? Lumbala? J White? Will Popp be scouting NFL camps this season?

Je crois que les Alouettes ont un bon porteur avec Sutton. Outre le fait de bloquer, un bon porteur de ballon doit être capable de créer ses ouvertures. Sutton a montré qu’il peut le faire, et Messam a montré qu’il ne peut pas le faire. On sait que Whitaker en forme est aussi capable de le faire. Actuellement, la différence entre Sutton et Whitaker, c’est que Whitaker est excellent tant pour porter que bloquer et receveoir. Sutton est meilleur pour courir que pour bloquer et recevoir, mais ça ne veut pas dire qu’il ne peut pas améliorer les autres facette de la fonction.

S’il est vrai que Popp doit continuer à chercher des porteurs pour former au sein de l’équipe, je crois néanmoins que si Whitaker ne peut gagner le poste, c’est que nous avons un bon prospect avec Sutton.

Cela dit, encore faut-il utiliser le jeu au sol. Or, on sait que ce n’est pas la tasse de thé de Worman.

Like LeStaf, I don't think we have a problem at running back. Between Sutton, Whitaker, Messam, Lumbala, and whoever else comes in to camp, we have enough talent. The question is whether Worman will run the ball often enough.

They could make a great 1-2 punch as some have mentioned. Limiting the demand on Whitaker could keep him healthy. Question is there room for both on the 42. LT will be taking one DI spot as a returner.
Of Course it helps a ton with Brouillette able to be the utlity back up on defense and the All Canadian Oline along with Stalla being a threat as the 5th receiver in a 5 receiver set could help to make that very possible for both Whitaker and Sutton on the 42.
Also as of now it appears that Bedard will be making the move to his natural FB/TE spot which would give the Als the same flexibilty they had with Lavoi at TE and 4 wide set and Stalla in for 5 wide sets is a sure upgrade from Deslaures
JMO

Je n’avais pas envisagé la chose, mais effectivement, de mettre à la fois Sutton et Whitaker sur le terrain pourrait aider à garder les deux en santé. D’un autre côté, lorsqu’on a un joueur comme Whitaker en santé, pourquoi devrait-on s’en priver? Je ne crois qu’on pourra faire avec Bédard ce qui était possible avec Lavoie, mais on pourra certainement l’utiliser comme ailier rapproché.

Like Bedard Zalewski also is a TE by trade. Used as a blocker at SFU but did play more of a receiving role as a TE with the SUN. He may not be ready yet but Zalewski could begin to be coached up and a FB/TE as well while being the teams LS.
Two RB system seems to be the way to go now. The amount of time the 2 of the 1-2 punch plays will be different in each situation but even Matt Walter gets time at RB in Calgary.
Sheets was great for the Riders but when he got hurt it was an issue and when he came back having Sanders as part of the game plan made the running attack even better.
It also worked in BC last season.
In 2012 Winnipeg was much better with the Simpson / Ford two headed monster.