Who will be a starter in the new recieving core?

anybody have ideas for depth/starters?

so far i think it would be

WR 1- Cavil, Maeko
WR 2- Ralph, Alston, Stubblefield

SB 1- Fleming, Birungi
SB 2- Morreale, Bisallion, Holmes

WR 3- Witherspoon,Fowlkes

I think its all fine and Dandy, most of these guys come from a pretty good background with college experience. SB is a bit suspect for both depth and experience only Morrealle has any, but i beleive Birungi has both height and weight to be a factor, as well as Bisallion has the strength as a former running back. (i think slots only need strength and ball control to hold onto the ball, not be a speed burner. Also, i think its time Fleming got a better opportunity to show his stuff. I watched him at Queen's and thought he had some great potential so id love for the cats to give him a real chance.

Give me feedback.

First feedback..........the topic is Receiving CORPS. When you are talking about a group of receivers, it is your receiving CORPS you are talking about. NOT "core"!

Personally, I will be looking to see if Cavil can return to his 1,000 yard status, and am thinking that Hamilton's future lies with players like Birungi and Fowlkes, so I'm really looking forward to see how they perform.

Too bad it's only March.........sigh

I think right now the Cats only have two receivers (Ralph and Alston) who they think can actually start. Three if Holmes is converted to a full-time slotback.

All of these young Canadian kids on the Ticat roster who will be vying for a receiving job with Hamilton proved through tryouts with other teams last year that they are backups at best. So let's not get too excited over them.

And Morreale is definitely not a starter any more. In fact, if the Cats use the first overall pick in the draft to take Jabari Arthur or Kevin Challenger (the best receiver prospects available), Morreale will get cut in camp, guaranteed.

Cavil, I think, is a good backup receiver, but not a starter.

Stubblefield, Witherspoon or Newsome have the physical tools, and one or two of them may step up and take a starting spot. But they are unproven in the CFL.

And with Desjardins' emphasis on Ticat receivers possessing some height, unless Fowlkes makes the Ticats as their kick return specialist, I think he will be shown the door.

I think the Cats will trade for another starting receiver before training camp, and also sign at least one more solid receiver who gets cut from another team due to the SMS or roster numbers (ex. Copeland, Dominguez or Hervey).

the one year Cavil got significant playing time (as a starter in MTL) he had 1000yds. Since then, he has seen such limited action (EDM,HAM,WPG) its hard to judge where he's realy at now.
Frankly I would still count him wih Alston and Ralph as sure-fire starters this year... or as near to 'sure-fire starter' as anyone coming in to Ticats camp this year. No guarantees, but they sure have the leg up on everyone else

Oops my mistake Madjack. thanks for the Correction! CORPS

im personally not impressed with those two new imports Witherpsoon and Newsome.

I think he meant receiving corpse, as in if this is all we have we are dead.

We will either be adding a quality import receiver, or Holmes will be seeing major minutes as a receiver, and a situational RB and kick returner (pretty busy guy, can he play "D").

If Ian Flemming is our #1 SB at any time this year we are in trouble!

I think if we go with a combination of
Ralph, Alston, Stubblefield, Holmes, Cavil we will be OK.

Wow as of right now we still have the worst receiving core in the league. Good thing they brought in Charlie Taffe to run their routes for them.

you havent even seen them play yet… whats there to be impressed or not by? they played well enough before this to warrant interest from the staff so they must at least have some chance of making a contribution here

Both Arthur & Challenger, even if the Ticats are able to draft one or both of them, have another year of US college ball left so Morreale isn’t going to get cut this year for a player who isn’t even in camp - “guranteed”; not sure they’re the best 2 receiving prospects anyways, though they may be, because there’s a number of CIS all-star calibre receivers in this draft. Where did you get Desjardins emphasis on height in the receiving corps? - has he stated this? If so, Challenger is only 5-8; a couple of huge target pass catchers in this draft in addition to Arthur - Chris Bauman (6-5, 215)led the CIS in receiving yardage and TDs out of Regina and Greg Hetherington (6-5, 210) from McGill + Adam Nicholson (6-4, 215) from the GGs.

The Ticats might be able to load up on NI receivers and could be that Fleming, Birungi or Maeko or a draft pick will get real looks, but I’d bet only one Canadian receiver ends up starting due to pencilling in imports at the other spots by the coaching staff.
Maybe Ralph as a starting WR, or perhaps Morreale at slot, but I’d guess just one of them starting with the other as back-up receivers like the other young NIs they might keep, but not room for a bunch of them probably - hopefully they do get to compete for playing time and it’s not just handed to an iffy hands type like Cavil because he’s a veteran import.

Sorry, TCanuck, I wasn't aware that Challenger and Arthur had one more year of college left. If that's the case, the Cats won't touch them with their first two draft picks, because they will undoubtedly want immediate help from the two players those picks are used on.

And yes, Desjardins has stated in various articles that he wants height in the Ticat receiving corps. Proof: with the exception of maybe Fowlkes, virtually every receiver the Cats have now is over 6 feet tall (unlike last year, when we had smurfs like Vaughn, Yeast and Flick out there).

TCanuck, the other "big targets" you mention in your post look like good prospects who Desjardins might be interested in at the draft. Thanks for posting that information.

Don’t cloud the issue with facts, SM. What does seeing someone play have to do with anything?? :wink: :stuck_out_tongue:

I'm going to assume that Holmes will only be in the mix if we go with a 5 receiver package. My starters would be Stubblefield and Alston at WR and Cavil and Ralph at SB. Morreale can play inside if there is an injury and we have some NI WR that can fill the WR position.

Maeko Atnas, brock ralph, kwame cavil, richard alston and stubblefeild will take turn hawling in the leather

Kevin Challenger may come out this year in the draft.He will be 25 years old on May 4 which means he would be a 26 year old graduating senior for the 2008 draft. That seems a tad old for the 5’9’’ 177 receiver to crack an NFL roster. I’ve seen him play at Boston College. He reminds me of a Ben Cahoon-type receiver. I would not be surprised to see the Cats take him or Jabari Arthur in the first round. I think Arthur has more of an NFL body and may play south of the border.
Pat Lynch (the old guy in section 7 )

As a point of interest, here are some stats compiled from numerous internet websites showing the career average yards per catch (NCAA/CFL or NFL Europe or AFL) of the current members of the Ticat receiving corps:

Richard Alston- NCAA 19.5 avg., CFL 11.3 avg.
Ivan Birungi- NCAA n/a, CFL n/a
Nicolas Bisaillon- NCAA n/a, CFL n/a
Kwame Cavil- NCAA 13.0 avg., CFL 12.1 avg.
Nate Curry- NCAA 12.9 avg., NFLE 12.3 avg.
Iain Fleming- NCAA n/a, CFL 3.0 avg.
Devon Fowlkes- NCAA 14.9 avg., CFL 18.0 avg.
Atnas Maeko- NCAA n/a, AFL2 16.7 avg.
Mike Morreale- NCAA n/a, CFL 13.1 avg.
Kendall Newson- NCAA 12.9 avg., NFLE 16.8 avg.
Brock Ralph- NCAA 14.0 avg., CFL 12.0 avg.
Taylor Stubblefield- NCAA 10.9 avg., CFL 3.0 avg.
Jovan Witherspoon- NCAA 13.7 avg., NFLE 11.8 avg.

One footnote is that the 3.0 yard averages of Iain Fleming and Taylor Stubblefield in CFL consist of only one catch apiece.

By contrast, here are the yards-per-catch averages of the top four CFL receivers in 2006 over their last five CFL seasons:

Geroy Simon- 16.7 avg.
Arland Bruce III- 18.9 avg.
Jason Tucker- 18.6 avg.
Milt Stegall- 15.1 avg.

At first glance, the stats would therefore suggest that most of the recent Ticat acquisitions at receiver are "possession" receivers. While every team needs a few receivers of that type, it will be interesting to see whether anyone from among Richard Alston, DeVon Fowlkes, Kendall Newson, Brock Ralph and/or Jovan Witherspoon can get to the the next level and provide a much needed deep threat this year with the help of new receivers coach Dennis Goldman. In the meantime, perhaps the Ticats will bring one or two more receivers to training camp (approximately ten weeks from now) to heighten the competition.

Kendall Newson is a baller and we are all excited about this opportunity for him. He's had some injuries that have hindered his progress in the NFL but you all will not be disappointed. I know he still has to make the team but if he does he will be one of the hardest working players on the squad.

By the way I'm his brother-in-law, I'm a bit biased but I've also seen him make enough plays to know he has the skills to make a major contribution to the team.

Welcome aboard!! Have you ever seen CFL ball before now? Here in Hamilton, we like guys that come to work every game, win or lose. That’s the attitude of true Ti-Cats football. If your Brother in Law is as you say, he’ll fit in just fine!

Enjoy the CFL, it’s a wonderful brand of football.

WR1 Stubblefield, Witherspoon
WR2 Birungi Bisaillon. Alston
SB1 Ralph ,Fleming ,Morreale
SB2 Cavi ,Alston, Fowlkes,
WR3 Morreale Fowlkes,, Witherspoon