Good point. At least one report suggested that the Raiders camp was very competitive at WR, but that doesn't explain why no one else picked him up. Oh well - I guess we'll find out in a few months.
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Good point. At least one report suggested that the Raiders camp was very competitive at WR, but that doesn't explain why no one else picked him up. Oh well - I guess we'll find out in a few months.
I have read several scouting reports on Davis & all are positive. No reports of discipline/legal problems. Good numbers in college from this former target of former Argo John Chiles. Barker has quietly assembled some real nice looking International prospects at the Receiver/Returner position this offseason.
Despite letting three receivers enter free agency and not signing any, we actually have more receivers (12) on the roster than we did this time last year (11). It would be comforting to have another vet, but at least we'll have no shortage of guys to look at in camp.
Argos are bringing in former Bengals RB Bernard Scott: http://argonauts.ca/article/argos-sign-rb-bernard-scott
I would rather have signed Stefan Logan who was released by BC today. At least he is a good kick returner.
BC also released Eric Taylor. I still think he can play, and wouldn't mind seeing him return to the Argos....but I highly doubt it will happen.
Interesting. Barker loves his ex-NFL guys; he did not play last year - hopefully he is still in good shape, and can compete well in TC, and maybe he could beat out one of Slaton or Steele for a spot; also a kick return guy so that is bonus; not a very big back though.
Scott seems like a clone of Slaton, honestly. He's the same size, the same speed, and had a similar NFL career (although he never came close to Slaton's 1200 yard season in 2008). We'd be crazy to assume that Kackert will be able to compete for a spot in camp, so bringing in someone to push Steele and Slaton makes sense.
I like the idea of bringing in some more RB ..... Perhaps Ricky can have some top rushing guys to help balance the offense. .....similar to Brady this year.
Good signing I guess......maybe......we'll see.
The only starting backs that had a higher Y/C than Steele last year were Cornish and White. We don't run a lot - and that isn't going to change - so we probably aren't going to prioritize recruiting and signing RBs.
Requires more reps to be consistent but I don't think our game plan will incorporate that. 15-20 attempts per game is our max.
I think that our tailback duo did a fine job last year. When you are evaluating our running game, you need to combine Steele's and Slaton's stats and I don't think that they rank poorly when you do that. Furthermore, they are both good catching passes out of the backfield and do an excellent job blocking so I would have no problem if they continue to be our two tailbacks this season.
EDIT: I decided to calculate their combined stats. Steele/Slaton rushed for 1051 yards on 181 carries for an average of 5.8 yards per carry. They scored 5 rushing TDs. Steele/Slaton also caught 81 passes for 697 yards which is an average of 8.6 yards per catch. They had 5 TD catches. That isn't bad production at all from the tailback position. Remember as well that their primary job in this offence is to block for Ricky Ray.
I think what put too much pressure on our passing was poor play calling. When Slaton started to play better later in the season, he wasn't used enough and at the right times, nor were our other running backs. We almost never used our fullbacks for anything other than blocking. Our offensive approach with respect to the running game has to change if we want the best chance to make the playoffs and do well in the playoffs. Ricky Ray isn't very mobile at all and a running game would help keep him healthy and take some of the pressure of the opposing team's pass rush off him.
15-20 carries would be okay on many nights, not as a maxiumum but as an average number of carries per game. In many games in 2014 we were nowhere near that number, and those did tend to be the games that we lost.
Slaton and Steele are adequate if unspectacular and hopefully we find at least one new back to complement them. It's hard to rely on 2 RBs for an entire season and I think it is possible that the reason we didn't use Slaton more late in the year is he was likely more injured than the team was letting on, even in the games where he got a significant number of touches.
After one game Toronto lost Milanovich said "we probably should have run the ball more in the third quarter". I'm sure many fans could see that during the game, but he didn't figure it out until after the game was over.
As for the signing of Scott the new RB, it will be interesting to see if he makes the team, and if he is healthy enough to be used a lot this coming season--given how long he played in the NFL.