The Argos have announced their first signing of the off-season: http://argonauts.ca/article/argos-si...mpaign=twitter
Does anyone who watches the NFL more than I do know much about Mike Thomas?
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The Argos have announced their first signing of the off-season: http://argonauts.ca/article/argos-si...mpaign=twitter
Does anyone who watches the NFL more than I do know much about Mike Thomas?
5'8 195. We have enough guys like that. But if he is a good punt returner I guess there would be a spot for him to back up Owens.
That's a very early signing. Last season we didn't bring in any new guys until January 8th (Butler and Ware).
Signed primarily as a return candidate is my guess.
Thomas had some pretty good numbers his first two years with the Jags in 09 and 10. Kind of leveled off since, but at 28 maybe he has a bit left in the tank. Should have made some decent money and have a NFL pension in his pocket. Now he can play for fun. 50-60,000 isn't too bad for 6 months work if you enjoy what you're doing.
I'd be very surprised if Barker is looking for much from Thomas, other than to give him a chance get it all back together. He set a PAC10 receiving record with Arizona, but slipped to the 4th round in the 2009 NFL draft because he is only 5'8". He looked good for 2 years with Jacksonville, but his performance slipped badly the next 2 years, and then was traded to Detroit in 2012. He hasn't played a game since, although he was later signed with Arizona and Houston. His future is in his hands.
The Argos have re-signed two rookies from this past season who ended the year on the practice roster: http://www.argonauts.ca/article/argo...-dhillon-black
Yeah - this guy has an impressive NFL resume - 48 catches + 12 end around carries for 80 + yards as a rookie for the Jags and then leads them in both catches and receiving yards, plus a punt return TD in his 2nd season = outstanding (though the Jags have been weak at receiver for a long time so he got his chances there); he obviously has some serious receiving & running skills = COULD be a great signing IF he is still in shape & serious about playing in the CFL. Might he be both an Argo receiver and returner - 3 smaller, speedy, YAC type receivers (joining Owens & Durie) in the 5 pack is quite feasable IMO - just supplement them with a couple of big body, sure handed receivers (or at least one real big guy - Chiles or Watt could man one of the wide-out spots and maybe Thomas the other). LOTS of competition for TC is a good thing.
When I saw these two guys up close last TC I thought they would be one and done. Eric Black looked so skinny (listed at 6'1 170) and Dhillon had the skinniest legs for a 290 pounder. But you never know till they get on the field. If Eric could but on ten pounds of muscle he could turn out to be able to play one corner with his brother. Barker says Matt Black is good enough to play the corner but you have to be two deep for a ratio spot. Maybe Eric can be that guy.
Dhillon looked ok in the one on one drills so maybe he surprises as well. The Argos could be looking to grab one of the top rated Linemen in the upcoming draft because I don't get the impression they are that high on Sewell and Scott Mitchell long term. I was hoping the would give Sewell some time at right guard, but except for the time they threw him to the wolves against John Chick I don't think he ever saw the field. Same for Mitchell.
Hope you're wrong but I'm afraid you may be on to something. I think they need to give Sewell, at least, one more full year in the system before declaring him a bust. You can't teach that kind of size but he sure did look lost on the rare occasion when he was in the lineup.
Sewell might progress into a very good CFL O-Lineman yet - the criticism for getting beat a lot by Chick in one game was over the top but to be expected - Chick has embarassed all kinds of OTs in the league including numerous imports, but Sewell draws the negatives because of his birth certificate - give him a real shot at OT and he might pan out just fine; and Mitchell is still an unknown basically who could still pan out as well; and if Dhillon has shown enough to get invited back, i see little to zero reason to spend any type of first few rounds draft pick on another O-lineman, but it is CFL " thinking" we're talking here ... = neither of the Blacks are going to get a real shot to play cornerback - should have been Matt getting a shot there this season, with his experience and some skills he has shown thus far, but, wrong birth certificate there - and no, you don\t need to be '2 deep" for any Canadian to get to play - they just need a chance and have to play well - that\s a shop worn big-time CFL cliche. Black could start at corner and be backed up by another NI or an import = simple as that.
I agree with you here. If Black is better or as good as the starter at that postion, he should be starting. IMO, he's better than Courtney Stephan, who starts for the Cats, despite the fact that he doesn't have a Candian to back him up. If the team starts more than 7 Canadians, there is not a need to be 2 Canadians deep at the position.
I am all for giving people second chances and I guess the Argos do as well. New signing LB/DE Ridge Wilson 6'3 240 Kentucky Wildcats was arrested in his Freshman year for punching a woman in the face and arrested again going into his Senior year for drug trafficking. That time he was dismissed from the Kentucky football team.
Hope he has reformed.
Sure people make mistakes but looking at these 2 charges I would stay clear of this guy, I guess they couldn't find a decent prospect without the rap sheet??
Who names their kid Ridge?
Doesn't sound like a quality person but who knows on the field. Signing now doesn't mean he makes the team 6.5 months from now.
I think that there has been a long-time character on The Bold and Beautiful named Ridge so maybe that is where the name came from.
Did anyone notice who Wilson's head coach at Kentucky was? It was former Argo receiver Joker Phillips who is best remembered for having a pass bounce off his helmet late in the 1986 season.
BTW, here are all of the transactions which took place on Friday including the re-signing of LB Nick Rosamonda: http://www.argonauts.ca/article/argo...nda-qb-kilgore
Boy your memory is a lot better than mine, I didn't even make the connection.
I liked that Nick Rosamonda when he played this past year. Don't know where he fits in as a regular beside ST's though as he is more the size of a big safety at 210. Kind of looks like they will go with Greenwood and Emry at two spots in a 34 defense with somebody like Robinson at the other OLB and Greg Jones is too good to keep on the bench. Makes me wonder sometimes if they might ship Emry out with Greenwood taking over backed by Miles and Yurichuk. They might not be able to afford both Emry and Greenwood. Thoughts?
Ravi is a huge Bold & the Beautiful fan, don't feel bad about not making the connection. Rosamonda was used in blitz packages last seaon & did well. Greg Jones who I really like was a healthy scratch late in the season. Winnipeg needs a new MLB, I think Jones ends up there for a 3rd round pick & does well under O'Shea. With the large roster, it would possible to retain both Emry & Greenwood, which would be wise considering this team seems unable to keep healthy.
Speaking of names, I'm happy to note that we re-signed Logan Kilgore. I can't help but think of him as Logan Kilgore Trout, which makes me smile.
Cept that all 3 of those guys are natural LB types - bigger MLB type LBs and CFL teams do not deploy 3 of those types in a base defence now with the trend to smaller, tweener type OLBs; the Lions have 2 such guys in Elimian & Bighill and so do the Stamps though.
Like to see both Emry & Greenwood playing on the D - both are quick/athletic types; and why not deploy a 4-2 D, with 6 real DBs = 2 safeties - one a ball-hawk type who plays deep and also a bigger guy who can really hit plus blitz = mix up the looks on D, with the safeties interchangeable / moving around to confuse the QB's reads? Can't see any CFL team going to a base 3-4 now, but maybe, and multiple looks is a good thing IMO. I've thought that a 5 man D-line type CFL D = 3 bigger bodies inside plus 2 quick rush ends - tee off in pass rush against CFL pass happy offences - could be quite effective = you don't need traditionall linebacker types against offences that won't run the ball much or deploy fullbacks or tight ends, so go with lots of pass rush plus have an extra good cover DB in there \?... =i'd call this a fifty-one defence - 5 linemen, only one linebacker (your best tackling LB there) and then 6 real DBs
The Argos actually lined up with 5 d-linemen a few times this season. I can't see going to a 4-2-6 alignment with our current personnel because our deepest position, by far, is LB and I wouldn't want to play only two of them. But a 3-4-5 or even a 2-4-6 alignment would be interesting.
Love the creativity OV. It would take a lot of dedication from the coaching staff to find capable personnel and offload the excess parts in one offseason. Once you reinvent your defence like that though I feel like opponents would take advantage of the lack of second level defence. Beyond the first level you would be susceptible to large gains every play. I feel that if a team sold out so much on defence to get to the QB opponents would commit to the run more and gain 6 or 7 yards one the ground.
Actually that is what I was getting at with my post, Toronto has plenty of talent at linebacker but has struggled finding quality D-linemen, adapt your scheme to the strength of your personnel.
Greg Jones showed a lot of talent and promise this year, would hate to see the Argos trade him or give up on him prematurely.
The Argos have apparently lost defensive end Kenny Horsley to the Washington Redskins: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...nneth-horsley/
That article has some problems. We cut Horsley on June 23, 2013.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Argos?src=hash">#Argos</a> have added hometown product Akeem Whonder & have re-signed <a href="https://twitter.com/JFayson">@JFayson</a> - <a href="http://t.co/JRzpDP4QcR">http://t.co/JRzpDP4QcR</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFL?src=hash">#CFL</a> <a href="http://t.co/l1Rlui11cf">pic.twitter.com/l1Rlui11cf</a></p>— Toronto Argonauts (@TorontoArgos) <a href="https://twitter.com/TorontoArgos/status/552889286027390977">January 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Article also states the Argos also signed DB Devin Smith http://argonauts.ca/roster/show/id/7641 and LB Travis Hawkins http://argonauts.ca/roster/show/id/7643
Matt Ware has re-signed: http://cfl.ca/article/matt-ware-stay...ard-in-toronto
I'm not sure what to think of Ware. Is he a DB or LB? Can't say I was overly impressed with him but was also not noticeable which is sometimes a good thing for a defender.
It seems to me that the Argos now see Ware more as a SAM LB (judging by Barker's comments in that article). I thought that he played reasonably well in that role once they shifted him there late last season. Initially, it seemed as though the Argos hoped he could be another Patrick Watkins but that didn't materialize.
Yeah - it didn't seem like he really dominated at any position. Since we've tried him in several spots, perhaps we now "know where he belongs" and can ask him to bulk up a bit (to play SAM) or slim down (to play corner), which might improve his effectiveness.
My favourite number has always been #17 and so I've always taken notice to players with that number...(Van Bellingham, Eddie Thomas, Bishop, Collaros) and so I did notice him in the Winnipeg game but he did look out of place on the corner. He looked much stronger as the SAM linebacker towards the end of the season. I have a feeling that he is going to have a great season coming up as last year was mainly a season to adjust to Canada and the CFL. He seems like a good team guy too and I'm glad he's resigned.
If Ware could step it up to be strong at OLB (didn't impress much IMO, but he didn\t play a lot really) - could maybe team with Emry & Greenwood (2 bigger natural LBs like BC deploy with Elimimian & Bighill) to make a nice LB corps? Ware has all that NFL experience - thought he would have been looked at for OLB (replacing Ball) from the start and been a fit right away?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>THIS JUST IN: <a href="https://twitter.com/TorontoArgos">@TorontoArgos</a> release Jalil Carter, extend Jarriel King. Details to come. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFL?src=hash">#CFL</a></p>— CFL Official Feed (@CFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/CFL/status/555092028510720002">January 13, 2015</a></blockquote>
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With Carter, who I thought was one of the teams better DB's, slated to become a FA next month, I gather he was released so he could sign elsewhere in the CFL or to "Pursue NFL Opportunites"?