Laurent to sign with Ticats?

[paulwoods13]

Dunno - just going by what paulwoods said above.

Courtney Stephen at corner is also perceived as a potential starter.

[OV Argo]

Courtney Stephen at corner is also perceived as a potential starter.

Yeah - a lot of Ticat commentary has been repeating that over & over, ever since Butler was acquired; Stephen has no experience at corner - played S in both CIS ball and US college ball; I'll believe he plays any corner when i see it.

[Will]

It wasn't my intention for this thread to turn into another 'bait OV Argo thread because he reacts like Pavlov's dog.' I am certainly aware of the dangers that come with signing free agents, but at least Hamilton is making the effort. I totally get the fact that the Argos defense needed an overhaul after last season, however the only significant signing of note was Shea Emry. We also lost Marcus Ball, Pat Watkins and Khalif Mitchell from last year.

Everyone here says that this can blow up in Hamilton's face, but so can gambling on a defense that (aside from Ermy and Matt Black) has very little CFL experience amongst it.

[Argo57]

Maybe you never heard of the NI talent the Ticats have built up on D alone? - ever heard of Laurent, Bulcke, or Butler? how bout young NIs with outstanding resumes or a bit of CFL experience already - Stephen or King at S, Hazime on the D-Line; Plesius (CIS all-star and top notch play-maker on a very good Laval D), DE Gascon-Nadon (ditto the resume of Plesius); draft picks like Atkinson at DT or Landry at OLB; maybe outstanding young NI D-line prospects like Gaydosh or Urban shake free from NFL looks?


Dyakowski being out for awhile hurts their O-Line, but they do have a few vets with experience there (Wojt, O'Neill, Myddelton), plus a bunch of young guys who were CFL draft picks with some potential perhaps - Reinders, Rockhill, Flier; and they still have Fantuz - one the best receivers in the league, plus Giguere and some other young NI receivers with potential (watch for Spencer Armstrong perhaps - acquired from the Stamps).

I realize Argo fans may be inclined to be dismissive of the hated Pussycats, but IMO they have built up a lot of young NI talent (maybe 2nd to the Stamps there in the league) - wether a number of them with some potential ever pan-out, remains to be seen. They have more serious issues where they are likely to deploy imports - like QB, receiver and a bunch of spots on D - just IMO.

100% dead on with your assessment OV.
Don't really know how anyone can be dismissive of the job Austin has done in building their Canadian talent, the Laurent signing stings in particular as he definitely would have filled a huge void for the Argonauts.
BTW I have talked to Dyakowski twice in the last couple of months and he told me he won't play for at least the first half of the season (at best).
If Collaros performs well I expect Hamilton will be very difficult to beat this season.