BC Lions Thread

[jerrym]

The Lions have signed WR/KR Ryan Lankford after he was cut by Ottawa following his allowing Justin Medlock to recover a kick near the Redblacks' goal-line instead of picking the ball up himself.

[jerrym]

BC has added DB Crezdon Butler, who was briefly with the Argos earlier this month and had played for the Riders for two years, to their roster.

[jerrym]

The Lions have a number of trouble areas in their roster. It's not surprising one of them is Duron Carter, but it is surprising that their OL is another.

The Lions, as their record suggests, have to address any number of trouble areas if they’re to salvage the season. The biggest concern is an offensive line that yielded 12 sacks over the two losses to the Eskimos, including five on Thursday. But that’s hardly the only item on Hervey’s fix-it list.
The play of receiver Duron Carter is troubling. They also need a pass rusher. And don’t get Hervey started on the Lions’ overall indifference to tough, hard-nosed play.
Hervey thought he’d found that hard edge when he signed guard Sukh Chungh to a big free-agent contract this off-season. Chungh, tackle Joel Figueroa and the much sought-after Brett Boyko were supposed to give the Lions a dominating offensive line. Let’s just say it hasn’t worked out that way.
With four Canadian starters on the line the Lions have some flexibility within the ratio. But Hervey didn’t think he’d be making significant changes to the group after just five games. ...

“We have to protect (quarterback) Mike Reilly. We have to control the line of scrimmage. We must find it within ourselves to be more physical.”
Carter, meanwhile, has 24 catches after five games but those have come on 40 targets and he’s averaging 8.5 yards a catch. By all accounts, he hasn’t been a divisive figure in the locker-room but he wasn’t signed to be a possession receiver. ...

Have we seen the best of Duron as a player?” he asked rhetorically. “We haven’t seen it yet. Will we see it? That’s the big question right now. Believe me, we’ve had those conversations with him trying to pull his talent out. It’s talked about around the league. Where’s Duron Carter? I guess he’ll have to answer that question for you.”

https://vancouversun.com/sports/foot...9-7270298bedcb

[jerrym]

In spite of going from goat in Ottawa to hero in Vancouver by scoring two return TDs, Ryan Lankford feels he still made some mistakes in the game.

Ryan Lankford had one of the top games ever for a B.C. Lions return man and he swears he still has much more to give.
“There was a lot more stuff out there that I could have done better,” Lankford said after he ran back a missed field goal 118 yards and a kickoff 89 yards for touchdowns in B.C.’s 45-18 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday at B.C. Place. On punt returns, I have to do a better job of just going. I’m still trying to get used to things and I wasn’t as confident in myself as I need to be. That just comes with more film study and more repetition with the guys. We’ve got a great group of guys who are going to block. I have to do my part to believe and trust it and go get it.” ...

Lankford’s on his fourth CFL team, having spent time with the Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers before signing with Ottawa last February.
They cut him after a Week 4 29-14 loss to the Blue Bombers, a game where early in the fourth quarter Lankford let a Justin Medlock punt bounce around long enough deep in Ottawa territory that Medlock managed to bat it out of bounds and gain possession for Winnipeg at the Ottawa four-yard line. Winnipeg was only leading 22-14, and they scored two plays later to salt the game away.

https://vancouversun.com/sports/foot...1-cb0aa92865f0

[jerrym]

Glen Suitor ascribes the BC Lions many problems to a little bit of everything, GM, coaches and players at the beginning of the TSN podcast.

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/edmonton-12...week-1.1344236

[jerrym]

Farhan Lalji and Giulio Caravetta examine whether the Lions have done enough to fix their glaring problems during the bye week in the podcast below. IMO, the answer is no.

https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/lions-3...-spots~1746449

[jerrym]

BC has fired OL coach Bryan Chiu, but there are a lot of other problems with this team.

[jerrym]

With Trevor Harris down due to injury, Mike Reilly is the only one of the original 2019 starting QBs to have avoided serious injury, despite a woeful BC OL.

[KCargosfan]

This is the worst franchise in the CFL in my opinion. And oddly enough it may have the best QB in the league.

It's a terrible time for Braley to sell them, as the valuation has to keep going down with every loss and the crap crowds BC draws.

[jerrym]

Farhan Lalji is reporting that Ambrosie is meeting with several prospective Lions buyers in the hopes of selling the team by the end of the year. Hopefully it won't be the dragged out mess the sale of the Argos was, but with Braley involved, it could well be.

[jerrym]

The Lions have signed former 2016 first overall pick John St. John, whom the Argos released in TC, and four others to their PR.

St. John, 27, was selected first overall by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 2016 CFL Draft. He spent three years in Regina, playing in 22 regular-season games before signing as a free agent with the Toronto Argonauts in May. He was with the team throughout training camp, but the Argos released him in June.

During his NCAA career at the University of Oklahoma, St. John played in 15 games, starting in four of those — all during his final season with the Sooners.

The team also added defensive backs Jamie Harry, Jason Hall and Elijah Campbell, as well as defensive lineman Siupeli Anau have.

https://www.cfl.ca/2019/09/09/lions-...actice-roster/

[jerrym]

The BC Lions not only won yesterday, they scored 40 points, the most this year while Reilly had his best passing game going 21/27 for 353 yards, much more than a coincidence.

[jerrym]

The #3 2017 overall BC Lions pick, Danny Vandevoort, who caught one pass in two years in Vancouver and was released in the offseason has signed with Edmonton.

[jerrym]

BC has the #1 and #2 Canadians in receiving yardage with Lemar Durant at 809 yards (10th in the CFL) and Shaq Johnson at 500 yards. Durant's move from Calgary to BC has helped him shift from a primarily complementary role, where his best season was only 402 receiving yards in 2016, to the #2 receiver behind league leading Bryan Burnham, who has 1,155 yards. Durant now has an excellent chance of having a 1,000 yard season.

[jerrym]

Odell Willis became the 12th defender to reach 100 sacks in the CFL against Ottawa on Saturday.

[jerrym]

The Lions look like a totally different team in winning their last four games after starting 1-10, although there is still some caution that three of the wins were against Ottawa and Toronto and the other was against a Montreal without suspended Vernon Adams.

Let’s see, the Lions coach said as he took inventory of everything that’s happened to his lineup over the last three months. They’ve got a new left guard (Hunter Steward), a new centre (Philip Norman), a new right guard (David Foucault) and a new right tackle (Justin Renfrow). On the other side of the ball there’s a new rush end (Shawn Lemon), a new tackle (David Menard), a new middle linebacker (Maleki Harris), a new weak-side backer (Isaiah Guzylak-Messam) and a new field corner (Crezdon Butler). The punter, Josh Bartel, had been there all of one game and there’s a new return man in Ryan Lankford to consider. Throw in safety Branden Dozier, who’d played three games to that point in the season, and Claybrooks was looking at 12 new starters since the start of the regular season.

“I was watching the game film and I’m saying, ‘Oh man, this guy’s different. That guy’s different,” said the Lions’ head coach. “We’ve definitely evolved our team. It’s a different time for us.” ...

In this, an intensely complicated season for the Leos, the calculus has suddenly become intensely simple for Claybrooks’ team. Beginning with Saturday’s meeting in Edmonton, they have to win their final three games and hope the Esks lose their final three games.

Granted, the odds aren’t exactly in their favour, but there are some circumstances to consider. The Lions, for starters, have won four games in a row. True, just one of those victories came against a team with a plus-.500 record, but that streak represents the Leos’ first signs of life in 2019.

The Esks, for their part, have lost five or their last six, and franchise quarterback Trevor Harris currently sits on the six-game injured list. It’s conceivable Harris could return to the lineup this weekend, which would change things considerably.

https://windsorstar.com/sports/footb...9-3091965e7c0d

[jerrym]

Canadian WR Lemar Durant, who is leading the CFL Canadian receivers with 810 yards in receptions and was well on the way to a 1,000 yard season, is out for the rest of the year with a foot injury suffered in the Argo game.

[jerrym]

Former Argo, Alouette and Rider Canadian QB Brandon Bridge has signed with BC following Mike Reilly suffering a broken wrist against Edmonton.

[jerrym]

Why does this story sound so familiar?

Lions owner David Braley was interviewed on the Team 1040 on Friday and painted an interesting picture of the team’s potential sale.

Braley said no local group has stepped up with an “acceptable” offer and he’s now thrown the process open. He added there are four or five local concerns showing an interest in the Lions, as well as out-of-town buyers including a couple in the U.S. Mark Woodall, the insurance man who’s heading up a local consortium with longtime Lion supporter Moray Keith, said his group has made “a very good offer” to Braley, which was rejected without a counter offer.

“If he has five interested groups, why can’t he sell it?” Woodall wrote in a text message.

When asked if his intention was to sell the team, Braley answered; “Yes, there’s no question about that whatsoever.”

But he also said he’ll perform a complete evaluation of the Lions after the season and “make the necessary changes or adjustments if they’re required.”

https://vancouversun.com/sports/foot...7-9bc235971332

[jerrym]

Here's a look at the few bright spots on the Lions this year: Bryan Turnham, John White, the OL since Kelly Bates took over as OL coach, and the team's improved Canadian talent.

https://www.bclions.com/2019/10/21/4...ose-book-2019/