Edmonton Elks Thread

[jerrym]

A sad tale of a former Eskimo, International DE Dorian Boose.

Raised with three brothers in a spiritual household in Tacoma, Wash., the gentle 6-foot-6, 300-pound giant learned to play piano and sing gospel long before he hunted quarterbacks. In college, he studied sociology and psychology and was a dedicated athlete who didn’t smoke or drink, not even coffee. ...

So awesome were his physical tools that the New York Jets spent a second-round pick on him, 56th overall, in the 1998 National Football League draft. Soon after, he signed a four-year deal, complete with US$718,000 signing bonus, that could have paid him $2 million as a starter. He was the full NFL package, but he rarely seized the opportunity to impress Jets head coach Bill Parcells. Boose played 44 games over the length of the contract — 34 for the Jets and then 10 with the Washington Redskins — without registering a single quarterback sack. He was an NFL castoff by the end of the 2001 season.

Boose’s tenure in the CFL was even shorter and more contradictory. He played 16 games and was a star of the week three times for the Eskimos in 2003 as they rolled toward that Grey Cup win. Just one off-season later, he was expendable, cut in October 2004 by then-head coach Tom Higgins after showing up out of shape in training camp and playing in just three games all season.

Boose didn’t play again in the CFL. He didn’t go home to Washington state, where his brothers Eric, Zachary and Joseph and his parents Joseph and Evelyn still live. He didn’t return to his boys in Centreville, Va. And he divorced Brenda (who kept her married name).

The best guess is that Boose never left Edmonton. He was known to be working construction at times, living on the street and in the North Saskatchewan River valley at others, or in social housing or with friends. Eskimos teammates said he showed no obvious signs of drug or alcohol abuse while he was on the team, quite the opposite in fact, but at some point after his football career ended, he began using intravenous drugs.

On Nov. 22, 2016, 12 years after his last football game, a year after refusing to enter a treatment program for drug addiction, Boose hanged himself in a south-side Edmonton home, where sources said he was discovered by his then-girlfriend. He was 42.

https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/f...monton-streets

[jerrym]

The Eskimos have signed Josh Standby, who in two years with the Redblacks caught 43 passes for 500 yards, in addition to limited action as a kick/punt returner.

They have also signed International LB Vontae Diggs, who was with the Redskin's last year after four years at the University of Connecticut.

[jerrym]

Here's the Eskimos depth chart:









https://www.cfl.ca/2019/05/15/off-se...onton-eskimos/

[jerrym]

The Eskimos have released National LB Adam Konar.

[jerrym]

Former Argo National OL Mason Woods has been cut by the Eskimos.

[paulwoods13]

With Danny O'Brien being cut, ex-Argo Logan Kilgore has apparently won the backup QB job in Edmonton.

[ArgoRavi]

With Danny O'Brien being cut, ex-Argo Logan Kilgore has apparently won the backup QB job in Edmonton.

Given that the Esks run the Trestman/Milanovich offence, Kilgore should be right at home in Edmonton.

[CFLfan]

Given that the Esks run the Trestman/Milanovich offence, Kilgore should be right at home in Edmonton.

Are they going to run the Trestman/Milanovich offence with Trevor Harris? he's a stay in the pocket QB, Reilly was mobile.
Ottawa had a strong O-line last year and a lot of protection for Harris.

[1971GreyCup]

Edmonton Twitter

“REMINDER: All youth aged 17 and under receive FREE admission up to, and including the Labour Day Rematch!

Plus, all kids 12 and under get free on field passes for after games. Meet some players and toss the ball on the same field as the Eskimos!”

[jerrym]

National OL Matt O'Donnell has been placed on the six game injured list.

[bannedforlife]

Don't know what to think about this

Eskimos name Chris Presson president
3Down Staff 3downnation August 7, 2019

The Edmonton Eskimos have a new president.

Chris Presson has been named the Esks president and CEO. His term will begin on Sept. 1, 2019.

Presson comes to Edmonton after spending the past five years as president of the Arizona Rattlers in the Indoor Football League. At the same time, he served as president of the Northern Arizona Suns – the development team for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, launched by Presson in 2016.

Presson’s predecessor Len Rhodes stepped down in February.

The Oklahoma native brings nearly 30 years of experience in sports management, including football, basketball hockey and baseball. He was a part of four championship teams in three sports as an executive:

Oklahoma City Blazers, Central Hockey League, 1996, 2001
Oklahoma Storm, United States Basketball League, 2002
Arizona Rattlers, Indoor Football League, 2017

Edmonton has a new man leading the franchise.

[jerrym]

Former Argo Trevor Harris suffered an upper body injury against Calgary likely of the arm or hand during a handoff, leaving former Argos Logan Kilgore as the starting QB untilùHarris returns.

[jerrym]

Laval DL Mathieu Betts has signed with the Eskimos after being one of the Chicago Bears final cuts.

[jerrym]

The Eskimos have signed Canadian DL Stefan Charles who had 60 tackles and five sacks while playing in the NFL from 2013 to 2016. This gives Edmonton a very good Canadian contingent on its DL, that also includes Kwaku Boating and Mathieu Betts.

Charles was selected by the Eskimos with the 10th overall pick in the 2013 CFL Draft. The Oshawa, Ont., native opted to try his luck with the NFL Draft the same year, but after going undrafted, he’d sign a free-agent deal with the Tennessee Titans. He’d make his biggest mark with the Buffalo Bills, amassing 48 tackles, five sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery over 37 games with the team. Charles also had stints with the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons.

The 31-year-old opted to make a move to the AAF to join the San Antonio Commanders but after the league ceased operations, he signed a deal with the Falcons at the end of their training camp. Atlanta cut him on Aug. 31. As the Esks still held his rights, which opened the door for him to play in his first CFL campaign.

Charles joins an already stacked Esks defensive line that features the likes of Almondo Sewell, Mike Moore and Kwaku Boateng. The team also signed Mathieu Betts — its top selection in the 2019 CFL Draft — to a contract on Sept. 9.

The Eskimos’ defence has allowed the fewest rushing scores (5) on the season, and they’re top five in rushing yards allowed (101.2) per game.

https://www.cfl.ca/2019/09/16/report...tefan-charles/

[jerrym]

Former Argo Logan Kilgore may be starting against Hamilton this week as it remains unclear whether former Argo Trevor Harris will be ready to play.

Trevor Harris was back out on the practice field, but was far from a full participant due to an injury to the forearm on his throwing side. It was enough to force him out of the game after a quarter’s worth of work on the way to a 33-17 loss in the Labour Day Rematch, and even with last week’s bye week as a buffer, it could also keep the Edmonton Eskimos starting quarterback out of Friday’s game against the East Division leading Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7 p.m., TSN, 630 CHED).

But there was no official word Monday, one way or the other. “Nope. He didn’t practise today, that’s all I’ll say,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “He’s still got to see the doctor tomorrow and we’ll make a decision from there.” That put backup Logan Kilgore in the driver’s seat of the Canadian Football League’s top-yards-producing offence, after having taken what were his first in-game snaps of the season in three quarters of relief work in the loss to the Calgary Stampeders. ...

“I think you see a guy getting more comfortable in the offence and more comfortable with the guys,” Maas said. “Our guys that are behind Trevor have gotten reps all year, and Logan’s gotten the most. So it’s not like our backups just sit back and watch practice, they actually get to participate. “But it’s different when you take every (first-team) rep and the onus is on you to have a good day and to let the offence function the way it needs to for everybody to have confidence. There is a lot on the quarterback’s shoulders, so I felt he did a much better job today of that and I think he will continue to do that as he gets more comfortable.”

After the game, Maas was left lamenting he hadn’t prepared Kilgore enough on the way to completing 21 of 28 passes for 242 yards, one rushing touchdown and an interception return for a touchdown the other way. “It wasn’t like this was Week 1 or 2 where he just got done playing a full training camp and pre-season where he’s gotten a lot of live reps recently,” Maas said. “To sit for 13 weeks with as many practice reps as he gets, it’s different when you go in the game for the first time. So I thought he did a very good job.”

https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/f...7-a77094e6c670

[jerrym]

The Eskimos have activated former Argo QB Trevor Harris from the six game injured list. The Eskimos are waiting to see if Harris are any complications following practice to see whether Harris or former Argo Logan Kilgore will start the next game.

[jerrym]

While Logan Kilgore did not set the world on fire as Eskimo QB but he did lead the team to a 2-2 record and a playoff spot while Harris was injured.

The Eskimos went 2-2 in Kilgore’s four starts while Harris sat out with an injury to his throwing arm. And those two wins were enough to ensure the Eskimos will reach the post-season for the fifth time in six seasons.
And that’s not a bad little hump to help a team over, especially for a quarterback who spent last season coaching at his former Junior college before being brought in to back up Harris during an off-season shakeup to the entire Eskimos quarterback stable. ...

I just love being out here on a team, whatever my role is,” said Kilgore, who completed 103 of 153 passes for 1,115 yards, four touchdowns and eight interceptions in five-and-three-quarters of work. “Natey (Adjei, receiver) said it great earlier in the year: ‘We don’t need a bunch of superstars, we need guys to be superstars in their role.’ And if all I did was hold field goals all year, I would have tried to do that the best as I could. And I definitely do have a little sense of pride knowing that I had a small part in getting us to one of our goals this year.” ...

“Just like any other week, if Trevor’s back and he goes, I’ve got to prepare the same, I’ve got to be ready to help him any way that I can and then always stay ready,” said Kilgore, adding coming into this season, he would have been “extremely content” if he could have even helped draw up a play or two with his fellow quarterbacks that would have made it into the game plan and resulted in a touchdown. ...

Harris, for one, said the Eskimos couldn’t have asked for more from their backup quarterback. “Logan’s handled himself like a pro all year,” Harris said. “He’s done a tremendous job prepping and being ready to go and asking a lot of questions. We’ve been in constant communication the last week before the game, we met for an hour and a half, just him and I and went through all the plays. Anything he could do, he was doing it to be prepared, to be ready, he’s been the consummate pro and we’re lucky to have him.”

https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/f...7-6677b4a04dca

[Foxhound]

Here's hoping that the Eskimos whizzz in the Roughrises' punch bowl tomorrow!

[jerrym]

Former Canadian Argo WR Natey Adjei had the best season by far of his six year career in gaining 534 yards, which is more than half of all the yardage he has gained in his six years in the CFL.

[jerrym]

The Eskimos have fired Jason Maas. This could affect Ricky Ray as there was a lot of speculation that Ray would join his former teammate as a coach next year.

General manager Brock Sunderland explained the decision during a press conference at the facility. ...

“Ultimately, I felt the past few seasons we underachieved as a team… I felt we did have talent and that we underachieved as an organization.” ...

I’ve been open about sharing that sentiment. Since a very good 2017 season with a 12-6 record and West Final loss to Calgary, the Eskimos have struggled to be ‘great’ rather than ‘good’. Three playoff wins in four seasons is a fine result, but 17 total regular season wins in two years is very disappointing for a team led by Mike Reilly and then Trevor Harris, among many others.

“I didn’t want to make a long-term decision on short-term emotion, whether that was the excitement of winning in Montreal or the disappointment of the 2-7 finish and the Hamilton loss.”

Trevor Harris got some press during the playoffs for his comment that there were 46 players in the locker room who would run through a brick wall for Maas. There’s no doubt that Maas was a players’ coach, but ultimately Sunderland was left to make a tough decision in the best interest of the team and the organization.

Linebacker Don Unamba had a previously scheduled appearance with Rod Pederson on Wednesday where he said the move was a bit of a surprise, and further indicated support for the now-former coach.

When asked if the decision might result in a large amount of player movement, Sunderland pointed out that nowadays that happens anyways and major roster turnover is very common.

https://3downnation.com/2019/11/27/e...re-jason-maas/