Aug 12 - Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ Toronto Argonauts

[ArgoRavi]

Gary Lawless thinks Kilgore is in for a long night:

The Ricky Ray-less Toronto Argos are favoured by 3.5 at home against the suddenly hot Bombers. Take Winnipeg plus the points. The Bombers have the ability to pressure the quarterback without bringing the house.

The Winnipeg Sun's Kirk Penton is giving the Argos no respect either but his record of picks is only 11-17 so his taking the Bombers is probably good news for the Argos. Honestly, I think that the Argos defence will eat up Matt Nichols on Friday and that the Argo defensive line will have its way with Winnipeg's offensive line. The Bombers are nowhere near the Argos' level IMO.

[1argoholic]

Our D is coming together and I hope we pull together and win.

[AngeloV]

Maybe Noel needs more "coaching" but very hard for me to believe that an accomplished college ball receiver (led the entire CIS in yards/game a couple of seasons back) who grew up playing Canadian rules football would be that "not ready" to play in the CFL, while all sorts of rookie import receivers (with ZERO previous experience in / understanding of Canadian rules) do get handed CFL playing time - often right away, after a few weeks of TC; some of these players may have had some NFL camp experience (like Hazelton), but hard for me to believe (again) that a bit of NFL camp experience always trumps Canadian football experience in terms of route running, recognizing Canadian defences, understanding where to be on the much larger Canadian field. But whatever. Noel & Jones would both do just fine - IMO - if given some playing time on offence THIS SEASON; just like I expect Sean McEwen to do just fine.

I guess you don't get that receivers run routes to get other receivers open as well. If a receiver continually gets wrong depths on his routes, the entire play is out of whack. Noel also really did not play a lot of CIS ball, so I'm sure even he gets that it is going to take time to get his shot as a receiver. I'm betting Jones will see the field before him as a regular on offence.

You know, not everything is a conspiracy.

[OV Argo]

Facing CIS defences is very different from facing CFL defences though, OV. The speed of the game and of the defensive backs that they are facing is much different too. Some Canadian players can make the transition a little quicker than others but there is no shame in some developmental time.

Oh for sure Ravi - agreed; but Noel ran a 4.4 something 40 in testing at the CIS East West game and also put up some other good athletic testing #s; he may well not be that smart a football player yet nor pro ready; same deal for Jones; hopefully they get some good practice/learning time in are are ready to go sooner than later; not sure there is room for offensive reps for either of them though if 4 of the 5 starting receiver spots are pencilled-in for imports only? - nah, that could never happen ;o) Jason Clermont had a pretty fine CFL rookie season playing from game one for BC as an inferior trained Canadian - happens the odd time I guess ? Guess what too - facing CFL defences, PLUS learning the Canadian game, is very different than facing US college ball defences where maybe one or three of the guys on D ever make the CFL or NFL, and the rules, field and defences are so different - do you get that ?

[AngeloV]

Oh for sure Ravi - agreed; but Noel ran a 4.4 something 40 in testing at the CIS East West game and also put up some other good athletic testing #s; he may well not be that smart a football player yet nor pro ready; same deal for Jones; hopefully they get some good practice/learning time in are are ready to go sooner than later; not sure there is room for offensive reps for either of them though if 4 of the 5 starting receiver spots are pencilled-in for imports only? - nah, that could never happen ;o) Jason Clermont had a pretty fine CFL rookie season playing from game one for BC as an inferior trained Canadian - happens the odd time I guess ? Guess what too - facing CFL defences, PLUS learning the Canadian game, is very different than facing US college ball defences where maybe one or three of the guys on D ever make the CFL or NFL, and the rules, field and defences are so different - do you get that ?

Clerment, Fantuz and some others that have gone on to have success from the beginning of their careers, also spent a lot longer in CIS ball than Noel did. I believe Noel was hurt by the lack of proper coaching and training that OFC provides as opposed to the OUA.

[Wobbler]

#Argos depth chart vs. #Bombers. #CFL via @TorontoArgos pic.twitter.com/1oB5unZFTM

— CFL News (@CFL_News) August 11, 2016

Same OL as last week, on paper at least. Spencer comes in for Hazelton as expected.

[gilthethrill]

Has Green played the corner before?

[Wobbler]

Not with us. He was a CB in college though.

[R.J]

I wonder if Gordon can play corner ?
Happy to see Bulcke back - I wonder who sits though ?

[KCargosfan]

I guess you don't get that receivers run routes to get other receivers open as well. If a receiver continually gets wrong depths on his routes, the entire play is out of whack. Noel also really did not play a lot of CIS ball, so I'm sure even he gets that it is going to take time to get his shot as a receiver. I'm betting Jones will see the field before him as a regular on offence.

You know, not everything is a conspiracy.

Apparently you haven't heard that the entire CFL is a conspiracy against players from the CIS.

[Reggiemac]

I see that Sackey is now number 2 for the R G. When we drafted him I thought it was going to be a future kind of pick, he must be doing very well in practise.

[Argo]

#Argos depth chart vs. #Bombers. #CFL via @TorontoArgos pic.twitter.com/1oB5unZFTM
— CFL News (@CFL_News) August 11, 2016

Same OL as last week, on paper at least. Spencer comes in for Hazelton as expected.

Not too shabby in the DL department (starters AND backups) !

[ArgoGabe22]

Please don't tell me Brian Jones is going for a Drake 6ix reference with his number choice. An odd number for a receiver. Only Gil Fenerty is allowed that number on offence.

[AngeloV]

I wonder if Gordon can play corner ?
Happy to see Bulcke back - I wonder who sits though ?

I think Gordon is a beast at safety. Wouldn't surprise me to see Gabriel miss the rest of the season as speculation is that he's had 2 concussions now. Long term, I can see spot for him a LB perhaps taking over for Isaac next year.

[AngeloV]

I see that Sackey is now number 2 for the R G. When we drafted him I thought it was going to be a future kind of pick, he must be doing very well in practise.

He is there absolute best athlete on the O-Line. I think he is going to turn out to be a great pick.

[R.J]

I think Gordon is a beast at safety. Wouldn't surprise me to see Gabriel miss the rest of the season as speculation is that he's had 2 concussions now. Long term, I can see spot for him a LB perhaps taking over for Isaac next year.

Move Greenwood back to Wil when McFadden returns though, no ?
Love Greenwood at Mike btw. I try to avoid saying stuff like this, but he's been in "beast mode".

[AngeloV]

Please don't tell me Brian Jones is going for a Drake 6ix reference with his number choice. An odd number for a receiver. Only Gil Fenerty is allowed that number on offence.

A lot of receivers for some reason like to wear single digit numbers. Guessing it's just a coincidence.

[OV Argo]

Move Greenwood back to Wil when McFadden returns though, no ?
Love Greenwood at Mike btw. I try to avoid saying stuff like this, but he's been in "beast mode".

Greenwood has been very good at MLB, but IMO he was even better playing OLB (weak side); maybe McFadden returns and gets to go back to MLB, but Miles is good there too IMO. Maybe the even more passing CFL offensive trend is going to mean the end of some more traditional linebacker types in favor of more converted DBs as OLBs. To me, it's more how they line-up in the D - you don't IMO have any need for a guy lined-up as an OLB close to the line and then turning his back and chasing a slotback down the field (unless it was press coverage from the get go); 2 bigger linebacker types with a 6th DB makes more sense. Like to see Issac or whoever is being lined-up as the so-called SAM (hate those linebacker terms now, Wil, Mike- junk i say ;o) ) be able to do way more in coverage; a fast, smart cover skills guy in there who can free lance some and come downhill on defence, as opposed to just turning his back in chase mode could do way more for the defence IMO.

[Wobbler]

Not too shabby in the DL department (starters AND backups) !

I'm not sure we normally need to dress three DTs considering that we seem to use a 30-front on most passing downs, but against Harris it will be good to keep those guys fresh. Bulke picked a good time to get healthy.

[paulwoods13]

If we dress 20 NATs and 19 INTs, that means every INT on this list dresses and we need to sit four NATs. Sackey, Bradfield and Walker are likely the first three, not sure of the fourth. If Bulcke is really healthy we could sit Hall and dress 21 NATs instead of 20, but then I doubt Walker would sit. We have a lot of NAT depth at the moment but are thin in healthy INTs. Elsworth is expendable in theory, but I can't see us dressing only five LBs, plus he is a regular on specials.