2023 Regular Season Thread

[Mr.Prez]

Week 1 vs Riders Sunday June 11@5

Greenwhites just signed Collin Kelly. Blitz every play

I also believe this is a “guaranteed win” game

Attendance is supposed to be good https://twitter.com/1cflatt/status/1...1G-_0OTyqBFBGw

and… I guess I know who’s going to be performing later on this year https://twitter.com/victorcui/status...1G-_0OTyqBFBGw

[Sectionq]

Things I think are still a question mark going into the season.


Oline. Their Oline wasn't that great last year. Looks like they are returning pretty much the same group. They will need a bunch of guys to improve.

Defense. Their defense wasn't good last year. Lots of players going in and out. Lots of points given up. The secondary was mostly pretty awful. Linebackers were OK. Dline other than Ceresna, lacked a push. I am hoping the defense will be more settled and is healthy. So far 29 pts first game, 25 the second game. I know it's preseason, etc, etc. They need to get those numbers down. Expecting your offense to score close to 30 pts to win game every time is a lot.

Kicking game. I think it took a small dip last season with Whyte leaving but Castillo did settle in and was pretty solid. They let Castillo go due to money reasons. Now they have a completely unproven 36 yr old from England who I believe the coach said he is confident with from 40 and in and their punting still seems to be unsettled as they just picked up a guy from Ottawa that got released.

Return game. They looked like they FINALLY found a guy in Sallsbury but he was killed sadly. Now it's up in the air again. Maybe Moore (assuming he's the guy) can do it but the Esks/Elks franchise has struggled to find a guy for a very long time. They have brought in guys before who were successful on other teams but for whatever reason, it didn't work out.

[ben_the_eskimo]

I know CJ wasn’t here in 2013 but I consider that year one of the post-ET rebuild which laid the groundwork for CJ to come in and make the jump in 2014.

We saw the same thing when CJ went to Sask, year one of that rebuild was a 4 or 5 win season before they made the jump in year two.

Last season we saw that pattern repeat in year one of our new rebuild. I’ve believed going in that a potential 4 win season was gonna be an unfortunate part of the process and it turned out to be the case. So if we don’t win AT LEAST 9 or 10 games this year I’ll be very surprised and disappointed.

[BeaverSports]

With the o-line last year, I think the biggest things were A) lack of chemistry due to injuries and movement, and B) having to hold blocks too long because receivers couldn't get open. We have the same guys in there this year as the end of last year so there should be more cohesion on the unit, and we have a lot more weapons in both the passing and running games. This will help them. It doesn't hurt that there are some good back-ups ready to push them either.

I'd agree on defence, but again, they're healthier coming out of camp and they've brought in some good vets like Leonard and Purifoy that can help their units. I think the defensive line will be much improved, too, with Ross, Ealy, and Leonard there from Day 1, plus some more time under Pelley's belt. There's depth elsewhere too. It's hard for me to be upset about giving up points in the preseason games when a lot of the D didn't play or didn't play long. The 1s and 2s seemed to keep Calgary and Winnipeg in check early when it was talent versus talent.

Kicking is very much a wild card. I think it makes good sense to use a Canadian or Global guy for it, but am not sure we have the right ones. Like I said in the other post, though, they must be pretty high on Julien punting to shift a proven vet onto the practice roster.

While Moore will likely be the guy on returns, I did like some of what Sim and Ffrench showed there.

[turftoe27]

Things I think are still a question mark going into the season.


Oline. Their Oline wasn't that great last year. Looks like they are returning pretty much the same group. They will need a bunch of guys to improve.

Defense. Their defense wasn't good last year. Lots of players going in and out. Lots of points given up. The secondary was mostly pretty awful. Linebackers were OK. Dline other than Ceresna, lacked a push. I am hoping the defense will be more settled and is healthy. So far 29 pts first game, 25 the second game. I know it's preseason, etc, etc. They need to get those numbers down. Expecting your offense to score close to 30 pts to win game every time is a lot.

Kicking game. I think it took a small dip last season with Whyte leaving but Castillo did settle in and was pretty solid. They let Castillo go due to money reasons. Now they have a completely unproven 36 yr old from England who I believe the coach said he is confident with from 40 and in and their punting still seems to be unsettled as they just picked up a guy from Ottawa that got released.

Return game. They looked like they FINALLY found a guy in Sallsbury but he was killed sadly. Now it's up in the air again. Maybe Moore (assuming he's the guy) can do it but the Esks/Elks franchise has struggled to find a guy for a very long time. They have brought in guys before who were successful on other teams but for whatever reason, it didn't work out.

Certainly a good assessment at least imho anyway, Q. I am concerned about the quarterbacking also. Not much experience there and TC never took many reps in the ex. games. A better run game now should help the Oline and QB. I guess we'll find out if there is talent in the D backfield soon enough but it will be awhile til they play well as a unit.

ST's are a worry for sure. We appear to be younger and more talented this year. It would be nice to get a playoff spot without having it being the crossover spot.

[bone]

Certainly a good assessment at least imho anyway, Q. I am concerned about the quarterbacking also. Not much experience there and TC never took many reps in the ex. games. A better run game now should help the Oline and QB. I guess we'll find out if there is talent in the D backfield soon enough but it will be awhile til they play well as a unit.

ST's are a worry for sure. We appear to be younger and more talented this year. It would be nice to get a playoff spot without having it being the crossover spot.

At some point we need to get back to this being a common occurrence. Since 2006, we've made the playoffs as a Western team only 5 times. 5 out of 16 seasons, when half those years 3 of 4 made it and the other half 3 of 5. The only team to have represented their own division less over that time period is Ottawa with 4 but over only 8 years instead of the 16 Edmonton has had.

Since 2006 Edmonton has many dubious honours of being the worst in the league in categories related to playoffs or 2nd worst only to be saved by Ottawa being pretty bad in 4 of their 8 seasons.

Grey Cup Wins - 1 (tied for 2nd worst with Ottawa and only Hamilton has less with 0)
Grey Cup Appearances - 1 (worst in the league, BC with 2, Ott/Tor with 3)
Division Final Appearance - 6 (tied for second worst with Winnipeg, Ottawa with 3). Edmonton has been in the Western final only 4 times.
Home Field in Division Final - 1 (worst in the league, Sask and Hamilton with 2)
Home playoff games - 3 (worst in league, Ottawa with 4, everyone else 6 or more)
Playoff appearances - 9 (tied with Toronto for 2nd worst, with only Ottawa having less at 4)
Playoff appearances in their proper division - 5 (2nd worst in league only Ottawa with less at 4).

We like to point at various reasons for the attendance gradually dropping but this to me is the biggest reason. Edmonton has pretty much been a non-factor in the playoff picture for most of the last 16 seasons, despite the CFL being a league where 50% of the teams made the division final until 2014, and still 44% do today. This needs to turn and have a few season run the other way.

Looking back it's kind of funny to see that Maas' run has been the best four year run over these 16 years having made 3 Division Finals in 4 years and making playoffs 4 of 4, just never got to the Cup or hosted a playoff game.

[turftoe27]

At some point we need to get back to this being a common occurrence. Since 2006, we've made the playoffs as a Western team only 5 times. 5 out of 16 seasons, when half those years 3 of 4 made it and the other half 3 of 5. The only team to have represented their own division less over that time period is Ottawa with 4 but over only 8 years instead of the 16 Edmonton has had.

Since 2006 Edmonton has many dubious honours of being the worst in the league in categories related to playoffs or 2nd worst only to be saved by Ottawa being pretty bad in 4 of their 8 seasons.

Grey Cup Wins - 1 (tied for 2nd worst with Ottawa and only Hamilton has less with 0)
Grey Cup Appearances - 1 (worst in the league, BC with 2, Ott/Tor with 3)
Division Final Appearance - 6 (tied for second worst with Winnipeg, Ottawa with 3). Edmonton has been in the Western final only 4 times.
Home Field in Division Final - 1 (worst in the league, Sask and Hamilton with 2)
Home playoff games - 3 (worst in league, Ottawa with 4, everyone else 6 or more)
Playoff appearances - 9 (tied with Toronto for 2nd worst, with only Ottawa having less at 4)
Playoff appearances in their proper division - 5 (2nd worst in league only Ottawa with less at 4).

We like to point at various reasons for the attendance gradually dropping but this to me is the biggest reason. Edmonton has pretty much been a non-factor in the playoff picture for most of the last 16 seasons, despite the CFL being a league where 50% of the teams made the division final until 2014, and still 44% do today. This needs to turn and have a few season run the other way.

Looking back it's kind of funny to see that Maas' run has been the best four year run over these 16 years having made 3 Division Finals in 4 years and making playoffs 4 of 4, just never got to the Cup or hosted a playoff game.

After seeing those stats I'd settle now for even the crossover spot. Yikes

[Sectionq]

Certainly a good assessment at least imho anyway, Q. I am concerned about the quarterbacking also. Not much experience there and TC never took many reps in the ex. games. A better run game now should help the Oline and QB. I guess we'll find out if there is talent in the D backfield soon enough but it will be awhile til they play well as a unit.

ST's are a worry for sure. We appear to be younger and more talented this year. It would be nice to get a playoff spot without having it being the crossover spot.

I thought about mentioning the QB's as well but people accuse me of being a troll too negative so I left it out. But you are right. The QB's have questions marks. I really like the skill set Cornelius brings. He's a really big guy, runs well, cannon for an arm but can he read defenses well enough, is his decision making going to be better? 20 TD's vs 22 INT's isn't great. Has his touch improved? I have no doubt he can throw a ball through a wall but does he have the accuracy. But who's behind him? Ford, I think is a season or more away before I think he could be considered a via back up if he even gets there. I also worry about his size. He's listed at 185. That's pretty slight for a QB especially to take the pounding that QB's take. I worry he's nothing more than an running/option QB. Locksley, I view him as a rookie. He threw 8 passes last year because they tried to convert him to a receiver. So if Cornelius goes down or falters, I got no clue who could maybe lead them.

[tigerdar]

At some point we need to get back to this being a common occurrence. Since 2006, we've made the playoffs as a Western team only 5 times. 5 out of 16 seasons, when half those years 3 of 4 made it and the other half 3 of 5. The only team to have represented their own division less over that time period is Ottawa with 4 but over only 8 years instead of the 16 Edmonton has had.

Since 2006 Edmonton has many dubious honours of being the worst in the league in categories related to playoffs or 2nd worst only to be saved by Ottawa being pretty bad in 4 of their 8 seasons.

Grey Cup Wins - 1 (tied for 2nd worst with Ottawa and only Hamilton has less with 0)
Grey Cup Appearances - 1 (worst in the league, BC with 2, Ott/Tor with 3)
Division Final Appearance - 6 (tied for second worst with Winnipeg, Ottawa with 3). Edmonton has been in the Western final only 4 times.
Home Field in Division Final - 1 (worst in the league, Sask and Hamilton with 2)
Home playoff games - 3 (worst in league, Ottawa with 4, everyone else 6 or more)
Playoff appearances - 9 (tied with Toronto for 2nd worst, with only Ottawa having less at 4)
Playoff appearances in their proper division - 5 (2nd worst in league only Ottawa with less at 4).

We like to point at various reasons for the attendance gradually dropping but this to me is the biggest reason. Edmonton has pretty much been a non-factor in the playoff picture for most of the last 16 seasons, despite the CFL being a league where 50% of the teams made the division final until 2014, and still 44% do today. This needs to turn and have a few season run the other way.

Looking back it's kind of funny to see that Maas' run has been the best four year run over these 16 years having made 3 Division Finals in 4 years and making playoffs 4 of 4, just never got to the Cup or hosted a playoff game.

Yep we've been ****.

[Esks4ever]

Offense should be better.
Oline: Same Oline, so hopefully they gel better.
Receiving Corp: Receiving corp is much better. Now they need to perform
RB's : Great. A full season with Brown and with Brooks as backup. The Running game should be our focus - With the addition of corny doing a little running
QB: Still a massive question mark. Corny has the tools but can the noggin figure it out. We've surrounded corny with the best talent possible. Its now on him to take the next step.

Scheme/ Playcalling: Lets be a little unpredictable. Game after game more times than not we ran on first down - mix it up. . Teams where expecting it and we couldn't muster more than 4 yards way too many times. Maybe with Brown and Brooks we will have much better success on the the first down running

- Lets stop the hitch passes. If we don't scheme for blockers just stop doing it. Other teams succeed in doing it because they have blockers for the receiver. We expect him alone to get positive yards against 2-3 defenders .

That being said I think the running game should be major focus for our attack. Let the running game open the passing game. Let the Oline hit people instead of being the nail every time. This is on MacAdoo to utilize the running game and not abandon it after a couple bad runs.



Defense:

Its a mystery to what we will see imo.

Dline no idea - will it be an improvement from last season?
LB - pretty solid group.
Secondary Please please be better.

We gave up the big play over and over again and the secondary got shredded.

With a Chris Jones' D I expect better. I gave him some rope last season but this season is put up or shut up. I'm hoping with see a typical Chris Jones' D.

Special teams:

We have a 36 year old brit who's a rookie and they dont feel comfortable with him kicking past the 40. Groan.

Every aspect of the kicking game is up in the air .

Return game. Every season I say - it cant be worse right? Every season it is. It appears with have decent stock for the returners... but I'm not sold on the scheme and blockers. IMO the lack of blocking for the returner at the point of catching the ball is our biggest issue. Lets hope its fixed

[Looner]

Things I think are still a question mark going into the season.


Oline. Their Oline wasn't that great last year. Looks like they are returning pretty much the same group. They will need a bunch of guys to improve.

Defense. Their defense wasn't good last year. Lots of players going in and out. Lots of points given up. The secondary was mostly pretty awful. Linebackers were OK. Dline other than Ceresna, lacked a push. I am hoping the defense will be more settled and is healthy. So far 29 pts first game, 25 the second game. I know it's preseason, etc, etc. They need to get those numbers down. Expecting your offense to score close to 30 pts to win game every time is a lot.

Kicking game. I think it took a small dip last season with Whyte leaving but Castillo did settle in and was pretty solid. They let Castillo go due to money reasons. Now they have a completely unproven 36 yr old from England who I believe the coach said he is confident with from 40 and in and their punting still seems to be unsettled as they just picked up a guy from Ottawa that got released.

Return game. They looked like they FINALLY found a guy in Sallsbury but he was killed sadly. Now it's up in the air again. Maybe Moore (assuming he's the guy) can do it but the Esks/Elks franchise has struggled to find a guy for a very long time. They have brought in guys before who were successful on other teams but for whatever reason, it didn't work out.

Strengths (IMO)
I think having the same Oline as they did last year will help to advance their play on its own. Its tough to use preseason stats but we were able to run the ball effectively in both games. I also think that having an upgraded receiving core and more time to develop as the #1 will help Corny to advance a little as well. Really like our linebackers and Dline as well

Weaknesses (IMO)
Kicking game, its been inconsistent thus far and its a HUGE question mark for me, this could cost us games.

Wait and see (IMO)
The secondary and kick coverage. I expect both of them to take a step forward this year but I'll wait and see on this one.

[Sectionq]

Strengths (IMO)
I think having the same Oline as they did last year will help to advance their play on its own. Its tough to use preseason stats but we were able to run the ball effectively in both games. I also think that having an upgraded receiving core and more time to develop as the #1 will help Corny to advance a little as well. Really like our linebackers and Dline as well

Weaknesses (IMO)
Kicking game, its been inconsistent thus far and its a HUGE question mark for me, this could cost us games.

Wait and see (IMO)
The secondary and kick coverage. I expect both of them to take a step forward this year but I'll wait and see on this one.

The kicking game really worries me. It can cost you games. I don't have the ability to go to camp, is there even anyone that was pushing him for the job?

The story of him is cool but we need a guy that can make some kicks. Considering a point after is 32 yards, if the guys comfortable range is 40 yards, that isn't very far. Now there is even more pressure on the offense to have to drive the field way longer just to maybe get some points. Maybe he works out but this is a big year, they need to win games. Moral victories aren't enough and it would suck if they lost games because they didn't address the kicking. I like the receivers they have but going cheap on the kicker to have another big name receiver could be costly.

[tigerdar]

The kicking game really worries me. It can cost you games. I don't have the ability to go to camp, is there even anyone that was pushing him for the job?

The story of him is cool but we need a guy that can make some kicks. Considering a point after is 32 yards, if the guys comfortable range is 40 yards, that isn't very far. Now there is even more pressure on the offense to have to drive the field way longer just to maybe get some points. Maybe he works out but this is a big year, they need to win games. Moral victories aren't enough and it would suck if they lost games because they didn't address the kicking. I like the receivers they have but going cheap on the kicker to have another big name receiver could be costly.

I'd go for 2 every time unless it was a really specific situation, that's how little faith I have in this kicker. Then again I'd go for 2 every time just about tbh.

[Maas_12]

yes this kicking game of ours makes me worried... esp with a Macadoo offense that sometimes plods forward....we might especially be hemorrhaging if our kicking game is not some guaranteed ending of drives with at least 3 on the board. Hoping our receiving talent on paper that might mean big things, but its gotta be all put together, and thats on Macadoo and Cornelius as questions , as the receiving core i think can hold their own no problemo.

Anywho, really hoping for a win against Harris and Derel Walker..... anyone else kinda chapped about these two folk? haha.... kinda crappy how it ended up with them thinking back. Harris with the covid BS? and Dwalk blaming everyone but himself. I saw a disengaged dwalk. Not much of a leader of men that guy. You CAN be that guy, thats alright, but then dont go around blaming others for what i saw was lacking effort.

[Sectionq]

I will be curious to see how the casual fan reacts to the schedule.
For the first 7 home games that takes you into September, 3 Sunday games, 2 Thursday and 2 Saturday.

Thursday games probably don't appeal to most fans that are outside of the Edmonton area. Sunday games might also be a tough sell for some especially outside of Edmonton.

Making a schedule is pretty tough to appeal to everyone but that schedule makes it tougher on out of town people.