2023-2024 off-season

[Sectionq]

Was there a presser yesterday from Jones? Anyone listen to it?

[Looner]

Was there a presser yesterday from Jones? Anyone listen to it?

You're not gonna be happy but to be honest I'm thinking that continuity is going to help us out.... at least I hope

[Esks4ever]

You're not gonna be happy but to be honest I'm thinking that continuity is going to help us out.... at least I hope

I think there will be still tweaking.... Oline, Dline, should be priority I mean how can one be happy with the secondary?> Zone D, teams had no issues converting second and long over and over again... too many recievers left wide open every game.... is it personal or is it scheme...

Maybe the guys just need time learning the style of D, then when they get it.. woooo... course I'm not holding my breath on that.

[Sectionq]

You're not gonna be happy but to be honest I'm thinking that continuity is going to help us out.... at least I hope

I am not necessarily in favor of blowing it all up again so I get continuity and see the value in that to a degree but at the same time, I worry that the talent level isn't good enough so if you keep all the same guys, will they be better next year.

At the start of this season, I didn't expect them to be a cup fav but I expected them to have a much better record, around .500. They won 4 games last year, doubling that is close to .500. So to be 4-14 again is really disappointing. Then on top of it, too lose 4 in a row and those losses being by 23, 14 and 20. It's hard to see progress and hard to believe the same players, coaches and systems will be good enough next year. I my expectation was they should be improving as the season went on and that didn't seem to be the base.

[bone]

At this point it feels strange to be going back in with the same crew after back to back 4-14 seasons, but at this point, it seems to be the logical path provided any operations cap room that opens up is filled with some quality position coaches. The obvious one to me is Dickinson coming back as a STC or maybe Shivers comes in to take some load of Jones on the defense. Blowing it up again to be limited by the operations cap when we're likely to see stiff competition from Saskatchewan for any coaching talent and possibly Calgary as well will likely be tough. So starting over likely only sets us back at this point so see where year 3 of Jones takes us.

For personnel, don't get sucked into big fish hunting and make sure the acquisitions will help in areas to support the strengths of our returning players. Particularly the Oline to give Tre as much time as possible to work his feet). I won't pretend to know who the players are that will be the answer, but I am pretty sure signing the highest paid available receiver won't be the correct solution (granted we may have that anyway by virtue of the Lewis signing last year). Focus on the trenches and Canadians and there is a path to the playoffs in the west with Saskatchewan likely stuck in a rebuild next year and we can hope this year wasn't just a blip for Calgary and start of a stretch of mediocre to poor Stamps teams.

[Sectionq]

I agree with Bone, the focus should be on the Oline and Dline. They have an excellent running back so having a good running game is key. I am hopeful that Ford will improve his passing as IMO you can't win if you can't pass the ball. Teams have film on Ford and will be scheming to keep Ford in the pocket and we saw that in the last 4 games. Teams contained Ford a lot better in the last 4 games. So he will have to learn to read defenses and do it a lot quicker. To do that, he will need time.

Is there an appetite to let Lewis go?

My reasoning is the contract. He makes SO much for a CFL receiver. Yes he is dynamic but if you paid a receiver (throwing a number out there) 200K instead of the 300+, does Lewis make enough of an impact every game to justify paying that much more or can you get away with the 200K receiver and use the extra money to put towards more Oline help? If Ford doesn't have time to throw the ball to Lewis due to bad protection, it really doesn't matter who's in the receiving core.

[BeaverSports]

If you look back at Jones' comments when he was hired, and again last year, both years he said they weren't going to be as aggressive in free agency as they had been - and both times, they broke the bank when they got to the market. I think he'll still be shopping for the "big game" treasures, but maybe he thinks it helps him to downplay that side of the equation.

[Looner]

I agree with Bone, the focus should be on the Oline and Dline. They have an excellent running back so having a good running game is key. I am hopeful that Ford will improve his passing as IMO you can't win if you can't pass the ball. Teams have film on Ford and will be scheming to keep Ford in the pocket and we saw that in the last 4 games. Teams contained Ford a lot better in the last 4 games. So he will have to learn to read defenses and do it a lot quicker. To do that, he will need time.

Is there an appetite to let Lewis go?

My reasoning is the contract. He makes SO much for a CFL receiver. Yes he is dynamic but if you paid a receiver (throwing a number out there) 200K instead of the 300+, does Lewis make enough of an impact every game to justify paying that much more or can you get away with the 200K receiver and use the extra money to put towards more Oline help? If Ford doesn't have time to throw the ball to Lewis due to bad protection, it really doesn't matter who's in the receiving core.

I would see whats out there for impact Olineman and sacrifice Lewis if needed. It sounds like this years draft is a good one for the Oline (not saying they are going to grab one and throw him right in) but it would be nice to see us grab a guy who could be a long term starter down the road.

[Sectionq]

I would see whats out there for impact Olineman and sacrifice Lewis if needed. It sounds like this years draft is a good one for the Oline (not saying they are going to grab one and throw him right in) but it would be nice to see us grab a guy who could be a long term starter down the road.

I thought the same last year when he was signed as I do now. IMO Lewis is the cherry on top when you have your team set and you just need that last piece to get you over the top. I thought signing him last year was premature and a misallocation of dollars when you considered what the team needed. He's a very good player and I didn't think he played bad when he was in the line up but for 320 K or whatever it is, that's a lot of money to pay a guy to run routes that don't do anything because the QB is running for his life, on his back or unable to read the defense to complete the pass because he's learning the game. I am hoping Jones makes building the lines as a priority because I feel that is the key to a good team. When you win the line of scrimmage on both side of the ball most games, you usually win games.

[Looner]

I thought the same last year when he was signed as I do now. IMO Lewis is the cherry on top when you have your team set and you just need that last piece to get you over the top. I thought signing him last year was premature and a misallocation of dollars when you considered what the team needed. He's a very good player and I didn't think he played bad when he was in the line up but for 320 K or whatever it is, that's a lot of money to pay a guy to run routes that don't do anything because the QB is running for his life, on his back or unable to read the defense to complete the pass because he's learning the game. I am hoping Jones makes building the lines as a priority because I feel that is the key to a good team. When you win the line of scrimmage on both side of the ball most games, you usually win games.

I hope he prioritizes it as well but IIRC there wasn't much for lineman on the market last year, guess we'll see what comes up this year. I wasn't necessarily convinced signing him was the right move but I can understand the philosophy, if you aren't comfortable with your QBs ability then give him the best receivers to help him out.

Interesting tid bits of information in the Jones interview about how the CFL cut the scouting budget for each team, making it even harder to find guys then it already was. A few years back it wasn't the NFL it was indoor or us, now there are several more options out there, seems short sighted to make it tougher on teams to find guys.

[Sectionq]

It's disappointing to hear the CFL continually doing things to make their product worse. I believe I heard part of the reason for the management/coaches cap came from the players. They thought teams would over spend on GM's and coaches taking money away from paying players. Makes little sense to me about that thinking because if your players suck, doesn't really matter what you pay the coach. A crappy receiver isn't going to suddenly start catching more balls just because you pay your receivers coach more. I assume cutting the scouting budget is on the similar lines as having partly to do with the players.

What the CFL and even the players don't seem to grasp is the CFL is still a gate driven league. This isn't the NFL where a stadium could be empty and teams still make money. Teams need to have fans in the stands buying tickets, buying food and drinks to keep the lights on. The better your product on the field, the more likely it is that you get more people to come and watch. If your players suck, your team will suck and people won't come. See Edmonton as an example.

IMO and I think this extends to some hardcore fans and especially the league. The CFL seems to have this idea that the CFL games is so engrained into the Canadian culture that people just go to games no matter what. Your dad went with his dad, you went with your dad. So people feel obligated to go just because. It's what they have done for years so you go no matter how the team is doing. Some people in here even bring that up. The problem is there are less and less of those people left. Teams operated under the assumption they didn't have to entertain people or provide a winning product. People came just because. They beat fans over the head with slogans about tradition and Canadian thing etc while the product gets worse, tickets get more expensive and the stadium experience gets worse. Fans want to be entertained now, they want value for their money and they want to watch their team win. I think cutting the scouting budgets for teams makes it harder for them to find good players which degrades the onfield product. Pretty short sighted IMO.

[bone]

It's disappointing to hear the CFL continually doing things to make their product worse. I believe I heard part of the reason for the management/coaches cap came from the players. They thought teams would over spend on GM's and coaches taking money away from paying players. Makes little sense to me about that thinking because if your players suck, doesn't really matter what you pay the coach. A crappy receiver isn't going to suddenly start catching more balls just because you pay your receivers coach more. I assume cutting the scouting budget is on the similar lines as having partly to do with the players.

What the CFL and even the players don't seem to grasp is the CFL is still a gate driven league. This isn't the NFL where a stadium could be empty and teams still make money. Teams need to have fans in the stands buying tickets, buying food and drinks to keep the lights on. The better your product on the field, the more likely it is that you get more people to come and watch. If your players suck, your team will suck and people won't come. See Edmonton as an example.

IMO and I think this extends to some hardcore fans and especially the league. The CFL seems to have this idea that the CFL games is so engrained into the Canadian culture that people just go to games no matter what. Your dad went with his dad, you went with your dad. So people feel obligated to go just because. It's what they have done for years so you go no matter how the team is doing. Some people in here even bring that up. The problem is there are less and less of those people left. Teams operated under the assumption they didn't have to entertain people or provide a winning product. People came just because. They beat fans over the head with slogans about tradition and Canadian thing etc while the product gets worse, tickets get more expensive and the stadium experience gets worse. Fans want to be entertained now, they want value for their money and they want to watch their team win. I thin cutting the scouting budgets for teams makes it harder for them to find good players which degrades the onfield product. Pretty short sighted IMO.

And ultimately creates the opportunity for the XFL/USFL to find a better share of the best talent and eventually becoming the better product because of it.

The focus should always be on the quality of the overall product. Killing coaching and scouting budgets is completely counter intuitive to this.

Sure you want to pay the players a better share since they are the product, but getting ****ty management, coaching and scouting, just means you're paying more for lesser quality players since you won't find as many of them.

[eskfan152]

It's disappointing to hear the CFL continually doing things to make their product worse. I believe I heard part of the reason for the management/coaches cap came from the players. They thought teams would over spend on GM's and coaches taking money away from paying players. Makes little sense to me about that thinking because if your players suck, doesn't really matter what you pay the coach. A crappy receiver isn't going to suddenly start catching more balls just because you pay your receivers coach more. I assume cutting the scouting budget is on the similar lines as having partly to do with the players.

What the CFL and even the players don't seem to grasp is the CFL is still a gate driven league. This isn't the NFL where a stadium could be empty and teams still make money. Teams need to have fans in the stands buying tickets, buying food and drinks to keep the lights on. The better your product on the field, the more likely it is that you get more people to come and watch. If your players suck, your team will suck and people won't come. See Edmonton as an example.

IMO and I think this extends to some hardcore fans and especially the league. The CFL seems to have this idea that the CFL games is so engrained into the Canadian culture that people just go to games no matter what. Your dad went with his dad, you went with your dad. So people feel obligated to go just because. It's what they have done for years so you go no matter how the team is doing. Some people in here even bring that up. The problem is there are less and less of those people left. Teams operated under the assumption they didn't have to entertain people or provide a winning product. People came just because. They beat fans over the head with slogans about tradition and Canadian thing etc while the product gets worse, tickets get more expensive and the stadium experience gets worse. Fans want to be entertained now, they want value for their money and they want to watch their team win. I thin cutting the scouting budgets for teams makes it harder for them to find good players which degrades the onfield product. Pretty short sighted IMO.

I’ve heard multiple times that Lyin Lenny Rhodes was one of the main drivers behind the ops cap!! Unreal considering the Eskimos were still in very profitable position at that point!

i honestly don’t have a problem with a cap limiting the number of ops staff to the same number for all, but to hammer teams with a binding salary cap for fired coaches is asinine. If you have to fire a coach, that salary should 100% come of the books!

[Sectionq]

I’ve heard multiple times that Lyin Lenny Rhodes was one of the main drivers behind the ops cap!! Unreal considering the Eskimos were still in very profitable position at that point!

i honestly don’t have a problem with a cap limiting the number of ops staff to the same number for all, but to hammer teams with a binding salary cap for fired coaches is asinine. If you have to fire a coach, that salary should 100% come of the books!

What value do you think there is in putting a cap on a teams staff? Let's be real here, most of the coaches are probably American and a lot of the football people are as well. To get good people to come to Canada, you have to pay them. Better GM's and ops staff probably do a better job at finding and assessing players. Better players in the CFL make a better product. Better coaches help develop players faster. Better players make for a better product. A better product on the field is better for the fans.

[Sectionq]

And ultimately creates the opportunity for the XFL/USFL to find a better share of the best talent and eventually becoming the better product because of it.

The focus should always be on the quality of the overall product. Killing coaching and scouting budgets is completely counter intuitive to this.

Sure you want to pay the players a better share since they are the product, but getting ****ty management, coaching and scouting, just means you're paying more for lesser quality players since you won't find as many of them.

If the product on the field is better for the whole league, generally more fans watch it on TV and more go to the games because they want to see good football. More fans watching means more advertising and TV money. More fans physically in the stadiums means more money for the teams. When you have more money for the teams, players get paid better. Usually.

If you have crappy coaches, crappy scouts and crappy management, generally they won't find the good players so the product goes down and people don't want to watch. I am no different as a fan. I have cheered for this team for probably 40 yrs or close to it. I can say with 100% honesty that my interest level in the team has steadily dropped over the years and it's largely because they have been a bad football team for a long time. Everyone knows I live in RD. I don't want to spend a whole day driving back and forth plus being at the game and spending 100's in gas and food and tickets to go watch Edmonton lose and more correctly, probably get their ass kicked. If they are playing like crap which they have been for most games for multiple years now, I can just turn my TV off and do something else. VS being In Edmonton spending money, then have a long drive back. I can say for certainty, if Edmonton got better and started winning games on a more regular basis, the chances of me going to a game will dramatically improve.