Issues at Linebacker?

[Cerebral]

Scanning over the Eskimos roster for next season, the biggest problem position for me is at linebacker. We certainly need another impact receiver as well but the loss of Gass leaves us with one guy I can comfortably peg as a starting linebacker for us (Shabazz). After Shabazz, things get a little dicey.

Given our issues in terms of Canadian depth, penciling in Barrenechea might not be a terrible move. He was very good for Hamilton back in 2005 and he's still young enough that he might be able to reemerge as a decent starter in this league. After Augie though, things start to get really questionable.

Looking in house, I'm not sold we have the horses to send out a solid linebacker core. Botterill would help with the ratio issues but I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that he barely even qualifies as a backup linebacker. Can Antico Dalton crack the starting lineup? He looked promising in training camp last year but is he good enough to be a regular starter?

Garrett was pretty solid last year but he's now 36 years old. Hollis hits hard but can he make the transition to linebacker? Onatolu hits hard as well but can he be a quality starter? Outside of them, Nesbitt, Hollowell, and Mennie are listed, all of whom I know very little about.

Would people be satisfied with a starting trio of Shabazz, Barrenechea and Dalton? If not, what can we do do address the linebacker position?
Scanning over the list of 2008 CFL free agents, there are next to no quality linebackers available. John Grace is a free agent but he looks like he might be done. The only other name worth mentioning is Renard Cox and he likely isn't much of an upgrade over what we have right now.

I really like the looks of our defensive line at this point but I'm worried that it won't make a difference due to our weakening at linebacker. Our best bet for this season is likely to run with Shabazz-Barrenechea-Dalton or bring in some NFL cuts and hope for the best.

[Numberz]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

Hollis was originally a LB IIRC....so there wouldn't be much of a transition. I would like to see if either Hollis or Onatalu could play outside linebacker.

[Swivel Hips]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

Scanning over the Eskimos roster for next season, the biggest problem position for me is at linebacker. We certainly need another impact receiver as well but the loss of Gass leaves us with one guy I can comfortably peg as a starting linebacker for us (Shabazz). After Shabazz, things get a little dicey.

Given our issues in terms of Canadian depth, penciling in Barrenechea might not be a terrible move. He was very good for Hamilton back in 2005 and he's still young enough that he might be able to reemerge as a decent starter in this league. After Augie though, things start to get really questionable.

Looking in house, I'm not sold we have the horses to send out a solid linebacker core. Botterill would help with the ratio issues but I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that he barely even qualifies as a backup linebacker. Can Antico Dalton crack the starting lineup? He looked promising in training camp last year but is he good enough to be a regular starter?

Garrett was pretty solid last year but he's now 36 years old. Hollis hits hard but can he make the transition to linebacker? Onatolu hits hard as well but can he be a quality starter? Outside of them, Nesbitt, Hollowell, and Mennie are listed, all of whom I know very little about.

Would people be satisfied with a starting trio of Shabazz, Barrenechea and Dalton? If not, what can we do do address the linebacker position?
Scanning over the list of 2008 CFL free agents, there are next to no quality linebackers available. John Grace is a free agent but he looks like he might be done. The only other name worth mentioning is Renard Cox and he likely isn't much of an upgrade over what we have right now.

I really like the looks of our defensive line at this point but I'm worried that it won't make a difference due to our weakening at linebacker. Our best bet for this season is likely to run with Shabazz-Barrenechea-Dalton or bring in some NFL cuts and hope for the best.

Reggie Hunt and Jojuan Armour are available as free agents. I'd love to see Armour here.

Cheers,

SH

[Inquiring Mind]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

Some people have been saying it for years... it hasn't been a strength for us in any case, and Gass retiring isn't helping it going into '08

[gizmo fan 2]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

I'm not worried about Shabazz's spot at all.

Garrett I think will be fine as well. Especially if one of Hollis or Onatolu backs him up.

MLB is the spot I'm most concerned about...Augie can play there, but I don't know if he can start there. That's just me though...consensus seems to be that he'll do okay, so I'll trust that for now.

Depth-wise, IMO, Hollis, Onatolu, Dalton (who are all ST demons, too, IIRC) and 1-2 NI's. Preferably, one of the new kids that could possibly be groomed for MLB (Nesbitt?). I'm not sold on Botterill sticking around for another year, but we'll see how camp goes.

Yeah, LB probably won't be as strong as we've been used to. But I don't think it'll kill us, either. At the very least, we'll have a fair amount of guys that have been here a year or two and thus have some cohesiveness already...not like the secondary last year where we had 4-5 new guys in at once.

[Oiler]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

I think they will bring in an import or 2 to compete at LB and we may find a surprise in our midst but you are right this is a serious weakness at present.

[Diesel]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

Hollis came into camp last year as a MAC, Onatolu as a WIL IIRC

[Beerfish]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

Is Dalton even going to play this year? His injury last year sounded very career threatening.

In my mind neither Onatalu or Hollis can step into Garretts spot. Either of them could probably back up Shabazz but you need someone with serious cover skills to back up or take over from Garrett.

[Swivel Hips]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

Is Dalton even going to play this year? His injury last year sounded very career threatening.

In my mind neither Onatalu or Hollis can step into Garretts spot. Either of them could probably back up Shabazz but you need someone with serious cover skills to back up or take over from Garrett.

Dalton is still on the roster. I guess we'll see.

Cheers,

SH

[pete]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

Depends what we do scheme wise on D too. Gass played in the line a lot last year as the MLB. It takes a different cat to do that. It will be interesting IMO to see if we change the scheme to match personell or bring in players to run the scheme.

[SandManFan]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

for signing imports, its more likely that we convert an aggressive safety/HB to play the SAM spot (garrett's spot) than any typical LB from US college.
Our last few have been Garrett, Perryman, Marsh, Grant, Ray, all of whom played DB in the states

[Cerebral]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

for signing imports, its more likely that we convert an aggressive safety/HB to play the SAM spot (garrett's spot) than any typical LB from US college.
Our last few have been Garrett, Perryman, Marsh, Grant, Ray, all of whom played DB in the states

It looks like we're a little overloaded with defensive backs considering we have Thompson, Flowers, Buhl, Goss, Morgan, Williams and Samuels on the roster. On paper, you would have to think that Samuels, Goss and Morgan are locks to start. After that, I would guess Flowers is likely going to be the fourth starter based on his play last season.

Any chance one of Buhl, Thompson or Williams gets converted to linebacker? Thompson has good size at 6'0 and he's pretty fast as well - might he be able to make the transition?

[Wilkie12]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

Call me a throwback but I am still waiting for the team to find a "stud" at MLB. Gass might have been that guy if he had two good knees.

None of the names above grab my attention.

Moreno in Hamilton is an up and comer. Simpson, O'Shea and Clark are winding down. The heart and soul of a defence is its MLB.

[Numberz]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

Call me a throwback but I am still waiting for the team to find a "stud" at MLB. Gass might have been that guy if he had two good knees.

None of the names above grab my attention.

Moreno in Hamilton is an up and comer. Simpson, O'Shea and Clark are winding down. The heart and soul of a defence is its MLB.

Make no mistake, bad knees or not, Gass was a stud. He was the heart and soul of the defense, on and off the field. He was a monster in all aspects of his game, especially at the line of scrimmage, and any team would be hard-pressed to find a MLB who did more for them than Gass did for us.

[Diesel]

Re: Issues at Linebacker?

It looks like we're a little overloaded with defensive backs considering we have Thompson, Flowers, Buhl, Goss, Morgan, Williams and Samuels on the roster. On paper, you would have to think that Samuels, Goss and Morgan are locks to start. After that, I would guess Flowers is likely going to be the fourth starter based on his play last season.

Any chance one of Buhl, Thompson or Williams gets converted to linebacker? Thompson has good size at 6'0 and he's pretty fast as well - might he be able to make the transition?

Don't overlook Lenny Williams. He had some dynamite games before getting hurt. The secondary battle will be a good one this year and that's a great thing considering when healthy they were begining to play real well.