Esks Off-Season Report

Here it is, already March and yet training camp and the beginning of the 2007 season seems so far away. With the NFL combine just past and march madness just around the corner I thought this might be an appropriate time to jot down a few musings about the flagship franchise of the CFL.

Guess there's no better place than the to start at the top. Hugh Campbell is officially gone, but not forgotten. I read in a news story some time ago suggesting that he might be a good candidate for the next commissioner of the league. Many media types and fans have felt he was in control of the BOG for many years anyway. As a fan for many years I was disappointed that he stepped down, but I suppose he can't work forever. He carried on the legacy of Norm Kimball and solidified the history of the franchise.

And who do we replace him with? Dancing Danny Maciocia. Not sure about this move at all. They have placed the franchise in the hands of someone who has never played the game and just spent the previous season having his weaknesses exposed while leading the team to their first early exit from the playoffs in 34 years. Say what you want about the talent, he was the man making the personnel decisions and clearly underestimated what he had for depth last season. That combined with the failure to recognize when several key members had lost enough steps to make a significant impact on the effectiveness of the defense have led to the jury remaining out for Maciocia. Apparently he has convinced the brass that he needed to be completely in charge of the talent search in order to put the team that he wants on the field. Fair enough, if the team continues to play as they did last season we may see the man he hired as OC elevated to head coach and Danny step back and run football operations. I'll give him credit there, he's built in a safety net that may last a while but Rick LeLacheur is not stupid and the best way to keep your job here in Edmonton is to get results.

I will admit that I was much happier to see Jacques Chapdelaine hired as OC  than Steve Burratto. I was living in Calgary when Burratto was head coach and I watched him run that team into the ground. I guess he's alright in a supporting role, but that's all. Many people I've talked to agree with the theory that part of the reason that Maciocia wasn't fired last year was that there was no one to step in and replace him. I agree with that and hopefully that has been rectified with the hiring of Chapdelaine.. Of course there's nothing saying that he is a savior or anything like that, but he does come highly touted and has at least played the game. I know I keep harping on that, but I just find it hard to believe that he can hold the respect of the room at critical times without being able to convey the message "I've been there and this is what we need to do". I would think players would be turning to the veterans in situations like that. Just a thought. I might be completely off base.

As far as the rest of the off season moves that have been made. I'm still waiting to see what they are going to do with the receiving corps. I would like to see another import or two brought in to challenge. I don't think Kamau Peterson is any kind of an answer, but maybe with a new environment and situation he can step in and be consistent. I hope they don't do to Ed Hervey what they did to Joe Montford last year and unceremoniously dump him in the next couple months. He's a popular vet and a great leader, but his production has  tailed off badly due to injuries the last couple years. His world class speed that gave us the ability to stretch the defense may have abandoned him with said injuries and if that's the case it may be time to look at finding another sprinter. Pat Woodcock does have great speed, but not sure if he's the answer either. At least they have brought in some guys so I guess if they do nothing else between now and camp we will have a little competition there.

The one area that won't be lacking in competition will be the defensive backfield. Recent free agent signings of Morgan and Samuels along with the acquisition of Jason Goss have put the writing on the wall for Shannon Garrett and Donnie Brady. Malcolm Frank will retire as a celebrated Eskimo and eventually end up on the wall where he belongs. I think Keyou Craver will the first casualty as both Rosie Williams and Jonte Buhl look like they can play ahead of him. Non import Jason Nugent will hopefully be healthy this camp and able to compete. I still feel he could end up being the sleeper pick of last years draft, but until he steps on the field we won't know how badly the knee was affected. One thing's for sure they've signed enough players on the defensive side of the ball that camp should be a dogfight. Little was done on the line, but the thinking is that by shoring up the secondary and linebacking corps they will give youngsters Braidwood and Guilleroy extra time to get to opposing QB's. We'll see. Braidwood will stick, but Guilleroy will have to earn the spot. He jumped off to a good start though with 3 sacks in the last two games of the season for his first audition.

The offensive line, surprisingly, is the area that will probably see the least amount of change. I haven't heard whether or not Jonathon Landon will report, but he would be a welcome addition. Other than that I would assume that Raleigh Roundtree will be around again this year unless the unthinkable happens and Kevin Lefsrud comes out of retirement. I will admit that the line did develop as the year wore on, but by the time they started to show anything the season was lost and we were playing teams that already had made the playoffs. Perhaps the most interesting change for the OL is the addition of Carl Brennan as a line coach replacing long time line coach Bill Macdermott. Not sure what the thinking is there, but know one thing for sure. Brennan is a personal friend of Maciocia so that will be watched with close scrutiny.

Finally, the offensive backfield. I am on record in this forum and others about Troy Davis. He is a warrior who plays with a lot of heart. Did he make as big as impact last season as needed? Probably not. Was he used properly by the coaching staff. Definitely not!  That said, there were bound to be some unpopular victims of the cap era and he was one of the first. They did well to replace him with Josh Ranek provided he is 100% recovered from last season. I can't see Antonio Warren doing much but providing depth, but we'll see. He has the credentials. Why on earth Ron McClendon is still here is beyond me, but for some reason he is and will be at camp. I see either him or Warren gone by the start of the season with the loser playing backup. It's possible they might ask the odd man out to stay on the practice roster, but can't see either one of them doing it. Non import Mike Bradley will also play back up, he's important to special teams and they missed him last season when he was out. The only non import backs I see getting cut will probably be Jared Winkel, although they might let go of Deitan Debuc as well. Again, depends on what role they need to fill on special teams.

At QB it's the Ricky Ray show. Jason Johnson will be gone, unfortunately for him he was in the wrong place at the wrong time behind Ray. I think he could be a decent QB, but like all of them he needs to play to develop. They have a couple blue chip youngsters in Steven Jyles and Stefan LeFors that will play #2 and #3 respectively. Both are highly touted and they did their homework before bringing them here. Although I haven't seen LeFors in action, Jyles is impressive and if they are right about LeFors they could have good tandem there. Even though I'm a huge Ray fan if we are truly rebuilding then I wouldn't be unhappy if they felt the need to trade Ray to bolster, say the OL and then let the rookies play and live and die with them. The last time they did that they had a couple kids by the name of Dunnigan and Allen and as I recall we made the playoffs that year.

Ok, I guess that's more than a few musings. I think this team has the ingredients to make some noise this season provided they can avoid the injury bug and the football gods choose not to ignore us all year like they did last year. Anyway, three months to go to training camp and I can't wait.

Cheers