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The day started when news broke that Duron was charged with pot possession at the Saskatoon airport. I can't begin to fathom why taking weed to the airport seemed like a good idea but it's not like anyone is surprised that Duron is an enthusiast of the Green in Green and White, and its also not surprising that he would have a lapse in judgement. Apparently he also was charged in Winnipeg back in November (just further evidence that nothing good happens in Winnipeg). I'm actually amazed the November charge stayed quiet for this long. If a Rider farted in public it would be front page news in this province. Now most people (myself included) could care less if Duron takes a puff now and then (next to working out, weed may be the second biggest past-time in the CFL). But with 2 charges (and one of them at the airport), it likely means we have to do something. Maybe a fine, hopefully not a suspension, maybe we'll just relegate him to CB again. The bottom line is we need to get Duron a fall guy. Dan Clark, you are officially in charge of carrying Duron's luggage.
The more positive Rider news is that a couple trades led to us acquiring Charleston Hughes. Charleston Hughes as in the perennial all-star D-end. As in only once in the past 6 seasons has he had less than 10 sacks. As in, everyone who plays opposite of him has career years. At 34 his age is somewhat of a concern but he had 11 sacks in 14 games last season so clearly he's got something left in the tank. He is a huge boost to a team that struggled to to find a D-lineman that could take some of the pressure off Jefferson. With all intended disrespect to AC Leonard we have replaced a converted TE with one of the past pass rushers of the past decade. This is huge! Him and Jefferson should be fun to watch. It also means that we no longer have to defend against him as he always seems to have big games against us.
The cost for Hughes was Vernon Adams and it essentially boiled down to money. Collaros and Bridge are entrenched as 1 and 2 so at best Adams was going to be the #3. He was making decent money for a #3 with no real chance at starting anytime soon. So while he has potential, in shipping him off we save a bit of $ and give Marquise Williams a shot to be the new "comes in randomly to execute a super obvious QB run play" guy.
Other Rider news included Willie Jefferson finally OFFICIALLY re-signing. There was a report back before the new year that a deal was agreed to and Jones repeatedly said he expected Jefferson to be back but the delay in it becoming official had some people worried. Not me though. I was always confident, particularly this weekend when Jefferson tweeted out a Watermelon emoji. I'm not a internet law expect but I'm fairly certain fruit emojis are contractually binding. Jefferson is far and away our best defender and keeping him here is super important. We also released Kacy Rogers to sign in the NFL (widely expected for a while now, at least by me) and Erik Dargan to not sign in the NFL (not widely expected but not a big loss). We also released Kienan LaFrance which was hardly surprising. We signed him to a $110K contract to be a starting Cdn RB. He lost the job to Marshall/Richardson/Thigpen. He's a decent guy to have around but was making too much $ for his role.
In addition to Charleston Hughes getting flipped to Hamilton then us, another high profile D-end was shipped east only to be sent back West quickly. Odell Willis, the mayor of Swaggerville, turkey gobble enthusiast and part time kickoff guy was sent to Ottawa before being flipped to BC. I get why Edmonton dumped Odell for a younger, cheaper promising prospect. I get why BC wanted to upgrade their D-line. I don't get what Ottawa got out of the deal. Other than to stamp Willis' CFL passport which now has 6 teams checked off... Kevin Glenn, here he comes.
NFL Watch:
Micah Awe (BC) – Signed with NY Jets
Jeff Knox (Ssk) – Will soon sign
DeVier Posey (Tor) – Signed with Baltimore
Kacy Rogers (Ssk) – Will soon sign
Luke Tasker (Ham) – workout with NY Jets
CFL Ins and Outs
Saskatchewan
In: DL Willie Jefferson
(contract extension), DL Charleston Hughes (trade)
Out: LB Jeff Knox (signed in
NFL), RB Kienan LaFrance, RB Shakir Bell, LB Erik Dargan (released), QB Vernon
Adams (trade with Ham)
Calgary
In: DL Ja’Gared Davis (contract
extension)
Out: DB Josh Bell (retired to
become a coach), OL Dan Federkeil (retired)
BC
In: OL Hunter Steward (contract
extension), DL Odell Willis (trade), WR Jenson Stoshak, WR Robert Wheelwright,
WR Mitchell Hillis (free agent signing)
Out: LB Micah Awe (released to
sign in the NFL)
Edmonton
In: WR Kenny Stafford (contract
extension), DL Jake Ceresna (trade with Ott) DB Ahmad Dixon (free agent
signing)
Out: DL Odell Willis (trade)
Winnipeg
In: DB Anthony Gaitor (free
agent signing)
Out: QB Dominique Davis (released)
Hamilton
In: DB Demond Washington, DL
Justin Capicciotti (contract extension)
Out: DB Emmanuel Davis
(released)
Ottawa
In: WR Noel Thomas (free agent
signing), FB Jean-Christophe Beaulieu (trade with Mtl)
Out: FB Patrick Lavoie (trade
with Mtl), DL Jake Ceresna (trade with Edm)
Toronto
In: QB Ricky Ray (contract
extension)
Montreal
In: FB Patrick Lavoie (trade
with Ott)
Out: FB Jean-Christophe Beaulieu
(trade with Ott), LB Frederic Plesius (released)
3 comments:
Things look up for the Riders on DL. I see another possibility in tne trades. The Evans/Ceresna DT duo were 2nd only to Sewell/Cummings in pressures from the DT position last year. Esks are loaded at DT. Cumings/Sewell/Bowers wree ALL among the top 5 in sacks @ DT. The arrival of Ceresna probably means Cummings isn't re-signed & likely Evans is. But we still need a dominant DT. The downside is we have to be careful $$ wise. Collaros, Bridge, Carter, Jefferson, Dennis & Hughes all have big tickets. And we're starting to look like a rerun of the Taman regime-21 on the roster who are 30 or over or turning 30 this season. Jones needs to produce & looks to be taking a run at it this year. But I fear the young, fast club built for sustainability promised 2 years ago has taken a side street. When I look at the Argos, for example, I see the kind of club I envisioned the Riders to be & they won in year 1 after the same 5 win season we had. There are no guarantees. The West is going to be very tough this year gain. There will be more really big moves yet to come, maybe starting today with Bowman in Edmonton.
Thanks Rod...Redblacks fan checking in...if you’re confused as to what the hell Ottawa got out of last Friday’s trades, we are completely baffled. The word here is that Ceresna wasn’t going to fit with Noel Thorpes new system. We ain’t buying that and apparently Brock Sunderland thinks the guy cab play. We got a fourth round pick when all was said and done, but based on RBs 4th rounders in the past, we have been better off with a few used water bottles. Might as well have just cut the guy. Cheers
Anon 1 - some of our team is on the older side but I think there are a lot of positives on the younger side as well. As long as we maintain that balance we will be ok. Scouting has been starting to find talent so we should be ok. I also expect more moves.
Anon 2 - Ok good to hear your perspective. Seems odd to hire a solid D coordinator but not be willing to give him the talent he needs to succeed. I guess we shall see if Desjardins has a master plan that will work out.
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