Atomic

HC- Mike O'Shea OC- Marcel Bellefeuille WR- Markus Howell RB- Buck Pierce OL- Bob Wylie OL- Paul Charbonneau QB- Gene Dahlquist DC- Gary Etcheverry DL- Mike Scheper LB- Cory McDiarmid DB- Nelson Martin DQC- Dave Jackson ST- Pat Tracey 13-man staff. Quite a turnaround from years past.

An edge rusher would have been nice too, to complement Vega. We settled on CFL average players in a couple spots, hopefully they continue auditioning guys throughout the season and aren't too loyal to guys like Peach and Kelly. I was going to say DE as well, but I personally don't mind Peach. I think he is very good when healthy.

Ottawa's starting receivers against Montreal tonight are Dobson Collins, Marcus Henry, Kierrie Johnson, Paris Jackson, and Matt Carter. Good luck with that group.

Ottawa's talent at receiver, regardless of nationality, is far and away the worst in the league

Realistically all this regime needed to find (in terms of rookie imports) was a running back and a receiver. They found an RB who is unfortunately injured right now but they pretty much whiffed on the receiver.

Zach Anderson as well.

Kohlert and Watson start. Feoli-Gudino and/or Carter backup. Yes obviously. But both Kohlert and JFG are injured, or at least they were during this week of practice.

They must be expecting one or both of Feoli-Gudino and Kohlert to be ready to play week 1 because right now if we start two national receivers, there is no one to back them up. Hoping both will be ready to go.

Agreed. Only Joe Mack teams start 6 rookies in week one. Look at the type of talent we went after. We didn't take the Joe Mack approach of going after strictly young, unproven talent. We went after the experienced players who have been around and have played enough football that they should be able to fit right in. Look at the names we went through this offseason with significant NFL experience. It just doesn't strike me as impressive. I do agree, to a certain point. I was pretty underwhelmed with the talent we brought in to compete at defensive end and receiver. But this is the right way to bring along rookies, IMO. We do have ten international rookies on the roster right now. Even guys coming from the NFL need some time to get acclimated to the league and prove they can outperform a veteran CFLer. You're also assuming that Kelly and Dunn are penciled in as starters. That may be true, but those spots could just as easily end up being manned by Unamba and Kemp. Our scouting will get tested when there are some injuries and these new guys have to step in, which is the way it should be.

Agreed. Only Joe Mack teams start 6 rookies in week one.

The media in Winnipeg have been telling us the Jets' honeymoon is over since the end of the first season.

No huge surprises. Still interested to see who ends up starting at WR and how they intend to keep around so many import DBs.

I wonder if Swiston still fits into the team's plans at all

9 sacks wow. NINE.

I predict that we will use Carl Fitzgerald more as a receiver this season. He lined up as a slotback several times during preseason. Maybe he can take some of the load off Watson when it comes to blocking.

Great read thanks. I could go for another season like that. But I feel like we might be in for one more like the 2000 season??? That's where it all began.

But for how long if they don't make the playoffs? That team is still in the honeymoon phase. It will always be sold out. There is an 8000 person waiting list for season tickets. The MTS Centre is sold out into eternity.

Hickman is a hell of player, but I think management is pretty happy with Vega and Peach on the ends.

Yes I'm just asking what people think, I do not care either way. This topic was bound to come up once the Redskins talk really heated up. CBC has an article up about the Eskimos name and people are talking about it on Twitter. Canadians don't tend to get as militant as Americans over these kinds of issues so I doubt there will be much pressure on Edmonton to change the name. But you never know. As you say, Eskimo doesn't seem to be as offensive as Redskin. But I am no Inuit and I don't know any, so maybe it is offensive... I wouldn't know.

I'd have to agree with that. I believe that mbrg is just more familiar with the "official" forum, where that kind of feeling might actually be valid. I would wager that everyone here knows exactly who Messam is and what he is capable of. It's not just a name-recognition thing.

Most of the people I go to games with prefer the Friday and Saturday games. They won't even entertain the possibility of going to Thursday games.

So should the Edmonton Eskimos change their name as well?

Doesn't Swayze Waters in Toronto do all the kicking jobs?

Now imagine what will happen if the team sucks again this year. There will be no fans left.

I believe that Kohlert could play in that spot but I doubt he would ever get the chance.