Finally, we have the first pre-season game! LFG

Both games are on CFL+, no regular TSN this year.

Position battles to watch;

DB, (22)Burrell, and (37)Texada lead this race through camp so far. (41) Williams isn't far behind. It will also be a big pre-season for (26)Woodbey and (0) Allen, who showed strong flashes last year but are fighting an uphill battle for AR spots. Bonus, the Canadians are having a tough battle as well (7)Stuart, (29)Ball, (16)Kelly are all fighting for a chance to play. Kelly needs to sustain some high-level play, as Ball has been a strong overachiever, and Stuart has tremendous attributes. (36)Javier is a sleeper pick as well. He spent time on the Riders' PR, played pre-season in the NFL, and had a knack for big plays in college to go with great size. (13)Addison, a former WR convert who immediately produced at DB, has incredible size and is another big-play college guy to watch.

DL, (90)Dixon, and (54)Jenkins are front-runners at DE, (35)Bailey, and (43)Gatkuoth have high hopes to provide us meaningful reps from the depth chart. 95(Hooper) is a depth-sleeper as well. While (91)Pace is the new DT to watch.

Of course, the OL will be a great watch, with mostly names we are all familiar with. Wallace's step forward in camp has been huge; this could be his coming-out party. And Eli now gets the chance to be C 1, while everyone gets the chance to finally be free of Kola. (62)Viebert, and(64)Ellsbury are lesser known guys to watch. I like a lot of what Viebert brings, and with a step forward this year could make a tough decision. Ellsbury is our no. 1 option at C if Eli doesn't work out.

Lber, we see a ton of returning guys and more CFL bodies than we could possibly carry. (39)Smith and (34)Shay are the ones we all hope have a big game and manage to move up the depth chart.

Rb/TE will be interesting to watch. (73) Daniels could be put in for blocking immediately, which could come at the expense of the 3rd rb. (25)MCI has flashed a significant step forward as a ball carrier in camp, on top of that huge play late last year. While (22)Peterson showed us a whole lot in relief of Brady last year. (35)Rocker, the token import RB of the year and winner of best name in TC, would only be fitting if he became the TC MVP.

WR, it's an ugly group today. No reason to mince words. (86) Clericius moving to the slot should be a good watch. They seem high on (82)Cobb this year in camp, after stapling his butt to the bench most of last year. (83)Nield will need to translate what he flashed last year in a big way for us. (17) Singer has had some plays in camp. Corcoran, Desrosiers, Hurford, Jack, and (89)feel good story Tachinski are all going to play significant reps. Hopefully its not like a rerun of Baywatch when they are out on routes.

(44)Keegan, the punter's rival this year, has been quiet after coming to camp late. (36)Lidster, Sergios intern has as well.

(79)Harrison is a former JET KR of the year winner and will see some KR work. (87)Davis, a very tall, slim-built converted QB from the arena leagues, will likely see some KR work today. (17)Singer, a WR to watch, has also gotten reps on teams this camp, though he doesn't have as much experience doing it as the rest. (35)Rocker may possibly do it this pre-season as well, as he was kind of a do-it-all back in college.

Stuart was picked on, but he was around the play just a few steps behind. As a rookie probably should expect that. The key will be processing faster and reacting without thinking.

41 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

So do we think Smith will actually get a rotational shot this year? To me, you could start him and have Kyrie as the DI as he can back up both spots, contribute on teams and a smaller role might help keep him healthy but that seems like something the club usually doesn't do.

You start smith and use Kyrie as the naturalized player. Save the DI spot.

Will that happen? I think its a matter of time. MIght not happen at the start of the year (though it should) but I think by late season he will be starting.

43 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

I haven’t seen him in practice, so I’ll take your word for it on his potential at lb. His processing looked more than just a step behind to me.

Hes looked pretty good in TC from what Ive seen. Great flow to the ball guy. Work to do in cover, but great instincts, plays fast and strong.

4 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Stuart was picked on, but he was around the play just a few steps behind. As a rookie probably should expect that. The key will be processing faster and reacting without thinking.

They picked on his side late. But what was happening is the switches in Jys split field cover zone weren't happening. With the PA cameras, it wasn't clear that 1 guy was messing everyone up, but the whole side was struggling. But the deep cover assignment was the most problematic, which wouldn't be stuarts assignment.