The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have nowhere to go but up but I don’t expect them to achieve much more than last season’s 4-14 record. No one will question Buck Pierces toughness but with injury after injury plaguing his career it may be time for Winnipeg to go looking for a dependable starting QB.

Prediction

Bombers go 4-14 and miss the playoffs.

Players to Watch

Offence

Terrance Edwards- this guy was second in the league in receiving in 2010 and as long as someone can get him the ball I expect good numbers from the Winnipeg receiver again in 2011.

Defence

Odell Willis had 11 sacks and a league high 4 forced fumbles in 2010 look for Willis to pester opposing QBs all season long.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will be the East’s representative in the 2011 Grey cup.

Their core of Veterans, lead by Kevin Glenn, and a very healthy mix of young players make the Tiger-Cats ready to take the next step in 2011. With the addition of Avon Cobourne to the line up, the Cats have added a lot of depth at the Running Back position.

Prediction

In 2011, the Cats go 10-8, win the East final, but lose to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Grey Cup.

Players to Watch

Offence

• Arland Bruce III had an amazing season in 2010 with 1303 yards receiving, expect Glenn to look for Bruce in the red zone a lot in 2011.

Defense

• Dylan Barker in his second year as the full time starter at safety will really anchor the Ticats Defense this season.

It would be naive to think that the Calgary Stampeders, and their leader Henry Burris, are not threat to win the CFL Championship in 2011.

A veteran receiving cast, featuring the likes of Rambo, Bryant and Lewis, and the added one-two punch of running backs Joffery Reynolds and Jon Cornish Calgary will again be a strong competitor in 2011.

Oh, yeah! We haven’t even talked about that suffocating (at times) defense.

Prediction

In 2011, the Stamps go 12-6, losing to the Riders in the West final.

Players to Watch

Offence

• Ken-Yon Rambo – After sitting out the first 4 regular season games last year recovering from a knee injury, Rambo posted great numbers the final 14 games. Expect the flashy receiver to make an impact from game one in 2011.

Defense

• Juwan Simpson – with 71 tackles in 2010 and 7 sacks look for Juwan to make his presence felt on defense again in 2011.

Courtesy Canada.com

REGINA – Chris McKenzie’s battle to make the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders pales in comparison to ones he has already fought.

The 27-year-old survived a tough life on the streets of Queens, N.Y., long before becoming a football player.

“I’ve overcome a lot,” the rookie defensive back said Friday after the Roughriders’ training camp workout at Mosaic Stadium. “My brother calls me a warrior.”

McKenzie said his life wasn’t easy when he was growing up in Queens.

“My mom died when I was only 10,” McKenzie said. “I basically raised myself – me and my brothers.”

McKenzie said he and his father, two brothers and two sisters lived in the family home after his mother’s death. Three years later, his father left.

“He got into some trouble,” McKenzie said.

Without his father’s guidance, he gravitated toward the wrong crowd.

Read More

Courtesy TSN.ca:

The CFL has fined and stripped the Montreal Alouettes of a first-round pick in this year’s Canadian college draft for violating the league’s salary cap last year.

Two league sources requesting anonymity told The Canadian Press of the league’s decision. The CFL was expected to release the results of the off-season audits it conducted on its eight member teams later Monday.

Earlier this month, a source told The Canadian Press that both Saskatchewan and Montreal had surpassed the 2007 salary cap of $4.05 million. The Roughriders announced at their annual general meeting that they had gone $54,000 over the cap and therefore would have to pay a $54,000 fine.

But the source said Montreal would not only have to pay a fine but also lose one of its two first-round picks in this year’s draft for its cap violation.

The stripping of a first-round pick suggests the Alouettes were at least $100,000 over the cap.

Teams are fined $1 for every dollar up to $100,000 that they’re over the cap. The penalty goes up to $2 for every dollar from $101,000 to $300,000 over, plus a team’s first-round draft choice.

Read More…

Courtesy TSN.ca:

All that casual fans really need to know about the 2008 Canadian Football League Draft is that it takes place on Wednesday, April 30th and you can see it live on TSN.ca. For those who want to sound like real draft junkies to impress the opposite sex at parties, keep reading.

Getting Territorial

Up until 1984, the annual Canadian Draft began with each team naming its two “territorial exemptions”. That was the term for players who were selected to automatically become property of their hometown teams rather than going through the regular draft process. If they were to bring that system back into play in 2008, the four West Division clubs likely wouldn’t complain a bit. The Eskimos would be the big winners considering that most teams rate a pair of Edmontonians, defensive tackle Keith Shologan (Central Florida) and offensive guard Dmitri Tsoumpas (Weber State), among the top five prospects in the Class of ’08. The Lions could counter with Vancouver native Shea Emry (UBC), the best available linebacker, and three-time All-Sun Belt Conference offensive lineman Jesse Newman (Louisiana-Lafayette), who hails from Powell River B.C.. Free safety Dylan Barker (Saskatchewan), the pride of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and fullback Rolly Lumbala (Idaho), a Calgary high school product, are two more likely first rounders who could help their local CFL teams, both on the field and at the ticket window.

Edmonton’s Consolation Prize

With the Eskimos missing the playoffs each of the last two seasons, and the Oilers joining them as postseason spectators this spring, Edmonton’s title as the City of Champions could be in jeopardy. However, the Alberta capital may not need to look far for a new nickname. With aforementioned local boys Keith Shologan and Dmitri Tsoumpas virtual locks to go in the first round, and fellow Edmontonians Tristan Jones (RB, Edmonton Wildcats) and Dan Bass (LB, Alberta) also possessing a decent shot of being drafted, Edmonton suddenly appears to be The City of Prospects. It doesn’t hurt that several former Eskimos happened to raise their families in Edmonton after their playing days were done. Jones and Bass are the sons of Esks alumni Milson Jones and Dan Bass respectively. Receiver Damon Fraietta (Alberta), whose father Emilio earned a couple of Grey Cup rings during his days in Green and Gold, is also eligible for this year’s draft.

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Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

Leo Blanchard is an unlikely story himself, an Edmonton kid who never played football in high school but later developed into a two-time CFL all-star and a five-time Grey Cup champion. Yet the former Edmonton Eskimo offensive lineman believes that Jesse Newman’s road to the CFL is even more implausible.

Newman’s former offensive line coach with the junior Victoria Rebels, Blanchard frankly is mystified that his former charge has turned into a pro prospect. Though Newman wasn’t selected in the two-day NFL draft that ended Sunday, the left tackle from Powell River, B.C., by way of Louisiana-Lafayette is a possibly first-round pick in Wednesday’s CFL Canadian college draft.

B.C. Lions, with the No. 6 pick in the first round, are serious about obtaining more offensive line depth. And it would shock no one if Newman is their man, though 2008 could be one of most fluid drafts in recent memory.

“I’m quite shocked that he (Newman) ended up in the NCAA and did so well,” Blanchard admits. “To be able to go to a major American college, especially coming from where he did, it just blows me away. For a guy who never showed anything to end up playing there is pretty significant.”

Newman is an oddity, not only because he hails from Powell River, which lacks both high school and community football, but because he ended up at Louisiana-Lafayette, where he became the first Canadian to play for the Ragin’ Cajuns. A rock on the offensive line, Newman was a four-year starter and the school’s top pass protector. In his senior year, in 2007, the six-foot-four, 309-pound tackle was picked as a Sunbelt Conference first-team all-star and selected as Louisiana-Lafayette’s best pro prospect. However, Culley Curran, Newman’s agent, said the player’s poor performance on NFL Pro Day — when graduating seniors work out individually for scouts — was a result of mononucleosis.

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Courtesy Hamilton Spectator:

The quarterbacking is sound.

The running attack is promising.

And the linebacking appears to be set.

But GM Bob O’Billovich is upfront about the strength of the 2008 Hamilton Tiger-Cats. It’s the offensive line.

Indeed, the Ticats boast their best Canadian talent in that area. And it’s also the unit that will feature the most Canadian starters. While centre Marwan Hage, George Hudson and Cedric Gagne-Marcoux are all projected to start on the offensive line, that trio will be pushed by Peter Dyakowski, Eric Ince, J.P. Bekasiak and Jordan Rempel. And they could bag a couple more offensive line hoggies in the April 30 draft.

“Our Canadian offensive linemen are probably one of the strengths of this football team right now,” said the GM last week.

O’Billovich said he’ll focus on bringing in two good Americans to start at the two tackle spots. They tried that last season with Jon’ta Woodard and Jerome Davis before letting the latter go late in the season. Woodard will likely continue to start at left tackle. The Cats brought in Marko Cavka and the import is likely to compete with Charles Thomas for the starting right tackle spot.

Read More….

Courtesy TSN.ca:

University of Sherbrooke wide receiver Samuel Giguere, one of the top prospects for Wednesday’s CFL Draft, has signed with the Indianapolis Colts.

”I’m really happy to be a member of the Colts,” Giguere told The Canadian Press. ”I was really nervous all weekend and I’m just glad to finally know where I’ll be going.”

Giguere, who was not selected during this weekend’s NFL Draft, was the top performer at this year’s CFL Evaluation Camp, boasting the best 40-yard dash time of 4.49 seconds and a vertical jump of 42 inches, tops in the class. Regarded as a first-round prospect at this week’s CFL draft, there’s no doubt Giguere will be taken by a Canadian-based squad.

”I know Indianapolis has given me an opportunity but my chances of sticking aren’t that good unless I can show them I can to the things that they like,” he said. ”You never know.

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Courtesy Globe and Mail:

For all of the talk of character and chemistry and intangibles, there’s a dirty little secret that applies to all professional sports — and especially to professional football.

Talented players with side issues, bad/confused/damaged people who also happen to be good athletes, will be tolerated precisely until they’re more trouble than they’re worth.

When someone has marketable abilities, you can bet they will be given every opportunity to succeed, even if those abilities come with baggage, with a checkered past or present.

And when someone with clear, world-class skills completely falls through the cracks, when there’s no one interested any more, you can be pretty sure either that those skills have started to fade or more likely that the baggage has become just too heavy to bear.

In that light, consider the newest member of the Toronto Argonauts, David Boston.

The wide receiver is a former first-round draft choice who once led the NFL in receiving yards. He is 29, which might be slightly on the downside for someone playing his position, but certainly wouldn’t indicate in itself that he’s over the hill.

Boston also comes with a rather colourful history linking him to both performance-enhancing and recreational drugs and most recently to criminal charges arising from a domestic dispute (somehow, in their extensive background checks before signing him, the Argos missed that last part).

Read More….