Edmonton Eskimos

The CFL has seen many players return from injury, only to injure themselves in no time at all. I don't think I have seen such an anticipated return go so bad so quickly. In last Friday's game between the Eskimos and the Blue Bombers, Jesse Lumsden had to leave in the first quarter after a hit dislocated his shoulder. 

I'm a Calgary fan, and even I'll admit I was glad to see Jesse Lumsden get another shot on a team with a capable O-Line. Even if it was in Edmonton. Seeing Lumsden's injury left a lot of us Canadians feeling for Jesse, who without injuries could have been(and hopefully will still be) the greatest Canadian running back of all time.

As we know, it is tough for any Canadians to get a starting position in anything but the offensive line, but the running back position is the hardest. With the import ratio a factor, teams are hesitant to fill a "skilled" position with a Canadian in case they get injured. Just look at the troubles Hamilton had last year when Lumsden got injured. You have to have a set amount of Canadians in the lineup, so pulling one out means, you have to take an import starter out, and replace him with a Canadian. It can cause a lot of troubles.

It was the import ratio that made the Eskimos a perfect fit for Lumsden. With a quality Canadian running back, Calvin McCarty, in the system, it has less of an impact on the ratio should Lumsden have to come out. Unfortunately he did get hurt, and Edmonton now has to worry about when McCarty will start, or what to do if he gets injured.

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I am sad for Jesse Lumsden because he has only had a few chances to really show his talent. We have seen him dominate when he is healthy. He can be the best back in the league, and not just Canadian. The best back period. That excites us as Canadians to see one of ours do well! We haven't seen a Canadian running back in a while that made a long career as a feature back tearing up the CFL.

I remember when Eric Lapointe was making waves in the former CIAU, and hoping to see a good Canadian boy get a shot at that starting running back position. Lapointe never did get a fair shot, leaving many Canadians wondering if we would get to see another all star running back that would come out of Canada. We also heard the names Kojo Aidoo and Graeme Bell, but we still haven't had a chance to see their full talent. Maybe we'll someday see Jamall Lee get a shot as well.

There have been a few in the past. The names that come to mind are Ronnie Stewart, Orville Lee, Johnny Bright and Norm Kwong. More recently has been Mark Nohra and Sean Millington. Nohra's career became victim of the ratio, but Millington got his shot because he was big enough to be a full back with the skills of a tailback.

With only a few Canadian running backs that are remembered for the skills, it must be tough for running backs in high school or university to think they can make it as a running back in the CFL. It's a sad statement that a Canadian running back can't aspire to play the position he wants in the Canadian Football League. I don't know how we can make the ratio rule help Canadian running backs, but I will figure it out.

When Jesse Lumsden broke the CIS rushing record, many people took notice, and  got very excited! We knew he would take a shot at the NFL, and we would have been so happy if he would have made it. Everyone from Saskatchewan born in the 70's still talks about Rueben Mayes, and his impact he made in the NFL. Too bad we didn't get a chance to see him play in the CFL.

Jesse Lumsden's situation was almost a fairy tale situation for many. He was from Hamilton, and Hamilton risked picking him with their first pick to give the hometown fans a little more to get excited about. When he wasn't able to stick with an NFL team, Lumsden made his break back to the CFL, and impressed but not necessarily surprised everyone in his debut.

Lumsden has breakaway speed, and punnishing power. He dominated every chance he got. I still think his career stats have him at the top of the active players yards per carry list. He brought more excitement to the entire country, not just Hamilton.

The toughest part of being back like Lumsden though, is the physical aspect takes a huge toll on the body. The weight and strength plus speed is a deadly combination if the body can handle it. If not, it can be disastrous. What happens when a semi-truck with a full load runs into a wood fence? The fence is crushed with little to no damage to the vehicle. If that same semi hits a solid concrete divider on a highway, it may go through, but parts of the semi are going to get severly damaged in the process.

That's where Lumsden's problem lies. He goes through people, and the bigger person you go through, the bigger toll it will be on your body.

Some backs are powerful, but aren't super fast. They lumber and are very hard to take down, but the collisions are so damaging because they aren't at 100 mph.

Jesse Lumsden will always be looked at for his punnishing and dominating style of play. He has aslo done enough to show he had the capability to be the class of the league at the tailback position. As a Canadian who loves (and hates) watching Jesse Lumsden play, it is my hope that his isn't a career that is remembered as a player whose body kept him out of the hall of fame.

Winnipeg vs. Edmonton
Free CFL Pick: Edmonton Eskimos -9.5 (-110) - Thursday July 2nd 2009 9:05p
Visit Touthouse.com for more CFL Football Picks and CFL betting odds from Mike Rose

Over the past several seasons, the cogs that made the Blue Bombers go were QB Kevin Glenn, RB Charles Roberts, and WR Milt Stegall. But Glenn (free agency), Blink (trade), and Uncle Milt (retired) have all moved on from Winnipeg, and the team is forced to start anew. The new wave of Blue Bombers will be headed up by QB Stefan LeFors, who backed up QB Ricky Ray in Edmonton the L/2 seasons. There’s still a big question mark about how well LeFors, a University of Louisville product, can do at this level. He wasn’t even good enough to be the second string man last season, as Jason Maas took that responsibility. As a result, LeFors only threw four passes all season, one of which was picked off. RB Fred Reid showed some flashes last season, but he isn’t amongst the best backs the league has to offer. If there is one bright spot for the Bombers, it’s at wide receiver, where Derick Armstrong, Terrence Edwards, and Romby Bryant all have NFL-type talent. The defense is stock full of new names, and is a big reason why the team will have a whopping 20 new names on the roster this season.

Thanks to the additions of DB Kelly Malveaux, DE Kai Ellis, and RB Jesse Lumsden, the green and gold really feel like they have a shot at taking all the marbles this season after a couple of sub-par years. New HC Richie Hall was the man that led Saskatchewan’s defense to the Grey Cup two years ago, and many in Canada feel as though his time to become a head coach in this league was far overdue. Many also think that the subtraction of former coach, the much-maligned Danny Maciocia, will aid the club. Capping the Eskies is pretty easy. As goes Ricky Ray, so will go the Eskimos. Ray led the CFL last year in both completion percentage (69.8%) and passing yards (5,661), and he is largely accepted as one of the best in the biz over the L/10 years or so. He leads an offense that averaged 25.6 points per game last season, but that average should go up thanks to the addition of Lumsden, who, when healthy, is arguably one of the best backs in the league.

Winnipeg has the longest Grey Cup drought of any team in the CFL at 18 years. They’re probably not going to be taking too many steps in the right direction this year, as it’s clearly a rebuilding era. Though LeFors has looked at this Edmonton defense for his entire career in practice, this defense knows him just as well. Expect to see some jitters early on from the young starter, while the veteran, Ray eats up a questionable defense.

"After ending a two year playoff drought, "The City of Champions" will look to contend for the Grey Cup this season."

Heading into the 2008 CFL season, the Edmonton Eskimos were looking for their first playoff berth in two seasons.

A two-year playoff drought for “The City of Champions” had almost been unheard of in Edmonton.

When all was said and done, Edmonton won 10 games and crossed over to the East Division. Edmonton pulled off a minor upset in the Eastern Semi-Final by beating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. However, the Eskimos weren’t able to beat the Montreal Alouettes in the Eastern Final.

There were definitely a lot of positives to draw from the Eskimos season.

Most importantly, the Eskimos ended their playoff drought, but they also got some great individual performances.

Kamau Peterson continued his resurgence and had another successful season. Jason Goss was solid as well and the Eskimos began to develop a running game during the later parts of the season.

Heading into 2009 with plenty of changes, what will the future hold for the Edmonton Eskimos?

Can a new coach, new defensive leader and a new running back lead the Eskimos back to Grey Cup contention?

Let’s take a closer look at the Edmonton Eskimos:

What’s New?

 

The Eskimos found a new head coach during the off-season. The team signed Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive coordinator Richie Hall.

Hall comes to the Eskimos with an impressive resume as a defensive coordinator.

With their new head coach under contract, Edmonton focused their attention on the heated free agency period.

When the dust settled, the Eskimos made a lot of moves during free agency.

The Eskimos acquired defensive end Kai Ellis in a trade with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Jason Nugent in another trade with the Bombers, and Kitwana Jones in a trade with the Roughriders. They also signed safety Scott Gordon, offensive lineman Kyle Koch and running back Graeme Bell.

Edmonton’s big splash during free agency came when they added middle linebacker Maurice Lloyd and running back Jesse Lumsden.

Lloyd, an all-star middle linebacker, has been one of the driving forces on Saskatchewan’s defense for the last couple of seasons.

Widely considered to be the second choice behind Cameron Wake to win the Defensive Player of the Year, the Eskimos will count on Lloyd to add some aggression to their defense.

Jesse Lumsden will look to rejuvenate his career with the Edmonton Eskimos. The talented running back has never really been able to show his full potential because of injuries. When healthy however, Lumsden can be explosive.

The Eskimos loss in the off-season was a fairly big one. Receiver Kelly Campbell left the team and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Concerns

Whether or not Richie Hall will be successful as a head coach is yet to be determined.

Though he undoubtedly deserved a chance to be head coach, one has to wonder if he will be a good fit in Edmonton.

Hall’s success as a defensive coordinator has been amazing, but the situation is kind of reminiscent of when defensive coordinator Rich Stubler was promoted to the head coach of the Toronto Argonauts. 

Stubler had also been successful as a defensive coordinator but struggled greatly as a head coach and was fired during the season.

Edmonton’s defense also has its question marks.

Maurice Lloyd should have a huge impact on the Eskimos defense as well as Kitwana Jones, but the rest of the front seven hasn’t really proved a lot.

Edmonton’s defense hindered them last season and it may continue to do so this year. And, though the Eskimos offense has been successful in recent seasons, they may in fact take a step back this season.

Kelly Campbell’s departure has left a void in the receiving core and the team still lacks a proven running back.

Calvin McCarty has never been consistent for a whole season and Jesse Lumsden is injury prone.

Summary

 

Edmonton has finally started to improve after missing the playoffs for two years in a row, but will it be enough in a tough Western Division?

Calgary and Saskatchewan will be tough opponents, and Edmonton may not have enough talent on their roster to beat them.

If there is one constant the Eskimos have going into the season, it’s Ricky Ray.

Ricky Ray always put up high numbers and will definitely give the Eskimos a shot to compete.

The Eskimos will be counting on players like Jess Lumsden, Kamau Peterson and Maurice Lloyd to step up.

Edmonton should be able to finish higher in the standings then the revamped BC Lions, but they may have to settle for third place in a tough Western Division.

My Prediction: 6-9 wins, a third place finish in the Western Division and a playoff berth.

Outstanding Player of the Year: Ricky Ray

Defensive Player of the Year: Maurice Lloyd

Canadian of the Year: Kamau Peterson

Lineman of the Year: Patrick Kabongo

Special Teams Player of the Year: Noel Prefontaine

Rookie of the Year: Gordon Hinse

Stay tuned to Bleacher Report for the West team previews.

Past Previews:

East

Toronto Argonauts

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Hamilton Tiger Cats

Montreal Alouettes

West

BC Lions

Often when a coach or player are on the hot seat, we rarely see those grilling them. In fact, if you did a Google search, you might never see a picture, unless they are willing to put them by their byline.

Edmonton media, like so many others is generally made up of two kinds.  The print media and the visual media.  There are no real web based media given any real access by any of the major teams in the city.

If you were to choose from the group and offer a review, as this article will attempt to do, you can fit people in numerous categories.

Often media people fall in the vanilla flavor. They are neither grating nor particularly insightful.

The group I am going to review would not be considered vanilla. 

The Good

The best media people are both writers. Both have been around a while and both have worked for print media on the local and national stage.

The first is Mark Spector. He has a reputation as a no-prisoner type. He has worked on radio, in print, and on the web.  His latest role is as a national contributor to the Sportsnet website.

Spector has some great sense of where the fans, the players and the coaches are at.  He reveals a few sources often and will go against the Oilers public relations department to get his story out.

He is an A+.

Robin Brownlee is probably the second best writer.  He has written for the Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, the Metro and currently writes for Canadian Press. His writing style is much more earthy and blunt. 

This makes him much more in your face, he also works for sports radio as a commentator. This give him a higher profile than other scribes. Rarely do I find myself disagreeing with him.

Combined with all this he has become a blogger working for Oilers Nation. Offering slightly edger rumors and gut reactions which allow him to step from behind the journalist cap.

For that alone he gets an A in my book.

Honorable mentions

Rod Phillips the dean of Oilers radio play-by-play has covered every Oilers game ever played. One of the few who can make the phrase "doo-doo" sound dignified.

Bob Stauffer when he was host of the Team 1260's afternoon drive show was a host you had to hear.  Even when he went off the rails he often was the voice of fan discontent.

The Bad

Any employee of Ched or Sportsnet West, as the radio rights holders for the Oilers face an up hill climb. They are not bad people but they are not great reporters.  At least from a fan's perspective.

The two that are readily coming to mind are Gene Principe, host of the Oilers local broadcasts, and Dan Tencer, in a similar role for 630 Ched.

Both of these guys are forced into a specific role but Principe has become king of the stupid questions. "You guys just lost, how does that feel?" 

Tencer hosts a radio call in show which has at times been defensive of the Oilers to a point that makes him look bad.  That has improved some what with the addition of Bob Stauffer to the broadcast.

Dishonorable mention

Terry Jones Edmonton Sun - Terry has been around for a while.  Unfortunately it has also been a while since he wrote something even remotely interesting.

The Ugly

Bryan Hall has been the voice of the Canadian Football League Edmonton Eskimos for years.  Unfortunately he is also the afternoon drive host for 630 Ched. 

Hall seeks to offer his view points from a brash and blunt style. Meanwhile, he shuts down any that disagree in ways that make Rush Limbaugh proud. 

The Bryan Hall show has become unlistenable.  He is a parody of himself these days and it reminds one of the old days of wrestling announcers.  When loud was a point of view.

A few weeks ago Troy Polamalu said that the NFL is a pansy league.  While Troy may have a valid argument, he may have gotten the NFL confused with the CFL.  They say that attitude reflects leadership and the Canadian Football League is living proof of this statement and it starts at the top with CFL commissioner Marc Cohon. 

Since taking over as CFL commissioner he has been anything short of assertive, competent, and has next to never laid down the law about anything. 

I know its the CFL and budgets are tight but really this is starting to get ridiculous.  I was all for having video review in the league but by putting money into that did we have to have an entire crew of officials that are completely incompetent and can't tell a simple offside from a blatant procedure call. 

Don't get me wrong I am all for letting the players play and decide he game, but you can't let everything go like seemed to be the case in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers-Edmonton Eskimos game, you start to wonder who is paying these guys?  The Esks were holding onto the Bombers D lineman so much that you would have thought they were slipping off a building and gripping for dear life. 

There were several missed pass interference calls, a clear incomplete pass that was ruled a fumble and luckily was overturned and a late helmet shot on Stegall that was not flagged after the fact. 

Yes you have to let them play, but when the league during the season backs off and doesn't take action on cheap shots teams use that to they're advantage and rightfully so.  If knew I could hit someone in the head at full speed and not get tossed from the game or even get suspended Id to it too to help my team. 

I understand being an official is a tough job but you have to be fair and you have to know the rules.  There were several times where the officials missed the Esks o-line moving and not flagged and the one time Haywood gets drawn offside they call Haywood.

When you can get away with putting a guy in a headlock several times (like what happened to Gavin Walls) and you flag the defensive guy for just trying to push him off you know you are in a pansy league.  

I am not saying any of those calls would have changed the outcome of the game, but the time has come for Marc Cohon to take action for mistakes that are made and to be firmer with they're disciplinary.  People who play in this league are laughing because you can do whatever the hell you want, this is like the days of Paul Tagliabue as NFL commissioner, where you can say and do anything. 

This has become a league where guys can take free shots at quarterbacks (ie Barrenchea on Kevin Glenn) and get a slap on the wrist with a 1000 fine and no suspension.  This is a league where refs are allowed to make racial slurs at players and not have any disciplinary action and all the CFL and Cohon and company can say is that they're afraid the players association will appeal and overturn it. 

Who gave the players association creative control on who gets the fines the suspensions and everything else? When a coach challenges a play and it's overturned is it because the players association appealed the call?  If someone breaks the law will the players association get to appeal it and get them out of jail.

While Cohon and the CFL insists they are cracking down and there will be zero tolerance for hits on the quarterback and blatant cheap shots, it is far too late to do anything.  The reputation of the Canadian Football League is rapidly diminishing and taking action now and saying they will get it next time is unacceptable and an absolute joke. 

If the CFL controlled hockey, Todd Bertuzzi would have gotten off the hook with a simple spanking and a forced promise to never do that again.  This league that has been so exciting and has been a cultural institution for Canada for over a century has been scarred by these people at the top of the CFL who are ruining what was once a great game

I was hoping for the Roughriders to win, but I did not expect this.

Following the 2007 season, I expected the Roughriders to cross over to the East and finish third there. I thought the Eskimos would finish ahead of the Riders—well, I think now I am wrong.

I change my opinion. I think the same teams will make the playoffs, but the Eskimos to cross-over to the East and the Riders to finish second or third in the West. I know it is only one game, but it was quite lopsided. I was there and I experienced it first-hand.

Marcus Crandell wasn't great at QB for Saskatchewan, but he was better than I expected. He had a good game but he just forced too many passes. He went 19-29 with two interceptions, but also through for two touchdown passes—one to DJ Flick and one to newcomer Adarius Bowman.

Wes Cates also had a very good game, rushing 14 times for 86 yards and two touchdowns.

On the other side of the field, Ricky Ray completed 29 of his 35 passes with one interception. Edmonton did not score a touchdown.

The Eskimos offence wasn't bad, but they could not get it done in the Red Zone. Every time they got there the Riders held them to a field goal. Considering I am a Rider fan, it was a great sight to watch.

One player on the defense who really stood out in the game was James Johnson. He caught two interceptions while running one of them back for a touchdown. I think he is our new star defensive back instead of Eddie Davis.

Although I did not think this at all at the beginning of the season, I think the Riders may finish up to second place in the Western conference now.

For this to happen, fragile Buck Pierce would have to get hurt, which really seems like a possibility after last game.

Last season the BC Lions finished first in the Western conference in the regular season, but this is not because of Jarious Jackson, this was in spite of Jarious Jackson. They had a great team but he was keeping the other team in games. They are now one year older and will finish third in the East unless Pierce stays healthy.

I'd like to start by saying congrats to Kerry Joseph to winning last years Most Outstanding Player award and winning the Grey Cup. But now, a new season is on the rise and therefore there will be a new MOP.

Here is a list of what is going to be each teams choice for their teams MOP:

Hamilton Tiger-Cats: Jesse Lumsden - Lumsden finally has a season that isn't injury plagued. He has a fantastic season but doesn't get much recognition because his team didn't make the playoffs.

Montreal Allouettes: Ben Cahoon - Cahoon has a great season this year as he co-leads the league in receiving touchdowns. Unfortunately, he also does not get much recognition due to the lack of his teams success.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers: Kevin Glenn - Glenn has another good season this year, but not quite as good as last. Although it wasn't as good, he still receives a lot of recognition due to his great year.

Toronto Argonautes: Kerry Joseph - Joseph has a great season but his stats aren't quite as good as last year due to the fact that he has to share minutes with Michael Bishop.

East Finalist: Kevin Glenn

Saskatchewan Roughriders: Andy Fantuz - Fantuz co-leads the league in touchdown receptions with Ben Cahoon and has a great year, similar to last year but without the dropping every pass stint like last season.

Edmonton Eskimos: Ricky Ray - Ray has a fantastic year leading his Eskimos back into the playoffs after missing them the past two seasons. He leads the league in passing touchdowns and has a great year.

BC Lions: Joe Smith - Leading the league in overall touchdowns, Joe Smith has a great year. He completes this feat in only 14 games as he misses some do to knee problems.

Calgary Stampeders: Henry Buris - The comfort of having Dave Dickenson behind him calms smilin' Hank down as he leads the league in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, leads the league in passing yards and comes second in passing touchdowns as he leads his team to the leagues best record.

West Finalist: Henry Buris

Kevin Glenn makes it to the finals for the second straight year in this award. Unfortunately, he comes up short again. Henry Buris has a fantastic year putting up the best stats of his life while leading the Stamps to a 13-5 record and making a Grey Cup appearance but later losing to the Argos.

Winner: Henry Buris

If you haven't yet bought your plasma HDTV, you might want to do it before tomorrow night.  Why, you ask?  That's when the 2008 CFL season kicks off with the Montreal Alouettes marching into Ivor Wynne Stadium to take on the Hamilton Tiger Cats at 7 PM ET.

Just to let you know, the game will be on TSN HD.

After the match at Ivor Wynne, the scene shifts to the second part of the opening night double header in Calgary where the BC Lions play the Stampeders at 9 PM ET.

Finishing out Week 1 of CFL play are the Toronto Argonauts playing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Canad Inns Stadium while the Edmonton Eskimos march into Regina to take on the defending Grey Cup Champion Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Yet this will be an entirely different Roughrider squad that took home the Grey Cup last season.  With the loss of QB Kerry Joseph, the Riders are looking to Marcus Crandell to lead the offensive charge.

Compared to many seasons previous, the 2008 CFL season boasts many top name quarterbacks that could help the league's overall scoring to go up during the 2008 campaign.  With veterans Anthony Calvillo and Ricky Ray back, along with Winnipeg's Kevin Glenn and Toronto's two-pronged QB attack with Michael Bishop and Kerry Joseph, the CFL could be looking at an offensive outburst this season.

Despite many proven quarterbacks playing, the BC Lions hopes rest on the arm of Buck Pierce.  After passing Jarius Jackson on the depth chart list during training camp and the pre-season, Pierce has earned the recognition of legendary head coach Wally Buono after the departure of Dave Dickenson.

The kicking drama in Winnipeg continues to grow with the injury to punter Duncan O'Mahony.  While getting up in the middle of the night in his house, O'Mahony stubbed his toe and broke it.  Rookie Alexis Serna will take the role of both punter and field goal kicker against Toronto on Friday.

To get more info on the going-ons in the CFL, check out Kelly Bundle's "CFL Quick Fix".

For CFL This Week, I'm Matt Eichel

Sources:

www.cfl.ca

www.bluebombers.com

www.riderville.ca

Grab your seeds, seat cushions, and tune your voices folks!  The Edmonton Eskimos and Saskatchewan Roughriders kickoff the 2008 season at odds with one another.  This edition promises to be a brutally physical contest with players on both sides, still trying to earn the respect of teammates and coaches.  The contest commences Saturday night at 5:30 CST, on Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium, in Regina.  The days forecasted high is 28 degrees celsius.  Sorry fans, no power outage likely. 

Here's how these teams stack up entering the contest:

Defensive Line: The defensive lines do not actually stack up against one another. Otherwise the Eskimos would be the best.  But the Saskatchewan D-line manhandled the Eskimo O-line at times in pre-season action last week, minus two starters.  The Eskimos starting D-line also fared well against the Rider O-line, but the Rider O-line was also short three starters.  All said and done,ADVANTAGE RIDERS.

Linebackers & Defensive Backfield: The Eskimos might be the class of the league in these two facets of the game, though their lack of depth at linebacker may come into question at some point in an 18 game season.  Of note, the Eskimos added Jordan Younger in the off-season, who while currently on top of his game, isn't getting any younger.  The Riders are an unproven entity here.  Major changes may mean major issues occasionally. With the continuity factor of Ritchie Hall still coaching and solid play from Anton McKenzie, Airabin Justin and Omarr Morgan this team could improve.  It's tight, ADVANTAGE ESKIMOS.  

Offense: The Eskimos looked pretty darn good last week.  As they should have. They started incumbent QB Ricky Ray, their projected starting tailback Damien Anderson and each of their starting receivers saw action.  The Riders did not. The most production in the Rider offense last week was from Regina Thunder(CJFL)grad Stu Foorde, who will not likely take the field this week in favor of last years starter, Wes Cates.  This will be the first of many tests for Marcus Crandell, as patient head coach Ken Miller said, "he's not likely to get the hook at any time in this game."  Despite a noticeable difference at receiver in Saskatchewan's favor, I'll say it's close again, ADVANTAGE ESKIMOS.

Special Teams: A lot of Canadians play on the special teams units.  The squad with the best Canadian players traditionally wins this battle.  I'd love to say that honor goes to the Eskimos to end the debate and score it 3-1 Esks'.  I can't do that.  I would be lying, not only to myself, but you. You deserve to know that the club deemed with the best Canadian talent prior to seasons kickoff, will typically make the strongest push for, and often win, the Grey Cup.  No need to even mention who they are, ADVANTAGE RIDERS.   

X-FACTORS: Edmonton, CB J. Buhl   Riders, DL/LB Kitwana Jones.

Wherever you are in Canada, watch our uniquely Canadian institution this weekend with friends and family. Enjoy!!!

- Kelly Bundle

Now that part one is finished, I will go on to part 2, the defense.

The Riders' defensive line won't be as good as last season. It isn't even a gamble saying that. They don't have Fred Perry who was their best lineman last year, and they don't have Reggie Hunt to take any of the attention off them. My hypothese on who will be on their line is as follows. On the ends, we have John Chick and Michael Stadnyk. In the middle I am expecting our defensive leader Scott Shultz and Keith Shologan. We have a proven veteran, a guy who had a fantastic year last year, and two rookies. It will hopefully turn out well.

Edmontons line isn't quite as all-star packed as BC's is, but they are still very deep. They have 7 players who are more then capable of starting with Montez Murphy, Adam Braidwood, Brandon Guillery, Fred Perry, Adrian Baird, Jim Davis and Dario Romero. Thats a pretty stacked lineup.

Advantage: Eskimos

The Linebacking core of the Roughriders is another part of the team that should be worse then last season. Although it's not going to be AS good, it is still a good core with starters being anyones guess considering you have Kitwana Jones, Yannick Carter, Maurice Lloyd, Sean Lucas, Antawn McKenzie and Mike McColough. Thats more stacked then Edmonton's defensive line. Even with the loss of Reggie Hunt they should be fine.

Edmonton on the other hand is not quite as stacked. All they really have for starters are Shabazz, Garret and Barrenechea. They aren't quite as powerful.

Advantage: Roughriders

Now we move onto the secondary. The Roughriders are stronger then they were last year with the readdition of Omarr Morgan. Your probably looking at an Omarr Morgan, Eddie Davis, James Johnson, Lance Frazier and when he gets healthy Arabin Justin combination with Clovis and Gordan switching off at safety.

Edmonton also has a good secondary but with probably less rotation consisting of mainly Jordan Younger, Jason Goss, Kenny Williams and Jonte Buhl with William Loftus at the saftey position.

Advantage: Roughriders

It seems like the Riders have most of the advantages, but the Eskimos have perhaps the two most important in the quarterback and the defensive line.

On the kicking side of things, the Riders go with a sepereate kicker and punter because we all know their kicker Luca Congi cannot punt. Therefore, returning from last year we have Jamie Boreham one of the best punters in the league. For Edmonton, the go with a one kicker strategy. They go with someone who had a bad year for him, but is still one of the best kickers and punters in the CFL. Noel Prefontaine. Prefontaine is a good kicker and brings physicalness to the field, we all know Prefontaines tackling ability.

Advantage: =

For who is going to with this game, to me it is a complete tossup.