Agreed re Dennis essential to have a bounce back year!!! if not losses cut quickly!!!

again great analysis Greenenvy ,I believe Winnipeg ( jeff grey), Edmonton and B.C. also have some young draft picks currently on NFL rosters not starting and on practice rosters, —– its possible that maybe some of the stockpile from other western teams might shake loose just due to a embarisment of riches for those clubs at the oline position. might come down to salary cap issues your guys young talent progresses .THOUGHTS ?

Agreed. I do think Dennis can bounce back. Maybe he needed a reality check. When he signed last year he started boasting on twitter with Hughes & Lemon among others how he was going to dominate them in the season. Turns out Hughes thoroughly embarrassed him in the 1st game with Stamps & Lemon had 3 sacks in the East final, though not vs Dennis. Getfits makes some good points about the younger guys like Meredith, Bladzek & Zver but they have to play. Pretty much started the same group all year & had a couple in as 6th guy. As mentioned above, you have the 3 Western clubs above the Riders who are rotating young OL in the lineup & starting. Groulx started in place of Rottier most of the 1st half till he got injured. Beard played center & guard most of the second half & snapped on FG’s. Both of these guys were drafted the same year & have been starting off & on for 3 years now. Rookie Roy rotated in at center till he suffered a season ending injury, so they’re working guys in from the get-go. This is something Calgary has done for years. In Wpg, Couture is also getting worked in. I see a steady diet in Regina of the same older guys, although with Bladzek they seem to have been working him in a bit. Part of the problem is the draft. When St. John was chosen #1, 3 OL in his draft class were their teams’ representatives for rookie of the year & starting, playing big minutes their 1st year. With 3 of the 1st 15 picks, the Riders desperately have to hit a home run on 1 or 2 of them. The other thing is hope to pick up a couple in FA after 3 years when the other clubs have developed them. Long as you can guarantee them starts. Not sure if the Riders are at that point yet.

agreed and great points , the riders plan of rotation hit afew snags in recient years during the chablin eara. riders drafted your current player odonnell but odonnell was a jerk and refused to report , demaned release etc saying he didn’t like regina and didn’t wanr to live their , long stoy short- riders traded his rights to Edmonton-odonnell sais=d it was only team he would play for ///riders got peanuts back but that is life. couple years later they had watman drafted and another eastern kid-watman developed as a back up ubder best/labatte but bolted 2017 as a f/a and wound up starting for Toronto— again such as life —riders had a plan not to go aging import on oline but poop happens///sometimes the human factor and home personel desire dictate what happens. your rught riders have some work to do in order to catch up to the other western teams oline wise but are making inroads wiyh zerr/merideth/bladzek, jsj is probably a bust. fortunately they have 3 of the top 15 picks in this years draft so hopefully at least 1 quality olineman will come from that. lastly the early unexpected retirement of big ben henan didn’t help matters much either for the riders , big ben was a stud tackle when playing , would of probably won a outstanding olineman award by now if not retiring early —- but an injury during his nfl shot was a large factor in the retirement decision for ben,

The big thing is the OL has to get younger, Fits. Some of the young guys have to start making an impact. I trust Abou-Mechrek knows what he’s talking about on OL & he himself said in that interview Dyakowski is no better than possibly a backup. At 34 he may only have a year even there. Coleman, like you say, has maybe a year. LaBatte is signed for 3, may be good for that, but has a lot of miles on him at his age. He’s turning 32 but will be in his 11th year &, prior to last year, never missed more than 3 games any season. Lots of wear & tear for his age. You don’t start working one or two in as starters the next year, you got a pretty old OL. Last year’s starting 5 are all between 30 & 35 next year if you include Dyakowski. Look at Esks, who have 4 starters 24-28 & only one at 31 & led the league in sacks allowed. The team right behind them, the Stamps, will have no starters over 30 with Federkell leaving. They’re both good, really big OL’s AND young. Riders are solid but not getting any younger. Bombers are another good YOUNG OL with only Bryant (31) older than 28 as starters – fewest pressures allowed. The big thing is the 3 teams I mention have lots of guys who are playing starting minutes in the 23-28 range. They’re not all aging at the same time. Riders starting 5 last year will all be between 30-33 if you take out Dyakowski & add Clark who was the other starter when healthy. All about the same age so you may be turning over close to the entire OL at the same time unless you get some meaningful starts with younger guys.

Agreed. Dennis is making way too much for an international left guard. He was overpaid as a left tackle and was a total bust there. I am not excited by re-signing Coleman. I just don’t think he is that good. And Dyakowski should retire. There was a lot of pressure from the right side last year. I would like to see Campbell re-signed however.