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You are here: Home / Archives for Expansion Draft

Burning the ship: Lions survive well in expansion draft, but plenty of work remains.

December 16, 2013 By Brian Wawryshyn

740x300Demarco
Thomas DeMarco will be playing for Ottawa in 2014

The 2014 Ottawa expansion draft has come and gone, and as a BC Lions fan you had to be happy with how the way the day went down.

The Lions of course lost backup quarterback Thomas DeMarco, along with guard Matt Albright and defensive lineman Andrew Marshall. I was surprised to hear DeMarco’s name called in the first round, just because of the names you heard leading up to the draft. But that pick helped the Lions immensely and allowed them to protect a player they were scared of losing.

According to Lowell Ullrich at The Province, the Lions had left non-import receiver SJ Haidara unprotected in the first round and they quickly utilized their extra protection slots received from the DeMarco pick to shelter him for rounds two and three.

Matt Albright was an unfortunate loss, with the Lions already needing to address Canadian depth on their offensive line, but they will look to sign last year’s pick Hunter Steward, and hope to have Kirby Fabien ready to go after a bad knee injury.

With the draft behind them the Lions won’t be done tweaking their club. They have still to name a new offensive coordinator, with Khari Jones, Jason Maas and Marcel Bellefeuille the latest names to be tossed around after both Paul LaPolice and George Cortez both declined offers from BC. I’m not sure any of those names will excite fans too much. Both Maas and Jones would be pretty raw coordinators, while Bellefeuille would be an experienced but somewhat of a recycled option. All three have enough CFL experience but pickings are pretty slim at the moment and both of the Lions top choices are off the table.

While several players today are probably relieved to still be Lions, that relief could be short-lived. When asked by Ullrich what was next for his club, GM Wally Buono replied, “Burn the ship”.

With Buono now on his annual Christmas vacation to Hawaii, there will no doubt be contemplation amongst the relaxation. The Lions are in preparation to host the Grey Cup, and with changes in the coaching staff already in motion, the club’s next order of business will be how to prepare for free agency.

Will the team opt to shed the contracts of older veterans and be players on the open market? How much turnover can the club withstand in a year when they hope to compete for the Grey Cup at home?

Buono has never been shy to say goodbye to veteran players and this off-season will likely be no different. The club has reshuffled its scouting department and will no doubt be looking for diamonds in the rough in the draft, tryout camps and free agency.

There are many questions to be answered in the coming months, but if the Lions survive those as well as they did this expansion draft, they should be just fine, even if they have to do a little ship burning along the way.


 

Filed Under: Den Talk, Featured, From The Couch Tagged With: Andrew Marshall, BC Lions, CFL, Expansion Draft, Lowell Ullrich, Matt Albright, Ottawa Redblacks, Thomas Demarco, Wally Buono

Off-season Musings: Arceneaux and Ottawa Expansion

January 20, 2011 By Brian Wawryshyn

It’s been a while Lions fans! I hope you’ve all been having a great off-season. If you’re like me, it’s already too long. I miss my Friday Night Football, tailgating and all the good times that come from being a CFL fan.

That said there have been some interesting things going on around the league so I thought it would be a good time to touch on a couple that will have an affect on the BC Lions.

Bye Bye Mannie

If you follow Emmanuel Arceneaux on Twitter you probably know by know that the Lions receiver is not likely returning to the team in 2011. Arceneaux has been actively tweeting about his NFL tryouts, and has stated he’s close to signing with an NFL club. His agent confirmed those statements in a recent articleby Matt Sekeres of the Globe and Mail.

Bardia Ghahremani, told the Globe that five NFL teams have shown interest and Arceneaux could make more in signing bonus money than he would on a new deal with the Lions. He also doesn’t think there will be an NFL lockout, which may be wishful thinking on his part. If there is a lockout and Arceneaux is under contract to an NFL team, he won’t be able to return the CFL, and could miss a year of football. A year he could be honing his skills in the CFL in preparation for even a bigger pay day, similar to the one Cam Wake received from Miami (A 1 million dollar signing bonus).

The Lions had an offer on the table for Arceneaux, and Wally Buono felt a deal was doable.

“The numbers [Arceneaux] put forward to us, we felt were doable,” Buono said. “They just felt that maybe it was best to see what the NFL would offer.”

Buono told Arceneaux to make it wothwhile if he decided to bolt for the NFL.

Of course every player deserves to chase his dreams, and we wish Mannie all the best, whatever decision he makes. The departure will leave a hole in the Lions receiving corps but should allow for Steven Black, Andrew Harris and Jamal Lee to assume larger roles. No doubt the club will be looking for more replacements in their upcoming free agent camps as well.

Ottawa Expansion

The guidelines for the expansion draft that will bring Ottawa back into the league were announced recently. You can find the full details on BCLions.com but here are some of the key points unveiled by the league:

  • If everything proceeds as planned, the Ottawa team could take the field for the 2013 season. In that case, the expansion draft would be conducted on or about Thursday, December 13, 2012. It will consist of three rounds: one for imports, and two for non-imports.
  • Ottawa will be able to select a total of eight imports and 16 non-imports, including two quarterbacks, from existing teams.
  • If the team is ready to start play in 2013, Ottawa will pick first in all six rounds of the 2013 CFL Canadian Draft, after picking as many as four underclassmen from the NCAA in the 2012 CFL Canadian Draft.
  • Ottawa will have the ability to select not more than two quarterbacks and not more than one kicker or punter (for clarity, Ottawa may not select a kicker and a punter). A Member Club cannot have both a quarterback and a kicker or punter selected from its roster. A Member Club cannot have more than one quarterback selected from its roster.

Round by round here are the rules that Ottawa and the member clubs will follow in the three round draft:

Round One:

  • Member Clubs may protect one quarterback, and ten additional Import players.
  • Ottawa will select one Import player from each Member Club.
  • Import quarterbacks, kickers, and punters are eligible for selection (and protection), provided that: 
  • Each Member Club may protect a maximum of one quarterback in the Import Draft.
  • All other quarterbacks on a Member Club’s roster at the time of the draft are eligible for selection in this section.
  • Ottawa will only be able to select two quarterbacks in the Expansion Draft.
  • If a quarterback is selected from a Member Club in the Import Draft, such Member Club will be able to protect the names of an additional two Non-Import players in the first round of the Non-Import Draft.
  • If a kicker or punter is selected from a Member Club in the Import Draft, such Member Club will be able to protect one additional Non-Import player in the first round of the Non-Import Draft.

Round Two:

  • Each Member Club will protect six Non-Import players.

Non-Import quarterbacks, kickers, and punters are eligible for selection (and protection), provided that:

  • If a Member Club had a quarterback selected from its roster in the Import draft, it will be permitted to protect eight Non-Import players in the first round of the Non-Import Draft (instead of six); and
  • Ottawa will be prevented from also selecting a kicker or punter from that Member Club.
  • If a Member Club had a kicker or punter selected from its roster in the Import Draft.
  • That Member Club will be permitted to protect seven Non-Import players in the Non-Import Draft (instead of six); and
  • Ottawa will be prevented from also selecting a quarterback from that Member Club.

Any kicker or punter selected in the Non-Import Draft must be selected in the first round. If a Member Club had a kicker or punter selected from its roster in the Non-Import Draft, such Member Club would be eligible to protect eight Non-Import players in the second round of the Non-Import Draft, instead of six.

Ottawa will then select one non-import player from each Member Club.

Round Three:

  • Member Clubs will then submit a second list of an additional six Non-Import players for protection.
  • If a Member Club lost a Non-Import kicker or punter in the first round of the Non-Import Draft, such Member Club would submit two additional Non-Import player names for protection.
  • Ottawa will then select one non-import player from each Member Club.
  • The Commissioner will resolve any dispute related to player eligibility for the Expansion Draft process.

Not a bad deal for Ottawa if they should get some good football people in place and draft wisely. It will no doubt hit some of the Member clubs hard depending on the players they lose. The idea will be to have Ottawa competiive right out of the gate to ensure the public support the club. Several member teams, including the Lions benefited greatly through the dispersal draft the last time Ottawa folded.

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Filed Under: CFL/League, Drafts/Prospects, Featured, News, Uncategorized Tagged With: BC Lions, CFL, Emmanuel Arceneaux, Expansion Draft, Ottawa

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