Thomas Demarco Archives | BC Lions Football

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.

The BC Lions welcomed their rookies to their Kamloops training camp today and Friday this year’s crop of talent will get their first chance to show the coaches they should stick around until the main camp gets going on the 3rd of June.

Yes, the CFL season is upon us once again which means things are going to be getting busy here at BCLionsDen.ca.

In the first of our series of training camp previews we’ll look at a few rookies that we think may be worth keeping an eye on during these first couple of days of training camp, 2012.

#99 – Jabar Westerman – DE

Well duh, right? The Lions have really been playing Westerman up since the draft, so all eyes will be on the newest #99 in club history. If he’s the real deal, the Lions have may have found a replacement for Brent Johnson in short order not only talent wise, but ratio wise. Of course he’ll have to earn that comparison, but by all accounts Westerman has all the tools and the Lions would love for him to show well in camp and force them to give him solid reps off the rush end position.

#43 – Jordan Verdone LB/FB

Another 2012 draft pick, the Calgary Dinos linebacker sounds like he’s going to start his CFL career as a fullback. According to reports, the Lions will look to groom him as a backup to starter Rolly Lumbala. However before that, look for Verdone to show his football skills on special teams. Following the draft coach Mike Benevides referred to Verdone as “Just a really good football player,” which indicates his versatility could be his ticket onto the roster.

#16 – Thomas Demarco – QB

While some teams have struggled to do so, the experienced Buono has usually thrived at finding and developing quarterbacks in the CFL. Whether Demarco will be the next great find for the club remains to be seen of course. At 5’11 and 200 pounds, Demarco is described as an effective rusher with a strong and accurate arm. He’ll start camp 4th on the club’s depth chart behind Travis Lulay, Mike Reilly and Cleo Leonard. Junior quarterback Jordan Yantz of the Vancouver Island Raiders has also been invited to camp.

#59 –Matthew Norman – OL

The Lions liked the size and the toughness when they drafted Matt Norman in the 3rd round of the 2012 draft. At 6’3”, 317 pounds the team feels he’ll be able to handle the toughness of the pro game. He’ll be auditioning at guard. The decision of 2nd round pick Kirby Fabien not to sign with the Lions and return to school will mean more reps for Norman.

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

Rookie Watch: Four to keep an eye on as the Lions see what they have.

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