Training Camp Archives | BC Lions Football

The BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast: Episode 111 – Lowell Ullrich

June 8, 2018 By Brian Wawryshyn

As the BC Lions prepare to close out the season against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, we chat with TSN 1040 Lions analyst Lowell Ullrich about how the Lions have looked in Training Camp and how some of the battles for positions are shaping up.

Is this a make or break year for Jonathon Jennings? That seems to be opinion of many as the team starts out in a new direction under GM Ed Hervey.

The offensive and defensive lines look better on paper, but will it translate to the field?

So many questions, and we ask Lowell Ullrich all of them and also welcome back co-host Mojo Kemp to the show following his medical hiatus.

Download this episode!

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Key Battles to Watch as the BC Lions Get to Work in Kamloops

May 28, 2016 By Brian Wawryshyn

Veterans report to Kamloops today for physicals prior to the start of main camp on Sunday as the BC Lions prepare for their 63^rd Canadian Football League Season.

Instead of a BC Lions preview (we’ll save that for when the roster is determined) we’ll take a look at some of the positional battles to keep an eye on as camp gets going at Thompson Rivers University. While a few areas like linebacker are pretty much set, others are ripe for change and Wally Buono has never been a coach that has been afraid to make an ‘unpopular’ move to make the team better.

Translation; you better not rest on your laurels if you’re trying out for a Buono football team.

Quarterback

Jennings vs Lulay

With good reason, Jonathan Jennings comes into camp as the front-runner for the Lions starting pivot job. The Lions “quarterback of the future” ignited the offence last season going 3 and 3 in his six starts before injuring his collarbone in the West Semi-Final. All his intangibles, age, skill, poise, all suggest that Jennings is the man to lead the Lions back to prominence, but there must be growth and consistency shown as he starts the 2016 campaign.

For Travis Lulay, camp is a chance for him to show what he has left in the tank following an off-season that saw him able to train fully versus rehabbing his shoulder. That can make a huge difference, and Lulay has stated this is the best he’s felt in years. At worst, he will backup Jennings and has already discussed his acceptance of a mentorship role to his good friend Jennings. Lulay understands the cycle of life for a quarterback and knows he’s near the end of that cycle. Yet, he’s fully supportive of his younger counterpart and the Lions are fortunate to have that relationship.

Buono has stated the number one spot is not set in stone and that the pecking order will be determined in Kamloops and through the pre-season. That Jennings will have to be awfully bad and Lulay will have to turn some heads for Buono to consider a switch. The team needs to sell tickets, and they are banking that Jennings, and the excitement he can bring to the offence will be a big part in bringing fans back.

McGhee vs Price

Second year Lion Greg McGhee will be in for a fight with newcomer Keith Price who some felt showed more during the team’s mini-camp in April.

While McGhee was on the Lions roster last season, he doesn’t have as much CFL playing time as the newcomer. There is probably more pressure on McGhee as a returning player, mostly because Wally Buono expects you to be that much better in year two than you were in year one.

Price comes to the Lions after time with the Riders in Saskatchewan where he went 32 of 50 for 407 yards, 3 TD’s and 1 INT in limited playing time.

Buono isn’t averse to carrying four QB’s on the roster, but the battle for number three should be an interesting one to watch.

Offensive Line

It seems every training camp we are talking about the battle for jobs on the offensive line. That’s probably because on every football team the o-line is the core of your success on offence. If it’s great, you can do great things. If it’s not, you’re going to be in for a long season.

The Lions addressed this area both in free agency and the draft by adding the likes of Levy Adcock from the Riders and drafting Charles Vaillancourt (Laval) and Dillon Guy (Buffalo).

Longtime Buono confidant Dan Dorazio returns to the Lions after a one-year tour with the Riders, and is high on Adcock. So much so that the Lions released last year’s starter Tommie Draheim who was quickly snapped up by the Redblacks.

The Lions will look to move perennial all-star Jovan Olafioye to the left tackle spot and slot Adcock in on the right.

In the middle the Lions went out and picked up BC boy Tim O’Neill who at 36 brings a ton of experience at centre, but also a short-term solution. Both Vaillancourt and Guy have some experience playing the position, and the Lions also looked at the recently released Cam Thorn for the centre spot, but early indications are they would like to start grooming Guy in that position for the future.

Also front and centre will be the health of the promising Hunter Steward, who needs to show he can get through a training camp, not just a season. Steward could be a huge piece of the Lions o-line if he can do that and he says his foot problem is behind him heading into 2016. Kirby Fabien will also be another year removed from his devastating knee injury and hopefully now has the confidence again to bring a nastier streak to his game.

Players lCody Husband and T-Dre Player and Surrey native Jas Dhillon are also going to need to show well, especially with the depth the Lions have added through the draft.

Receiver

Once Jennings took over the offence last season the passing game started to come alive. Manny Arceneaux in particular started on a tear that had people forgetting about his less than productive first half of the season.

But the Lions will be looking to improve the unit, and a name to watch is Boise State alumni, Geraldo Boldewijn, who caught the Lions eye last year and spent time on their expanded practice roster before playing in the final regular season game last year. Boldewijn was given his release to pursue NFL work this off-season and the Lions were thrilled to get him back. He’s a tall receiver who has great hands and decent speed and should be ready to make a contribution this season.

The Lions also went out and brought back Nick Moore as a free agent signing from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Moore brings experience and another potential 1000-yard receiver to the Leos lineup, if he can stay healthy. Add Moore to the likes of Lavelle Hawkins and Bryan Burnham, and there will be some interesting choices to make here on cut down day.

Canadians Shawn Gore, Stephen Adekolu and Marco Iannuzzi will welcome draft picks Shaquille Johnson and Brett Blaszko into the group and both will be looking to show they are still the best option at the national receiver spot. Derek Yachison will need to show what he’s learned over the last two Lions camps to stay in consideration for a roster spot.

Running Back

Life after Andrew Harris begins and the Lions have stocked up on international players for the position to try and replace that offence. Jeremiah Johnson and Anthony Allen were brought in from Ottawa and Saskatchewan receptively while the Lions are also hoping Chris Rainey can play a bigger role in the offence. Shaquille Murray-Lawrence returns and will compete for reps.

Newcomer J.C. Coleman turned heads at rookie camp and while the Lions knew he was quick and explosive, Buono praised Coleman for his ability to block as well. If Coleman continues to impress, the Lions may choose to keep him around, making either Johnson or Allen expendable.

The Secondary

The Lions enjoyed many years of continuity to their secondary until the last couple of seasons, when they were forced to start to get younger. Ryan Phillips is the sole survivor from the trio of Dante Marsh and Korey Banks and is coming off a strong season. Phillips, along with free agent signing Brandon Stewart (Hamilton) will be the leaders of the group.

Mike Edem (Hamilton) was signed as a free agent and is a player the Lions are excited to get their hands on. There will likely be a battle there for the starting safety spot with Eric Fraser, who played well for the Lions after joining them last season, and possibly Keynan Parker as well.

The unit lost Josh Johnson over the winter but got Steven Clarke back from NFL tryouts last week. TJ Lee, Ronnie Yell and Darious Lane return, but keep an eye on newcomers Loucheiz Purifoy, Davarus Shores, Dino Teague and drafted national Anthony Thompson.

Kicker

Richie Leone comes in as the incumbent and will once again compete with Anthony Fera, who spent last season on the Lions practice roster before seeing action in the last game of the regular season. Leone will look to improve in his consistency, particularly on field goals and converts, while Fera will look to show he’s just as capable and force Buono into a tough decision.

Others to Watch

Defensive Line: Darius Allen, Andrew Hudson, Ese Mrabure, George Uko, Jacques Smith

Receivers: Kendrick Ings

Lions versus Esks thoughts, and the final cuts.

June 20, 2015 By Brian Wawryshyn

Friday night at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium the BC Lions closed out the CFL preseason with an 18-13 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos. There were positives and negatives that came from the evening, so let’s get at it in this recap of the night.

Of course the main question of the night was how Travis Lulay would look and would he survive the night and the result was a success on both fronts.

Lulay wasn’t spectacular, but he led the Lions on a (penalty aided) touchdown drive on the first series of the game, connecting with the ‘Manny Show’ to open the scoring. As a body of work, Lulay was able to accomplish what he wanted to. There was some rust, as he overthrew open receivers on a couple of occasions, but his vision downfield seemed solid, his composure in the pocket was impressive and he showed that he’s still going to use his feet when the opportunity presents itself.

Jonathan Jennings was next up and wasn’t quite as effective as he was in Calgary, going 4 of 8 for 63 yards, while also throwing an interception. He did connect with Terence Jeffers-Harris for 40 yards and survived a big hit. Greg McGhee impressed with his limited time, showing the running skill he has as well as a strong arm.

With the uncertainty of Lulay’s long-term future, the Lions will keep all four QB’s, with John Beck starting the season on the disabled list.

Emmanuel Arceneaux looked solid scoring the Lions only touchdown of the game, and Austin Collie showed the value he will bring to the roster. Jeffers-Harris showed well again with his second deep reception of the preseason. Bryan Burnham and Tim Vizzi did not shine, while Courtenay Taylor still hasn’t seen action with a lingering hamstring injury. Marco Iannuzzi had a solid game, including the Lions biggest play of the night, a 64 yard catch and run from McGhee. The Lions continue to struggle to find a way to get Shawn Gore involved in the offence.

Generally speaking I thought the offensive line played decent, especially versus a talented Eskimos defence. Lulay got good protection in the first half, and don’t be surprised if T-Dre Player has surpassed Dean Valli for a starting role. At left tackle, it looks like Tommie Draheim will at least start the season there.

In the second half there was a drop off and both Jennings and McGhee were hurried or flushed out of the pocket often. The unit continues to be a work in progress, but new centre Jason Foster looks to be solid and can start looking for accommodations in the lower mainland.

The defensive line registered just one sack on the night, and had issues plugging gaps against the Eskimos running game in the first half. Running back Shakir Bell averaged 10.8 yards a carry against the starters and that’s just not good enough. Alex Bazzie was ejected for spitting on an opponent, and on a Jeff Tedford team that preaches discipline, that certainly won’t have him in the coach’s good books.

It was fun to listen to the oohs and awes from the crowd watching Richie Leone launch missiles with his punts. Sadly when it came to field goal kicking Leone missed two which should have been automatic and one of them was ugly. Anthony Fera connected on a 48 yarder, but his punting wasn’t as impressive. With that, Lions have decided to go with Leone and hope he improves his place kicking while offering Fera accept a spot on the practice roster.

The Flags

God help us all if the preseason flag fest continues into the regular season. The game became virtually unwatchable because of all the linen being thrown around. I get that in the preseason you want to crack down, especially with the new rules, but I am not that confident that much will be different when the season starts. For the sake of fans and the game itself, let’s hope so.

The Setting

The BC Lions and the University of British Columbia deserve huge props for the way the game went off. From the clear directions to the stadium throughout the campus, to the crowd control afterwards it was very well done. Director of Fan Engagement, Jamie Pitblado and his team did a fantastic job.

Allowing the fans to watch from field level was a brilliant idea. There were tons of kids throwing footballs around and hanging out with Leo the Lion. For the diehard fan it gave them a chance to see the game up close and personal.

With the lush trees in the background and a beautiful west coast sunset, there couldn’t have been a better night to play football.

Because I needed to write about the game I stayed in the stands in order to see the action clearly, so the only negative from the night came from the sore butt and back from sitting on the wood benches.

BC Place, I love you.

In the End

Don’t lose sight of the fact that this a new beginning for the BC Lions, and coach Tedford will likely be continually tweaking things into his mold over the next few weeks. The Lions should become more proficient on offence with more targeted game planning reps.

The team will start the season with a bye, which will give Lulay more time to work on the timing with his receivers. The Lions will also have game film to work with on the Redblacks, while Ottawa will have only preseason footage at their disposal.

Final Cuts

No real surprises here but here is the full list of roster moves made by the Lions on cut down day. In all, 12 players were released, 10 were offered spots on the practice roster, 3 were placed on the 1-game injury list, and QB John Beck added to the disabled list.

Notable names offered practice roster spots were RB Keola Antolin who was injured through the first half of training camp, Terence Jeffers-Harris who was impressive after if his arrival in camp and in the preseason, and second year linebacker and special teamer Casey Chin.

Of their 2015 draft picks who were in camp, only DB Josh Brinkworth was released.

It all starts for real on July 4^th.

Full list of the Lions roster moves:

Released:

DB Jordan Rwiyamilira (N), DB Josh Brinkworth (N), DB Jeremiah Johnson (I), DB Myron Lewis (I), LB Cody Acker (I), DL Tim Jackson (I), DL Andre Monroe (I), FB Brandon Deschamps (N), RB Rickey Galvin (I), RB Damien Thigpen (I), WR Tim Vizzi (I), WR Whitman Tomusiak (N).

Offered practice roster spots:

DB Darious Lane (I), LB Casey Chin (N), DL Craig Roh (I), DL Maxx Forde(N), DL Jamarkus McFarland (I), WR Terence Jeffers-Harris (I), K/P Anthony Fera (I), RB Keola Antolin (I), OL Josh Aladonoye (I), OL Campbell Allison (N).

Placed on one-game injured list:

DB Steven Clarke (I), OL Cody Husband (N), OL Matt Norman (N).

Placed on disabled list: QB John Beck (I).

Returned to juniors:

OL Anthony Daley (N), WR Derek Yachison (N).

Follow all the CFL final cuts.

The Lions Notebook: Training Camp Edition – June 6th

June 7, 2015 By Brian Wawryshyn

I have a confession to make; I’m a bit of a freak when it comes to the BC Lions. That probably explains why on four hours sleep, I got up at 4:00am to make the three and a half hour trip for our annual pilgrimage to Lions training camp. Why is it so easy to get up for football, but it feels like waking the living dead to go to work?

But I digress.

Today was the first day of our five day visit to the tournament capital of Canada, Kamloops, BC, and the best word I can describe what I saw on day one is, impressive. Here are some thoughts, in a special training camp edition of the Lions Notebook.

Tedford’s Way

We’ve all heard a lot about the “Tedford Tempo” but until you see it live, you can’t begin to understand how different this camp is from any other BC Lions camp you’ve seen. Everything is timed and organized down to the second. As this photo of the segment clock that Jeff Tedford brought in shows.

There is a much more business like feel to this camp, than any other camp I’ve attended. Coaches where headsets to communicate, there is less chatting and joking around by the players. You can tell they are here to work, and I haven’t always felt that way watching a Lions practice.

On the Short Side

One of the big questions at this camp is who will replace 11-year Lion Dante Marsh on the short side corner. During this session that player was Ronnie Yell, who looks more than ready to take on the challenge. Yell was one of the most impressive players I saw on the field today, and he had some aggressive battles with Emmanuel Arceneaux.

Behind Centre

Jonathan Jennings is making an impression at camp and you could see why. He throws a very nice ball and was by far the best QB on the field in the morning session. Travis Lulay continues to pace himself, and didn’t attempt many deep throws. Travis Partridge I thought had a bit of a shaky session, while Greg McGhee had some nice completions as well, but doesn’t look as polished as Jennings. John Beck has made his way to Kamloops (18 pounds lighter) and will undergo more tests here before being given the green light to practice.

The Offensive Line

This seems to be a constant concern for the Lions and for once it would be to come to a camp and not have to talk about it. The injury to Hunter Steward certainly muddied the waters for the team but there were also some interesting observations to be made during Saturday’s sessions.

For one, Kirby Fabien is not in the first unit, replaced instead by Matt Norman at left guard, while Dean Valli is on the left. This is concerning simply for the fact that the Lions (or at least their fans) have been hoping that Fabien would return to the form he showed prior to his knee injury in 2013. Has Fabien fallen from grace that far, or are the Lions simply getting Norman work at guard to see where he fits into their plans after removing him from the centre spot?

Paul McCallum

I’ve seen a lot of reaction to the Paul McCallum release that was announced today. Some fans are mad at the way it was handled by the Lions, some are miffed to why McCallum was released at all without a proven field goal kicker on the roster and others are wondering why McCallum was even brought to camp if they had other plans, only to be asked to retire after five days.

It’s my personal belief that the Lions tried to do the right thing and let McCallum call it a day without being officially cut. They brought him to camp, because until recently they only had McCallum on the roster. When Richie Leone was released by the club and the Lions came to terms with Anthony Fera, the picture changed, but the Lions still needed to see how they performed.

At 44 years of age, even Paul McCallum admits that his best days are behind him. He’s still a very reliable field goal kicker from inside 45 yards, and his experience with every stadium in the league is second to no one in his position. But his punt average is dropping, the Lions are leaving points on the field because of his limited range, and they have two guys in camp that have looked very good.

There will be some growing pains with whoever handles the kicking duties, but it you can’t wait forever to make the switch, and the Lions feel they have two very promising kickers to choose from and may indeed keep both of them on the roster.

Only Wally Buono and Paul McCallum really know how all of this went down and in time we will all hear the story. In the meantime, the McCallum era in BC is definitely over and we wish Paul well. He’s been a great BC Lion and he’s had a hall of fame career.

Keeping it Light

At the end of the morning session, Tedford gathered his players around and told them it was time to kick field goals. Both Leone and Fera would each kick two field goals. For everyone they missed the whole team would have to do “gassers” or wind sprints for those of you unfamiliar with the term.

But there was a catch, the rest of the team was told to make as much noise as possible to try and distract the two kickers. Thankfully for them, all four field goals were made and the two kickers instantly became the most popular guys on the field.

Hot as…

The Lions practiced Saturday under baking hot conditions Saturday in Kamloops. Jeff Tedford chose to make the afternoon session a walk through, and it lasted just over an hour, which was no doubt just fine with the players.

Sunday is supposed to be even hotter, and the Lions will have another light day, as the club’s annual Fan Fest takes place at Hillside Stadium. It’s free for all and the gates open at 12:30. We’ll have photos and other tidbits from the event here on 3DownNation.com.

The BC Lions Den Pawdcast – Episode 51

June 4, 2015 By Brian Wawryshyn

Episode 51 finds the BC Lions training camp is in full swing and Brian and Mojo check in with Mike Beamish of the Vancouver Sun as well as Lions radio colour man Giulio Caravatta who are both in Kamloops. We discuss the latest rash of injuries surrounding the Lions including tackle Hunter Steward who is once again on the shelf, re-injuring the same foot he hurt last season.

The BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast: Episode 111 – Lowell Ullrich