Trading for Tisdale meant the team needed to release someone to make room for him and that someone turned out to be fellow defensive back Josh Wilkins. Wilkins looked decent in camp and the preseason, but Tisdale is an obvious upgrade. Getting Tisdale back will give the secondary a much neded boost, with the only question now being if he'll be ready to play against Saskatchewan or not. Time is not on Tisdale's side, with just six days before the home opener, but Tisdale is a veteran and may not need a lot of time to get up to speed. In any event, bringing Tisdale back is a great move and one that really upgrades the secondary. Tisdale is the type of ballhawking presence the team needs in the defensive backfield. He'll up the team's interception numbers considerably. This is a great move.
As far as the other roster moves are concerned, there are a few worth noting. Greg Peach, Aaron Kelly and Ryan Hinds are the three biggest names on the injured list. Hinds' injury has created all sorts of ratio issues, and now that it is know he will miss at least the first game, it likely means that Kevin Eiben will get the start at linebacker over Markeith Knowlton. With Kelly also being put on the injury list, I wonder if that opens up the possibility of Dave Stala returning to the starting lineup. With four Canuck pass catchers making the active roster – Stala, along with Andy Fantuz, Sam Giguère and 2012 draft pick Simon Charbonneau-Campeau – it is possible for Stala to start and have Charbonneau-Campeau be the backup non-import at receiver. With four American receivers on the active roster, and one of them (Deon Murphy) being almost exclusively a kick returner, the team could start just two imports (Chris Williams and Bakari Grant), and have one (rookie Onrea Jones) back them up. It will be interesting to see how the Cats decide to use the ratio in next week's game.
One name that is not on the injured list is Marwan Hage. That means Hage can possibly play against the Roughriders in the team's season opener in six days. If Hage can get back into the starting lineup next week, that would give a giganic boost to the offensive line. It would allow Tim O'Neill to slide back to guard and not force a young guy like Cody Husband into the starting lineup.
The most notable name to be placed on the practice roster is former McMaster offensive lineman Jason Medeiros. Medeiros went surprisingly undrafted in May's draft, but was signed by the Ti-Cats prior to the start of camp. He had a very good camp and it's always nice to see local product do well.
With the roster now set, the focus for fans and the team can now be entirely on the upcoming home opener against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
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