We Should Have Seen This Coming

With the notable exception of Chris Williams, there has been nothing to cheer about for fans of the Ti-Cats since the end of July. It has been five games since the Ti-Cats last claimed a victory, a thrilling 35-34 come-from-behind victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Everything looked up for the Ti-Cats when they entered their bye the following week. Some were arguing, rightfully, that the Cats were the best team in the league at the time. What has happened since has obliterated any thought of the Ti-Cats being the best team in anything. The team is now 3-7 and the season is quickly getting away from them. But in looking at the situation, should we really not have seen this coming?

Despite Obie's "more better" proclamation last winter, we probably should have all been prepared for what has transpired. I'm not saying a five-game losing streak, but when a team changes so much, growing pains are to be expected. Maybe not to this extent, but a losing streak or some adversity was on the menu this year for the Tabbies, regardless of how things were spun by the team.

Coaching, and especially player, changes happen often, but the Ti-Cats went out of there way to overhaul the coaching staff and roster of a team that fell one game short of the Grey Cup last year. I'm not here to argue whether those changes were the right ones, but the number of major changes that occurred in Hamilton during the winter months made a rough patch or disappointment inevitable.

The team also made a number of questionable roster decisions after training camp started that have also led the team to where they are today. They let Belton Johnson go so they could start Marc Dile, which looks like a horrible move in retrospect. They sat Markeith Knowlton in Week 1 because of ratio problems, but thankfully they quickly reversed that decision the following week. They continue to sit Avon Cobourne, only playing him when Chevon Walker is injured and Sam Giguère continues to see more playing time than Dave Stala, despite the latter clearly outperforming the former.

Rookie coaching mistakes and a lack of chemistry between the players was the inevitable byproduct of the off-season overhaul. With eight games remaining, the time is now for the team to turn things around. That said, the growing pains and struggles we have all witnessed to this point should have come as no surprise to anyone.

Cats Cut Nine

As a fan, cutdown day is the day I like least. For a handful of players, their dreams of playing professional football come to an end and it makes me feel for the guys that get cut. It was especially difficult this year because I went to six or so training camp sessions and watched how hard these guys worked. It is one thing to watch them perform on gameday, but if you really want to see these guys work, head to a practice.

Anyway, that is a long-winded way of saying the Cats cut nine players earlier this afternoon. I won't sit here and tell you that all deserved to be kept, because that's simply not true. While all of these players are talented – they wouldn't be at a professional team's training camp if they weren't talented – some of them just weren't talented enough to crack this roster. That said, there were a number of surprising cuts, with three standing out from the rest.

Probably the most surprising was the release of Belton Johnson. Johnson started all of last season, a majority of the 2010 season and spent the entire training camp working with the first-team offense. It was pretty surprising to see him let go, especially because Brian Simmons is still on the team. I thought Johnson outplayed Simmons during the preseason and if the team was going to let go of any veteran offensive lineman, it was going to be Simmons.

Just slightly less surprising was seeing the team get rid of Milt Collins. Collins was acquired less than a year ago in a trade with Calgary and I thought he'd be the team's opening-day starter at safety. It looks like they are very high on rookie safety Craig Ray and that is why Collins was let go.

Finally, we all knew that the team was going to have to part ways with a receiver or two and the first one let go was rookie Chris Duvalt. Duvalt looked good in both mini-camp and training camp, but he didn't show a great deal in either preseason game (to be fair, he got hurt against the Argos). With all the talent that the team has at receiver, a good player was going to be released and Duvalt just happened to be that player.

Training Camp Preview: Offensive Line

With training camp about to start (rookies report on May 30th, veterans on June 3rd) it's time to look at each position group as we head into the 2012 season. Today, it's the offensive line.

With all the splashy acquisitions the team has made over the off-season, one area that still seems to concern many is the offensive line. Some of that has to do with injuries, but some of it has to do with concerns that the talent the team still doesn't have the players it needs.

I don't agree with the latter assessment. I think a line made up of Marwan Hage, Peter Dyakowski, Tim O'Neill, Belton Johnson and Brian Simmons, with Pascal Baillargeon and Cody Husbands as the top backups, is a strong one. It is definitely one that can get the job done. Since the team made few moves in the off-season to address the offensive line, they must feel they have the right mix of players.

Injuries, however, are always a concern. The team will enter the season with Hage attempting to come back from a knee injury that sidelined him after Labour Day and Dyakowski nursing some injuries. The word is that Hage is on schedule to return on time and the Dyakowski injury has gone mostly unreported, so it would seem injury concerns as they stand right now might be a tad overblown.

In any event, the offensive line will be worth watching at training camp and during the early portions of the season. The belief here is that there is enough talent up front for the team to be successful. I understand that not everyone sees it that way, but with a different offense and a lot of different players around them, the offensive line could be a pleasant surprise this season.