CFL: Is Fred Reid the Next Stefan Logan?

Ex-BC Lions running back Stefan Logan signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers following a 1,366 all-purpose yard season.

The year before the South Dakota product signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in November 2007 and spent the rest of the year on their practice squad.

Logan then headed north of the border with the BC Lions where he put together a 122 rushing attempts, 889 rushing yard, 52 catch and a 477 receiving yard season.

He added three touchdowns (all receiving) and four fumbles (all while rushing) to his season totals.

Following 2008, he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he's battling for a roster spot as a return specialist.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Fred Reid on the other hand played his college football at Mississippi State, which is no South Dakota but following the draft also went selected.

Just like Logan he bolted for south Florida but headed towards the shore with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2005.

He was cut before the season, and didn't play football in 2006.

After star linebacker Barrin Simpson recommended Reid to the Bombers front office guys, they brought him into camp and obviously showed enough to keep a spot on the roster.

As a rookie in 2007 Reid got 40 carries, 270 rushing yards, two touchdowns and eight catches for 120 yards.

Playing in Joe Smith and Charles Roberts's shadow again in 2008, he still managed to get 101 carries and 709 yards with three scores.

Reid added 13 catches for 96 yards to his 2008 totals.

Now, Logan obviously had the better 2008, but Reid is on pace to shatter Logan's 2008 season.

After eight games in 2009, he has 115 rushes (seven less than Logan in a full season) and 795 rushing yards (93 less than Logan in 2008).

Not only are Reid's stats better in three years than Logan in one, they similar in body size.

Reid 5'8", Logan is 5'7" while they're both speedy 185 pound backs.

Because of these similarities, I'd be very surprised to not see Reid get an NFL shot as a kick returner or even a backup running back.

CFL: Plenty of Running Backs Available For Ottawa CFL Team

As a follow-up Steve Thompson's article about possible quarterbacks available for the new Ottawa team in 2010, 2011 or 2012 here's a list of possible running backs who'll be available.

(Kudos to Steve for suggesting this article on my bulletion board.)

•Jesse Lumsden, Edmonton Eskimos
Face it, you and me both know the power back out McMaster is easily one of the most injury prone players in the CFL. However, he has outstanding talent so much so the Seattle Seahawks brought him to training camp in 2005.
But back to the injuries, in the three seasons in Hamilton he always had some kind of injury that caused him to miss some games.
This season, one of the first hits he took all year in the first game, he injured his shoulder. The shoulder injury has caused him to undergo surgery and he'll miss the rest of the season.
But, let's go back to the talent. With his talent he'll most likely continue to get chances with teams in the CFL who need a quality running back or better backup.
Lumsden recently turned 27, which means in 2012 he'll be 30 by mid-season which tends to be the start of the downfall for running backs. But, if Ottawa wants to put fans in the seats they'll take a chance on one of very few Canadian running backs.

•Kenton Keith, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Coming into this season, Keith was the projected start for the Tiger-Cats, but an injury forced rookie running back DeAndra Cobb into the starting role.
As of today, Cobb has 479 yards on 67 carries and is easily one of the best rookies in the CFL.
Cobb's performance makes Keith expendable and whether the Ottawa team starts next season or one of the following years, Keith could be available for them. Assuming he doesn't leave for another NFL oppurtunity.

•Ian Smart, BC Lions
The speedy kick returner was the projected starter when Stefan Logan headed for greener pastures with the Pittsburgh Steelers but an injury and Martell Mallett's great camp performance ended that hope.
Smart is now on the reserve list waiting for another oppurtunity.
BC's backup running back Emmanuel Marc has been satisfactory and doesn't seem like he'll lose his job anytime soon.
If something doesn't happen soon, Marc could become available for team Ottawa.

•Demetris Summers, Calgary Stampeders
Summers wasn't great last year in Calgary (19 carries, 121 yards, 1 touchdown) and then an injury this year has caused him to miss every game.
Calgary has some running back depth behind star Joffrey Reynolds with Canadian Jon Cornish and import Derek Watson.
Summers is more than expendable and Calgary and their fans probably wouldn't be hard broken to part with him.

• Charles Roberts, Free Agent
Probably one of the least likely to be picked up by team Ottawa but the 30 year-old still might be ineligible for "Cash for Clunkers" and could have some gas in the tank.
With his most recent 1,000 yard season coming in 2007 and then getting almost 800 yards with BC and Winnipeg last year he has shown he can still get the job done to an extent.
If no one else if available for them I wouldn't be surprised to see Roberts get a look.

•Other Names
•Joe Smith
•Lavarus Giles
•Tyler Ebell
•An NFL cut

Channeling Anger, Showing Character|Let's Talk About Jarious Jackson

All of us BC Lion fans remember what happened in that game against the Toronto Argonauts. Last Friday, Jackson came out of the game with the Lions at a 19-7 deficit. Coach Wally Buono took Jackson out for third-string quarterback Travis Lulay, who hadn't made a CFL snap last year. It was surprising to me, though, after my post I made about a month ago for the case of Jackson at starting quarterback.

“Here’s a guy who was put down,” Buono said. “I don’t want to say we didn’t embarrass him, we must have. He was devastated at half-time in the locker room. But my job isn’t to worry about how they feel, unfortunately. My job is get them to win. It’s really a tough process.”

I believe it was a really tough process. Said Jackson after being put out for Lulay:

“I was disappointed. I was very angry. I wanted to stay in there. But I took that anger, I guess, and just channeled it in a different way. I guess that gave me focus.”

It wasn't that big of a deal as Lulay only survived six plays. Coach Buono's decision was to bring Jackson back in again. Many of you may think that Jackson would just fire at Wally, but he came in and played strong after throwing three touchdown passes and stunning Toronto in a 36-28 win.

“Everybody knows that Jarious is a good guy,” Buono said. “But that showed true character. When things were the lowest for him, what did he do? He could have easily quit on us. He could have done all of the things that bad character people do. But he didn’t. He isn’t a turd. He can deal with adversity.”

And that is why I like Jarious Jackson. Just a week after the win against the Toronto, BC lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers a week after, 37-10. On September 4, the Lions will face the Montreal Allouettes. Let's hope Jackson performs well, like he has been all year.

Sources
The CFL Report
Vancouver Sun
BCLions.com

CFL Preview Week Eight: The Bye Week Part 1

In week eight in the CFL, four teams have a bye. The Edmonton Eskimos, Calgary Stampeders, Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger Cats will all have to endure the gruelling bye week that no one ever enjoys!

But, though it may be a bye week for some teams, it most certainly won’t mean a bye for my weekly predictions!

The more and more I think about it, I like the idea of this bye week. My record isn’t the best in the world, and maybe I just need fewer games to pick.

Friday August 21st Doubleheader
Game One: Saskatchewan Roughriders at Montreal Alouettes

The Roughriders will look to exact revenge on the Montreal Alouettes in Montreal this week. Montreal embarrassed Saskatchewan at home earlier in the year, so it should be an intense game.

The Riders have been anything but consistent this season, but they are getting players back from injury slowly. Their offensive line has improved, and Wes Cates has finally found his game.

If Wes Cates can get going against the Montreal Alouettes, it could take the pressure off of Darian Durant.

Montreal is a tough match for any team. They can hurt you on offence in multiple ways and their defence has been stingy.

Montreal is always a tough place to win at, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders have had their share of struggles their. Yet you can never count out the Roughriders, who win when they are not expected too and lose when they are favoured. Yet, beating a red hot Alouette team at home may be too much to ask.

My Pick: Montreal

Game Two: Winnipeg Blue Bombers at BC Lions

In BC, it will be a battle of two gunslingers, as Lion’s pivot Jarious Jackson faces off against Bomber’s pivot Michael Bishop.

Both sitting in their respective division basements, both teams will look to move up the standings.

The Lions have been doing just enough to win ball games recently, winning two in a row. They will hand the ball to Jarious Jackson in this game. Jackson has impressed with the deep ball, but has also been inconsistent. While he will likely test the Bombers defence deep, he also needs throw the intermediate routes as well.

Look for rookie running back Martel Mallet to continue his success.

The Bombers on the other hand are in a lot of trouble. Michael Bishop has been inconsistent, and the team doesn’t have any proven stars on offence except for Fred Reid and Terrance Edwards.

Luckily for the Bombers, BC’s run defence is pretty bad, so Fred Reid could have a huge game. If the Bombers can get Fred Reid going, and their defence plays well like it has in the past, they may have a chance to pull off the upset.

My Pick: Winnipeg

Winnipeg Blue Bombers Add Vikings QB to Negotiation List

WINNIPEG, MB-The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have announced that Minnesota Vikings backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson has been added to their negotiation list.

Jackson a Alabama State product, was competing with journeyman quarterback Sage Rosenfels for the starting job before Brett Favre came out off retirement again, and was named starter.

Not only that but he missed half of training camp and told them he was retiring, only to come back out of it, escorted by Brad Childress and his escalade to practice. And to top it all of he was followed by ESPN's helicopters.

Damn it, I'm babbling.

Back to the Jackson story, he'll more likely never come up to Canada, just like Vince Young being on the Argos neg. list, but if he becomes a free agent and isn't signed he'll be open to join the Bombers.

Currently, Michael Bishop is starting while Stefan LeFors (who recently took a paycut) is the backup with Bryan Randall third string.

However, the odds of him joining that group is slim with teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars needing a backup.

But, if he does get released and doesn't get signed (you have better chances of winning the lottery than having that happen) then my guess is that LeFors will be given his walking papers, solely because of his awful performance as starter.

Backup Quarterbacks Needed Everywhere

Let's see here, all across the CFL there are 23 quarterbacks on active rosters, two on practice rosters, three injured and one on reserve.

Zac Champion of the BC Lions is the one on reserve and is irrelevant to this discussion while Ricky Santos (Montreal), Graham Harrell (Saskatchewan) and Jason Boltus (Hamilton) are "injured" and also irrelevant here.

And also for the purpose of this discussion (which you're not sure about yet) let's exclude every free agent quarterback and every quarterback who'll be cut by the NFL.

Now, where am I headed with this? You'll see in a minute.

In Calgary there's a bit of a quarterback controversy and I'd say they'd like to keep Burris, Nealy and Tate with them for now while they sort it out.

Hamilton likes Porter, Glenn and Tafralis, Montreal is good with Calvillo, McPherson and Leak while in Winnipeg Bishop, LeFors and Randall are good enough for them.

Now that leaves BC, Saskatchewan, Edmonton and Toronto.

If you saw the game between BC and Toronto last night, you saw Buck Pierce and Travis Lulay go down with head injuries for BC while Jarious Jackson was inconsistent.

In Toronto, Joseph and Pickett are doing battle but Pickett looked good enough and they don't seem to need a third guy and the only other QB on the roster is Stephen Reaves (practice roster) who probably won't garner much interest.

Edmonton and Saskatchewan however have some moveable pieces.

With Graham Harrell's expected arrival any week now from the injured list, Saskatchewan could part with either Steven Jyles or Dalton Bell in a trade but that would require a team give up something like a draft pick.

On the Riders practice roster is high flying quarterback Cole Bergquist and all a team would have to do is sign him and give up nothing but money to the guy.

Edmonton on the other hand has starter Ricky Ray, veteran Jason Maas and rookie Jared Zabransky.

Zabransky has shown the Eskimos enough promise to keep him on while Maas has a proven track record.

Now to the point of this article, if Pierce and/or Lulay are going to miss any significant amount of time or if Calgary decides they need more QB help or Toronto decides they need a third guy but don't want it to be Reaves then watch out for some moves.

If anyone goes I'd expect Bergquist to get signed, Bell might get dealt and Maas could go if Zabransky continues to improve.

CFL Preview Week Seven: The Wild West

Could the real contender in the Wild Western Division please stand up?

Six weeks through the CFL season and there are few certainties.

The Montreal Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger Cats seem to be firm contenders in the East, but not one team in the West has stood up. Through a series of missed opportunities, we are still uncertain who the powerhouse in the West is.

Three of the teams currently sit at 3-3 while the BC Lions pulled to 2-4 last week by beating the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Speaking of that game, it contributed to my two incorrect picks last week. In the other, I picked Winnipeg to upset Calgary, which almost did happen. After going 2-2, I am still below .500 with my picks.


Prediction Time
Disagree with my picks. Tell me your picks down below.


Thursday Aug. 13th
Game One: Calgary Stampeders at Edmonton Eskimos

The Calgary Stampeders fought back last week to get back to .500, whereas the Edmonton Eskimos missed a glorious opportunity to sit atop the West by losing to the Hamilton Tiger Cats. In this years first installment of the "Battle of Alberta," tempers should be high.

Ricky Ray continued his inconsistent play last week. He threw for a lot of yardage, but also tossed two interceptions. Still, Ray looks to be regaining his solid form slowly. Throw in the fact that Edmonton now has somewhat of a running game, and their offense suddenly isn’t looking so anemic.

Look for the Eskimos to attack Calgary’s inexperienced secondary with Kamau Peterson, Maurice Mann, and Fred Stamps.

Calgary, on the other hand, is still off course without star receiver Keynon Rambo. Luckily, players like Jermaine Copeland have stepped up.

Edmonton has a stingy front seven, so running the ball with Joffrey Reynolds may be tough. If Calgary can establish him, however, they could open up the passing game and terrorize Edmonton’s defense.

With two teams that look to be fairly equally matched, this game could come down to who can run the ball and control the line of scrimmage the best. This game will likely be a close contest, but Edmonton is playing at home. Their natural grass is still one of the toughest turfs to play on, and that may be the advantage they need.

My Pick: Edmonton


Friday August 14th
Game One: BC Lions at Toronto Argonauts

Things are starting to look up for the BC Lions. They got an ugly win against the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week and are facing one of the most struggling teams in the CFL, the Toronto Argonauts. Fresh off a shut-out loss against the Montreal Alouettes, the Argonauts are desperate for a win.

For the game, the Argos have benched former MOP Kerry Joseph in favour of back-up pivot Cody Picket. The news was a bit shocking, seeing as Toronto has a lot of other problems than just the quarterback position. Still, a change was perhaps necessary. Pickett will look to rejuvenate a struggling Argos offense.

To do this, it would be smart to get Jamal Robertson involved. BC’s run defense is one of the worst in the league and they could get a big game out of Jamal Robertson.

Similarly, the Lions need to establish the run with rookie sensation Martel Mallet. Mallet is a hard runner which is good because Toronto has a tough front seven. Buck Pierce didn’t have an amazing game last week, but he did a little better job of taking care of the ball. This will be crucial against an Argos team that will be looking for any break they can get.

Upon first glance, it would appear that the Lions will win this game. They are coming off of a victory and Toronto is struggling. The game is in Toronto, however, and road games are never a sure thing. Toronto will likely get a good running game going against the Lions, which will help Cody Pickett settle down. If Pickett has any success at all, look for Toronto’s stingy defense to take care of the rest.

My Pick: Toronto

Saturday August 15th
Game One: Montreal Alouettes at Winnipeg Blue Bombers

They have beaten the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger Cats, and now it is time for the Montreal Alouettes to prove they are indeed top dogs in the East by beating Winnipeg. In fact, Winnipeg has also beaten Toronto and Hamilton, but I’m pretty sure no one thinks they're top dogs in anything.

Winnipeg has recently seen new life with quarterback Michael Bishop added into the line-up. Bishop has been an immediate upgrade over Stefan Lefors and almost led the Bombers to victory over the Stampeders.

But the big reason for the improvement in Winnipeg’s offense is Fred Reid. Reid rushed for 176 yards against Calgary last week, and he will be the player to watch on Saturday. Winnipeg should look to get Reid involved in the run game and the passing game. The Bombers can also look to their other big gun on offense, Terrance Edwards.

The Montreal Alouettes, on the other hand, have a balanced offensive attack. They can hurt you on the ground with Avon Cobourne, or go to the air with Ben Cahoon, Jamal Richardson, and Kerry Watkins. Winnipeg’s defense has been better as of late, but it is a big task shutting down the Als offense.

Fans in Winnipeg have new faith since Michael Bishop arrived. But as a Roughriders fan all I can say is, give it a few weeks. Sure, Bishop looks good at times, but he will ultimately choke when the pressure is on. Montreal is likely going to key on Fred Reid all game, forcing Michael Bishop to throw the ball a lot and likely turn the ball over. On the other side, Anthony Calvillo should do enough to get an important road win.

My Pick: Montreal


Sunday August 16th
Game One: Hamilton Tiger Cats at Saskatchewan Roughriders

The Hamilton Tiger Cats are 4-2? Is this the same team who has been so bad for so long? Every game so far, fans have been saying, “This is the real test for Hamilton.” Well so far, they have passed most of those tests. They have swept the BC Lions in two games and beaten the Edmonton Eskimos, proving they are indeed for real. Still, they will get another test this week against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Riders have been so inconsistent this year. They look good one week against a tough opponent, and then falter the next week against an easy one. Ken Miller doesn’t seem to be inspiring the Riders to do well, and it has surely shown in their play.

Luckily, the team will be getting back defensive end John Chick, who should help stabilize the defensive line. Unluckily, however, the team will be without star middle linebacker Renauld Williams for some time. This isn’t good when DeAndra Cobb is coming into town.

Cobb has been the story of the year so far. He is tearing it up in the ground game and should pose a problem to a weak Riders run defense. Gary Etcheverry’s defense, which is good at creating turnovers, will have to also focus on shutting down Cobb. Without a running game, Quinton Porter will have to throw the ball to beat the Riders. This could only bode well for the Riders.

On offense, the Riders need to get the ball to their playmakers. With Wes Cates in the backfield and receivers like Jason Clermont and Weston Dressler, the Riders have no shortage of talent. The offensive line also needs to do a much better job giving Darian Durant protection.

Finally returning home after a two game road trip, the Riders will be playing in front of a loud home crowd. But will they give them anything to cheer about? I never thought I would pick Hamilton to win in Regina, but they have DeAndra Cobb on their side. Without Renauld Williams in the middle, I’m not sure Saskatchewan can stop the run this week.

My Pick: Hamilton
My Record: 11-13 (46%)