Labor Day Classic 2009

Monday, June 1, 2009

Rookie Camp Outlook By Gbonds


Postby GBonds88 Of Ticats .ca on June 1st, 2009, 9:35 am

Read the Thread here : 2009 Tiger-Cats Training Camp Thread

Alright, so I thought I would follow up the rookie roster, by picking 2 players from each position and giving a couple reasons why I will be keeping a close eye on them come Thursday morning...

Quarter Backs

Jason Boltus - Boltus looks like he could be our most promising QB, outside of Porter of course. He is only 22 years of age, and has some decent NCAA Division III accomplishments under his belt. If Jason could land a spot on the practice roster or even better, on the active roster. With Kevin Glenn, Khari Jones, and even Quinton Porter helping him along the way, we could possibly have a future star QB just waiting for his chance to take over the team as his own.

Adam Tafralis - Now I know he is listed on the rookie roster but Adam is really only there to get in some extra reps. He had some game experience late last season, and proved he could move the ball down field, he looks to have great potential. I look for him to set the tone and show these rookies how its done at the pro football level.

Running Backs

Darcy Brown - He will probably be the guy I watch the most in the two practice days, mainly because he was drafted so highly and seemed to come from nowhere in this years draft. Follow that up by Obie saying he is a bigger faster and more athletic version of Jason Clermont is really saying something. If Darcy can prove he can block and run the ball well, we might have an amazing talent at fullback on plays when he comes out of the backfield.

DeAndra' Cobb - DeAndra' will no doubt get a shot at making the team as a return specialist. Cobb looks to have amazing break away speed and good vision when returning kicks in the video's I have watched of him. I think he might be one of the surprises come training camp, look for DeAndra' to contest with the likes of veteran back, Terry Caulley, and 2nd year back Tre Smith for a shot at being Kenton Keith's backup(Thats assuming Kenton has dropped the NFL weight and regained his past CFL form).

Receivers

David Ball - First of all, the main reason I will be following David Ball, is because he reminded me so much of Andy Fantuz when I watched his highlights from his college days. Speaking of his college days Ball holds the NCAA Division I-AA record for career touchdowns (previously held by NFL legend Jerry Rice). I'm looking forward to watching him haul in some crazy catches in training camp and hope he earns a spot on our active roster come July 1st.

Aaron Fairooz - At 6 foot 6 inches, 218 pounds, who ISN'T going to be watching how this kid does! If Fairooz can perform well in camp and earn a spot on the depth chart come game time we could possibly have a twin tower attack with Fairooz and Prechae Rodriguez, what a scary combo that could be. He was a late cut by the bombers last season and even scored a touchdown against us in the pre season. The receiver battle will be the most interesting competition I'll be watching in camp.

Offensive Lineman

Simeon Rottier - Well I think with being the #1 overall pick in the draft, you will attract a lot of the attention in training camp as well as during the season. He has the size to be an excellent lineman in this league for years to come, and he will have two of the leagues top tackles in the CFL to teach him the ropes. I think we all know Rottier will most likely be our Offensive Tackle of the future, but I'm very excited and interested to see how Simeon stacks up against the big boys in training camp.

Zac Carlson - Without a doubt Zac Carlson will be one of the players I'll be excited to see in action. Some "experts" are saying Carlson may have the advantage over Simeon Rottier, coming from a US college program where he has surely faced tougher opponents to make him transition to the CFL a lot easier. If Zac can constantly improve during training camp as well as during the season we could have a very solid Canadian lineman on our hands... Now it's just up to Carlson, in proving to us that he was worth that 2010 1st overall selection we gave for him. I think he will shape up just fine!

Defensive Lineman

Scott McCuaig - Scott could be one of the more promising young Canadian defensive players we have. He finished his CIS career with 27.5 quarterback sacks and 174 sack yards, both Canada West records... He was also Canada West’s nominee for the J.P. Metras Trophy as Outstanding CIS Lineman in 2008... and was named a CIS First-Team All-Canadian in 2008. I'm really looking forward to seeing how McCuaig does in rookie camp against guys like Rottier, Carlson, Bederman, and Daneau(who are all rookie Canadian O-Lineman). Then it will be awesome to see how he does against some of the toughest offensive lineman in the league, in Alexandre Gauthier and Dan Goodspeed.

Alex Morrow - At 6'6" 270lbs, I'm hoping Morrow will be an absolute force on the defensive line. Alex could be that "diamond in the rough" we have been searching for to shore up our defensive front. He just turned 23 and already has a professional football training camp under his belt with the NFL’s New York Giants. I am hoping Alex has a great camp for us and proves to be a solid force at the Defensive Tackle position along side Darrell Adams.

Linebackers

Jacob Patek - Jacob played safety as well as linebacker in college at Hawaii, so he may not be the ideal size for a linebacker, but from the video's I have watched of him he shows great quickness and superb footwork. He reminds me of another smaller but quick and strong linebacker, who is already playing for us by the name of Markeith Knowlton. We can only hope Patek turns out like the 2008 Eastern All-Star linebacker, Knowlton was for us last season.

Matt Castelo - Like Morrow above he also has had a professional training camp but Castelo tried out with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. What was even more interesting is Castelo also just turned 23 and on the same exact day as Morrow... Now I will admit I don't know much about Castelo, but what I can tell you is he tallied some serious numbers in college. Matt finished his collegiate career with 433 tackles (203 solo), 27 tackles for a loss, 5.5 quarterback sacks, six forced fumbles and one interception and started 40 of 43 games he appeared in at San Jose State. He could be an interesting find for Obie if he can crack the final roster or even make the practice roster and get developed over the season. At any rate we at least know the guy can tackle!

Defensive Backs

Raymond Wladichuk - Raymond is the youngest player on the Tiger-Cats roster at 21 years of age. He is a player I would like to watch closely, as I'm interested to see how he adjusts to the CFL speed and how he competes with the other DB's in stopping the speedy receivers Obie brought in this year. Coach Bellefeuille could maybe even try him at safety behind Barker and Beveridge. He could very well turn out to be a great young Canadian depth player for us this season. Oh yeah and his dad is also a big Tiger-Cats fan, so he already gets some brownie points from me. lol

Alan Zemaitis - If he can stay healthy throughout this years training camp I will be looking for big things out of Zemaitis. A lot of fans have voiced their opinion on Zemaitis's potential, some even saying he will take Lawrence Gordon's corner spot. Now I do agree Zemaitis has a lot of potential and could turn out to be a great defensive back in this league. But he must first prove he deserves that corner spot over Gordon before I will agree with fans and appoint him our starting corner. With all that being said Zemaitis will be one of the DB's I will be watching all through training camp. He definitely has the talent to be a starter lets just see if he can perform and stay health now to earn the starting role.
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