The Edmonton Eskimos have released Canadian Receiver Kamau Peterson as well as Quarterback Jared Zabransky.

Peterson won the Most Outstanding Canadian Award in the CFL in 2008,  but was plagued by an Achilles injury last season, when he only played 4 games.

Esks Head Coach Kavis Reed said “The decision to part ways with a ten-year veteran is never easy. Kamau has given a lot to this organization and through his charitable efforts has made a positive impact in our community. We wish Kamau and his family every success in the future.”

As far as Zabransky’s release goes, the writing was on the wall for a while. He did not receive an invitation to Eskimos mini-camp last week, as GM Eric Tillman was shopping him around the league.

It was obvious that Zabransky was not going to catch his big break in Edmonton. Ricky Ray was always going to be the starter and that didn’t change.

Though the young quarterback threw for 609 yards and 4 touchdowns as the back up last year, it didn’t make sense for other teams, regardless of quarterback issues, to trade for him.

If the Esks couldn’t have found a trade partner (which they didn’t) the next step would be to out right release him.  (Which they did.)

Any team can now sign him without having to give any up except for cap space.

Coach Reed told an Edmonton radio station today that Matt Nichols will most likely be the backup QB this season.

You can follow me on twitter @MyqWilson

If you missed it, the Montreal Alouettes have signed former NFL star Ahman Green.

With the signing of a NFL running back, one has to wonder what the Als will do with 2009 Grey cup MVP Avon Cobourne.

First off, I would like to ask the Alouettes, WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU THINKING!?!

Now that I got that out off my system I will go into greater depth.

You have won back to back grey cups. Your running back has come within 50 yards from 1000 for 3 years in a row.

If you think you have something to improve on, I doubt it’s at the running back position.

Luckily, I am not an Alouettes fan. Making it very interesting to think where Cobourne might up if the Al’s decide not to bring him back (which is looking likely).

Unfortunately for Cobourne if this happens, it doesn’t look good for simply heading to another team.

Let’s take a look at teams in the CFL and their status at the running back position.

Toronto: Cory Boyd finished second in rushing last year with 1359 yards. He was also the only reason the Argos made the playoffs coming off of a year in which they gathered up only 3 wins.

Hamilton: After racking up 1173 yards last year, DeAndra’ Cobb is the guy for the Tiger-cats.

Winnipeg: Fred Reid led the league in rushing last year with 1396 yards.

Looks like Avon might have to look to the west.

Saskatchewan: Wes Cates lead the league in Touchdowns, last year with 15. Further west Avon!

Calgary: They have not one, but two good running backs!

B.C.: Jamal Robertson is only a few yards back from Cobourne, so it wouldn’t make much sense for B.C. to sign him.

Edmonton: Arkee Whitlock ran for 1293 yards in 2009 and for 689 yards in an injury filled season. With the Whitlock injury, the Esks brought in Daniel Porter who was the reason the Esks had the turnaround they did. Porter ran 1.2 yards a carry better then Whitlock so Edmonton looks to have a good 1-2 punch at running back.

After doing this research, looks like Cobourne will have to compete for the Alouettes job.

Eric Tillman has taken another step in the right direction in fixing this team.

The Esks announced Monday the signing of Receiver Chris Bauman.

One of the main problems the Esks had last year was Canadian content. In that they had none. The key to success in the CFL is having skilled Canadians so Tillman is going out to find it.

His first addition isn’t a bad one either. Bauman was Hamilton’s first pick overall in the 2007 draft .  The second pick in that draft belonged to Edmonton, who drafted a kicker by the name Warren Keen, who is no longer with the team.

“We’re very pleased to have Chris as an Eskimo,” says Eskimo General Manager Eric Tillman.  “He’s still in the formative stages of his career, but we certainly believe he is a young man with significant upside.  In planning for 2011, from day one our mantra has been that strong Canadian content is the backbone of all successful clubs in our league.  Signing Chris is another positive step in our objective to upgrade that critical component of success.”

Bauman recorded 17 catches for 298 yards and 3 touchdowns last year with the Tiger-cats.

Bauman was released by Hamilton making him availablefor the Esks. Free agency in the CFL starts February 16th, one week from tomorrow.

After finishing with a record of 7-11 and not making the playoffs for the 3rd time in 5 years, the Edmonton Eskimos announced Friday that they have relived Head Coach Richie Hall of his duties.

General Manager Eric Tillman said ”after meeting it was clear we had philosophical differences on how the team should move forward”

Unlike the Oilers, The Esks are not in a rebuild according to Tillman. He’s looking to be competitive next season.

There are no words on who the head coach is but there have been rumors that Kent Austin or Winnipeg assistant coach Kavis Reed may be getting the job.

According to Jason Gregor, Tillman is looking to make this team younger. Expect major changes on the defense, secondary, and receiving core.

As far as the assistant coaches go, it will be up to the new head coach to name them.

I can’t see Kevin Strasser returning with his plainer then vanilla offence. If he gave the ball to Daniel porter more in the final gave against Saskatchewan, they probably would have won. The running game was the only thing that gave the Esks a hope at a playoff spot and Strasser seemed to stray away from it.

Tillman hasn’t made a bed decision with Esks yet, lets hope the new coach will bring a new (or classic) attitude to the Eskimos locker room.

Thanks for reading,

Mike Wilson

You can Follow me on twitter @WilsonNLLBlog

The Edmonton Eskimos are one game away from the playoffs. Yep its true go see it for yourself. With the clusterf*#k that has been the Edmonton Eskimos this season, there is still a team one game from being as terrible. The B.C. Lions. But thats somebody else’s story.

I seem to be putting a negative spin on this but i’m a little exited considering where they were a few weeks ago. Right now there are 3 types of Eskimo fan perspectives:

“It’s over just give up we’ll try again next year” “Maybe there is a chance they can make the playoffs. If they can get in it would be fantastic, but I wouldn’t be too disappointed if it didn’t happen”

“OMG THE GREY CUP IS STILL OURS! A NEW ERA HAS BEGUN WITH THE NEW GM AND EVERYTHING IS RAINBOWS AND UNICORNS!”

Although these ones have their own messed up problems

The last one would be the one in which the fewest people share their opinion with. I share mine with the second.

There is a lot of positive things that I saw yesturday that give me some hope of where this team might go.

The Fred Stamps show is back on air

Ricky Ray’s biggest weapon came back with a touchdown and 181 yards on 10 catches.

About time Ricky got some time

Tim Prinsen has come in as the new offensive line coach and has drastically improved the unit.

Gas prices these days

The esks had a promotion that gave fans a coupon that gave them $3.50 off their purchase of gas whenever they put 35 or more points on the board. It was the first time they scored 30 or more points.

The wonders of the CFL. A league where a 4-9 team can be a game away from  a playoff birth. Got to love it.

They play in Hamilton next week.

Thanks for reading,

Mike Wilson

Reports have come out saying that the Edmonton Eskimos will announce Eric Tillman as their new General Manager.

He comes with a track record that has positive and negative attributes.

One one side he has won 3 Grey cups with B.C. (’94), Toronto(’97), and Saskatchewan (’07).

On the Other side he had some brushes with the law. Tillman pleaded guilty to sexual assaulting his children’s babysitter and received an absolute discharge in January.

“The judge’s decision means Tillman is still considered guilty of the offence, but he will not have a criminal conviction and will not have to meet any sentencing conditions.”-ctv.ca

I think that this is a good move for the Esks. Tillman has no criminal history and I don’t think it would be any sort of distraction. He would turn this mediocre team into a Grey Cup contender. The positives outweigh the negatives in my book.

But what do you think? Let me know by tweeting at me @MikeWilsonITC or leave a comment.

Thanks for reading,

Mike Wilson

Things have gone from bad to worse for the Esks lately. They have a 6-1 record coming off a 56-15 loss on Sunday to their rivals the Stamps, had had to fire their O-line coach Jeff Bleamer, and has had their hall of fame great, Dan Kepley, resign from being the Linebacker coach. I expect Offensive Coordinator Kevin Strasser to be next on the chopping block.

But though the darkness one player has come out with a glimmer of light. Kelly Campbell earned the Gibson’s Finest Special Teams Player of the Week for his returning performance during Sundays game. He returned 5 kickoffs  for 141 yards and 5 punt returns 162 yards and a touchdown. He also tallied up 36 yards in receiving.

If he can keep this up, maybe their games might still be worth watching.

Mike Wilson

Last week I wrote an article about how the Esks need to win against B.C.. Period. This week its the same. Last weeks win was a win yes, but a hideous one. They only managed to concur 1 and a half of their 4 demons that  I described and actually presented another. At 1-4, they cant afford a loss. So until they can gain some ground in the standings, every game is a must win.  Similar to what I did last week, here are the problems the Esks have, that they need to fix for retro night at Commonwealth.

1. Ricky Ray’s Indecisiveness:

Last week, the first reason was the O-line. But the after watching last weeks game I found a problem in my chart. The addition of rookie Jeremy Parquet added some much needed nastiness to the line. They looked better, but they exposed another problem to me.  Rickey Ray is sitting in the pocket to long and second guessing himself. This leads to incomplete passes and picks. This is not a problem anybody but Ray can fix, so he better start working on it.

2. The 4th Quarter:

As mentioned last week, the Esks have been dominated in the forth quarter. They have now been outscored 65-17, but last week was especially bad. 14 points were scored on strait up blown plays. An interception on a play were it seemed like Ray was making a blind pass to the flats. The throw screamed “PICK 6″. The other scoring play came on a kickoff return, a play you never want to happen. This is a huge problem, but second to…

3. The Red-zone Offence:

4 field goals, and a missed one. 12 points that could have been 35. Can I make it any clearer? I don’t think so.

Thanks for reading,

Mike Wilson

Even though the Eskimos captured their first win over the Lions Friday night, I was not given the impression that this team has improved past the point where they can consistently win games. 14 points were scored against them in the Forth quarter because of simple mistakes that have cost them in the past. A pick 6 because of a bad read, and a kick return for a touchdown because of point blank bad coverage.

Changes had to be made, and Danny Maciocia felt their wrath. Now I bet your thinking “How do players mistakes result in Danny Maciocia losing his job?’. Because as the GM, he made this team. And its not just this team, but those of 2006,07,08, and 09. 2006 was the first time in 35 years they didn’t make the playoffs. That streak was a pro sports record! Only 2 of those seasons we actually made the playoffs and we only got past the first round once. Not to mention it took them 5 weeks this year to get a win, and an ugly one at that. In the City Of Champions, mediocrity is NOT tolerated. Changes had to be made.

I’m not saying he was a bad person. He was at every community event in the city of Edmonton.  He was a great humanitarian, but not a great GM.

Of coarse there are still things that need to be fixed. Having Danny gone isn’t going going to fix any of the problems I presented to you on Friday. An updated version of the Esks demons will be on the site within the next few days.

Thanks for reading,

Mike Wilson

At 0-4 the only option for the Esks tomorrow night is to win. Thats it. The president Rick Lelecheur came out and said that Richie(Hall) and Danny (Maciocia) know that winning is the only option. But to win you need to fix mistakes. Lets look back on what has gone wrong in these last 4 games that made them winless and see if they fixed them, are trying to fix them, or have yet to work on the matters.

The O-line

The Problem:

The O-line can be responsible for a lot of problems in the offence that can be demonstrated in this chart:

1. O-line can’t hold off defence

2. Pressure on the Quarterback

3. Quarterback can’t make all his reads

4. Quarterback has to throw to either a covered receiver or one far from the first down line

5. Interception or no first down (if this is repeated)

6. Either way the drive is stopped

What They Have Done: Veteran Joe McGrath will sit out in favour of rookie Jeremy Parquet who they are hoping can add some nastiness to the line. So lets say they’re working on it.

Dropped Balls

The Problem: Dropped balls that if caught, could out the game away.

What They Have Done: Well its a problem thats not a one time fix but Kelly Campbell has looked to put more emphasis on the catch before he turns up field. So he’s working on it.

Red-Zone Offence

The Problem: When your in the red-zone you want touchdowns.If anything the Esks get field goals.

What Have They Done: 3 Touchdowns were scored in their loss to Winnipeg. It’s not much but its better then what they have done in the previous 3 games. Its being worked on.

The 4th Quarter

The Problem: They have been outscored 50-7 in the forth quarter and only scored their first 4th quarter points last week.

What They Have Done To Fix It: Nothing. The largest total of points against in the forth quarter this season were scored against the Esks last week against Winnipeg. So this has to be fixed.

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If they can’t win tonight against the Lions, jobs will be lost. If they can even partly control these 4 demons they will win. It’s that easy. Casey Printers will only dress as the third string quarterback with his injury so Travis Lulay will be the starter. That could be good news, then again, they played a backup last week and look how that turned out. Other lineup changes for the Esks include sitting DB Jason Goss and giving DT Adam Braidwood his first game action this year after coming off an injury.

Heres hoping for a win or maybe I might lose my job too.

Thanks for reading,

Mike Wilson

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