Monday Mailbag: GM Bob O’Billovich
Congratulations on the win, but do you think fans and analysts are jumping the gun on Quinton Porter? He’s played six quarters of good football (a half against Winnipeg and the game against Montreal) and then he had one bad game in B.C. I think it’s too early to suggest he’s the next Danny McManus.
-Joe C.
Newmarket, Ontario
Obie: First of all, he didn’t play bad against B.C. He didn’t have the support that he had in the other two games. He actually graded out in the B.C. game, interestingly enough, higher than any of our quarterbacks in any of the previous games. We have high hopes for Quinton Porter and he definitely is for real. He’s a good young player that has tremendous upside and I think he could have bright future with this football team.
Since you’re in charge of the personnel on this team, I’m wondering, do we have any all-stars this year? I would think Chris Thompson has to be in the running with all his interceptions, but is there anyone else on this team that really deserves to be an all-star?
-Sean M.
Kingston, Ontario
Obie: I definitely agree with Thompson. Probably Markeith Knowlton would be another guy I would think. On offence, we haven’t had enough consistency there to have many guys considered for all-star teams, outside of maybe Marwan Hage on the offensive line. Tre Smith could be a special teams consideration, but I don’t think he’s going to beat out Dominique Dorsey on the Argos, so that would negate him. When you have the record we have, it kind of takes away from the players being considered for all-star teams.
Do you like what you’re seeing from the defence? It seems like you’ve done a good job improving the secondary, but we still haven’t seen a consistent pass rush. Also, without JoJuan Armour and Zeke Moreno, the linebacking corps just keeps on ticking with Markeith Knowlton, Ray Mariuz, Cornelius Anthony, and now Cameron Siskowic. Is linebacker an easy position to find replacements or something? How have the team’s backers continued to have so much success even with the turnover?
-Mike Stewart
London, Ontario
Obie: The linebacking is playing really well and we actually have more team speed now than we did when we had Zeke in the lineup. I think that’s evident when you watch the games and the way we’ve been playing since we made the trade. Linebackers are easier to find than defensive linemen. Good pass rushers are at a premium and even the NFL is trying to find those kind of guys all the time We’re probably one, maybe two guys away on the defensive line to make us as good as we want to be, but as far as the linebackers and secondary we think we’re pretty close with the guys we have. We’ll definitely sign one or two guys for the future to come in and compete for jobs, but we’ve improved the secondary, which was one of the priorities when I took this job.
Bob,
I think you’ve done a great job in your first year with our Ticats, but I’ve never played football in my life, so my question is how do you feel about your rookie year in Hamilton? How would you grade your performance so far?
-Imelda M.
Grimsby, Ontario
Obie: I think I’ve been very optimistic about our season this year. My performance has been good, where I’ve been disappointed is not so much in the new guys I’ve brought in but in the veteran guys. Some of our veteran players haven’t played as well as what we anticipated. We expected them to be guys we could hang our hat on and build around them, but some of those guys haven’t done as well as we hoped. We still have a few things to work out as far as getting the right guys in the right positions and how we use the ratio in the future. We have some good young Canadian players and some players that weren’t able to play this year that will give us some other options for next year.
Just wanted to give best wishes to Dylan Barker while it must be frustrating to have been injured it sounds as though he has a good attitude and is determined to get healthy ahead of schedule. My question is where was Dylan projected to play this season before his injury occurred? I realize that most of his time would be with special teams but where was he going to fit into the defence, backup safety, or say a nickel back or linebacker in certain situations? My second question is about Danny Mac. I am glad he is back as a Tiger Cat but could you explain to us what his job responsibilities are, is it primarily focusing on the QBs or is there other things or areas he’s assigned to? Thanks,
-Mark S.
Brantford, Ontario
Obie: Dylan was being slotted in as a free safety, that’s where we thought he could make it, then we were going to use him as the sixth DB in passing situations, to bring him along. Nothing will change, that’s how well proceed next year. We also have another good young Canadian defensive back that we brought in, who got a dislocated shoulder, Sean Manning. So with those two youngsters, who are both over 6’3, 200 pounds and can run, I think our future at that position looks pretty stable right now. As for Danny, right now he’s focused on coaching primarily. I think he has an interest in maybe trying to get involved with the football operations side of the business. Whether or not we can use him as a scout or in some other capacity, we’re trying to figure that out, but at the present time his contribution is as a coach.
I wanted to take a second to encourage you despite another unusual season in Tabbieland. Please keep your collective heads held high because I strongly believe a culture of winning and football excellence is poised to return to Hamilton. I base my belief on some shining moments I have witnessed from a lot of obviously talented Ticats players so far this season. It’s all about timing and that somewhat magical moment when everyone gels as a team. It’s going to happen! I tell anyone who will listen that today’s Ticats are like the 2006 Tampa Bay Rays. The future is bright, so watch out CFL. Now, if only I could write the same note to my Argonauts… Cheers!
-Derek
Toronto, Ontario
Obie: Well you can’t cheer for the Argos and the Ticats at the same time obviously, but I would agree with your assessment of our football team. We’re on the right track and if you look back on the season, if we had just won half of those close games that we lost, we would be in second place and getting ready for the post season. There is still an outside chance that we could still make the playoffs and that’s why we’re taking these games one at a time and hoping that can happen still, but I think you’re right about our talent and the future of
this team. We have the right pieces in place in most cases. We have a few spots where we need to get better, and next year we’ll be poised to be a really good football team.
If you have more questions for Obie, or other members of the Tiger-Cats organization, send them to blackandgold@ticats.ca
