BCLions.com
Between them slotbacks Geroy Simon and Arland Bruce have played in almost 400 CFL games. They have made 1,632 catches for 26,561 yards and hauled in 151 touchdowns passes.
The two players pencilled in to take their spots on the B.C. Lions’ roster this season – Courtney Taylor and Nick Moore – have a combined three years CFL experience. Together they have caught 43 passes for 713 yards and five touchdowns.
Obviously it’s an unfair comparison. Replacing Simon, the CFL’s all-time leader in pass receiving yards who was traded to Saskatchewan, is near impossible.
As the Lions’ coaching staff prepare for life without Simon and Bruce, they understand things will be different this season. But that doesn’t mean the B.C. receivers won’t be able to get the job done.
“When you lose or replace players like Geroy or Arland, you are not necessarily looking for the same prototype to replace them,” said Jacques Chapdelaine, B.C.’s offensive co-ordinator. “First of all, it’s going to be exceptionally difficult to do that, nearly impossible.
“Those guys are different players. They don’t have the same level of experience maybe, but they bring something to the table. That makes you a little bit different.”
What the Lions have subtracted in experience with the loss of Simon and Bruce, they hope to gain in the potential of players like Taylor, Moore, Emmanuel Arceneaux, Shawn Gore, Akeem Foster, Marco Iannuzzi and Ernest Jackson. Also attending this year’s training camp is wide receiver S. J. Haidara of the Laval Rouge et Or, who B.C. selected 12th overall in the Canadian Draft.
| Arceneaux not looking back |
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“A lot of fans forget I was playing here in 2009 and 2010. Now he’s not here. I can’t say what’s going to happen but the fans and the reporters need to get it in perspective that I was part of the team when Geroy where here. It’s not a big deal that Geroy is not here.” – Lions WR Manny Arceneaux on Geroy Simon`s departure |
“It’s a younger group,” said quarterback Travis Lulay. “There is a high level of energy coming out of that group.
“It’s a fast group. There are a lot of athletic guys. I’m excited.”
Moore, who turns 27 later this month, collected 32 passes for 399 yards in just seven games last season. The native of Westerville, Ohio, proved to be a clutch player by making 13 second-down catches that resulted in first downs.
Taylor, a 29-year-old from Carrollton, Ala., played just five games for the Lions last year but still managed 16 catches for 264 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He spent three years in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks, but was released in 2009 after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The disease is now in remission.
Foster, a native of Ajax, Ont., had 28 catches for 356 yards and three touchdowns in 2011. The 26-year-old, who is entering his fourth season with B.C., said Simon and Bruce helped mentor all the receivers. Now, like any apprentices, the group is anxious to demonstrate their own skills.
“Talking to the guys, that’s the consensus,” said Foster. “We’re finally going to get the opportunity to show who we are.
“A lot of people forget that last year we spent a lot of time playing without Geroy and Arland and we were still successful. Most of us have a chip on our shoulder for the fact no one is giving us the opportunity or the credit we deserve. With the receiving corps we have, we are probably tops in the league.”
Simon, 37, missed five games last season with two hamstring injuries. He finished the year with 54 catches for 700 yards and missed the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the first time since 2002.
Bruce missed five games with a concussion. The 35-year-old, who had 43 catches for 603 yards, was released over the winter and signed with the Montreal Alouettes.
The return of Arceneaux, back after a two-year stint in the NFL, adds another weapon to the Lions’ arsenal. At six-foot-two and 211 pounds, he’ll be a big target for Lulay to throw at.
“The first thing he said to me is ‘nothing has changed,’ ” said Lulay. “I’m just a little smarter player now.”
Arceneaux signed as a free agent with the Lions even though both the Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts showed interest in his services.
“I’m excited to be back,” said the 25-year-old who had 67 catches for 1,114 yards and five touchdowns when he last wore a Lions’ uniform in 2010. “It’s another opportunity to be out there playing football with a group of guys I’m familiar with.”
The prospect of trying to fit into Simon’s cleats doesn’t intimidate the Alexandria, La., native.
“I played with Geroy,” he said. “He was able to mentor me, mould me so I was able to come up to the CFL and make plays.
“A lot of fans forget I was playing here in 2009 and 2010. Now he’s not here. I can’t say what’s going to happen but the fans and the reporters need to get it in perspective that I was part of the team when Geroy where here. It’s not a big deal that Geroy is not here.”
Gore, a Toronto native, led the Lions last year with 722 receiving yards on 62 catches and had five touchdowns. Iannuzzi, a Calgary native who studied economics at Harvard, played in 16 games last year, started seven, and had 30 catches for 353 yards and five touchdowns.
Paris Jackson was a backup most of last year but the 32-year-old Vancouver native still had 10 catches for 127 yards.
Ernest Jackson, 26, came off the practice roster in August and in 10 games had 27 catches for 347 yards. He had four or more catches in four games.
Any Lions success will hinge on Lulay, who had a 66.5 per cent completion ratio last year while throwing for 4,231 yards, 27 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions.
Head coach Mike Benevides believes it won’t take long for the Lions receivers to show different can still produce positive results.
“There’s no doubt there’s been a lot of change there,” said the second-year head coach. “We will just have to see how they have grown and take responsibility and accountability for their positions.
“We really have to see how they work together.”
