Yup. Lawler did everything he humanly could and had a good year, and it made no difference. The big sexy moves are fine when you have a good foundation, which we didn’t/don’t.
Would you not consider that this year's foundation is more solid than it was last year though? I certainly think it is. At least there's less question marks today than 12 months ago.
QB, more confidence going into this year with Corny than I was with Arbuckle last year, but still a risk. However, I don't see it as any more risky than the QB situation with 4-6 other teams.
Receivers, Mitchell and Dunbar are better than what we were going into last year with Walker and Arcenaux. And Arceneaux was better than expected and still available as another option. There's a few other candidates in this deep group.
RB. I liked Wilder, but I really like Brown as well.
O-line. A little concerned at tackle, but another year development of a Canadian interior linemen with pedigree entering the heart of their career.
Defensively, Jones had a year to pick his guys, seemed to keep the best performers and has added. If there's anything I'm confident about with Jones is that by Year 2 with any team, he'll have his defense humming.
Special teams, still looks like a weakness, but it takes time and a bit of luck to fix that mess.
This isn't a cup contender in my opinion, but I do believe there is a foundation to challenge for playoffs and if they got hot at the right time, you never know with the CFL.
He's going to be 35 before the first snap of pre-season. Ain't no NFL team looking to pick up a 35 year old with 0 career NFL snaps and modest professional success elsewhere (only 3 career playoff starts in the CFL even).
The oldest NFL rookie QB was in 1960 (Butch Songin at 36), the next oldest Dieter Brock Bell at 34 in 1985. After that all 31 and younger.