Hervey: Upgraded O-line ‘a priority’ for Lions

For all its complexities football can sometimes be a very simple game.

To win, you must score more points than the other team. To do that, you need to give your quarterback time to make plays.

When you allow the most sacks in the CFL, and your quarterbacks are pressured more than any other in the league, the odds of winning are stacked against you.

The BC Lions averaged 26.1 points a game last year, seventh worst among the league’s nine teams. The Lions also gave up 49 sacks and 141 quarterback pressures, both league worsts.

“Those are not numbers we are proud of,” said Lions general manager Ed Hervey. “Those are numbers we look to improve on this season.”


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There were several factors that contributed to the Lions finishing 7-11 last year and missing the playoffs for the first time since 1996. Injuries to key people, a defence that was guilty of giving up the big play, a lack of pressure on the opposing quarterback.

Still, if the Lions hope to turn things around this season they must do a better job of protecting quarterback Jonathon Jennings. That helps explain why Hervey signed three offensive linemen on the first day of CFL free agency.

The addition of international players Joel Figueroa and Jeremy Lewis, plus veteran Canadian Christopher Greaves will add size and experience to the BC O-line. Figueroa and Greaves both played for Hervey when he was general manager in Edmonton.

“It was a priority going into free agency with the mindset of upgrading positions on the offensive line,” said Hervey.

“We have a high emphasis on protecting the quarterback this season. It’s imperative that we do so, and we want to create the most competition we can going into camp.”

At 6-foot-6 and 320 pounds, the 28-year-old Figueroa is almost impossible to miss on the field. Yet he brings a skill set that can put the coaching staff’s mind to rest. He started 15 games at left tackle for Edmonton last year, plus played in two playoff games.

“When you have an offensive tackle that you can forget about, that’s what every team is looking for,” said Davis Sanchez, a former CFL player and a CFL.ca analyst.

“That’s what Figueroa was for the Eskimos last season, someone you don’t have to think about or be concerned with. I expect that to be the same in B.C.”

Hervey was emphatic in his praise of Figueroa.

“We consider him one of the most underrated offensive linemen in the league,” he said. “We feel he is one of the top offensive linemen out there who doesn’t get much recognition.

“He is very physical and very athletic.”

Figueroa had no hesitations over leaving a Grey Cup contender in Edmonton for a team that missed the playoffs last year.

“There are plenty of great players on this team,” he said. “It’s just certain little pieces here and there we have to fit together.

“There is a lot of promise on this team.”

After spending five seasons with the University of Miami, Figueroa started his CFL career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, playing 26 games over three years. He also played in back-to-back Grey Cup games with Hamilton.

Jarious Jackson, BC’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, likes the depth Figueroa adds.

“The main thing is having options, creating depth for training camp, creating depth for the season,” said Jackson, a former Lions quarterback.

“I’m excited when you have a guy that has been in the fire, that has done it for a number of games.

Hervey said Figueroa brings leadership on and off the field.

“He is a good character guy, a good teammate,” he said. “He is all about winning. He is one of those players you want on your football team because he is going to do everything he can to win.”

The Lions added another former Eskimo on Tuesday in Euclid Cummings (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)

The 6-foot-4, 310-pound Lewis was a teammate of Figueroa’s both at Miami and in Hamilton. He played for Montreal last season.

Greaves has nine years of CFL experience. The 6-foot-5, 303-pound Toronto native played for Western before being drafted in 2010 by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played 82 games over six seasons for Winnipeg before being traded to Edmonton in 2015 and being part of the Eskimos’ Grey Cup championships team. He signed with Montreal last year.

Hervey said Greaves filled in for an injury and should have been named Most Valuable Canadian in Edmonton’s Grey Cup win.

“He gives us depth, but he also gives us someone that we know we can depend on,” he said.

Hervey has also taken steps to add some bite into the defensive line, signing free agent defensive tackle Euclid Cummings, who had 21 defensive stops and eight sacks with the Eskimos last year, and picking up defensive end Odell Willis in a trade from Ottawa. Willis had eight sacks and quarterback pressures as an Eskimo in 2017.

The Lions obtained defensive end Gabriel Knapton in a trade with Montreal for wide receiver Chris Williams.

Jackson said Hervey has managed to strengthen two of the Lions’ weaknesses.

“If you can’t protect the quarterback, or if you can’t get after the quarterback, then you are fighting an uphill battle,” he said.

“The most important thing is the trenches. Ed had done a great job going about it.”