This is the first installment of the B.C. Lions blog here on BCLocalNews. We had some interesting news out of Lions' camp in Surrey on Tuesday as starting left tackle Walter Stith was cut by the team.

Stith, a 6-foot-9, 300-pound lineman, spent much of 2008 on the practice roster but won the starting job this season after a solid training camp. Stith appears to be the fall guy for the offensive line's poor performance in the first two weeks of the season, surrendering 10 sacks.

Taking over for Stith at left tackle will be Daren Heerspink, a 6-foot-6, 315-pound lineman who was signed a week ago. Heerspink, a native of Bellingham, Wash., was a recent cut of the St. Louis Rams' mini-camp and was a three-year starter at Portland State University. He was a second-team All-Big Sky Conference selection in 2006 and 2007.

Ryan Grice-Mullen, the young wide receiver out of Hawaii who joined the Lions late last season but has struggled with dropped passes in 2009, was dropped from the team's starting lineup for this Thursday's contest in Edmonton.

Grice-Mullen will be replaced by Rufus Skillern, a second-year man out of San Jose State who has yet to catch a pass in 2009 but impressed during the pre-season, with three catches for 102 yards in the exhibition finale against Edmonton.

Kicker/Punter Paul McCallum, who suffered a knee injury making a tackle last week against Hamilton is out for the next 6-8 weeks, which means Sean Whyte, a native of White Rock, and who just came off the nine-game injured list, will take over the kicking duties for the Leos in Edmonton.

Whyte has spent the last three seasons on the Lions' practice roster or injured list. In 2006 and '07, he was the kicker for the Big Kahuna Rams of the British Columbia Football Conference.

Matt Carter, a wide receiver and Acadia grad whom the Lions picked fifth overall in the 2009 CFL Draft and assigned to their practice roster after camp, signed with Hamilton on Monday.

Carter left the team after an undisclosed illness in his family with the intention of returning to school, but instead took a job on the Tiger-Cats' practice roster, which is closer to his family in Oakville, Ontario and makes it easier to live on the $500-per-week stipend CFL practice roster players receive.

Practice squad players in the CFL are free agents, but could be called up to the active roster of the team they are practicing on at full pay.

Carter's signing with Hamilton brings up some concerns with league rules about whether or not players with CIS eligibility remaining should be allowed to sign with other teams less than a year after being drafted.

The Lions had two other first round picks in 2009, at three and four. Bishop's University running back Jamall Lee, who was picked third overall, is currently in camp with the Carolina Panthers, and the fourth pick, linebacker James Yurichuk, also from Bishop's, is playing on the team's special teams units.

Gametime for Thursday's tilt in Edmonton is 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on TSN and the TEAM 1040 radio.