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Winnipegger Tachinski gets shot as receiver with BombersPaul Friesen Jackson Tachinski walked onto the field at Blue Bomber training camp on Tuesday and recalled his greatest moment as the quarterback of the University of Manitoba Bisons. “I broke my passing record and we beat Calgary in a shootout. I think it was like 35-31, or something like that,” the 24-year-old Winnipegger recalled. “That's definitely one of my favourite games here. That'd be my last game as a Bison, and having that kind of epic comeback and epic ending, that definitely stands out to me.” What stands out watching Tachinski these days: he's a receiver. The transition began at last year's CFL combine, when somebody suggested he try it. “Obviously not every quarterback wants to hear that,” he said. “But I try to put my ego aside. These coaches want the best for you. They're really smart. So I just believed in them and I took a shot.” As out of place as Tachinski first felt, there was something very much in place, too. At 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, he definitely had the size. But there was more: a knack for making plays. “I hadn't done it before,” he said. “And I made a few plays. So they just said that I could probably flourish at that spot in my pro career.” With that, he officially traded his arm for a set of hands at Edmonton's training camp last year. Returning to quarterback the Bisons in one final U Sports season, he left that position behind for good, it seems, for another shot with the Elks this spring. When they cut him loose, the Bombers pounced. “He's a hell of an athlete,” head coach Mike O'Shea said. “We get the benefit of knowing him personally and having him been here before. He's a great add. He obviously can still sling the ball, too. He gives you a couple different things you can look at. He's a great kid. A hardworking guy.” And a guy thrilled to get a shot on a field and in a city that feels like home. “It's awesome,” Tachinski said. “It's really cool to be here. Hometown team, hometown stadium... just a blessing. Obviously it sucks to get cut. But at the end of the day you've got to have a positive outlook on it. And I just saw it as a door closing but another one's going to open. So I'm happy this one opened.” Entering the Bombers locker-room on Tuesday, he felt even more at home, running into former Bisons teammates Collin Kornelson and Kaleb Mackie-McLeod, the latter also just signed by Winnipeg. There was also Bisons quarterback Cole Anseewu, taking part in the same internship program that Tachinski participated in a couple years back. “It's cool just being with them again,” Tachinski said. “Because you play that last game with them and in the back of your head you're thinking I'm never going to play football with these guys again. And you walk in the locker-room and you see them and you're like, 'Oh, maybe I was wrong.'” Where this will lead, who knows? As a receiver, Tachinski is already miles ahead of that first day at the combine. Back then he actually had to think about his steps while running a route. “I was literally thinking about my footwork in the route, like right-left-right, or left-right-left,” he said. “That's probably the biggest difference, is I'm not really thinking about my technique but I'm more thinking about the stuff around me.” Stuff like what the defence is doing, and where he is in the quarterback's progressions: the first, second, third or fourth read. Being the guy at the other end of those those throws for so long gives Tachinski a perspective other receivers don't have. His brother was a university receiver, too, so he's helped. The only thing he felt out of place about on Tuesday was the play book. But he was going to dive into that at night, come back on Wednesday and start showing he can not just handle the physical stuff, but initiate it. While he marvels at some of the Canadian quarterbacks in the CFL today, including Winnipeg rookie Taylor Elgersma, who's trying to become the next one, Tachinski is set on his new path, undeterred by the switch he had to make to continue playing the game he loves. “I'll literally do whatever the coaches want,” he said. “Because I love being part of this atmosphere, being part of a football locker-room and working with those coaches. I can't really describe it. It's a different feeling that people wouldn't know about. And I just want to be part of that. I love the camaraderie. I love just being with those people, and just working out every day. “That's something that really draws me to it.”

Is Schmekel a new injury or a continuation of last years? I'm not sure they ever publicly disclosed what his injury was last year. With going on the six game I think technically he only needs to miss the first game, and that opens up a roster spot in the meantime right? Or are roster restrictions more loose during camp?

Qbing is a football wide issue. Its worse here, because of the reality of canadian football, but it is an issue every where for sure. Nailed it. We've said and done many right things this offseason, but until I see sustained change Im not betting on it. Canadians are the back bone of every DL. You just can't carry 7 imp dl and have them take all the reps. Its sad, but schmekel was our depth. If we flipped wil, then we could rotate lawson with an imp db at wil. Not wrong lol, but we could see those guys play till some even crazier ages at this rate. I refuse to even think about next years cfl while there is football going on.

we gonna be a double digit win team this yr...no doubt in my mind...I am worried tho about our depth on offence outside the oline and rb. Excited about the defence...and how it's gonna evolve And if we have significant injuries to Demski and Neild....or have a National olineman...or 2 go down where we need to play 3 or more Imports (we have nice depth top do so so not worried there) then we are gonna have to go 3 national receivers, and we dont have the ponies for that...and Lord help ZC then as teams will basically take away White/Wilson and make him start pressing and forcing throws into bad spots...and we know he will as history shows....or lean on a middling group of Canadian receivers who will basically offer nothing much

Our Oline is gonna be one the leagues best, so we improved there...Our defence as well is gonna be way better with the additions, plus the likely use of several big upside Canadians making our rotations much more effective. Or offence and scheme is gonna be night and day better with a real OC...The aforementioned oline upgrade....and a solid top 4 receiver crew this yr. But I think we dropped the ball at the draft, and we are razor thin in depth on offence with skilled position players...one or 2 serious injuries to key guys...we gonna be scuffling yeah, but the lack of forward thinking starting 2 yrs ago already has us in this spot....didnt say there was a plethora of talent there for the taking....but we really have done nothing to have any real succession plan yeah watching Wallace...he looks like a total different player from last year...and thats not just his frame And across the board with top 30 guys yeah we better than last yr and more than solid....but we are thin in depth again in a few areas and our draft was another slug grab event with 75% guys who have no upside. Our lines this yr I think are gonna get us back to possibly 2019-2021 land and be our key to grabbing first again. I love what we have cooking on defence and the versatilty and athleticism of our guys..especially the lb's and backend

That doesnt start until next year. They can still be one of the 3 teams that dont make the playoffs Not that I think they will be near that. I am really optimistic about the defense particularly.

Harris, collaros and BLM are starting qbs, we sure it's not already a thing?

It's an exhibition game for crissakes. Losing/winning means nothing.

We just lost JSK for the season. This is only the second week of TC. No team stays healthy after 2 pre season, 18 regular games, playoffs & GC. It's all about attrition. Injuries seems to have a lot to do with luck, it seems. Some teams just go on a run of bad luck. If a team gets lucky & stays relatively healthy then they have a shot to win a championship.

Throwing a nice ball is only about 25% of what makes a good QB. If throwing a nice ball in practice was the end all be all then Dominique Davis would be a hall of famer. I am hopeful that TE can reach the other 75% of what makes for successful QBing but we honestly have no idea what we have at this point, and it is completely unrealistic to think that Elgersma would outperform Zac at this point. Don't get hung up on arm strength, it really is a red herring with the caveat that it is difficult to overcome a weak arm. Would I like Zac to be able to zip a ball like Elgersma? Sure....but that isn't his strength as a QB. If Elgersma can learn to read a defence, make clutch throws under pressure, extend plays and not get happy feet, inspire and motivate his O unit, then he will be someone that has a real good chance at attaining the level of career that Zac is having. Let's not put the cart before the horse tho. The difference between wearing a yellow shirt in practice playing glorified catch, and doing it with bullets flying around you cannot be understated. Game action is not the same as practice.

Knights fans are pretty loyal. They draw pretty solid local crowds actually but yup **** organization that just don’t give a crap about anything but winning. And don’t care how they do it. Honestly Chevy could take a hint at times but Winnipeg is not the premier destination like Vegas is.

lol. Tanner Schmekel goes down and DL depth is now a problem. lol honestly. If it’s a problem we prob shouldn’t be starting Canadians on the DL then. Cuz we don’t really need 2.

We appear to be a very well rounded roster thus far. I am not willing to write off our receivers yet as it is pretty early, but we are likely looking for NAT DL. All in all though I would say that our biggest two problems from last year have been pretty solidly improved. Our OL, and our OC, should be a lot better and that is 2-3 wins right there. I think our receivers are also better overall as well, but I will have to see them in game action to know for sure. I really think putting Zac in a system he knows, understands, and loves is going to be huge for us at QB.

Nah. Oh wait Pittsburgh just signed a 42 year old to be their QB again. It’s not just a CFL problem. I stopped by the stadium yesterday for about half an hour and decided to watch a bit of practice. Zach really puts his whole body into the long throws, Elgersma barely puts an effort at all. From my extremely limited viewing if I didn’t know who was starting, 13 looks better than 8 by far. I’d say if Zach got hurt we probably wouldn’t miss a beat and might actually be better. Limited viewing but just the motion difference in the long throws is night and day. All body Zach vs all arm Elgersma. I spoke to a dude who said he’s been a few times and he seems to think Elgersma has been the “best QB”. Just seems to be able to make all the throws with very little effort it seems. I’m cutting Terry right now as he truly can’t throw a ball 10 yards.

I will wait and see. I think that the riot act was read from above and we will see some different deployment this year. Agreed. We haven't even played a game yet and have no idea what our roster even looks like yet. I get that we have nerves around here about what our roster/deployment might look like, but let's wait to see it before we go all doom and gloom. We have a lot more talent than we did last year.

I think our roster composition and player deployment is going to get stupid and cost us a win or two (as it always does) but overall, the talent at the top is there. The scary part is it’s old. Brady, Demski, White, Pokey is definitely enough to compete on O, the D is going to be flying around, ST should be solid. I’m not worried that we’re going to lose 12 games, I’m worried we’re going to lose the last one because we’re old, beat up and not putting our best roster on the field. Does anyone believe that if the decision needs to be made in the playoffs, Kyrie Wilson with a torn hammy isn’t coming off the field? That’s still my concern.

Thats a good point too. The OL is gonna be really really good. Wallace looks to have taken a big stepforward so far too. It is really deep too. 100%. Unless someone hits on QBs in this league soon, the league is going to be raiding old folkes homes for QBs. Knew going into the off season no one was gonna fix QBing problems from with in the league. Next years FA qb crop probably wont be better either. Can confirm, sky not falling. Also, the ground is not trying to escape through by way of the air any more. All clear on the western front. We have a lot of solid upgrades from last year, and an addition by subtraction. Last years 10 wins was a bit of smoke n mirrors, but on the field I expect us to be one of the most improved teams in the league. We will be dumspter diving for Wrs, and probably for DL both ni and imp this year, which is frustrating. But its still overall an A- off season.

Where are you even getting this from? Everything across the board is an improvement from last season. Zach looks good in practice. He loves targeting Wilson and White. It sucks that Wilson is out, but we still have some time before the season. We spent half a season last year with Demski as the only option and still hit 10 wins. The defense was great last year and only added pieces. Vaval is still returning kicks. Brady running behind an improved OL. Why the doom and gloom?

Isn't this just football? Everyone is varying degrees of ****** if their QB is injured. Bombers did better than most last year with Streveler at 4-1, but everyone else was much worse. Crum at 2-4. MBT 3-5. Doege 0-3. Morgan 0-2. Adams 0-2. Masoli 0-2. Maier 1-1. Walkers, Evans and Shiltz all 0-1. Looks even bleaker if you take Arbuckle as a backup, he was 5-10... looks a bit better with Fajardo who is 6-7 in reserve. I'm also not sure many teams are breaking camp singing the praises of their 6-7 depth receivers. Most teams were struggling at the position last year, at least I hope the Bombers aren't in any danger of trotting whoever is in QB2 out there this season. When you get that far down the roster it feels like a team can't win... if you bring in experienced guys its the same old retreads (see the discourse around someone like Sterns or Reggie White Jr last year), if you bring in a bunch of new recruits its "who are these bums".

Team looks much better on paper across the board from last year. I think there's a lot of roster nitpicking going on, which is completely fair, but preemptive. The sky is not falling.

As if we have an option for a backup QB in the recent free-agency 🤣 McLeod Bethel-Thompson Caleb Evans Shea Patterson Tyrie Adams Dustin Crums (MTL) Matt Shiltz (Retired) Jake Dolegala Harrison Frost Chris Streveller (Retired) Jack Coan (SSK) Jake Maier (OTT) Logan Bonner Chase Brice Jeremiah Masoli

It makes no sense to me the allure of being a hardcore Golden Knight fan. Their whole organization gives off a cringy gimmicky shite vibe of slots, crap tables and stupid b rated shows with the actual hockey being a distraction and background noise catering to fair weather ‘sports’ fans wanting to be entertained in between their gambling activities. Feck I loathe this organization. Go Avs.

If the Bombers could win ten games with Hogan at OC I am sure they will win more with Condell who actually seems to know what he is doing. The defence and special teams should be just as good this season as last year. Sure there are depth concerns but after cut down day when every team has 45 players they're all razor thin at at least one position group.

I was gonna start another thread about this, but since you brought it up.... How would posters here rank the CFL Starting QBs? Rourke Alexander BLM VAJ Collaros Harris Dru Kelly Faj How does that shake out for people on here?