Leaderboard

There is nothing wrong with getting excited about things, and if it doesn't pan out on well, we move on. But this refusal to be excited until a thing happens.... what a miserable existence that must be.

I had some time on my hands so I put together a tentative depth chart including team's recent draft picks. It hard to know which rookie DB's and WR's will compete for which spots but I did the best I could here.

It’s always interesting to read a positive view of what the Bombers have done lately...(being ranked #1 doesn’t hurt either) Here’s a write-up on the Blue Bomber draft picks, and league wide analysis. https://theratiobreaker.com/2019/05/05/2019-cfl-draft-class-rankings-and-analysis/amp/?__twitter_impression=true Bombers: ”Overall: Everything fits perfectly here. An inside the park homerun of a draft that will help the Bombers for years to come.” Round One, Pick #4 Selection: Drew Desjarlais, OL, Windsor Verdict: I Like It Thoughts: This is a wonderfully easy, par for the course pick. Desjarlais solves their offensive line depth issues instantly and could compete to be a day one starter at center. He is the type of player who will turn few heads throughout his career but can be expected to perform at a consistently high level for a decade. Round One, Pick #5 Selection: Jonathan Kongbo, DE, Tennesse Verdict: I Like It Thoughts: A bit of an unexpected pick for the Bombers but adds a dynamic rotational weapon to their defensive line. Kongbo has underachieved throughout his college career and is recovering from a serious injury, so taking him at the top of the draft is not without risk but I feel he is uniquely built to excel in the CFL game. Round Two, Pick #14 Selection: Brady Oliviera, RB, North Dakota Verdict: I Love It Thoughts: To me, this is a selection three years in the making. Forget that Maleek Irons is faster, Oliviera is the far superior back and possesses every tool you look for. He is a high character, local kid who I believe can eventually take over for Andrew Harris with little drop in production from a running, receiving or blocking standpoint. Round Three, Pick #25 Selection: Connor Griffiths, DT, UBC Verdict: I Love It Thoughts: Griffiths gives the Bombers another strong inside presence to push the pocket and great opportunities for their athletic ends. Griffiths will be an instant rotational contributor and gives them the flexibility to start a national at defensive tackle if the situation demands it. Round Four, Pick #34 Selection: Tavita Asotui Eli, OL, Hawaii Verdict: I Love It Thoughts: Eli is a mystery wrapped in an enigma but talent wise you can make a strong case that he is the best Offensive Lineman available. A natural center who was converting to left tackle before a knee injury cost him his senior year and he seemingly retired from football. If the Bombers can convince him to resume his career, this pick will have been a coup d’etat. If they can’t, the risk will have still been worth it in the mid-rounds for a team with some of the league’s best Canadian depth. Round Five, Pick #43 Selection: Malik Richards, REC, Mount Allison Verdict: I Love It Thoughts: The Bombers have four legitimate starting-calibre National receivers on their roster, so being able to add an explosive big-bodied target this late in the draft is simply a case of the rich getting richer. Round Six, Pick #52 Selection: Tariq LaChance, DE, Manitoba Verdict: I Like It Thoughts: LaChance is the type of versatile special teams’ athlete that you look for in the draft’s later rounds. The fact that he is local is just extra validation that he could be a long-term contributor in that regard. Round Seven, Pick #61 Selection: Nick Hallett, DB, Toronto Verdict: I Love It Thoughts: Hallett is one of the most under-rated defensive back prospects in the draft and he is an absolute steal in the seventh round. He will compete for a back-up role at safety and could be a dark horse candidate to see the field before year’s end. Round Eight, Pick #70 Selection: Kerfalla-Emmanuel Exume, DB, Montreal Verdict: I Like It Thoughts: A good special teams’ addition without reaching, Exume has enough coverage upside and ball skills to make this a smart pick.

"Deep Thoughts with Mr Dee"

People shouldn't count out our two OL picks from last year either... Matthew Ouellet de Carlo and Ben Koczwara. This season, De Carlo was an AUS allstar at tackle and Koczwara was a first team OUA allstar at guard. Both players should legitimately compete for spots at camp along with Neufeld, Couture, Gray, Speller and Desjarlais.

I don't think any of this is particularly unreasonable, though it is classic erring on the side of negativity. It's pretty clearly the best draft of any team in 2019, even if you rightly suggest that you can't judge a draft immediately after it happens. This is as impressive and diverse a haul as we could possibly have hoped for through the first five picks. I wasn't thrilled at the time with Oliviera but the more I've looked into it, the more I like it. Being able to play a Canadian at RB is a massive plus, let alone one who can run, catch and block. Oliviera has the ability and pedigree to be Andrew Harris, even if he doesn't top out at his level. I was more interested in Wilkinson but there's clearly a reason he dropped as far as he did and Oliviera is a better pro prospect at a more unique position. Beyond that, missing out on one high potential player in favor of another is not something I would generally complain about. I think your previous statement that every prospect has pro potential before they play a game is way off. There are countless players that are drafted that even the picks themselves know their ceiling is a high motor depth special teams player. All five of the Bombers first picks have definite star potential which is more than we can say about any other team's picks. Desjarlais was without a doubt the right pick at that spot. Very, very low bust potential and a very high chance to be a good to great player for a long time. I don't think I need to preface that every prospect ever taken has a chance at busting and that's not a good reason to have high expectations and optimism for high draft picks. There is essentially no chance that he starts the season as anything lower than the sixth o-lineman. They aren't going to risk PRing him and risking another team taking him a la Jacob Ruby a few years ago. Kongbo was the best defensive prospect the CFL draft has seen in an extremely long time. Combined with the fact that he had minimal NFL interest, his pick was a no-brainer. ACL injuries are not really of any concern in 2019. It won't affect his long term explosiveness and the argument can be made that the injury was a good thing for the Bombers since it basically took him completely off the NFL radar without the risk of long term complications. He is a good enough prospect that even with missing the entire camp, he can contribute this season and if the Bombers want to ease him into the lineup or hold off until next season, it's really not a big deal as Jefferson is on a one year deal and he could theoretically step into that spot in the situation where Jefferson doesn't re-sign. You have to make that selection. He had by far the biggest star potential in this draft. Above even Betts who is overrated and extremely one dimensional. You cannot restrict yourself by not drafting a player because you may lose him after his first contract. If you lose him to the NFL because he was so good that he gets that opportunity, so be it. He's not a huge risk to "go home" for his second deal because he has minimal ties to any other CFL market. Griffiths is a perfect Jake Thomas upgrade/replacement. He will get reps this season and he has every bit of talent to succeed at the pro level. I get cautious optimism but it's hard for me to get behind anything less than that regarding this draft. It was as close to a home run as you can get for something that is highly chance related. I respect your right to call some people out for being needlessly positive about certain things, hell I find is as annoying as you do. I've been critical of Walters for a number of things and he's had some extremely questionable draft decisions. Ekakitie at 1 and Brendan Morgan over Lemar Durant stick out as blunders that were extremely obvious even at the time and his (or his staff's) ability to find International stars has been lacking to the point of being laughable. It's just that sometimes it's nice to just be happy when things go as well as anyone could have reasonably expected.

I'm just glad we didn't blow a first rounder on a white receiver with zero physical abilities.

I’m a realist. I’m positive about that. But I can enjoy the good and accept the bad. That is life. In all areas. Handle the disappointments and enjoy the good things. There’s nothing wrong with looking forward to an event/occasion or even a new member of a football team. Why wait years to enjoy the moment? After all, we only have so many moments..

By most if not all accounts that I have read Desjarlais sounds like a kid who will compete to start right from the beginning of TC. For a team that lost 2 NI OL starters that's huge imo. Kongbo and Griffiths sound like they can be rotational players on the DL this year. Add them to Jake Thomas and potentially we can fill one NI Starting spot this year. To me that's a win. Oliviera sounds like he can be a great backup to Harris this year and should allow us to reduce the wear and tear on Harris this season. All of this alone makes me wonder how people can be upset or critical of our draft.

Noted cheater can’t understand a disqualification or spell the name of one of his States. Haha

When Trump won the nomination a long list of wealthy and influential Republicans drew up an actual manifesto telling people why they won't support Trump and why other republicans shouldn't either. Numerous prominent conservative columnists announced they will leave the party and their magazines made it their mission to criticize his every move. Name on instance Democrats or Liberals did anything close to this. To say Republicans are a monolith is ridiculous.

Later round pick so it's not the end of the world if it doesn't work out. Most likely somethings not going to work out. It's how the Canadian draft goes

NASA has released a new Hubble image. It's composed of 7500 exposures taken over 16 years. Some 256 thousand galaxies are shown in the image, which from Earth's perspective, is about the size of the moon. The most distant galaxies are shown as they were just 500 million years after the Big Bang. http://hubblesite.org/image/4492/news_release/2019-17

3rd. down says Elimimian going to sign with either Cats or riders.....If it can't be us .....GO CATS

Thanks for asking CodyT. I’d like to bring it back, but l’ll just see if my health issues dig into my time again.

Actually the rb pick was a good one..especially since we grabbed Eli..which appears to be the plan as we seemed to have insider info he was wanting to play again that most people didnt have. Another olineman wasnt a need and would be overkill..and Irons and Oliviera were a toss up..each had things in their arsenal that are better than each other.. and I think in end Oliviera will be the better all around guys and the fact he is local means we wont see him dissapear in a few years..so a smart pick. Also a higher ranked receiver would also be overkill.. no room for one anyway with our 4 man depth as it is now for what will be 2 spots..and just cause some of the media speculates 3 imports on the oline doesn't mean management sees it that way..I'd be beyond shocked with that scenario considering the nationals we have vying for 2 spots. We are going to go same as last year..national safety and 6 on offence..but will have nice ratio flex on defense if required..you could even see where Kongbo is 100 percent times with a national on the line and 5 import db's...

Maybe I’ll change my display name to....Mr Deep 😜

Pending McDavid approval.

We're all judged by what we say here. Good & bad. I can't remember a positive T Burg post recently. To him there is always something wrong. That people here are just buying into the narrative the Bombers want us to buy into. That something is never right. He will argue the opposite if people are happy or satisfied. That's what I take out of T Burg's posts. As I said, we are judged here for what we say, I have no way to psychoanalyze the hidden meaning of something posted. If someone is always negative when good things happen then that to me simply means that person is always negative & may even welcome failure. I'm not into this... "Oh, he's a great fan but he just doesn't show it". I don't believe that. You either are a great fan or you're not. How many times have we read T Burg bitching after a win about something immaterial that happened during the game that had no affect on the score? Like a pick or fumble that turned out to be inconsequential. I mean, that's just typical T Burg. That's how I see it but like 17to85 said it's getting tiring always reading the negative when there shouldn't be any. And T Burg, lest you think you're in my head, I have you on ignore so you're not. The only way I see what you say is when someone quotes you. I read what you say after the fact & I just shake my head.

Great point, those two are not todd krenbrinks. The OL battle this year is going to be epic. Lots of talented young guys, spots within reach, some good players are going to get cut. At this point NI wr and NI ol are the spots to watch.

But you're not a realist, that's why people always argue with you. Being negative is just as biased as being positive. Doesn't make it any more of a realist.

Seen at that twitter thread....😂 A lot of very funny comments at that thread.

Not to flog the dead horse a bit more, but there are people in this world who simply like to be contrary for contrary's sake. It feeds something in them to stand against the prevailing opinion. Someone can care about something, like the Bombers and still want to be the "loyal opposition". Ya, it can be a bit tiring but he's not trying to be destructive, unlike some (thankfully) former posters here.

He’s been told so many tines. Parody account.

That's not fair to say- Tburg is totally a bomber fan, he invests a lot of emotion and thought into the Bombers. He is totally one of us- a Winnipeg Blue Bomber fan through and through- I honestly believe that. I certainly don't think he's hoping the Bombers fail. Tburg is the "Tiger Mom" of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers- If you look at it in that manner- Tburg is probably one of the Blue Bombers biggest fans.

You know, I've come to realize something. You're not about getting into some posters heads here because in reality they don't really care what you say. I think it comes down to you actually wanting the Bombers to fail. To not have a winning season. To not win a Grey Cup championship. Why else would you always be so negative?

No that is not intellectual. That is aardvarking...at least if you were on the other site.

Uhg... she has a point:

Hey, I thought you’d change your board name to Colin Ungerer by now...

This is just 100% BS.

It worked out pretty well for us when we selected Simonise who had been out of competitive football for a period of time and it worked out great the Loffler who had major injury concerns. The key is developing the Canadian talent well and accumulating additional picks so you can roll the dice one some picks which could pan out really well. Not sure about Edmonton's draft. I feel like their cupboards are already bare and they drafted Betts who "might" never play in the CFL and an offensive lineman who only projects as a tackle in the CFL. The odds are against any one player who's brought to the CFL as a tackle to end up being good enough. Seems pretty risky to me.

The concern is reasonable, but at the same time, you just can't pass up the opportunity to sign talent like that. After all, no draft selection or player can guarantee anything beyond the next play.

He owns some racehorses, some quite good ones I think.

I think it was more due to being hurt..the rehab. The process..from my experience over my years some guys when hurt say eff it..I'm done..but true ballers once healed..end up like a caged bull..and crave to get back..I think this is the case here..especially with high end players

well I tried J59RH and, they don't really have the same stuff that Moxie's had, the desserts were definitely difference I had the malt cheesecake

My question with Eli is how long is he really going to be committed to playing football for. 1 year? 2 years? Somebody on the fence doesn’t seem like a career long player, regardless nice add especially that late

hey at least we can say everyone we drafted was actually alive on draft day...some years that wasn't the case... https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/15/sports/pro-football-canadian-team-drafts-dead-man.html

Good draft indeed. This is one time, that I can remember, when the draft followed what we heard we wanted, including the fans. Our turn came up, and the players selected were the players we discussed and hoped for. In addition, they selected players, who for whatever reason, were there for our taking...and these are good prospects..like Griffiths and Eli. We've always had some question mark picks, but this year it was like throwing the long ball for a TD. 🏈

I don’t think I have ever heard Walters gush over a draft pick like he did Eli in his press conference

Just listened to Dunk on a podcast say that that Eli likely would have been the top pick in the draft if he hadn't said he was done with football. He referenced Duane Forde, although not by name, saying that he thought the same thing.

Benefit of the doubt? the dude is a ******* OL guru. I support the dude totally, he can do what ever he wants with the oline until he messes up.

Hey, it's T Burg after another positive post about the Bombers.

That's not remotely true Joy is for losers?

At what point do we give Walter's the benefit of doubt on the OL? Done pretty good building it and picking guys who contribute in the draft.

I know almost nothing about structural engineering, but I'm curious how long that roof will last and how much snow it can hold. Or does the snow just melt off because the material has almost no R-value, and the building will cost millions of dollars per year to heat? Also, as minimal as it was, the old conservatory was free to visit. I'm sure you'll be looking at a minimum of $15-20 a person to experience this monument to excess.

Thought the name sounded familiar.

That's interesting. Temple was here in 2016/17. I guess he played a bit in the AAF for Mike Riley and now he is back here.

Enjoyed the GOT episode. I guess my TV is new enough that the darkness wasn't an issue for me... didn't even realize it was a problem till I saw it trending on twitter. For people who have not seen the episode yet, I'll put some other thoughts behind the spoiler feature