Leaderboard

Get Willy a proper Nevis/Stove type nose tackle and watch the plays roll in…

Zach Collaros: "We have guys like Adam Bighill, Paddy (Neufeld), Jake (Thomas) and Stan (Bryant) and Willie (Jefferson) and Jackson (Jeffcoat), Mikey (Couture) and Jessie (Briggs). Guys that I kind of sit back and I watch and try to take something from them. The way they conduct themselves. Not just in the building but at home with their families, too. I think I've grown a lot personally. So, I try to go out of my way to thank those guys for that and the way they handle themselves". I love that quote because Zach mentioned Jessie Briggs who has been a Bomber now for nearly a decade. How cool is that? A backup linebacker who has seen a few starts when there were injuries in the linebacking corps & a hardworking special teams player. Not just that, though. What a nice compliment coming from a player like Collaros. I'm sure Briggs appreciates it. A Jessie Briggs story: In 2002, Jessie was an undersized running back for the Pee Wee team I coached with called the Southwest Calgary Wildcats. When I say undersized, If he stood 4 1.2 feet tall & weighed 80 lbs soaking wet that was a bonus. He played against linebackers who were 70 lbs heavier, His fullback was 160 lbs. My son Tyler was the Wildcats qb. These kids were 11 & 12 years old. We breezed thru the season 8-0 winning the South Division crown, We crushed our semi final opponent & then we faced our biggest rival, the Nothwest Calgary Cowboys who routinely won championships in pee wee & bantam every year. Their coaches & players always carried a swagger back then. They knew they were good & we hated them. They didn't like us much either. They went 7-1 with their only loss being against us in the regular season. We met the Cowboys in the Pee Wee City Final. It was a defensive game as it was 0-0 with only 2 or 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter. We called a run play up the middle between our Center & Right Guard. They both opened up a hole & little Jessie shot through for a 70 yard touchdown run. No one was going to catch him & we won the game 8-0. Converts were worth 2 points as they're not easy to do for 11 & 12 year olds. We won the game & Jessie was the hero. We went on & beat a team from Edmonton to win the Provincial Pee Wee Championship. Jessie & his family moved to Kelowna in the off season after pee wee & he continued playing. I never saw him again until the Bombers drafted him & he had grown into a 225 lb linebacker playing for the Bombers. Now he's a 2 time Grey Cup champion. a leader on the team & hopeully going for a three peat. I'm sure Jessie remembers scoring that TD against the Cowboys, 20 years ago. It sure is a great memory.

SJ Green to sign one-day contract and retire as an Alouette https://www.cfl.ca/2022/10/19/s-j-green-to-retire-as-a-member-of-the-alouettes/ One of my favorite non-bombers. Will always remember his ludicrous catch in overtime during the 2010 season opener.

Last nights Bomber Coaches Show. It was a “really big shoe”. Topics, Bye week, Collaros signing - according to DT sets the bombers up for 6 straight grey Cup wins. Coach says difference with ZC is that he is a leader, work ethic, just spending time around him “you can tell”. Caller on great scouting, ie Schoen and DB’s. Legg’s kicks , knew was just outside his range. Illegal Kick! Knew it was a rule, Bombers even practice the receiving team roles!! As a player and young coach, wasnt aware of the rule, but has been aware for awhile. But still a rule he does not like. working on coverage teams. Brady’s 1000 yard and Schoens TD record for a rookie, the players would say, the priority is winning.

Am I the only one who remembers how good Jeffcoat has been in the playoffs? Or do I have a bad memory?

Think I saw the last time a Bomber quarterback threw for 300 yards in his first start was Khari Jones

I am deeply saddened to hear that the Riders are moving on from Fajardo.

As Per Dunk,Bombers working on Jefferson extention. This is likely a slam dunk as he just moved his family here,my guess is the contract will be a little less but likely filled with bonuses/incentives.

Point and counter point

For debate........

Funny, a friend and I were joking about this the other day... a few years ago we were desperate for a GC win... now we're like "six in a row or bust!" 😂

WJ is seeing a ton of extra attention because Jeffcoat is in and out of the lineup. He is still making a lot plays even if his numbers aren’t jumping off the page (people were complaining about him not doing enough in his DMOP year too). He is still a nightmare for other teams and a game changer. DEs have a long life span, Willie is only 31.

Sure he can.

He said himself he was thinking hard about testing free agency but the Bombers showed enough love that they got it done before he hit FA. Darren Cameron went down to Texas to meet with him in person (brought the Cup with him too) and it meant a lot to JJ. https://winnipegsun.com/sports/football/cfl/winnipeg-bluebombers/with-jeffcoat-mulling-free-agency-bombers-convinced-him-to-stay-by-showing-they-cared

This one? Absolutely unreal.

Not only the changes at DT but Jefferson being on and off the IR all year impacts every thing. Also the changes at LB impact things and changes in the secondary. Contrary to what certain rider fans think our D has been held together with bubblegum and packing tape all season.

That interview is just who Cofaj is… self centred, me first, etc. Fine can’t do worse than him. The season is over so it doesn’t really matter, may as well see what we have.

I think this year has shown Jeffcoat would not be easy to replace, when healthy he's still one of the best DE's in the league and well worth whatever they're paying him. Best compliment to Willie ever.

Great catch but i still think he lands out of bounds.

It was a huge pay cut but the market has changed. He's under paid (imo) for what he does for the club on & off the field but he's still the highest paid linebacker in the league. https://3downnation.com/2022/03/21/the-cfls-fifteen-highest-paid-linebackers-for-the-2022-season/

Truth. The very definition of a useful idiot... The world's richest man with the thinnest of skins is Putain's useful idiot.

What I found amusing about the Danchenko trial is that his defence did not call a single witness. They just let Durham bugger it up all by himself. Of course, having no case to start with didn’t bode well either.

Does he say he loves us? He loves us! I’m gonna cry.

I’d love to see them beat Calgary at home come into igf and get smacked down in the cold and snow to chants of bc sucks! The following tears by the national cfl media would sustain me for a life time. The riders hype train has crashed and burned so now the national media is all over rourke.

CD is a bad coach but O'Day has provided him nothing. They need to dump everyone from the GM and up, then let the new Board, President and GM to decide his fate.

He can and he most likely will. Mason Fine hasn't done **** all year and hasn't shown me anything that would lead me to believe he will come in and beat Calgary. Fajardo isn't good but Fine will be worse. Unless Dickie got this suggestion from management he is basically saying he doesn't want to be head coach of the Riders next year.

Controversial take, but i wouldnt be too upset to see him go if he asks for too much $$$. I love Jeffcoat but he's yet to play a full season(he's averaging basically 12 games per year over his career) and has been very meh on the field this year. 175K this season for 11 games and 3 sacks is not good value. If he wants a raise i'd rather look elsewhere and save some money.

Jefferson re-signing is a basically slam dunk...and priority....sack numbers are down but his effect on the game, and how teams scheme, and how he disrupts schemes is still top notch...he has been seeing way more attention due to injury and lack of middle push...Not sure where the full court press for last yr was coming from but I can say thats 99.9% false or fabricated...Jeffcoat has lots of tread, and certain is a priority....he just been unlucky with the injury bug. Guy likely to not be back for us next yr is Thomas...good foot soldier, loyal and been here forever but this yr it's clearly noticeable he well past his best before date...and it's hurt our interior push this yr....hopefully he goes out with his 3rd ring

thats why u take care of your own business....oooozes loserness....sheesh

Dru Brown is probably the best looking prospect we've seen at QB, but there's no way he sticks around for 3 more years if he continues to look good.

He took a cut coming out of the lost COVID year and then got a bump (rightfully) after winning DMOP

He definitely deserves more than the pay cuts he's been taking

The thing with WJ is that he isn't always playing for the sack. He often does an initial push and then hangs back. Probably looking to bat the ball down. If we're talking extension - he's clearly doing what Hall wants him to do - even if the counting stats are down.

The article says the offer is in the neighbourhood of 225K which is up from his current salary of 205K which comes from a result of a contract restructure where the original value was 265K. I dont know...I know every season is different, but I haven't "loved" the season Willie has had so far. I'm in no way saying he's a liability of any kind, but given he's starting to get some tread on the tires, I wonder if he can get the form back he had in 2019 and 2021. I'm curious about what the proposed length of the deal would be. Truthfully I'd be a little worried signing him to a three year deal as we did with ZC, but we'll see what happens.

So this is what it's like when two doves cry

I’m going to check out Marcy Wheeler. I’ve seen “Empty Wheel” on instagram but didn’t make the connection.

Good thing about Zach is even when the line is not at it’s best he has such pocket awareness to escape out and then be able to make throws while on the run.

It was all stuff out of their control! 10 year extensions for everyone!

Three thoughts: 1. A $300,000 signing bonus, so he actually comes in cheaper cap-wise than his current contract. 2. The “guaranteed money” part of the CBA is a huge positive development for the league. Players now willing to sign longer term, continuity for the club and the fans. Good article here: https://3downnation.com/2022/10/18/zach-collaros-kyle-walters-agree-partially-guaranteed-contracts-will-help-cfl-build-roster-continuity/ And for anyone worried about having to pay a 37 year old $250,000, Bombers can make that back by selling 1,100 “Collaros” jerseys in the next 3 seasons. Now that I don’t need to worry about replacing it for a while, I am in. 3. The conspiracy theorist on me loves the timing of this. Do it on an off-week to keep the vibes positive without being a distraction for next game prep, and also a nice reminder to all the writers hemming and hawing about the Rourke/Collaros MOP debate what Zach’s numbers are and how deserving he is of being the highest paid player in the league. A nice reset for the conversation.

Bombers made the Oline a priority when Walters took over and not since Zach became QB. Zach is just benefitting from having an awesome GM.

I can't wait to hear Rod Pederson's opinion about how we should view Rod Pederson's other opinion.

Thrilled about this move. I noticed in the game against Edmonton how much fun Collaros seemed to be having. He was on the sideline in a blow out and he had his helmet in his hand because he wanted to be back out there. I’m really happy for Zach, he’s playing the best ball of his career and his love for the game is apparent. After what he’s gone through he deserves all the success in the world.

yup...it's smart gm'ing and totally above the board...generally Walters always leaves a slush for this every yr...hence why we have been able to keep our core so intact Jones in Edmonton has already done it 3 times this yr that I am aware of...smart yeah we had room..plenty of it so will use it now...expect others to be re-upped also of note with Lawler...I heard from a very worthy source that the trade for him also had an extension for 2 yrs with it....

Hell, we are ALL benefitting from an awesome GM!

Zac reaping his just rewards. 34-4 as starter and 5-0 in playoff/Cup games. The deal is upkeep on the OL.....to continue the required protection.....

Me to Rod right now:

WST should talk more about the Jets 4th line LW usage. 2 hours isn’t enough.