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I made a depth chart for those who like that kind of thing. I may have missed a few Nationalized Americans because I couldn't be bothered to look it up.

I thought Barriere stunk and I won’t be surprised if they cut him, but I also won’t be surprised or upset if they PR him. The most valuable position, the toughest to learn and we as fans have the quickest trigger finger? They believed in him enough to wait 5+ years, if their evaluation is that there’s more to work with than what one half of preseason football suggests, I’m okay with that.

Which was where this whole mess started last year. They had options to use more DL and they didn't and the team suffered as a result. 90% of the roster management angst goes back to this. You can debate it, but it's wrong... I agree he played well and showed a hell of a lot more than last year... but the most impactful DL? No I give that honour to Garbutt.

Hodge is, and always has been, terrible at what he does. The fact he has a platform speaks more to the fact that there are so few quality guys out there covering the CFL than it does about his ability. I’ve been saying this for years.

We've asked, for sure. Generally he will not answer strategy or roster questions. And he will push away questions sometimes by saying that he doesn't really understand the rules (when I'd bet he knows them all backwards and forwards). The DNA rule is the one I think of...he used it for Janarion 5 times last season and I think that was it. He would say he didn't think it would help with the roster they had that week. I stopped being curious about that because there weren't a ton of games where I thought DNA would make a difference. They started 8 true Canadians (plus the nationalized guy, whoever that was game in, game out). And their rotational defensive linemen were Canadian (Bennett, Lawson, Schemekel). I guess he could have DNA'd Kyrie Wilson/Bighill thus allowing Cole/Clements to play 23 snaps for Thomas or Kramdi. As for the players he selects...he would say that Kramdi earned the spot over Darby, for example. There's not a lot to call out in that scenario. There's been more than a few guys over the years where I thought "I don't get it". But, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Is there another competitive advantage you're thinking of?

I don’t get the argument at all, to be honest. People use an open competition with no veteran incumbents to suggest young guys can beat out veterans. It’s a weird take.

I thought Bighill would be a test, but this is the one that will really show us where O’Shea has his head. Whatever I said about Gauthier, amplify it by a million about Jake Thomas. If we can’t find a better replacement for Lawson than Thomas, just fire our entire front office

The guys that used to be beat writers for the Bombers in the media hey day of the 50's, 60's & 70's like Don Blanchard, Jack Matheson, Jack Wells, John Robertson, Maurice Smith & Reyn Davis never claimed to be football experts. They knew their way around the game from being at practice everyday as well as sitting in on the odd film session with the head coaches they covered over the years. They all had a couple of things in common. They knew their readers & listeners. They always asked the questions we fans wanted answers to. They weren't afraid to dig around & write the stories that made certain GMs & Head Coaches squirm. Those days are long gone.

Well, I go away for a day & I come back to this????

Yeah, obviously it’s one pre season game, things could change. But the riders ran starting dl and they have a decent unit. I wouldn’t be surprised if Wallace gets nfl looks after a year starting here and kick around a bit like desjarlais. Dude is clearly far better than was commonly believed.

I hope when other teams improve. We do also. Being good is fun. Complaining about not winning 4 straight cups is certainly better than that gong show. Hopefully we never come to that.

I am worried about the start of the season given how injuries are piling up. I expect to be frustrated about some of the cuts. I suspect to be mad about roster decisions. I'd like this on file now for future reference.

Yup, last years criticism was warranted based to his level of play last year - and deservedly so. He has clearly stepped up his game and is rightfully being lauded for it. Bennett also got roasted last year and that was also fair - if you step on the field as a pro, people should be able to expect a pro level performance. They aren't expected to be an all-star right of out the gate but they should at least look like they belong out there.

The problem with Schmekel last year is he had no business on the AR... that's a failure on management for not bringing in a veteran competent Canadian DL to take some reps... or a failure on the coaching staff to not adjust the ratio or take advantage of the nationalized American rule... either way, Schmekel should've been developing on the PR while continuing to "practice hard"... not playing actual games

puke

You know as well as I do that they'll rotate Thomas and Schmeckel...

It is a huge change from last year where the best we could say was "well haba was around the pile a bit I guess"

The Bombers have placed Castillo on the suspended list for impersonating a fiery Spanish golfer, his green card is being checked for validation and possible deportation by Sask. authorities.

His stance. He went directly into his stance, and was in a 2 point stance that was still too upright in pass pro, and a 4 point stance (some thing tackles virtually never do unless short yardage.) with a 3pt stance on two other run plays. He was also really on the line at best for moving early going backwards in pass pro. Stanley is great at hiding his stance till the last minute he has to Commit, and using his leverage to work out of a lot of 2 point stances, some times a 3 on certain plays. But usually a 2 point stance with hands on legs and uses bend and step to gain the advantage instead of a 3 point. I went instantly to cjob for pbp gladly missed the whole mess with the rider flunkies.

Exactly. So if they are in dire need of a roster spot may as well. Seems like he’s a turn key LS already too. Dru brown. He was the worst rookie qb I’ve seen here in a long while. 4qbs with one on the pr is fairly standard.

I’m hopeful. There’s a lot of guys on D that I would like to see them keep around and I’m hoping we don’t just hand the spot over to the second-year guy because they’re a “veteran” (see: Tyrique McGhee) when there are better options in the rookie class (see: Marquise Bridges) Between Bridges, D’Abreu, Thomas, Moses and a few other guys, I see a lot of talent on the recruiting class on D this year and I hope it sticks around

So has Mrs. KBF...

Has nothing to do with any of that. I’m sensing I’ll be frustrated with the cuts because they’ll lean heavily ignorant of the issues plaguing our roster. We’ll lose some talented players who could develop into impact starters in order to keep good foot soldiers who try hard. Again, just the hunch I have

I woud think he just does short yardage plays to get in sync with the line...

I’d be sad if they cut Wilson though. Have rarely seen a guy show up as a CFL rookie who looks to have legit potential as a passer..not a thrower or scrambler.

After his one breakout pre-season game, Pigrome looked like a less talented Pigrome.

BA can no longer stay healthy, might be time to "Mike Miller" him and keep him on the 6 game this year helping out the coaching staff, transitioning into another role.

I’ve already made my peace with this. I think the cuts are going to frustrate me more.

Others have tried (Threads, BlueSky) - Threads is closest (IMO) but not enough people using it so far to make it a viable alternative right now.

Prediction: Booch (and others) won't be happy when the opening day roster is revealed.

I’m not sure the criticism of schmekel was unfair. He really was awful last year. I think it’s fair to say he was put in a position he shouldn’t have been. This year, he’s playing at a level that deserves that type of role. Either way, I’m thrilled to have been wrong about him and look forward to what he does next. This. We need guys who buy in to the rotation and play like their hair is on fire when on the field and trust/communicate when they need a rest. The previous group with kongbo Hansen etc seemed to do that extremely well. Yep. De is much tougher, you can find dts who just mash fairly easy. If Lawson is out 6 Games(I hope it’s just roster shenanigans) I’d go two imp dt with shmekel backing up. We have the ni flexibility to do it with ease. I love the idea of ba as a dna, but with how he was last year still not being healthy I feel like his days are numbered. I have no expectations of him returning to form again.

To me, Yeti is no worse than Kraken but The Mighty Ducks still tops my list for worst name.

I have rewatched the game on CFL+ and focused hard on the young DL guys... Haba: looks like he's entrenched as the starter based on his reps with Willie and reports he's had a great TC Garbutt: Big step forward. Looks leaner than he did in his one start last year. Was pushing the pile back ala Jeffcoat. Needs to stay off the ground, fell down 3 times by my count which is far too many. D'Abreu: Sleeper! Creates a push and has the size, athleticism and power to be a factor. Would love to see that guy in the rotation or on the practice roster. Rivers: A bit slower and thicker than the other guys. Had the splash play sack. Need to see more from him. Think he is a little bit behind the other 3 American DEs. Fox: Good get off and creates some push. Can get swallowed up inside in the run game. Looks like he's going to be the starter based on rep count Evans: Third CFL preseason and probably his last if I had to guess. Athletic but not very strong-handed to shed blocks. Looks like just a guy. Woods: Good athleticism and runs hard to the ball! He will probably be the next practice roster candidate who is groomed to take over when Fox inevitably has a good year and gets paid by another team. That just seems to happen every year nowadays at our DT spots. Maybe Woods goes the way of Caleb Thomas last year and gets cut for the next Miles Fox who is cut by another team but I think he showed some things. Lawson: Stud. Should be the starter. Schmekel: Was rag-dolling the SSK second group. Great push. Loved seeing him let the long hair down. I think he could be a fan favorite at some point. Kornelson: Has some athleticism but think he's just a guy. Decent local kid! Samson: Hardly played. Wonder if he's going back to school next year? They seem to be doing that a fair bit lately with the USports draft picks

I'm very happy that people are arguing about which DL had the most impact. They need a stronger DL this year.

Did mention it in the game thread and 3stars. But he can’t get enough credit. He was Terrible last year. This year he’s taken a huge step forward. He was relentless the whole game. Surprising game. He isn’t a guy who can beast mode a guard, but if he keeps that up you have to roster him. He played better than Jake has in a couple years. I for one had him as tcf quality, mos talked about how they liked a couple of his tools as a developmental guy. He shouldn’t have been on the AR last year when we were ni heavy. But he sure has taken a huge step forward.

Don't see much talk on here about how well Tanner Schmekel played Saw an overwhelming amount of people hating on him throughout this offseason and all the ones who were doing so consistently or begging for him to be cut have been extremely quiet about his performance He was debatably the most impactful DL I saw while watching the game, American or Canadian -- Garbutt and Chauncey Rivers (who outside of getting home for a coverage sack I didn't think actually played all that well) included.

Heard he's quite the golfer.

Ok lurker coming out of the bushes for the year here…. The players all describe O’Shea as being “a players coach.” He’s loyal to his players, even if it’s sometimes to a fault. They’re not seen as just a number to switch in and out of the lineup every week like some teams. And then how many guys do we see take a pay cut to stay in Winnipeg? Loyalty breeds loyalty.

Brady, Demski, Woli, Neuf, Dobson, Kolo, Ford Genuinely no reason to put Thomas there

and rip right past Mace and his "new lool" Riders....which looked the same as they have been quick look over things so far...we will be better at QB2....RB....I believe O-line and D-line (only if we actually roster the new blood in a few spots) and reciever with Lawler here right out of the gate. If Cole is at SAM and we can roster Moses and Gemmel....I'd say linebacker could have potential to be much better too...we have the pieces to be much improved, younger....hungrier....we just have to pull the trigger on it in a few spots

That’s a good point the riders 2/3 team of ol is not good. But he wasn’t out there stoveing people either. What was most impressive was his quickness, motor and effort. He was getting in on the back of plays, just flying for a dt. we kept letting NTs and dts walk for pipeline guys. And it worked for a long time. But we never replaced stove. When he was here and hurt or after he left. We got too cute with dts. Then we lost Kongbo and didn’t rebuild the de rotation. Start of 2022 was the end of the high rotation, varied front looks that cooked offenses prior with no added rushers. Which allowed biggie to play mid field or a deep cover zone. That front change really took us from a generational defence to a solid defence that can’t close out.

Yep, I think we had the horses between fox, Habba and garbutt. But like you said we just didn’t want to for some reason. Though to be fair Garbutt might be killing it now because he had last year here. I’m sure he’d a been good still last year. It’s strange how we got soo far away from the dl looks that made us soo dominant in 21 and prior. I get Jackson took some of that roster flexibility, but we had di dbs back then and other wise similar usage. I am glad that it seems like JY has us going back to better front alignments and blitzes. And that’s just pre season. What he has in store for the regular season is really tantalizingly.

100%. If Haba (or any backup American DL) was on, DNA Jeffcoat and then you could run a NASCAR package of Jefferson, Jeffcoat, Haba and Walker for 23 snaps. They just didn't appear to want to use those kind of packages. And there weren't a ton of American backups to work in.

He (and other draft picks attending their first camp) is a non-counter so he isn't taking up a spot. They'd have to drop someone else.

Thankfully we still have Garcia in camp.

Would be silly to cut a better player because a guy was on the neg list for a long time. Hodge's evaluation of Streveler really speaks to his lack of basic knowledge on how the game is played. He said something like "Streveler will never be a guy who drops back and works through four reads." Nobody is working through more than 2 after the snap. After that it's a scramble. Everything is pre-snap. Most teams are cutting the field in half based on pre-snap reads. Just such an underhanded and ignorant attempt to **** on a guys ability as a passer.

Poor assesment and scouting, and not digging in and looking at...everything...I re-watched a bit more this aft...He looked totally like a guy who been in league already...was actually shocked, as figured he's need a good season to acclimate...maybe not...he's massive, and not in a sloppy way, and moves well which aids in his aggressive play....we stole the best Oline guy in draft yup....doesnt pay to read clippings and assesments not of yhour own....also he could have had poor coaching and never been mandated to work on technique.....but he definately looked game ready as a very good 6th at the least...and a jumbo package mauler....Imagine Eli..Dobson and Neuf on short yardgae with Wally squeezoing Bryant inside and collapsing the edge?....god lord

And there's a flag on the play..... wait.... wait... we are being told its just a towel.

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve said multiple times that if he doesn’t want to use the resources he has available to him, maybe the team needs to explore coaching options. I’ve explained it this way several times but I’ll say it again - if there was another coach on another team just blatantly ignoring use of an advantage that could be deployed on our roster (the naturalized Canadian), we’d all be here laughing at how ridiculous it is. “Why wouldn’t you?” is the common question, there’s literally no downside to it. But because it’s MOS, people give him a pass for it. If he’s that stubborn, where else is he allowing that stubbornness to affect decision making? Nowhere? Okay great. Except we know that’s not the case either. THAT is why if the results start disappearing, I’m not sure if I’d be in a hurry to let him try and put the pieces back together. Also, the way you’re phrasing things is purposely staged to imply that there’s no validity behind the criticisms. That’s also interesting to me. It’s not as if the criticism is “hey, Brady is the best player in the entire league but he’s Canadian … couldn’t we do better with an American?” and we’re just inherently biased. The criticism is pretty warranted if we’re saying “hey, we play way more Canadians than we’re really required to … are Shayne Gauthier and Jake Thomas really the best we can do for significant meaningful reps?” These are low draft capital players on the backend of their careers as run-of-the-mill foot soldiers who have never even bordered on the level of impactful. Our scouting department is great. They can’t produce better than that? It’s a pretty valid question. If you need more evidence, look at the speed those guys we had in yesterday played with. Jamal Woods was probably the worst American interior lineman I saw take a snap for us yesterday and he still played faster than I’ve seen Jake Thomas play in years. Is it all technique? Understanding of the game that makes Jake efficient? Okay great. You’re the coach. Coach the athlete up to be as smart as Jake. He wasn’t that smart when he got here. You defend MOS from these criticisms because of his success. His success turning these guys into players is even more evidence that he should (in theory) be able to turn the far more athletic, far more naturally talented guys into even more so that he can have even more success. We go on and on and on about team culture and how important it is, but at what point do we start wondering if it’s become too much about culture? We haven’t won a Grey Cup in our last two tries, our culture folded when it mattered the most so maybe it’s time for talent to play a part too.