I don't think the injuries limited his effectiveness, it's just that you can't build around a guy who misses 10 games a year. When he was on the roster, he was a menace. I hate moving on from a guy like that, but I do get it. I don't think WJ is far off in terms of contribution tbh. WJ stays healthy, but he has huge streaks of zero effect in the pass rush while being a huge liability in the run game. At least with JJ, if he was on the GDR, you knew what you were getting. With WJ, you could get the MODP (which is all too rare these days) or a guy who is only visible when he's getting his lunch eaten in the run game. The number of times teams abuse him on read plays is absurd.
I love Willy, and I get why he struggles and coasts at times. He gets slapped next to fellow linemen who can't create enough pressure to squish a Kraft cheese slice. He and our D are hooked on playing his spot for PKD. But the WJ of 17-21 is not gonna come back. The best we can hope for is a stretch like the first 7 games of 23, where he had 8 sacks, 15 tackles, a couple of fumbles, and PKD. Unless he is surrounded by all-star DL and rotated heavily, I don't think he can sustain that for most of a season anymore.
I will always prefer to spend the money on the line rather than WRs. Especially in the CFL, where you instantly have room and the ability to create space for guys with the waggle. I love Lawler, Schoen, Demski, etc. But give me dominant line play any day of the week, and twice on game day.