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https://static.cfl.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/CALGARY-at-WINNIPEG_JULY-18.pdf Depth chart up Schoen, Bryant out. Case and Person on. Excited to see what Person can bring finally.

I like the addition of Person and hope he gets a decent number of reps. Case-Not excited at all. Our WR recruitment was a complete bust this year.

So the mistake isn't so much letting Lawler go, it's not bringing in someone to replace him. I guess they thought Mitchell could do some of that, and we'll that hasn't happened.

Lawler is what he is - his game hasn't changed. What has changed is he has a QB (and an offense) that can feed him the ball.

Let’s offset any worry we have with our receiving core/QB with BO bulldozing his way thru the Stumps D making them nice and soft. Control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and good things usually happen.

finally ...we better not see any jake on the edge now....and yeah he better get a solid rotation....Like to see 3 ends and one of Lawson/Adams too....that could really free up some lanes for pressure....finally we have a true speed rush guy who also can over power guys Case....not shocked and a big meh...we can do so much better but we choose to just stay status quo Interested too in what Vpool brings at tackle yeah...Scoen isnt a write off....but yr one...not even a yr of recovery for a WR is just a real gamble....and even with no hiccups prob would have taken 2/3rds of the yr to truly get his mojo back...but we rushed him into 1A receiver slot and I think we got him hurt...I think he may miss weeks...and would be wise to allow him that...we really need to bring someone else in...2 guys really....and or let Mitchel get his shot in a game or 2....and if he doesnt light it up...cut bait...Also Sterns and Case are not gonna bring us to the promised land yeah...as I figured...coming off a injury similar to Strev personally...and then a second acl rebuild 2 yrs later as soon as I saw him land and his reaction...I knew he was gonna be out a while...if not for majority of the rest of yr...and why I said right from his signing that was a huge risk

Schoen was put on the 6. We're in trouble at receiver.

I don't mind a GM letting a succession plan play out. Dobson out for Wallace is probably going to pay off over the short term. However, we are letting guys that were game changers like Grant and Lawler go without any real clear replacements. Grant, in particular, was extremely baffling because he was waiting for our call.

This, to me, is the bigger concern. I am fine with them not being active players in free agency. I am not fine with bringing in talented new recruits who don't play.

For those that are interested, there is a Bot on Bluesky that keeps track of changes to teams' neg lists. It shows that Paige was removed from the Bombers' list 15 minutes ago. https://bsky.app/profile/cfl-neg-list.bsky.social

He likely would say the same of any wr. But maybe his preferences are steering our decisions at wr too. Much of the organization was head over heels in love with McKnight as well though. Guy was too small for the speed/skill set he had and we kept running him out there expecting him to do in games what he did in one on ones and none padded practices. And it wasn’t happening. At this point, give Bailey a call or who ever you have to. Maybe make a trade. If it’s not air lifts, and our ability to scout/develop/utilize WRs is not great, it’s gotta be some thing. What happens if just one of wheatfall, clercius or Demski get hurt? Let’s be real, Demski won’t be healthy for the whole rest of the season. That’s an inevitability each year. When sterns and Case are the best we can do this early, it’s worrisome.

Why waste energy pre-judging, wait and see what he does, he made the team for a reason.

Shocked, but happy to see Person added to the roster. I hope he gets a good chunk of snaps to see what he can do.

Looking back at who we "added" in the off season and it's pretty sad. Other than Sterns and Vaughters (neither of whom are blowing anyone's socks off), what value did we actually add? Winnipeg Blue Bombers Added: REC Gavin Cobb (N), DL Brock Gowanlock (N), DB Josh Hagerty (N), LB Jonathan Jones (A), DB Dexter Lawson Jr. (A), RB/KR Peyton Logan (A), LB Enock Makonzo (N), REC Dillon Mitchell (A), QB Shea Patterson (A), REC Jerreth Sterns (A), DL James Vaughters (A), REC Reggie White Jr. (A)

Im not saying Mitchell is the answer either. Case got his chance. And didnt do anything with it. Im not expecting much from him moving forward, but i do hope im wrong. Playing at south Dakota is very different from playing in the CFL.

nah....once he is back to a good yr post surgery to have his running game back to what it was...and it will be...and reps reps reps with offence seeing the things he needs to see live...I see much higher ceiling yet not necessarily....he will cater or try to add/retain players the HC wants...I think issue here is Walter's listens too much to Osh and doesnt reign him in with his wants and asks... Walters and his staff have brought guys in and many have looked good...and yes it's pre-seson but still....many vets kept have looked bad...or didn't even participate but were basically handed a spot and age and athleticism and technical skill too has to be in the player evaluation, as well as projecting 1..2 yrs down road where they could be...we fail in that regard Tail wags the dog to much here...needs to change so did the marine..Jakee...Kolo...Scmeck...Korn....amoung others....and some guys were kept on PR ...some almost 2 yrs and didnt get a snap....means not a hell of a lot worst in league and it not even close he is run of mill average...and will never be a game changer...I could go down south and scrounge several guys up that would be very effective moreso than him....he'll prob catch 4 or 5 balls and people will think wow...we got a winner here....but any pro should catch a ball thrown to him at this level for most part...it's what they do with it...and how they effect room for others...havnt seen him show anything in his 2 yrs here to think he's worth 2 yrs of being here he'd say similar of any receiver and really....dont care what he thiks...doesnt mean success and wins....see how he raves when its live fire and not skelly

He played under 30 snaps at receiver last year. He was targeted twice. He was on as returner. Most reps in Toronto the game when they got stuffed on 3rd and short in range to kick winning FG. He's 5'10 with giant hands. Mitchell is 6'1 and has 1/4 inch smaller hands. Better 40, better shuttle, better bench. You watch how South Dakota used him, all levels, but especially for vertical shots. Lined up all over, see him winning on every single type of route. Everything on Case is about how he competes. Everything on Mitchell says "lacks focus, discipline, doesn't play fast, concern with maturity level, too many focus drops, non-factor as a blocker." We need some reliability honestly. Demski can't be the go to guy. Be nice to see Wheatfall step up, and given the opportunity to get more touches at all levels. Clercius is what he is. If he's getting double digit targets we're probably ******. Nice release valve, 5th target. Get some YAC, screen game going along with the vertical shots. Everyone going to sit on the vertical stuff until we beat zone.

Zach provides his opinion on Case and Stearns.

Why is Mitchell still around, then? To pull pranks at practice?

Make note, Hamilton still doesn't make effective use of their running game, they may look like the "Belle of the Ball" during the summer with BLM filling the air with footballs, but their magic likely fades away in the fall when his fingers turn to ice.

I don't really think we have that major of an issue at receiver. Wheatfall has shown he can make the big plays , Demski has shown he can do what he's always does, Clercius is physical and an improvement over previous NI, and as much as people hate on Sterns he has made 13 receptions on 16 targets and isn't dropping balls or doing anything bad at all. From my non coach eyes the issues on our passing game has come to careless deep balls that are more 40/60 then 50/50 balls where Zach is tossing it into double or triple coverage forcing our receiver to either make an insane catch or at least fight the defender to knock the ball away. In the before time it seemed like he would be doing this in one on one battles where a guy like Schoen/Lawler who are above average can win these battles on a regular basis. I don't mind them going deep when needed... but in a close game with plenty of time left I don't understand the hope and a prayer deep bomb.

ZC needs game breakers and guys who can win battles and have big catch radius now...we have Clercius who is dependable and can battle...Demski who can be a game breaker when not beat up and having to win contested catches in traffic...and wheatfall who can be real effective...with help...hes still leaning and with the other crap we have..sterns and now Case...he not gonna get a lot of help...nor are those 2 guys gonna elevate ZC game But a Geno Lewis...Rhymes...Coxie..Dunbar...to name a few would have gave us and ZC a target he could utilize and make us better than scrap heaping White and Sterns...and just not using Mitchel for whatever reason they have...some guys just don't shine unless yhe lights are on...and we are the worst organization in league with giving fresh blood chances...and it's killing us

Yeah...originally I don't think the mental stuff was there...it will be now tho mind you I have a feeling he won't be seen until labor dayish now You can come back like he did but sometimes even tho "healed" it takes a good year once back to playing to get full range of motion...lose the tight feeling...build the neighboring muscles and stuff up...and was obvious he wasn't there Id be shocked to see him resemble what he was pre injury this yr...he may be done for yr even...which makes it more imperative that they gave Mitchell the shot now as he showed he can be a game breaker...we know what Case is...Sterns with lighter skin..less experience and likely less upside...parking his arse on the PR for a few more weeks would have made zero difference for his development...Mitchell needs the chance to show what he has...or we cut bait and bring some guys in

Maybe the plan was to hope that Wilson doesn't catch on with the Jets and falls off quick... but that doesn't seem like a great plan

We're fans and most of us knew that there were risks with Schoen this year such as reinjury, slower start to the season, this being a working your way back year. So Walters has to know this. However his solution to mitigate this risk was to sign Mitchell who apparently is a slow learner who can only play one spot? Then he throws in discount bin shopping and poor recruitment. Walters did a poor job in this area this year. And yes, it pisses me off even more because its a home Grey Cup year.

I'm hoping there is a wide gap between them being prepared to them properly executing that preparation. 🙂

The calculus for sure isn't Schoen vs Lawler it is Schoen plus whatever they could do with the $120K difference vs Lawler. The big question mark was if Schoen could stay healthy and if they could effectively use that $120K somewhere... and it looks like no on both accounts.

I disagree that they should shut him down. I think that would hurt his rebound more than help. He needs to get on the field and play through the mental stuff until it's not there. You can't get that in practice/training etc. His knee definitely needs to be healthy for him to be on the field though. FTFY

To be fair, Lawler leaving the first time didn't hurt the Bombers in the slightest. And it actually provided room for Schoen to get on the roster. But I agree....Walters work these past few off seasons has been going downhill year over year. Stove walks...not replaced to this day. Grant...now Lawler...ugh

It's not like they paid Schoen huge money. Lawler is lighting it up for huge money right now. It's a long season, we'll see if he's worth the money in the long-term.

I don't necessarily think he is wrong about Schoen, I'm not ready to write him off yet, but Lawler was a guy they needed to bring back. They let him go once and found out, I'm not quite clear why they repeated the mistake. As for FA mistakes, yep, very poor. Walters in general going back a couple years now is not exactly making too many good calls in hindsight is he? We are letting guys walk that should be staying, we are keeping guys that should be walking, and he's been getting a bit of a free ride from the fans. Our roster composition is HIS job not O'Shea's. Sure Osh makes it even worse with some decisions, but we have seen a considerable drop off in elite talent over the past couple years and more. In one offseason we let 3 all stars walk out the door and 2 of them were NATs. That's not particularly great GMing. Granted other teams blew their brains out to get them, but Walters should have known that was bound to happen if he let them hit the market. Now, of course, the elite of the league will always get raided but you got to have an ace up your sleeve when these things happen. Walters had let a plethora of talent go in the past few years without much of a replacement plan.

Yep same boat here. I was stunned at what lawler got and thought we made the right decision. Kyle can’t be blamed for not being perfect in hindsight. But being wrong about Kenny, wrong about dalton, and wrong about the 3 free agent WRs is more margin for error than a pro sports gm gets. That is a lot of fail piled up in one off season and one position.

Man I hope they actually rotate person in… watch him get less than 4 snaps. We did go with an extra starting Canadian rather than flipping an ni to imp. But maybe we will see more snaps from Adam’s. Less than 7 ol is a good move too. That said, I’m worried about our offence. It’s a lot of change and not much hope of an upgrade from the previous game. It’s hard to beat a team home and away in short order like this, so that plays big in our favor. We should play well off the bye too.

Never said you were a liar, I said you are making some big assumptions. I have no problem with us re-signing Schoen to the money we gave him, but I really think we erred letting Kenny walk. Should have trimmed somewhere else and given him his money to stay.

Does the quantity matter if the quality isn't there? The Argos added guys like Cam Judge & Janarion Grant. I would take either one over any of our signings.

Some ppl dont know when to quit.

Yeah I could see that. Might only be Bryant who is a gtd though. Since schoen hasn’t been close to 100% as of yet and is injured and now not practiced or played since last game, I expect him to sit. It would be nuts to force a guy back in whose banged up and was so far off before that. I’ll bet we don’t use an extra imp starter. They won’t sub out Kramdi, Thomas/lawson, Brady, Demski, clercius, kola, or Neuf. And they won’t use the fake ni rules. So we will start atleast 8 Canadians.

Yeah I was fully believing Lawler would be back at a reasonable (but still high) dollar amount during the off season. I was surprised he left but not surprised the Bombers let him leave. I also went on record saying if they had to choose between Schoen and Lawler....Schoen would be the right one. All of that has been wrong lol. Lawler is looking like he's taken his game to another level and Schoen may not ever be what he was. And now making our QB play with RECs who don't match his style (Big guys who go up and get the ball) is just building on that mistake. Maybe Case blows up this week and absolutely proves us wrong. But I'm not holding my breath.

Yep, doesn’t have to be free agency. But you gotta find em some where. Toronto has been extremely shrewd in fa, but they have been hitting multiple stars in trades. Yeah that’s the worst. those are not ho hum over all numbers lol. That’s one game over a full season start to grey cup. He wasn’t inconsistent. You say qb is the number 1 problem, then lampoon lawler for not putting up better numbers? While Lawler has almost 600 yards and 7 tds with blm. He has more than 3 of our starting WRs combined, including Demski and schoen, and one less receiving td than our entire wr core. It’s fair to say that with out hindsight, we made a sound decision in not paying Lawler. The problem is we either needed to pay him or fill that gap with another high level wr. And we failed to bring that guy in.

Anthony Lanier was a big get for them in free agency. Grant was a big fa get, or maybe idk the reigning grey cup mvp nick arbuckle. Perception is not reality, Toronto spends in free agency, they do it very smartly though. No one produces and finds stars in this era like them either. They are also the most active team in trades. Cam judge says allo.

cause we didnt have forward thinking....a transition plan in place for any position and were to clingy to older vets.....who had no more upside, and were in decline.... but they sign...and use new blood...arent afraid to play/start rookies and the best talent available to them...and will cut a vet for a new guy....thats why....enough said 😁

Looking at the roster sheet over the last many years... the only name that I would consider outside of Lawler is Sergio Castillo. Kind of shocking at how little they have acquired in free agency over the last 5 seasons. I understand that they had a loaded roster and would spend money trying to retain the stars... but it's really hard to make a list of 5 quality free agent signings during that period. Like Tony Jones is possibly #3 based on how thin that list is. Lofton #4?

1560+ yards 10 tds 22 games. Some huge games and some of the best catches in the league. Problem wasn’t his impact, it was he didn’t stay on the field enough.

Yeah I asked the same thing recently. On one hand, we haven't needed to be very active in FA most years but on the other hand we lost/moved on from a higher amount of starters than usual this off season so you would have expected to maybe see at least one impact FA brought in. I look at that as Kenny correcting a big mistake he made rather than the club going out and getting something done. 🤣

Are we not counting Lawler after his stint in Edmonton?

Kenny Lawler from Edmonton

I don't see anyone close to the limit number + $400,000. Look at Edmonton's receivers, secondary aside from Ford, OL, their 3 QB's make less than Collaros. They aren't at that number. Hamilton signed a bunch of guys who had played in the CFL, most of them had basically no market aside from Lawler.

Why don't you? You seem to know more than me. I don't lie or make things up. I have no reason to. Maybe I'll get info wrong sometimes but I'm no liar.

Common knowledge. I'm not even going to discuss it with you as you seem to have selective hearing or eyesight.

I expect Case for Schoen and Vanterpool for Bryant with no clue how they use the extra American spot.