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If WJ comes back he needs to take a lot less money.

I don’t think he’s related to shonte peeples. Tremendous raw talent as a pass rusher and play maker.Didn’t play hs. Lead all of juco in sacks. bounced around colleges, didn’t put up the crazy sacks after he left juco but he did have incredible win rates and lead the conference in pressures. Has a motor that doesn’t quit. And makes a lot of plays in the run game. Hes smaller, but strong and extremely disruptive. Hes one to be excited about seeing in camp.

yeah reading that article makes me shake my head. Willie only had 3 sacks, but here's the reason why ... we only rushed 3. The clearer picture would be that how many sacks did the team have overall last year. Anyways, I'm still a fan of his and am happy he is sticking around. I think he'll have a bounce back year.

Well, due to some recent events, someone has passed Ryan Hartman to take the lead on who I loathe (said in Jim Carrey’s best voice). Mr. Matthew Tkachuk please come on up and receive this prestigious award.

He isnt. And its not the system. But we better hope he still can be good.

This is going to be a thoroughly unpopular take here, but I think that Elgersma may even be lucky to be a CFL starter and that may never happen. I want to sign him, but for the life of me I don't think anyone should be thinking he's a shoe in for anything. He will need a ton of development. When I used to coach I went to several coaching clinics down in Texas and California. I got to see the QB factories up close. The kids at these "factories" begin development at age 8. By the time they are in high school they are technically better than any QB in the CIS. They get top notch development by ex pro coaches and players and even their schooling is formatted around their QB development. It's a different world of football in the US compared to Canada. Not comparable in any way. That was just one of many 'QB factories" around the USA

And how much of it is marketing money. Willie does a ton off the field for the club so if they want to load guys like him up with non-cap money, I'm good with that.

I was hoping we'd move on from WIlly J.

What kind of article were you expecting from Tait? He’s a team employee.

Hopeful; ly guys like Peeples get legit looks and opportunity in camp...And skill level/upside wins out As it sit's we have zero vet ends coming back, and the one who coulda made a nice difference in Hicks just re-upped WJ tho I think is back, and just a formality at some point soon...I know he is currently in Texas training and represents himself, so likely a deal in principal has already been discussed and they just waiting it out a bit much like Big Stan does before he is official....team first vets allowing Walter's to do what he has to for the overall team benefit, then level off the deals for those 2...And wouldnt be surprised if a good portion of WJ will be marketing WJ rotating in with 2 youthful high ceiling guys, and Bailey sprinkled in would be a nice transition for 2026, especially if we solve the interior With who we have returning in the backend, and some of the prospects already signed...have a good feeling about what the 2026 defence can morph into...

🕖 1900 📺 TSN3 Last Ten: 4-5-1 @ 5-3-2 Season Series: Tied 0-0 Stats: 25-20-3 @ 20-23-6 Streaks: L1 @ W1 Panthers projected lineup Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Sam Reinhart Carter Verhaeghe -- Sam Bennett -- A.J. Greer Mackie Samoskevich -- Evan Rodrigues -- Matthew Tkachuk Sandis Vilmanis -- Cole Schwindt -- Luke Kunin Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad Niko Mikkola -- Uvis Balinskis Tobias Bjornfot -- Jeff Petry Daniil Tarasov Sergei Bobrovsky Scratched: Jack Studnicka, Donovan Sebrango, Jesper Boqvist Injured: Brad Marchand (lower body), Seth Jones (upper body), Aleksander Barkov (knee), Tomas Nosek (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder) Jets projected lineup Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Alex Iafallo Cole Perfetti -- Jonathan Toews -- Gabriel Vilardi Nino Niederreiter -- Adam Lowry -- Vladislav Namestnikov Gustav Nyquist😝 -- Morgan Barron -- Tanner Pearson Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo Dylan Samberg -- Elias Salomonsson Logan Stanley -- Luke Schenn Connor Hellebuyck Eric Comrie Scratched: Danny Zhilkin, Cole Koepke, Isaak Phillips Injured: Haydn Fleury (bruised back), Colin Miller (knee), Neal Pionk (undisclosed) Status report Marchand, a forward, will miss his seventh straight game. ... The Jets will dress the same lineup they used in a 3-1 win against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

we just over did it and kept some long in the tooth guys too long, as we let some 2..3..4 yr guys walk instead....we should have been doing some transitioning each yr....hopefully we learned something

Haven't we tried this already?

No idea who that is. I guess that'd be why I'm a football fan first.

100%. The fact is, he doesn't play smart/disciplined. And he doesn't play relentlessly. On top of that, he's lost a step, and the league knows how to block him. You don't see anyone else play for pass knockdowns on the edge. Either in the cfl, nfl or ncaa. If it were an effective means of disruption, it would be happening elsewhere. Especially in the ncaa/nfl where they have far better athletic/size outliers. We gotta hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I'm not sure the team or WJ are really prepared to do what needs to be done in any circumstance. The contract size will speak volumes to that though.

Sometimes i feel it’s excuse after excuse for WJ’s decrease in productivity. The system, being double teamed, the DC etc etc. Simplify his role, his responsibilities rotate him in as a rushing DE on pass plays and see what happens. I’m hoping for the best obviously.

Good, I'm glad he is back and I hope we use him better

I need to see numbers before I pass judgment.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2026/01/22/willie-j-will-stay/ Ed Tait rationalizing why Willie is a good signing makes me worry a bit the $ is higher than we all hope

I think when we drafted Elgersma it was kind of a 'throw away pic' ... and it was 'loooong term' whether he would show up in the Peg at any rate...With that in mind, I would say we were prepared to let him playout his dream down south and wait until he and his agent make up their minds in which direction they want to proceed in....Looks like he's exhausted his first shots at catching on in the nfl ,and just a little more time till he makes the smart move and heads north.. ....I think we'll see him at tc and get to see first hand if he's got the talent to play professional ball and stick

Competition is better as well. Much better. And high schools as well as colleges play more games. Likely at least double. So. a kid that plays in Grades 10, 11 & 12 in Calgary plays 6 games tops. (Unless they have a good team & go on a provincial championship run). The HS season here starts after the LD weekend & ends by or just after Thanksgiving. Short season, Wham, Bam Thank You Ma'am. Most Calgary High Schools have QB Coaches but they can't teach the fundamentals of the new way of throwing the ball. Why is the football season in calgary for example, so short? So football players can play other high school sports like basketball which just so happens to start right after Thanksgiving. Sometimes, if a high school goes on a run in the football playoffs tghen these basketball coaches have to wait & do they ever complain. I've listened to some disckhead basketball coach complain out loud in the phys ed office about the football season being too long because that entitled basketball coach has to wait for a couple of players to finish their gridiron season. The kids in the US play 12 game seasons over 4 years. Americans over 8 years of high school & NCAA football also means from 30-50 more games played combined. Fifty more games of better coaching & competition. Elgersma is a product of that short Canadian high school & U Sport seasons. My son coaches in Seattle. High schools there start practicing in early August & the State Championships are played at Husky Stadium early to mid December. Kinda tough when the American competion plays dozens of more games at the high school & college level. The seasons for both is months longer which is a disadvantage when you're trying to crack an NFL team. And yet, other American qbs that have this advantage still can't make it either. Never having played in the American system save for a few series in the East West Shrine Game & a few in the NFL exhibition sea season last summer. If you were an NFL head coach looking to develop a qb who would you go with? Who would you trust? Ten were fired this past season. Tremendous pressure for NFL head coaches to produce & win. So, having trust in a young player is huge.

And also NOT a creepy old man... Good work, Mr H...

How about this, we know in 24 we used the 30 front more than anyone in recent history. North of 60% useage as our base. In 24, our DTs played almost 900 fewer snaps than our Ends. Last year, this gap was 370. Our 30 front usage last year was easily under 15%, with the 4-2 back to being our base. We also actually blitzed more in the last two years than we normally would see. It didn't have a good impact because teams didn't have to take half of our DLs rush attempts seriously. Which is personnel, not system. We got cute replacing the DLs, just like we did replacing the C/OL. Hopefully we are past that now. Yeah, I mean every dl is better with rotation. Wj has always benefited significantly from rotating, and being moved around. He always thrived with the element of surprise. be it rushing from a stand up, playing the nose in cheetah sets, switching sides or taking good size rests.

sorta like our QB who os paid a bloated and unnecessary salary when he is played with talent he plays well....he needs that...as do many players Once Stove....Nevis...Jeffcoat...Sayles left and were never replaced...and we didnt have rotational guys like Kongbo and Hansen....well the high end WJ kinda morphed into what we see, and some of it was forced on him WJ even in his best...was the best when rotated and put in situational situations to do his things he does best...why we went away with that is beyond me....but do it again....vast difference And how many plays was he out there with one of Schmeck of Korn on the nose with JT on the other end??...1 time was too many but it was a lot....and wtf is the thiking with that scheme?....So easy to scheme him out of anything Basically any play with Thomas on the nose had WJ and or Vaufgters having to deal with 2...3 guys plus any help by skilled position blockers Teams would let JT engage with one guy and happily let him do his "bullrush" knowing he couldnt disengage or if he got real close to the QB not be able to finish....That or they would just wash him left....or right.....to clear a path....or simply spin him around so his back was to play and again....render that spot useless for us No player really could find a lot of success with that interior help And then we would also us Scmeck or Korn on that role....and have 2 of the 3 on field in same set....totally crippling us.... I agree....not as he was for sure....but also can be real usefull and that on the coaches as to actually implementing it....and not handcuffing the dline with a collection of guys who basically were worst in league and likely hard pressed to make a roster anywhere else...but got elite player reps

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/583371/study-casts-doubt-on-potential-for-life-on-jupiter-s-moon-europa Fock the warning! I’m landing on Europa!

Rotating Willie is key....Let's face it, biggest part of his game is knock downs...Can he/us live on that?? He's getting long in the tooth, and if he doesn't pick up all aspects of his game, the money we just doled out is questionable for sure...

If they rotate him, it might be OK but right now he's overrated and living on past glory.

I love Tait, but that article is insanely disjointed from reality. WJ hasn't been that guy since JJ last played here. If you include his sacks, he made 1 stop per game last year. This includes not recording a stat for 4 weeks in a row and 6 weeks in total. Despite that, he still didn't put up more than 2 tackles in a game. In the last 3 seasons, he has 4 games with 3 tackles or more, and 17 games without a stat recorded. It's not just that he disappears in the run game; he is actively attacked and exploited by other teams in read option plays. He isn't a force, and hasn't been for a long time. Sacks are down, yes, but everything is in the toilet for wj outside of pkds. His "Highly Decorated" achievements are all from years ago. He hasn't been close to that level of play or accomplishment since then. He isn't that leader. That was always the other guys. Look at the continual errors and poor discipline on the DL. It's not just that he isn't correcting it in others; he is a big part of that issue himself. The entertainer? It's just clowning around when you continually underachieve as a team, unit, and player. We didn't use the 30 front remotely as much as we used it in 24. And front alignment is separate from pressure. The most disruptive teams in football use fronts interchangeably. They break the play down by front alignment, pressure package, and cover package. And teams don't sit there and double wj a lot any more. They don't have to. He is going to coast and play for the PKD. PKDs, are the only consistent direct value he brings to the field. He does it at the expense of not just his pressure but the entire line's ability to disrupt. When you line up in a 40, and 1 guy is going to play rover looking for knockdowns, you aren't going to get pressure. Nichols was 2nd in the league in PKDs, with 13. While still doing his primary job of covering as well as anyone in the league, and playing a gap in the run fits. Our Defence saw 574 passing attempts. 357 of those were completed. That means 217 plays where the pass was not completed; of those 217 plays, WJ had 16 knockdowns. That means 7% of our pass incompletion success came from WJ. Tait mentions Betts in and the drop in sack production. Lets compare impact but instead, lets compare with Hicks. And lets say Hicks only won 10% snaps than WJ, lets ignore sacks, and count PKDs but only WJs. WJ had more snaps than hicks, so lets also give him that and reduce hicks effectiveness by going by WJs 529 passing snaps. If WJ won 10% of his snaps, that would be 52 disruptions, plus 16 PKDs, for 68. If Hicks won 20%, thats 104 disruptions. But then, if we go back to reality, Hicks had 28 tackles with 12 sacks in 465 passing plays. On a 20% win rate he is having a significant impact on 93 plays. Vs 15 tackles and 3 sacks in 529 passing plays. In reality, with PKDs we are lucky if WJ impact 10% total of all passing plays against us last year. Significantly more snaps, significantly less total impact. 30 alignment doesn't mean we only rushed 3. Jones and Kyrie tied WJ for sacks, plus another lber and db with a sack.

YEAH from what I knew was basically just an announcement tobe made...but the basis was done

I'm not so optimistic. Love the energy he brings, how he markets the team and the City of Winnipeg and agree with the experts he's better suited for a rotational role as a true DE rushing four (please for the love of gawd get away from this three man rush while the opposing QB picks us apart) but knowing MOS's philosophy on certain players (e.g., JT) to going out on their own terms I hope it's another year of watching him drop back while watching the play go by him or playing bump belly with a couple of olineman because we rush three or watching him freelance around doing absoutely nothing all while being masked by a few knowckdowns. Oh on an unrelated note, didn't sleep well last night, mood is a bit off.

Hope its cheap. And hope he finds a motor to play with. Or that he is limited in reps. qft Yeah its gotta be a real battle for spots, especially on the lines. Peeples might be best off in a super sub role, because hes soo raw and the season is long. Wj plus a guy like that splitting reps would be great.

Willie signed

Hit the button for the wrong post.

And this is why I don't get people hanging onto him so hard. The list of qbs who don't make the leap to pro is huge. Until he's in camp showing well he's just another guy

What's funny about what I said, rebusrankin? That exact thing happened to Nathan Rourke in Atlanta. The only dream I chase at my age is that a bathroom is close by.

What people don't realize is that a whole new class of graduating qbs are coming to training camp for 2026. Elgersma has worked out for probably 10 teams, so a third of the teams. These new kids have been drafted, are regarded higher & aren't free agents. Teams are prepared to invest in their development. Elgersma can sign with an NFL team, play better than the New Kid In Town & still get cut. Being a second year Canadian FA QB who has never had a home isn't the most enviable position to be in.

Sure, so here's hoping we find out the verdict by him coming here. Doesn't work out so be it, no harm. Over the many years we've experienced our share of disapointment in QB's that have some and gone around these parts. Nothing wrong with holding a bit of hope that he may be one of the answers in our succession plan at QB.

A game might put IMG vs bishop sycamore to shame lol

People need to also realize Elgersma has proven nothing...shown nothing to make a team want him in the NFL...but dominated somewhat a lil bit in the CIS In all honesty big flipping deal..he could amount to basically what all cdn qbs prior to him did...zero The most recent cis dominant qb ...Ford has shown exactly that...he ain't good enough Training and evaluation in the U.S is do specific and so detailed and investigated from so many avenues and by talking to so many people involved with a player it would blow your mind...I see it with the athletes I work with. Rourke got some legit looks and some legit playtime in TC and not just against other scrubs who had no chance to make it anyway...and had success but again...nfl politics were his demise...and he had pro game film after his first go around when teams didnt even wanna give him a qb look Difference...u.s prep school play...u.s college career...u.s legit chance albeit with the CDN bias against him...and he got punted and that was that Only other cdn qb i can think of...Palmer, who followed same path as Rourke had a limited existence but it also wasnt enough Sure a guy can chase a dream...but also needs to be realistic..a big arm...the prototypical NFL qb body type isnt a garuantee...there are so many guys who possess what Elgersma has coming out of u.s college with u.s football training that teams will always put first..and thats the reality. I also wouldn't hang my hat on him here in cfl to be this big success...why would anyone? Its a big jump to make...and if there was a legit thought he had it...he would have been PR'd all yr in the NFL.. and that didnt happen either And this pinning in Canada to almost force this idea thst a Canadian QB is needed and great is ludicrous too..who effing cares...find and or develop the best QB regardless...birth certificate should have no bearing on a position..best player should tho

Its ok, I sign all my notes HardCoreBlue and send all emails from HardCoreBlue@gmail.com.

I have no problem with Elgersma chasing and NFL dream but sooner or later he’ll be in the CFL if he wants a pro career at QB. I may be biased but I think the sooner he comes to that conclusion the better off he’ll be.

I always find it hard to browse the CFL's official free agent list so I re-organize it by position for readability. Still lots of time until free agency opens so this list is getting smaller daily.