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some thoughts, with the usual caveats about limited reps, one day, etc Penner from the Rifles fits in during skelly, rec drills, etc. the problem today was they did a tonne of sts blocking drills and he’s younger and smaller than everybody else and got bullied. He had one rep against Banks that was hard to watch. Speaking of Banks, he looked great blocking but just ok as a receiver. Both American rbs looked good. Both had some nice runs, and Arnold took a swing pass for 30ish yards in full scrimmage. Payton Thorne looked really bad. Held onto the ball for a long time and threw a few picks in skelly. Perkins turned the wrong way for a handoff twice on three plays. I can’t say for sure it was his fault, but the coach spoke to him after each one and the following play he’d turn the other way. I wasn’t very impressed by him either. Poncius and especially Elsbury looked really good on the ol. Elsbury won every rep I saw. Only time I saw Poncius get beat was when he picked up the wrong guy in 2 v2s. On the dl I didn’t see Dixon win a single rep. I thought KMB looked great. He’s small, but always gave the ol trouble. Saw two Dante Daniels reps blocking. He got run over by KMB on one, then buried Aaron Smith on the next one. No 1v1s today for recs, so that sucked. Singer ran a nice corner/post route in skelly, but the qb (Thorne iirc) threw it late and it got knocked out of his hands. Otherwise didn’t really notice any recs standout.

I’m at camp today. First observation is DeShaan Dixon has the shortest shorts I’ve ever seen on a football player.

Strength of the team is a tough one. Did Flutie ever start on a bad or average team? Do we downgrade Zach's renaissance because he was on a generational team? Does that, by extension, nearly wipe out Kharis' career? What about AC's loyalty to the Als or his willingness to remake himself late in his career? Something similar can be said of all the top QBs. Some of those factors are bigger than others. Imo, the big ones are Danny Mac just slinging it on so many bad or mediocre teams (while piling up the picks), Allen padding numbers like emmit smith while only having a small number of good passing years, Harris/KG padding on good teams and not elevating teams, and just the vastly different era for guys before Brock/Moon/Clements. Even that era, up through Khari to the modern era, is a massive change. Nothing is gained by reducing the greatness of any of those guys, though.

On the never ending who is to blame, MOS or KW, I once again say

Winnipeg Blue Bombers sign first-round CFL draft pick Nuer Gatkuoth - 3DownNation

"possible interest for 2027" sounds like a way to get a guy out of your office without making a scene.

I took Mike's post as a joke and thought it was so funny.

Great QBs on great teams don't screw things up. They play like game managers, make great plays themselves at times but let the talent around them win games. BLM may not have been as great if he had played for the Lions instead of the Stamps. Or with us from 2013-16. We were a wasteland at qb back then as I recall. Look what Collaros did in Saskatchewan. Virtually nothing. Then he comes to Winnipeg after another useless stint in Toronto as a washed up pivot & set the CFL on fire as a Blue Bomber in 2019 & 21. How good would Ken Ploen have done had he signed with the Alouettes instead of the Bombers. All the pieces have to fit in place even with the great ones to win. BTW, I think Matt Nichols doesn't get the credit he deserves. He came here for a bag of footballs as Ed Hervey felt he was washed up. Nichols turned the fortunes of the Bombers around. I'd like to see the Bombers recognize his contributions to making this organization a winner.

I had a leftover day of vacation to use up so I rolled through the stadium today and concentrated on the offense Bryan Randall appears to have a leg up on the QB2 job, Darryl Hackney looked awful in skelly and throws an ugly ball Onterrio Smith looks like a total pro out there in the backfield, Ramonce Taylor looked good in limited action but seemed to disappear halfway through practice Justin Surrency catches everything thrown his way and seems to be a lock to make the team, he even made Roc Carmichael look silly on every rep they matched up for. Antonio Brown can run by everyone on the field but on one rep across the middle, Dwayne Slay lined him up and made him pay for it Tyson Pencer is a mountain of a man out there and will be a sure-fire ratio breaker at tackle if he keeps this up We’re going to the Grey Cup

QB Tom Clements in his prime. He could run a modern 2026 offense with his skill set. Receivers James Murphy & /or Joe Pop would thrive in the pass happy CFL. I'd also seriously consider taking ONE OF...linebackers, Tyrone Jones, James West or Greg Battle. As well as DT Doug Brown & DE Stan Mikawos.

The Dominator

Just gonna say this... I was considering removing my last post but decided to stand by it. I have a feeling I may have earned a trip to the Principal's Office. I just want to say to all of you who take the time to go to Bomber training camp or practices & then come here to give us your thoughts & observations, thank you. You are appreciated. For those of us who live out of town or can't make practices due to work committments, your opinions are great. Without your comments, we'd know very little. Just what the Bombers want us to know through social media. It's great to read what you see. So, keep it up.

No one tell the commissioner about this

My initial thoughts after seeing that they cut McGhee was positive. Not that he’s a bad player necessarily, but I don’t see him being that guy that’s going to be a difference maker at the position. We brought in a lot of talent in the secondary and I’d rather give the reps to the young talent on this roster. In years past we would have pencilled him in as a starter because he was a vet. it would be painfully obvious he was a weak spot and he would be cut by week 3-4 im glad, wouldn’t mind them moving on from a few more vets if im being honest with you.

He has a QBR in the 70s without Lapo and a QBR around 100 with Lapo. I'm no fan of Lapo, but I live in reality. Lapo made the guy's career. He was a limited QB. When he was gunslinging he was almost 1:2 TD to turnover ratio with significant fumbling issues on top of INTs. Having a QB who could threaten teams vertically gave us the win in 19 behind that, Harris and the D. We don't beat Calgary and Sask on the road without that.

Nothing wrong with being a game manager at all. I wish ZC would lean into it at this stage of his career.

AND in all honesty...he played well in playoffs and if not for a seive defence vs..was it BC??...He would have pulled off a playoff win...we lost but not from his play. I bet his playoff stats are much better than ZC's in his time here

yeah he is gonna be key...A lot of people are really underestimating him due to the Global tag...but he is not actually your typical Global prospect...Teams were after him prior to it being realized he could be considered a global If one of the new DE's is legit, with WJ and the the Draft pick and Bailey being able to take reps, with neither eating up a DA spot...thats huge for us Not to mention Ceresna's ability as an edge guy as well

TIL Mike is Paul Friesen. Who knew!?

Thanks for the input. I’m sure all of us that can’t be there are starving for any little tidbit we can get. Hopefully Dixon can get it going… I was hoping he’d make an impact.

Ricky Ray was on some very average teams, particularly in Edmonton, but he'd still put up the yardage For his GC win in Toronto, the team around him wasn't all that good

What about “reports” from Rider fans who aren’t actually at TC?

Yeah prime Dunnigan vs prime Collaros...Its Dunnigan for me everytime

And likely wont be his role, or need to be really. He will be speed off the edge, and a pressure guy but also prob has the ability to as well crash in on the line off the edge as a nice backside pressure hopefully getting to ball carriers before they get into second level. He's a guy we haven't really had in a while...a pure speed rush end...Interestingly enough Bailey is prob just as fast off the snap...if not faster and also can bull rush his way in and actually overpower an olineman...He's very deceiving body wise with what he possesses and a lot of people are totally under estimating him and what he will bring....He's a unique player. Gotta think we will see sets with Ceresna, WJ....Bailey and Gatkuoth as a 4 more man front and that will be a hard group for an oline crew to manage

I truly don't believe MOS is deciding who is on the field in which packages on O or D. I don't believe that is how the team is run from everything we've seen and heard from everyone involved right up through Walters and Wade Miller. I believe he wields strong influence on who is on the bottom 1/3 of the roster for special teams purposes, Canadians and DI's. But of the guys on the roster, I believe from basically everything we've seen that his coordinators are designing the packages including WHO is on the field. I think if you want to glean something from our deployment on D the past few years it's that Younger doesn't trust rookies. Even most of the guys we've brought in off the street into camp or due to injury and rostered had extensive experience in the CFL. Younger will only reluctantly put a rookie on the field.

I see rotational piece quality in both, this year, for sure. Idk about that. IF we are going for a run, stopping base, we would want Lawson and Ceresna on the field. Not really Nuer. He's undersized and has struggled to disengage blocks to get into the run game. If anything, that is a time I'd flip Ceresna to the edge, beside a tweener big like Fletcher/Young in camp right now. Even though he's undersized a bit, KMB is much better vs the run than you'd expect. I'd also look to the 30 front in that case, with 3 big bulls you completely shut the interior gaps and force the run off tackle to one of our many Wil type bodies. In 1 year, Smith caught Ayers in terms of playmaking. Which is no small feat. Smith's intangibles are off the chart, which, combined with top-tier athleticism and the right passport, should be a first-class ticket to major reps.

Matty Ice had a couple great showings in the playoffs. Like you said, just wasn't a team that was ready to win yet.

I think it is pretty common that if you are a defensive lineman on the roster that you are taking reps. Those guys are constantly getting after it and need to rotate. Not sure about LBs in Younger's system. They need to a bit more sound in their responsibilities.

Wait, so that means when that waitress said she possibly had interest in me, she was just trying to get me out of the place?

100 percent. Nichols saved Walters and O’sheas jobs, and without him we don’t build a team and culture good enough to win a grey cup. No way we land guys like Jefferson or Bighill without Nichols. Just to reminder people how dyer it was. We were 1-4, not a single winning season since 2011, only one winning season since 2007.. we win 10 straight games, and really the rest is history.

I'm all for starting 3 imports if that gives us our best lineup and then if Wallace becomes the 6th man even better as depth...but not at the expense of a import receiver when we dont have to. Starting an extra an unneeded Canadian just because is pointless and doesnt give us our best lineup. And sadly with Osh we know thats a distinct possibility. Same with I hope we dont waste a roster spot on a 7th oline guy as well with Daniels now here and other big bodies in MCI and Clercius...again that would be a wasted spot on a guy to not be used unless 2 olineman go down..and for most part teams deal with that with a convert off of defence. If Scmeckle is actually ready for season and we choose to dress an extra canadian dt...well there's his role...backup DT..emergency oline guy and interior knife on short yardage...

Imagine having 16 OL in camp and only 5 being Canadian. If you told someone 20 years ago the league would shift that drastically toward having Canadians play at LB/DB and receiver/RB vs OL/DL they wouldn't have believed you.

To me he's just being a smartass... and yeah the point you make is there too it's not mean, it's just a humorous truth. Most people don't have the required background to properly judge what's happening at training camp. That being said I appreciate every single one of the accounts from camp even if they're full of crap, and all those preseason heroes Mike threw into the post is a fun reminder of how us fans get at this time of the year.

Now the Who wears short shorts song is in my head.

Good to see your positivity is in mid season form...

To all you mentioning JT as a player coach

He looks a lot more athletic than I thought he would. Very interesting player to watch over TC.

AND all time best QB football IQ imo.

Good time to thank @EdTait and @DTonOB for their hard work during camp for those who can't be there. The reports are all very appreciated fellas!

And don’t think for a second that O’Shea wouldn’t pull JT out of retirement if there were a couple injuries inside….. That just sent a chill down my spine.

Wait until you're surrounded by 30,000 screaming Bomber fans dude. Then you'll really see what "beautiful" means.