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Low pay, and aiming at that will get you there. The thing is, most rookies are on pretty low contracts once they pay taxes and convert, not to mention living expenses being up here. After all that, even if you come in at 100k, what are you sending home? 25-30 maybe? For anyone with a family, it isn't a living wage being a rookie QB up here. Id say they have good talent. Skill levels, I mean, you always end up picking a tool kit that balances one of arm strength, and accuracy/touch. That's really all throwing sports. And part of the struggle in developing QBs. No different than MLB teams developing pitchers. The throwing talent is completely separate from throwing athleticism, and extraordinarily nuanced. You usually hope to end up with a guy who throws just hard enough and has the ability to put the ball where it needs to go, or a guy with a cannon and athleticism who is as much playing spray and pray in the pass game. Intangibles can be tough to quantify, beyond what you'd expect as well. Because basically all the QBs coming up are at best 2-year starters, it is very hard to tell what is a product of an intangible and what is a fluke or other factors. Back in the day, when every QB going pro was a 3-4 year starter, and a 3-4 year HS starter, you could get a much better evaluation of the guy. Yeah, I mean, teams and players don't want to wait. But at the same time, you only learn so much on the bench. I think young prospects need more seasoning in the first year and a half or so, then after that point. You really have to stress test them. Practice isn't a source of that at all anymore. So we see young guys who have sat for a year or two, know the system, understand most of the nuances of the game, but haven't been battle-hardened enough to be able to make use of those assets. If I were running a team, this is what I would do. Break down the QB prospects into 2 lists. Long list guys, and short list. Long list guys are ones that you've scouted extensively and are ready to keep around for 2 years, almost no matter what. Like how we waited out dru browns early struggles. The short list is guys who have the raw tools you like and may or may not be available. These range from flyers to guys you would watch for a few months to a season to get a better read on while they are on the team. Bring in 4-5 max of these guys. Assuming you have no real QB2, but a starter. You do install with your starter and give heavy, heavy rep time to the prospects. You likely would be lucky to have more than 1 long list guy at a time. So 3-4 short list guys, and as you see critical red flags, you replace them with other short list guys. Mainly, a lack of mental toughness, mental ability to read/progress/improvise, or a lack of the balance of touch/accuracy/release/strength required. You break camp with 3 on the ar, but any time you get one, you should take a vet for QB2. So you end up sitting with 2-3 developmental guys. Any long list guy, or a short list overachiever, goes on the 6-game out of camp. You test the mettle of the remaining kids, cycling them through pr, scout team, heavy drill use, and short yardage stuff on the ar. As they break, you replace them. At 6 games, if any are left standing, you switch them for the first group and sit them on the ir for 6, giving the first group a chance. So you sit a max of 2 QBs on the IR, with a starter/backup, and 2 guys going from pr to ir fighting for a spot. Repeat that grinder until you have 2-3 guys who are at least ready to be between qb2/3. Guys, you can't expect to easily replace them with free agents. Then, you run the blender again with them. You do this and hope to go into the next camp able to move on from QB2 or not being crippled if you lose qb 1. To run this blender, you need to be airlifting and cycling DBs and WRs as well. You can't really practice with QBs facing a real rush, but you can run a ton of Skelly. And you force them to run it on double time to create that friction to struggle against. You call snap, get the QB the ball, and he has to rely on post-snap read and reaction. Shorter than 5-second routes till whistle and next QB up. You'd also need more offensive coaches than D to facilitate running this. You'd each scout to dedicate more time to QBs than the rest, or maybe 1-2 almost full-time on QBs. You probably need to have 2 years to get to the point you want to be at. But most teams' QB plan amounts to either, Hope you hit the lotto, Hope your guy doesn't get hurt/diminish/retire/leave in FA, or Hope someone else can develop a guy who goes to FA that you can poach. Which is how you end up with 40 year old qbs with injury records longer than all the pages Stephen King has written. We are on the cusp of losing BLM, Zach, and Harris in this league. MBT and Masoli are basically done in all but paperwork. Vaj and Fajardo are 33-34 with a ton of wear. The pest hasn't played well outside of or been healthy-ish since 23. As bad as the coming rule changes are, the biggest crisis that the league faces is QBing. If that ship isn't righted with a new group of younger talent, the rest of the stuff will just be the straw that breaks the camels back.

As far as quarterbacking talent goes, I have a bit of experience there being the father of a D2 qb at SFU before the purge 4 years ago where the university deep sixed football as a sport. I firmly believe that there are some kids born to play the position. You either have it or you don't. The kids that don't, struggle. Some work hard & make the rise to the top. But it's not easy when someone doesn't have a strong arm. Offenses have to be adjusted. shorter routes, more timing routes, spreading the ball around & not pressing the ball downfield. Then outof nowhere some guy shows up who can throw the ball 60 yards with ease & the kid who worked hard to be a starter with a so so or average arm is benched. I've seen it many times. My son Tyler at age 10 could throw a football 35 yards with no effort. Anything he picked that was throwable he did. He was a pitcher & outfielder in baseball. At 12, he could drill the ball across the plate with accuracy & strike out his opponents. He was one of those kids who magically was born with a super strong arm who figured out how to use it.. Throwing just came naturally. He could out skip me throwing stones on water when he was a kid & I was in my early 40's. Then the intangibles took over for Tyler as he went up thru the ranks playing football at all levels here in Calgary, Winnipeg, California & Burnaby. As he got older & physically stronger, Tyler played with confidence & became a leader. His teammates believed in him when he was on the field. Knowing my son the way I do just seeing the transformation from this happy go lucky guy away from football to a qb who hated losing was amazing. His leadership was his play on the field. His time with the Winnipeg Rifles hit a dead end. He was sharing starting qb duties with another player & both hated it. Tyler had a stronger arm but the other qb also had intangibles that made him successful. Their different styles of play complimented one another. Tyler went in to talk to his head coach at the end of his second season in Winnipeg. The coach indicated that changes would be coming at the qb position next season. As in, they'd pick one guy & stick with him. Tyler being from Calgary got the sense that they'd choose the other qb as he played all of his football in Winnipeg. he also had the advanyage of being coached by some of the guys on the Rifles staff. The other qb would be favoured over him. So, he informed the HC he wasn't coming back. The Head Coach said, "Fine. Good luck to you." So, it turned out he was right after all. Tyler spoke to his qb coach & mentor in Portland, Oregon, Greg Barton as it looked like his football career was over. Barton was a former qb with the Argos who had a lot of connections all down the West Coast. Greg made a phone call to a JUCO in California called The College Of The Siskiyous. The HC called Tyler & invited him down to see the campus. He went down & agreed to play for them. He redshirted his first year but started in his second season & he led the Eagles to a California JUCO Championship in 2012. From there, he was offered a walk on opportunity with the University of Oregon by Chip Kelly. Tyler showed me the letter from OSU. I tried calling Kelly but his ******* secretary refused to put me through to him so we never connected & Tyler never went. He was also being recruited by Texas Tech. The QB Coach came to an Eagles practice to talk to him but that was the last time any coaches from TT spoke with him. Just ghosted him suddenly so they obviously changed their minds. The University of Akron told him he was their guy & wanted him to play in the MAC Conference but... then the entire coaching staff was fired. So, that fell through. The University of California at Pennylvania, then called Cal Penn & now Pennwest also recruited him. Tyler went down for a visit & loved it. At the time, Cal Penn was the top D2 school in the US with a number of players in the past who went on to play in both the CFL & NFL. The coaches wanted him & they offered him an athletic scholarship. He accepted but the coach had to clear one thing first before it became an official written offer. The $40,000 International fee we'd have to pay that was not included in the scholarship offer. The HC said he spoke to the Chancellor of Cal Pen earlier who had agreed to waive the fee. However, when he went to verify that to make sure, he found out the Chancellor changed his mind & said we'd have to pay. My wife & I didn't have a spare $40,000 US lying around so that all fell through. That was so disappointing. I remember Tyler being crushed. What might have been... The only program left that recruited Tyler was Simon Fraser. They knew they were way down the list so they never thought they had any chance of getting Tyler to play at SFU. So, they brought in a qb from the transfer portal who played at Arizona State & NDSU. SFU was his third school in 3 years. When I called HC Dave Johnson checking to see if SFU was still interested, he nearly fell off his chair exclaiming, "I never thought we'd get him!!" However, they already offered a full ride scholarship to the transfer qb & could only offer a half scholarship which Tyler accepted. However, SFU sweetened the deal & by the time he graduated he only had to pay 25% of his tuition & was able to get a student loan. I think they even helped him out with dorm fees as well. He & the kid from Arizona shared qb duties & they battled it out every week for 2 years. A torn hamstring while training in the off season really set Tyler back. He played with the injury his senior year & it really set him back. His senior year was hard dealing with that injury & not being able to run anymore or evading the rush. When he'd go in, he'd get sacked so his playing time was drastically reduced. After he graduated from SFU, he knew his playing days were over. Tyler went into coaching which is what he still does in Seattle today. That's my son's story. His strong arm & athleticism carried him to places where other kids wouldn't have been able to go. You either have it or you don't.

Dayum, can't even have a still anymore.

He must have used ChatGPT to see the projected depth chart where he was listed behind Darian Durant. Chase saw the writing on the wall and decided to hang them up.

We've had plenty of MB's play for the team during MOS era. Part of the problem was that MB amateur football didn't really have the programs other provinces did to help develop that young talent. We do now. In the next decade there will be more and more MB's playing pro football.

Is Vaccaro a Demski kind of guy....after his 1st contract, he's likely to come home? I know he has a lot of ties to this community.

Pure hyperbole man. These things exist in most large cities

Yeah, it'd be nice if they developed a great dining/pub area nearby. Polo Park isn't what it used to be lol, they dodged a bullet moving away from there. South Kenaston is better shopping now.

It's over. But for some reason my mind always thinks that there's a chance. And I still get mad when they lose and I'm happy when they win. Is it football season yet,?

Legalized tailgating. And a governmebnt cash grab. How to take the fun away from a football game.

Talent isn't the primary limiting factor. It's everything that comes after talent that brings success; that's what is lacking. Wilson has plenty of talent. Chase did. Grainger had crazy talent. We get raw talent QBs these days. It takes a lot to polish them if they don't wash out. And a whole lot of them do wash out. This isn't a bombers thing either; this is a league and football-wide issue. Half the starting QBs in the league are closer to pension than to college. More than half, frankly, suck at being a starting QB. The NFL is struggling for QBs, and they've opened wide the maw to vacuum up and hold as many guys as possible. The PR expansions and increases in pay mean we don't get a polished guy with talent anymore. The NIL money makes that problem even worse. Plus, the NFL has diversified in offensive systems along with the college game. No more do we see guys completely ignored because of the offence they ran. Why come up here and, at best, get to play behind a shaky OL (League and sport-wide OLs are struggling as well) and risk a poor quality of life for less money than you make as QB2 at a good program? You always have live and breathe football guys, but the modern generations of football players have far more diverse interests. It's no longer a prerequisite to love football more than a good quality of life. Also, the modern transfer window has hurt a lot of kids' development. Instead of toughing it out and earning a spot after 2 years, they transfer or drop down to juco to try and get a better starting job. The transfer window is fair for the kids, but it isn't an aid in developing QBs. It helps many positions, but not QB imo. Look at Elgersma, a relative unknown to most us scouts until he went pro (compared to us prospects that the scouts have watched since middle school), and he's still getting enough interest to linger on the periphery of the NFL. If he were a Texas/Florida/SoCal, etc. kid who had performed well in junior and high school, we'd never see him. We saw a few years ago Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal dipped their toes into massive QB pools for camp. Talking 10-ish QBs or more. It failed miserably. What kids with talent need to develop is time and a lot of effort. They also need to have great intangibles, like Dru Browns mental toughness, in order to survive and embrace the grind to step up to qbing at the pro level. It's easily the hardest job in sports. A lot can, and has been said (by myself and others) about the negatives of our scouting and roster management/development strategy. If we see a red flag in the work ethic, ability to uptake the game, passion, or mental toughness of a QB, he is gone.

For whatever reason there was a long held belief that 9v9 youth tackle football, wasn't "football" in a lot of minds that controlled amateur ball in the province. And programs suffered under that. Even that change has brought youth football back growing in the province. Along with programs like the Selects, or Recruit ready, Club ball has added a spring league too for U16 and up....there are more and more programs in MB that are just about developing players at every level. Not only skill but just a love for the game. Add in the Bombers 1st class commitment to the youth in tackle and flag and football is seeing a legitimate renaissance here.

You tell him to tell the other teams he only would play for the bombers or nfl. Wink wink nudge nudge.

I'm keeping Manu. If we really covet Vaccaro that much AND he is not in the NFL, then we find a different way to make it happen. Stud NAT OL are becoming a rare commodity and I wouldn't trade any of them.

Blow up all the stadiums, fold the league

If the Bombers really want Vaccaro, they've got to give up something and that might be what it takes. I can't see Vaccaro still being available at 4 when we pick but it's the CFL draft so who knows.

Obligatory for Hodge opinions: https://imgur.com/NahG5jB

The NFL pr pays about 220,000 for less than 2 years of service and 300k for 2 years of service, for the whole year. Plus, a full camp is 10-20k plus any signing bonuses. So you're looking about 230-320k for a full year of camp + Tc. Add on the exchange rate of 35%+, and the taxation level is about half of what you pay up here. Roughly that means you'd have to make about 425k at minimum to compete with a QB who goes through camp and sits on the pr the whole year. At that point, of course, you won't get those guys to give up on that chance and come up here. But that is the ballpark level of competition for rookie QBs. To improve our QB pool, I think you'd need to have rookies able to earn around 200k USD. 175k probably still makes an impact, 150k maybe. Last year, the 2nd tier vet backup QBs (Evans, Shiltz, Strev, etc.) made in the low 100k range. After taxes in American bucks, they are probably lucky if they bring home 60-70k. And you know the raw rookies are making even less than that. Triple that, and push that pay level down to the rookies. Then you'll see guys making the decision to stay in football and come up here who wouldn't otherwise, and see the guys who would come up here do so sooner.

🕖 1900 📺 TSN3 Last Ten: 4-4-2 @ 5-2-3 Season Series: Tied 0-0 Stats: 26-30-8 @ 26-27-10 Streaks: W2 @ L1 Rangers projected lineup Gabe Perreault -- Mika Zibanejad -- Alexis Lafreniere Adam Edstrom -- Vincent Trocheck -- Will Cuylle Tye Kartye -- Noah Laba – Conor Sheary Jonny Brodzinski -- Juuso Parssinen -- Jaroslav Chmelar Vladislav Gavrikov -- Adam Fox Matthew Robertson -- Braden Schneider Urho Vaakanainen -- Will Borgen Igor Shesterkin Jonathan Quick Scratched: Vincent Iorio, Taylor Raddysh, Brett Berard Injured: Matt Rempe (upper body), J.T. Miller (upper body) Jets projected lineup Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Alex Iafallo Cole Perfetti -- Adam Lowry -- Gabriel Vilardi Gustav Nyquist -- Jonathan Toews -- Isak Rosén Cole Koepke -- Morgan Barron -- Brad Lambert Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo Dylan Samberg -- Elias Salomonsson Haydn Fleury -- Jacob Bryson Connor Hellebuyck Eric Comrie Scratched: Ville Heinola Injured: Nino Niederreiter (knee), Neal Pionk (undisclosed), Colin Miller (knee), Vladislav Namestnikov (lower body) Status Raddysh will miss his third straight game; the forward rejoined the team Wednesday after missing two games because of the death of his father. … Miller was on the ice for the Rangers' morning skate but the forward miss his fifth consecutive game; New York coach Mike Sullivan said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” when asked about Miller potentially returning at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. ... Shesterkin will start after Quick made 21 saves in a 4-0 win against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. … The Jets will dress the same lineup they used in a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

The players playing pro are the best. So someone who is good in NCAA is making a transition up to play pro. So everyone gets excited about a guy who had success at NCAA school(s) but like I said....the talent is relative. They are competing with the best which isn't what they competed against in NCAA. Even if you want to look at a P5 roster you're looking at a fraction of those players making it at all in pro football.

If we start the season with a qb2 that the head coach and oc have no faith/confidence to have him run the offence if ZC can’t, big fail.

I'd bring him in only after TC. If they end up having zero confidence in any of the guys they bring to camp, then sure...go and get him. But otherwise, I think it would be a waste

I know a lot of fans are saying that we shouldn't consider MBT...I have qualms about it BUT he seems to be one of the only options we have, to bring in as a back-up in case Zack can't go...IF he can park his 'weird takes' at the door and keep them to himself, he would/could be one of our options...He has a lot of CFL experience and can still sling the rock effectively...With our revamped receiving corps he could be very effective...When we have painted ourselves into a corner like we have in the qb dept. I would say our avenues have become very narrow...

Powell in my opinion over the last several yrs looks to be the most promising and has all the tools, and seemed to possess the best technique....just needed play time.....prb get some now in Edm i was wanting us to try and grab him a yr ago already

yeah, Powell didn't look like the second coming of Jeff Garcia or anything ... but in 2023 he went from QB3 to starting half of the games in Hamilton. He went 4-5 on an 8-10 team and had 10 TDs and 9 picks and massively beat expectations for a QB3 who becomes the emergency starter. I agree with SpeedFlex that he was the best young FA QB in the CFL this offseason and he could've maybe possible been a successor to Zach for us. But now he is in Edmonton and I hope for the sake of the league that we haven't seen his ceiling yet.

Very little residential will be very close to the stadium. You have the rapid transit station to the North/North West & campus land to the North East providing a buffer. Those areas are bordered by Sifton road which is meant to be the main retail area of the new development with coffee shops, pubs, banks etc. Here's a better look at what's planned - it's nothing like Ottawa. They are also very actively promoting the proximity to the stadium (and other facilities) as a major selling point so people buying there should be well aware of those considerations.

The backup plan was chris streveler. I don't think Elgersema factored in at all. Trouble is strevelers knee is ****** and we got nothing

What about Powell screams 7-8 year starter? He had a fairly unremarkable rookie season. Did well in the one game in 2024 before leaving the field in an ambulance due to a concussion and has thrown 12 passes since.

I was at the game tonight. I'm no expert but I thought the jets played well throughout. Not sure what to make of this team, although right now it seems like a one line team. I think they deserved 2 points tonight. Another thought I've been having over the last 6 or so games, is although hellybuck can't be blamed for the losing games ( some real tough saves ) it would be nice if he made a few of those. It would be a difference maker at a time we could really use those. Id really like playoff hockey. It's fun to watch

Yeah this game snuck up on me as well 2 pm start time TSN3 Of course it's back to back since Helle started yesterday Comrie starts today

Playing better but still too much reliance on the top line. Those guys would burn out in the play offs

Blow up the outside world. Shoot wrong thread.

well for one thing. It's quite literally can't exist around PAS. There just isn't the room, unless the university is going to get rid of all of it's parking. And I honestly wouldn't care 1 bit if it some how did happen. AND if anyone decides to live there, thinking there would be no issues around noise/traffic etc etc while that venue is being used....they're idiots and as long as those properties are making $$ no one is actually going to care.

I'm not so sure of Vaccaro's immediate availability. He's a pretty well-known prospect in the States and he had a solid pro day. His measurables are all good for an interior guy, hands and arms big enough to move to C, plus he's off the charts with intangibles and his film is pretty solid especially anyone running heavy zone/RPO as their base. So like Philly, Baltimore, Chicago, Green Bay, Niners, Indy. NFL teams will sit on UDFA for a few years to develop them.

The sound doesn't really escape the current stadium. You basically can't even hear the sound from inside the stadium from the intersection of Bison Drive and Chancellor Matheson. You hear a low muffled sound and the Bomber games are cranked to about 15 on in-stadium sound. Like when one of the hosts or PA announcer is talking it's very loud.

Yeah their ass is out a mile on that take.....DB's are the least of worries....As for Vaccaro, there's always a priority for canuck o linemen....he'll go early ...Only way we would see him is if we could cook up a deal and swap pics ...We do have that extra at the end of the second round that we could put in play....We always seem to hit it out of the park with home town guys.... Vaccaro would be a nice fit

I like Elad well enough, worry he might be a high floor low ceiling guy. Higher than where Id want to take him, but he probably will go high. Could have a great fit here if he eased us out of using a DI for the dime db. I LOVE me some Rohan Jones. But he is gonna get a good long look down south. He's a big TE with great hands, he's an athletic outlier, and equally an analytics darling/outlier, and he's even flashed some very good blocking game. If a team is gonna start him and reshape their formations around him, he could be a star. Play him as a flex TE/slot/H-back. He's returned kicks, run the ball, he's deadly downfield, but you could run a screen game up here with him as well. Too good a chance he sticks in the NFL for far to long to risk that high a pick with imo. Demontagnac is the type of wr you're probably gonna be stuck with in this draft if youre looking for one. And we are. Again, I'd rather take that risk later on. I'd love to have Vaccaro come home, but I'm not holding my breath. I'd love to work a trade for the rights to Manu for him actually. As manu is coming closer and closer to running out of leash down south. If he doesn't find a way/place to get regular reps this year, and stay healthy, good chance next year hes up here.

And that they make zero changes to the lineup. Frustrating.

To that mock I say

This could go in either thread but we'll put er here.... Hodge's *ahem * always wildly accurate Mock Draft.....

There are restaurants, coffee shops, pubs being being build at the old Southwood golf course. They are part of what is probably the largest current development in the city.

Thats not what is happening, but that leads you to lunch box qbs. Which did not work out well for AFL etc. Pretty much. I know the cost would be a lot. Probably the larger of the last 2 cap increases, if not both of them in size. And that doesnt even include paying starters more money. But as the qb goes, so goes the team, league, and sport.

I think it's a matter of both players not playing up to their contracts last year and expecting the same pay day. I'm sure teams inquired on both and didn't like the asking price. Both guys were highly paid last year and were not going to receive that amount again whether in FA or in the second year of a contract. Once the reality sets in no one is ponying up big bucks some guys choose to retire.

It'll be interesting to see how the turnout goes for the riders. 500 bucks for the year seems like solid value for season ticket holders. But that market is not as spend crazy as it was when they broke their streak. The stadium location for them is awful. (aside from the fact its in Saskatchewan) Having a tailgate spot with a park and ride might not be bad, except for the driver. Makes me glad for where the stadium is now. It was a risky move but once they figured out traffic a bit its been a massive W.

My understanding is that they intend the tailgaters to use the 2nd stall for their chairs, BBQ etc. So, in actuality there will be room for one vehicle. Its not like in Winnipeg where there are areas for lots of fans to set up on the grass in front of their vehicles.

It takes time for most QBs to catch onto our game. You won't succeed with a numbers game. Reps are crucial to learn our game. The problem is that nearly all the QBs brought in league wide have the physical tools to succeed. It really is a matter of picking up our game, intangibles, and the individual QBs drive to succeed in our league. None of that is readily apparent after throwing a few footballs in practice. Some guys (Dominique Davis for eg) look absolutely dynamite in practice but can't get it to translate when the lights are on. Other guys look like hot garbage in practice but are able to to turn that light switch on in games. It is extremely hard to determine what guy will do what. Not to mention, as Brendan Taman used to say, for every guy you get to sign a contract up here there are 9 others that have turned you down. CFL scouts for the most part just pick the guys with the toolbox, and that seem the most enthusiastic to come up here and play.

We have 9 teams in this league. QB development is league wide. Maybe one or two legit QBs a year comes thru our entire league loop just because of the small size of our roster availability league wide and the scarcity of legit QBs. We can sit here and bemoan the lack of QB development but hell look around the NFL even, how many teams are developing their own other than teams that were lucky enough to draft franchise guys. Even then. This notion that we must develop our own QB is not the best strategy. Of course, we should try, but really in this league there is absolutely no shame in just signing the most ready guy that hits FA when the time comes. There are only a couple teams in our entire league who are riding QBs they brought in and developed.

One thing in the article made it sound like he got a job coaching QBs at his old college. I'm guessing that's the reason for the odd timing of his retirement.

She was on a couple seasons ago too and wore some bison earrings to represent Manitoba. This is season 50 so they made it a big all-star season of returning players - gives you an idea of how well she did if she was asked to be a part of it. She's had a few players from her first season and this season up to Winnipeg - lots of Instagram pictures of them at Jets games.