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Finally, we have the first pre-season game! LFG Both games are on CFL+, no regular TSN this year. Position battles to watch; DB, (22)Burrell, and (37)Texada lead this race through camp so far. (41) Williams isn't far behind. It will also be a big pre-season for (26)Woodbey and (0) Allen, who showed strong flashes last year but are fighting an uphill battle for AR spots. Bonus, the Canadians are having a tough battle as well (7)Stuart, (29)Ball, (16)Kelly are all fighting for a chance to play. Kelly needs to sustain some high-level play, as Ball has been a strong overachiever, and Stuart has tremendous attributes. (36)Javier is a sleeper pick as well. He spent time on the Riders' PR, played pre-season in the NFL, and had a knack for big plays in college to go with great size. (13)Addison, a former WR convert who immediately produced at DB, has incredible size and is another big-play college guy to watch. DL, (90)Dixon, and (54)Jenkins are front-runners at DE, (35)Bailey, and (43)Gatkuoth have high hopes to provide us meaningful reps from the depth chart. 95(Hooper) is a depth-sleeper as well. While (91)Pace is the new DT to watch. Of course, the OL will be a great watch, with mostly names we are all familiar with. Wallace's step forward in camp has been huge; this could be his coming-out party. And Eli now gets the chance to be C 1, while everyone gets the chance to finally be free of Kola. (62)Viebert, and(64)Ellsbury are lesser known guys to watch. I like a lot of what Viebert brings, and with a step forward this year could make a tough decision. Ellsbury is our no. 1 option at C if Eli doesn't work out. Lber, we see a ton of returning guys and more CFL bodies than we could possibly carry. (39)Smith and (34)Shay are the ones we all hope have a big game and manage to move up the depth chart. Rb/TE will be interesting to watch. (73) Daniels could be put in for blocking immediately, which could come at the expense of the 3rd rb. (25)MCI has flashed a significant step forward as a ball carrier in camp, on top of that huge play late last year. While (22)Peterson showed us a whole lot in relief of Brady last year. (35)Rocker, the token import RB of the year and winner of best name in TC, would only be fitting if he became the TC MVP. WR, it's an ugly group today. No reason to mince words. (86) Clericius moving to the slot should be a good watch. They seem high on (82)Cobb this year in camp, after stapling his butt to the bench most of last year. (83)Nield will need to translate what he flashed last year in a big way for us. (17) Singer has had some plays in camp. Corcoran, Desrosiers, Hurford, Jack, and (89)feel good story Tachinski are all going to play significant reps. Hopefully its not like a rerun of Baywatch when they are out on routes. (44)Keegan, the punter's rival this year, has been quiet after coming to camp late. (36)Lidster, Sergios intern has as well. (79)Harrison is a former JET KR of the year winner and will see some KR work. (87)Davis, a very tall, slim-built converted QB from the arena leagues, will likely see some KR work today. (17)Singer, a WR to watch, has also gotten reps on teams this camp, though he doesn't have as much experience doing it as the rest. (35)Rocker may possibly do it this pre-season as well, as he was kind of a do-it-all back in college.

She called Paul Friesen "vile and souless" lol. He is...........

Honestly that is fantastic news. If he has that kind of mentality then buh-bye. Always thought he would never develop.

It’s starting to feel like, a week in, it’s business as usual and we haven’t learned much. Still looks like we’re getting ready to trot out 8-9 Canadians for no reason and value experience above everything. It’s hard for these rookie Americans to get experience because irs a revolving door for them by design - we don’t give them experience and then fault them for not having experience. There’s genuinely no reason someone like Gavin Cobb or Joey Corcoran should be taking meaningful reps with the first team at this point in camp. If you can’t find an American rookie that can perform better than 2* Canadian prospects, what’s the scouting department even doing? And the lot default “they’re all starters and the Canadian provides roster flexibility” thing is so hollow, we don’t need the flexibility. We don’t even use the flexibility we currently give ourselves.

Perkins and Elgersma both bring hope for the short and long term IMO. Don't expect Perkins to be much of a passer but think he'll have a big role and can run stuff for him. Elgersma has the pro arm. Be nice to see him with some receivers maybe next week. He kind of missed all our better Americans. Singer was in after, White in before.

Honestly have never seen Wilson enter a game (regular or pre-season) and look like anything but a raw rookie. He did well on short yardage, couple big runs. His preseason games have all been a series of being indecisive in the pocket, check downs and sacks. Low floor with not much ceiling. Was pretty surprised he was brought back for a third camp but still on rookie deal.

To talk away the day before a game because you didn't like the depth chart is just all kinds of weak sauce .

I haven't been to camp but here's my best representation of what I can gather of the lineup from reports and other sources. Of course we will get the official pre-season game 1 depth chart tomorrow morning.

While unfortunate that JSK went out with an injury, I really hope to see Shay and Smith get reps at LB throughout the season.

I had his number but I dropped my phone.

I've never liked you.

Every time the Riders lose an angel gets its wings.

Homer Simpson made roster construction look so easy. I am a failure.

omg, I had just read her reply to one of my comments, but she is going ham on everyone. Fans, media, the organization. She called Paul Friesen "vile and souless" lol.

That's the thing, after this long Wilson has had some opportunity and he's never seized it. Got no-one to blame but himself. Bailing without even giving it a go in preseason is just 10 ply soft.

Cobb is practicing in Demski's spot and Corcoran is filling in for Cobb at field WR. Clercius is at SB on the second team. We'll see how that shakes out when camp is over.

we'd be a better...younger...more athletic defense with them along with Griffin at SAM than with Wilson and T.Jones Maybe we are gonna go with the upside and more talented and part ways with one of Jones and Wilson with the guy staying being a DA and the backup if injury happens...A smart team wanting to filed it's best roster and have guys really develop along the way would do that...as opposed to riding old declining guys into dust as they degrade along the way...wasting the talent you have in waiting yup...Wilson would be the perfect DA/mentor/rotational guy and starter if need be, while the youth continue their development. He offers a lot still, but man you gotta be proactive in the transitions and player development so you arent relying on green unproven guys when the old guard finally break right down...we seen how that plays out already...did we learn? Funny thing tho...Jones is a good player...not great, and when you stack em all up prob ranks behind Wilson..Ayers..Woodbey...Griffin in terms ability and versatility...with Smith and Shay right on hisass Being a holdover/vet shouldn't be an automatic pass to be the starter

As of today, in my known expert opinion, the oline is better with the addition of Broxton and Kolo's departure. The defence should be really good. Brady is excellent. Wilson+White+Demski is a nice trio and I like Nield. The questions are how does Zach play? Can we stay healthy? How do we manage the ratio? Do we keep loading the roster with STers who can't/don't get reps on offense or defense? Best case, we win the Cup. Worst case we miss the playoffs. Likely case, we're somewhere around 10 wins and don't win the Cup.

The camp coverage has been bad for years, media coverage is even worse. The only guy who asks tough questions is the one guy who shouldn’t (Friesen) and the rest of them just lob softballs. Looking forward to seeing some preseason action to see who stands out but not going to read much into it either. I’d like to see Burrell, Fletcher, Fredericksen, Pace, Addison as newcomers who seem like they could at least be something. Curious to see Nuer and Daniels in game situations too, they don’t strike me as the types to pop in practice. Overall, just excited to have football back.

A real champ over achiever. I loved that guy, soo much heart and just played his ass off. You can really see that trend in our D too. Smith, shay, ayers, and woodbey for starters. We have some other big dbs who are sam tweeners too. The secondary and second level have soo many guys that are modular and can play many roles from many alignments. The athleticism of our canadian defensive back ups is really tremendous too. We’ve gone from those guys being the outliers and massive luxuries to that being the barrier for entry. Most all the those candian D subs are not just athletic outliers, but they are tough nasty hard nosed football players. Not just pile of cross over athletes trying to make a go of it. That versatile athletic canadian defensive back up core, is going to be a major back bone to our defensive success this year and going forward.

It's the crown jewel of the sovereign republic of alberta

Probably the best example of a guy who flew under the radar of posters but turned into a ******* good player is Clarence Denmark.

Link from my nephew re camp video Stuart #7 For anyone interested. Not rooting for - just familiar with his play and think projects well.

The only way for Elgersma to learn is thru mistakes. The learning curve is steep. Once he adjusts to the speed of the CFL game then he'll play a lot better. He'll have better days.

The law firm of Macleod, Bethel and Thompson.

I do get great enjoyment from the OB broadcast though. Growing up listening to OB, especially the old late night shows (whistler, shadow etc) are a big part of why I love audiobooks and podcasts. Its also not really summer till I hear a TD blue bombers call on OB.

Just like Noeller

Hot Take: They saw how good Elgersma looked and decided they had no future and left.

I find it extremely strange that two QBs are walking away. Extremely unusual. Even if Wilson could see the writing on the wall, he should at least keep grinding in case someone gets hurt or something else happens. Don't cut yourself, make them cut you. He still could have won the #3 job and had a nice football salary for another year. Very, very weird.

Yeah

Gross.

Not saying he IS ready, but to be honest ... he's equipped to be more ready that most in his position. The combination of a player who has played this style of football before PLUS experienced pro football camps previously as a CFL rookie PLUS comes in with the physical ability to make all of the throws is a rare one. I know we're all thinking he's going to struggle because he's a USports prospect but that may actually work to his benefit in this instance. If you ask me, the comparison here is very Carson Wentz-ish. Big athletic body type, can make every throw on the field, has played the "style" of football before but the question marks are basically level of competition at this point.

Its hard to say...he could have just aggravated it, as I think he was a bit early on the recovery side still. Either way, I dont have an issue with Schmek like some others. Kid has a great motor and is solid depth imo. Hope hes back before the full 6 is done.

I think our roster composition and player deployment is going to get stupid and cost us a win or two (as it always does) but overall, the talent at the top is there. The scary part is it’s old. Brady, Demski, White, Pokey is definitely enough to compete on O, the D is going to be flying around, ST should be solid. I’m not worried that we’re going to lose 12 games, I’m worried we’re going to lose the last one because we’re old, beat up and not putting our best roster on the field. Does anyone believe that if the decision needs to be made in the playoffs, Kyrie Wilson with a torn hammy isn’t coming off the field? That’s still my concern.

Team looks much better on paper across the board from last year. I think there's a lot of roster nitpicking going on, which is completely fair, but preemptive. The sky is not falling.

If the Bombers could win ten games with Hogan at OC I am sure they will win more with Condell who actually seems to know what he is doing. The defence and special teams should be just as good this season as last year. Sure there are depth concerns but after cut down day when every team has 45 players they're all razor thin at at least one position group.

I've boarded the hype train

Agree - He won both agility drills at the cfl combine this year posting a 4.01 shuttle/6.82 3-cone which for a 223 lb’r is impressive.

You should root for him - I am! Quick feet and good eyes!

My first post so go easy on responses:) I have to agree about draft pick Stuart (#7 - on D) - frankly surprised he hasn’t gotten more mentions from his camp - disagree with early comments he’s just a ST body. My nephew played with him at Mac so I’ve seen many of his college games and he’s a legitimate top tier stud - elite in coverage, in the box and he tackles like a beast. Here’s a theory - because he’s a non counter - wonder if JY is hiding him with the 3’s until roster trimming is done. Apparently JY talks to him regularly - would be surprised if he isn’t rostered as he’s been taking reps with the 1’s on punt, and regular D reps with the 2’s and done well. With his size (220+) and movement he presents a ton of options - Boundary Safety, Half, SAM or WSLB. My nephew sent a great cut up of Stuart’s camp performance (pretty impressive: multiple picks/PBU’s and dominant in battle drills) - I’d post it but I don’t know how to upload video attachments?

Turns out Warren Burrell has another connection to the club. Winnipeg Blue BombersBlue Bombers Training Camp | Day 8 - Winnipeg Blue BombersIt’s too long ago now to recount every detail, but Warren Burrell does remember this: Milt Stegall always had some gems to tell about Winnipeg, the Blue Bombers and playing in the Canadian Football Le

Love Woodbey, he’s a baller. Sky’s the limit with him

🧠: CFL preseason means nothing, it's just nice to have football back. 💙: YEHAW RIDERS LOSE! 🎉 🎉 🎉

We really need a 50/50 guy. Hopefully he's a guy that continues to impress since the highly touted other big man couldn't make the grade.

jsk done for the year. soo much for the 2nd time around . I hope it wasn’t a signing bonuses front end loaded deal

pace is a good get.

Well on your list of backups you have Peterson twice so one of him for sure

While openly admitting that I'm an idiot who doesn't know anything, it definitely APPEARS that receiver is the most concerning spot on the team, followed somewhat closely by QB. -Im not sure that White is the elite superstar they think he is -Im not sure Pokey is better than Just Pretty Good -I don't trust Demski to stay healthy at his age -I think Nield is wildly overrated -Collaros has been trending downhill for at least two years and there's nobody behind him I sincerely hope that none of this ends up mattering in the long run, but ... One week into camp, this is what scares me most.

That relationship caused a “sticky” situation between Rod Black and Dave Stalla