Leaderboard

Stability, connections to Chris Streveler, Mike O'Shea led QB Bryce Perkins to choose CFL over UFL - 3DownNation

And the follow up to that hire is... https://3downnation.com/2025/12/05/john-murphy-out-as-toronto-argonauts-assistant-general-manager-sources/ Could not have happened to a nicer guy.

And a live shot of MOS right after the signing:

Willie is kind of a classic issue at the rush end position. His ceiling is so disruptive, but his every down play is terrible. The best he's ever been is a rotational guy which isn't a slight, it's just a fact of the skills and down to down compete level he has. If you can have him play 6/10 snaps on D, you'd be happy. And that's even in his prime. I don't really see a reason to bring him back at anywhere near his current salary. If he'd sign for like $115,000 and a ton of bonuses I'd consider it.

I really like Brady but him at $250,000 to $275,000 versus paying Mills, Butler or Bell $150,000 to $160,000, I think I'd go for the later option.

It's Festivus all year round here....

If only for the "can't standya" jokes

He's a good coach, boy is he a reach for that HC job though. I hope we take a long hard look at bourgoin and costanza

Let someone else do it then.

So the positive news is that we no longer have to suffer through Barker on TSN.

So you're saying as long as he's lined up against Kolankowski, he should be fine?

At guard... he's never got much chance at centre where our actual centee being a matador would be an improvement. Kolankowski spends most of the game wandering around like he's lost.

We got hosed or did Hogan hose Oliveira? How many games was Brady Oliveira underused & even forgotten? He's still the best running back in the CFL. If we lose him then it just tells me that nothing has changed with the club.

Thing is...we only need 7 true starter caliber Candadians....so if you do 3 on the oline...2 receivers...and 2 at anytime on defence you can easily navigate the sms..this trying to make 9...10 guys a thing with sub par talent in a good 3 of them for most part is just dumb...not to mention costly There are a lot of quality Canadians that are gonna be free...and some that wont necessarily break the bank either, but we need to have open mind and be willing to change who we play and where as our Canadians

I've got it, Jake Thomas for OC.

Which is totally fine, if he's on a reasonable contract and in a more limited role. When he turns it on, he is still an absolute monster. He just doesn't have the ability to turn it on for a huge amount of snaps in a row. Especially if he sees any kind of double team. Pay him 100k base, with bonuses to go up 50k+ if he has a monster year. Make him a naturalized Canadian and rotate him as the 3rd end. He shouldn't play man run downs anyway. But in passing situations, let him go for 15-20 snaps a game at 100%. Hell, make use of him in in niche roles like when we tried to throw him the ball, or let him run off the edge and try to block kicks. Give him a guy to pair with who will take the brunt of the physical impact off on kick rushing etc.

Unclear. The rest of the dream involved my dog getting an executive job at an AI company.

Barker was awful on TSN, shallow insight and out of touch opinions. LaPo is a million times better then him on TSN. Did they ever acknowledge or mention Matt at all since he left?

He has good escapability. The mobility can be a weapon if they avoid using him as a battering ram like Strev.

#StraightFire

well if we cave in and blow a 260k+ on BO then we better not be -re-upping Kramdi and Holm for what will be over 300k when we can get as good...and in all honesty better production for 180K total....Re-up the most vital guy (Nichols) and go with youth, or a guy going into second contract who is already solid...and likely breakout star...IE be good at player evaluation/scouting we've gone down the go cheap road last few yrs...hasnt really worked out...time to flip the switch

Not really a natural centre, but proficient enough at C that it doesn’t matter imo. He could easily be a starter in this league sooner rather than later at either g spot or c. I’d add, no guard has looked terribly great next to kola. Eli has excelled in heavy sets on the edge including in pass pro and inside. I have no question that eli, and any ar ni C in the league would be an upgrade over kola. he’s that bad. It is very hard to properly identify how good an ol is/can be when next to a turn style. The insertion of bond at G and hardrick kicking out to rt took us from a team giving up among the most hits/pressures/sacks to the best ol in the league. Id sure like to see how wallace, neuf, eli, vibert and/or vanterpool play with out kola giving up instant disruption and pressure as fast as the qb gets the ball. I mean the Ts will play better too. Rando and vanterpool are serious contenders for all kinds of awards if c is fixed.

Where did you see terms for Hatcher? The drop from Demski to the next Cdn receiver on the roster is miles

I just want to throw piles of money at both Lines and build out from that. Own the LoS and happy things happen. I

I mean, every back we've plugged in has had success. That is the tendency with zone systems as well. If you can identify/coach backs into pressuring the gap while also doing a good job of reading the blocking, you will succeed. Remember the broncos sticking random FA FBs in at tail back and having them average 5+ yards a pop and enough yards a game to get 1200-1500 a year? The point of tangibles is worth looking at. Brady is a fantastic blocker. But he also crafted him self into that role. Harris was too, but Augustine did a massive amount of work to go from terrible to pretty good at pass blocking, and MCI has taken huge leaps and bounds blocking too. Now, it is a far cry from being the lone back pass blocker in games during the regular season. But you only gain that final step by doing it. I am pretty confident that with marty, brady and the rest of the guys in the RB room that will hold over that we can coach guys up to be atleast good enough in pass blocking.

Whatever the role was...it was odd..and noticeable and don't think degraded talent related...as mentioned have discussed this and former DE said it was very odd I think if we bring him back..and im 99.9% certain we are we need to have him play as a straight up pressure/attack de...or rush end hybrid at various spots on line...20..25 high energy snaps and allow the young ends to grow...his experience and knowledge of the oline guys we will face also be invaluable to the youngsters We need a difference maker tho inside..if Hutchings hits the market back the truck up..that guys a beast and versatile...his presence would allow woods or Adams to eat too..but hopefully we scour the interior line with guys brought in like we have with dbs before..fix the line..the rest will fall into place..we already have some legit pieces coming back..and any new blood..fa or scouted that's as good or better is just bonus

Now that's interesting....

Naylor reporting Hufnagel heading to Argos as well. Front office role

I think Tyson Philpot is indeed the best Canadian WR and has gamewrecking talent ... but agree with others that yikes that's a lot of money for someone with his injury track record.

150k salary...rotational/situational leadership role id be fine with He still has juice and value..but has to be in a platoon role type thing...and used to best capitalize his skill We need to prioritize a couple legit inside presence guys who possess multiple technique...and the ends will look substantially better...and we need to abolish and go as far away as we can with the loyalty and favoritism plan of having guys inside who are for lack of better word...useless 95% of their snaps...

I am not impressed at all with Younger after this year either, Didn't like his zero pressure approach at all. The first year QBs couldn't adjust to everyone dropping out into coverage but now they just carve us up. These 3 man fronts just don't work if they are done excessively. Better to disguise it like Richie used to do.

I think they could've gained a considerable amount of leeway if they came out and publically announced Hogan won't be back, and released awful players who didn't cut it X, Y, and Z. As it is, we have struggled in free agency when not overpaying, to attract top-tier FAs. Despite our sell-outs, we will not be a hot draw by any means with out making guys the highest paid at their position etc. If we start to drum up hype with changes though, that might change. I don't think we will wait till the last minute for the coaching staff again. I think we are 100% taking our OC from another team, and that will have to happen sooner rather than later.

Our Man Tait had a good piece about all the pending FAs... Talked about Eli possibly replacing Koala and Vibert (another natural C) possibly replacing Neufeld...

https://3downnation.com/2025/12/02/cfl-award-winner-trey-vaval-to-work-out-for-new-orleans-saints-cleveland-browns-sources/

I do love him in that role. I wish they’d make him a permanent fixture in the booth/panel for each game.

It really is a strange usage. But usually when you have an outlier on the edge like WJ, it's generally some young guy trying to cut his teeth. No matter the level or league. So that guy would be in their prime athletically, and you'd use them in a lot of ways. For a guy like WJ to play this late into his athletic prime is extremely rare. I think his step has diminished, but he can still turn in on. I really think the majority of his dip has come because he has been getting physically battered for a long time. After all, teams can double him and have figured out that if you out-physical him, he will coast. Some guys don't relish the physical punishing side of the game. Even at DL. Even at his best, WJ has been a terrible tackler in the back field. From an offensive standpoint, I'd be happy to see any DE roaming on the edge looking for PKDs. I love DL getting organic PKDs, but their value isn't remotely comparable to a sack imo. Tips still gets caught sometimes, but he is very seldom batting balls up to get picked. A PKD on 2nd down means you're punting unless it's a very short distance to the first. But even sacks on first down that get converted bring tremendous value. When you stack up physical hits on a QB, you drastically change the game. Ages ago, Football Outsiders I believe it was, had an article on QBR after hits/sacks and hurries. As you would expect, QBs that took 5-10 QB hits/sacks/hurries in a game saw drastic dips in production. Hurries don't have as much impact, especially without the hits, but you change the game when you disrupt the QB. PKDs slow the drive but don't have that compounding.

I also heard JBR say to continue to talk about JT until further notice. I told you offseason is going to be fantastic.

Als driving up the market. Huge cash for a receiver with injury problems and a guard. Definitely time to let our Cdn linebackers on rookie deals play, bc fa Canadians are getting paid.

Even to the most hardcore defenders of trust the process with our coaches can't argue this one.

yeah...we need to scrap the rigid ratio constraints...the rigid scheme based on...I not even sure these days and allow the best players to actually compete for jobs....and then select you best 24 where you have actual adequate back-up...the key part and then determine the ratio and who makes best sense scheme wise to suit their, and the units best ability Not this pre-determined Player X is the starter regardless of injury in camp or outperformed...Position A is a Canadian position regardless if we have better options with an Import....playing sub par guys (Can or American) cause they were loyal foot soldiers in yrs gone past, or just tickle Osh's fancy.... That in a nutshell is what we have done for half a decade now....time to switch things up

I truly am scared to see who our pre-january extensions are gonna be...it will definitely set the tone and narrative as to what 2026 is gonna look like Sure be a shame to right out of the gate deflate any and all hope of change and moving on from our garbage players/coaches

argos mike miller out of the running for our oc job, he’s the new hc for toronto

So what you're saying here is JT has been told he won't be offered a new contract? Love you, let's enjoy the offseason together.

As crappy as this was, Younger had a pathetic D-line and linebackers, so I think he ought to be given a mulligan for 2025. What self-respecting OC would want to come to the Bombers with O'Shea's favouritism and mule-headedness undercutting the decisions?

I think the 2026 scheme should be predominant 4 man...Modified 3 man with a Jack....And also believe WJ has a lot of gas in tank and should be used as the rotational 55% rep end and allowed to just cut loose, with the other 3 "best" options at DE....Preferably 2 imports and Bailey the Global or a Canuck we can land via FA's or draft...Allows us to designate another import to DT and have 2 legit ball busters inside alomg with Lawson....Do that with 7 bodies who can play, and the secondary, almost regardless of who we employ get better...significantly...same with LB's As I mentioned in another post while discussing dline with Gavin Walls he even said what he saw...and would have hated to do, was that we used our ends a lot...primarily WJ in a contain role and not as an attack end...and you could see a lot of times it was a take 2..3 steps...jab down and hold back and become a volleyball player at the net...and more often than not it looked like plays were being taking off...as basically we schemed him out of plays ourselves....or was flat footed alot and having to attack/pursue from a dead stop...pointless and stupid...and a waste quarter of a quarter...the 1st quarter

Funny how we had a bunch of pressure the game we dressed the all rookie defensive line eh?

is early....but still...teams who wanna make an impact will make moves and not ***** foot around....Ottawa being a good example...they were in lala land and realized they need to change...and got er done as fast as you could...Thats how you get the best of the best No rule or law saying you need to wait X amount of time....and not unprofessional either to cut guys loose as early as u can.....and creep other teams coaching talent...snooze...u lose...we been snoozing on many fronts and losing as well....we didnt do that 2018-2021....Got fat and sassy...almost arrogant and just figured people would glom over to us....give us discounts....didnt need to be urgent in negotiations...and look where it got us Part of this new "change" and having to be "better" also is really relevant to how we operate....That needs to change more than anything...loyalty only gets you so far...for so long and clinging to it....always leads to your demise....its pro sports...cut throat and unforgiving business....it's what you signed up for and if you have a fragile ego or get butt hurt for being called out...or sent packing....u in the wrong business

Here comes my nice comment about the mafia for the year. I’d rather see us be bad, with jake/kola and the rest of mos old boys club and roster management, than see the likes of kelly or chris jones running a team with a bunch of guys who are dirty on the field and bad off it.