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Zach suspended for the first game is perfect. Now his complete collapse at the end of the season will be delayed by one week! That means he'll dominate the Grey Cup and then crumble at the parade. He'll cut his thumb shotgunning beers, fumble the cup, fall off the back of the truck.

If there’s one player—just one—in the entire Canadian Football League who absolutely screams 'poster boy for performance-enhancing drugs,' it’s got to be Zachary J. Collaros. I mean, the sheer physical dominance, the unstoppable power, the jaw-dropping speed... it’s almost too obvious, right?

Quick Hits | Rookie Camp - Day 2 - Winnipeg Blue Bombers I am rooting for Bailey now.

legend

so peruse this and tell me what you see says guy cant throw or run an actual offense....from 3 min mark through to the 4:30 mark shows ability to make throws in pocket with heat in his face and drop nice balls from a roll out/sprint.....and many of those runs were from a escape from pocket or a designed play Not bashing up the gut....and teams had tpo respect it...the 5:37 mark in particular..pocket collapsed but teams had to respect the reciever routes and he has ability to bust straight up gut and gouge the defence for a 30+ yard score...and in the first yr there was many like that...as well as his runs outside....when teams didnt basically have a run telegraphed to them with the stupidity we put him thru ;last yr I recall too in MTL at game I was at him dropping a 50+ yrd dime on Simonese down the rail from pocket in our endzone as well....dude has ability if allowed to actually play as a traditional QB....and he actually a more polished and refined passer now...he's evolved his technique and mechanics....4+ yrs in the NFL will help with that A guy who showed he can excel and knows the CFL game...and then 4 yrs getting better in the NFL to come back....foolish to not turn him loose as a QB

He tossed that beauty of a deep toss to Harris in the endzone in thr 2019 grey cup. Surprised people don't remember...

I think the CFL should have a Canadian kicker program like they do for QB's.

ZC should appeal. Typical CFL, Stuff that should earn a suspension doesn't but you suspend a guy for this?

I can't believe that's not the automatic standard... You can't reach him, then you call Wade, and Wade gets him in seconds.

If the CFLPA is saying they need to clarify the process and teams weren’t allowed to be contacted, that really shows there’s a flaw in the process

I took a dump this morning that was better than Thomas. Definitely more agile.

"I’m just here to make sure that people know Winnipeg is coming to kill everything and anything in the way.” I officially love this Bailey kid.

If game 1 drive 1 starts with strev in an empty back set followed by him running QB power for 1 yard, it's gonna be a long season. If he drops back to pass with a deep route as much as he runs, it's gonna be a gooder.

If Patterson is our best option, we are screwed.

The CFL league office should be the ones drug-tested.

A couple things.... What makes the roster weakest is not being able to pass protect. If they need 3 imports on the OL to be sure of that, they need to do it. We probably win 5 straight Grey Cups with a consistent B+ OL instead of a C- OL trying to round into form/get healthy at the end of the season, 2023-24 especially. That's priority over any other spot. You figure the other spots out, build the OL you need to win first. The biggest roster issue on O is how you back up Oliviera with 5 O starters. Need another Canadian tailback to show they can handle some work, or another Canadian receiver to step up. Alternative is being able to flip to another Canadian on D but that would not be possible during a game. I think we are likely to be disappointed again with our American playmakers on O if there aren't a couple rookies ready to step in and step up. Bailey started all 12 games last year at Weber State and was named to the FCS Central All-American Third Team and All-Big Sky second team honours after adding 18.5 tackles for a loss and nine sacks. We'd be pretty happy to have an American prospect coming in off a season like that.

Second round pick Smith signed now https://www.bluebombers.com/2025/05/02/1st-10-it-seemed-like-it-could-be-a-good-fit-and-im-super-excited-they-picked-me/

Think of the baseball league the Goldeyes play in. Would be like that. Pay guys $750-$1000 per game for 6 games. The real draw is the ability to get film and for the teams to get a better look at guys who are those 5th-8th round picks, undrafted. Keep them active so there is a pool of guys ready to go. Also coach development. If they played early enough could even get some coaches out who are working with U Sports programs. Probably $3-$4 million a year to run the whole thing. Use it to engage some markets that aren't close to CFL teams. Partner with U Sports for facilities (keep in mind for Atlantic there's club football and nice facilities for that too Halifax, Fredericton, Moncton).

DT on Twitter Parker at safety Bridges at corner Eli at LG Schoen and lawson doing some running.

has to take them when they are there...and/or if defence is cheating up....If he is allowed to run a diversified spread style offence...non-telegraphed play action/RPO stuff and moves the pocket to give threat of taking off...he will be just fine taking whats there and things will open up....Why Buck never did that was beyond me

Yeah, it came up as an unknown number so he ignored it (as most people would). The fact that they weren't using multiple contact points is bush league. Call MOS or Walters and say we're trying to get a hold of ZC - guarantee he answers that call.

Would have loved to be a fly on the ice - during the handshakes I've also got an epi pen and some 90 proof hooch

Yeah nothing about Bridges wowed me..maybe 2nd yr he shows something...or they trying to find his ideal spot as the extra guy But with holdovers Nichols..Bonds..Holm..and role guys Parker..Griffin..and Kelly who are legit higher end starter quality...just a matter of where we put them we sitting real good...and yeah I have no doubt we unearth another gem..we can be pretty selective as to who and how we wanna roll out our guys Same with Jaylen Smith and Makonzo..Shay...they gonna be all over on the defence I bet...and being Canadian it just may free up 2 DA spots for import beef on the dline

Love Parker. Hopefully he can bounce back nicely from injury. I'd have to imagine they want a vet playing safety to quarterback the secondary. Can't think of a better fit from our roster

Peak Streveler. Ed Gainey bit so hard on that big exaggerated step forward and then got outrun to the endzone by a backup RB. And Matty with a classic call to top it all off.

couple other teams reached out to him as well....but he was on our neg. Also a 5 yr trained player in the NCAA is far more ready and skilled to play in the CFL in his first yr than a 4 yr CIS kid...so him displacing a bottom end Canadian is a certainty...even a mid level Canadian to be honest and he likely will be a guy who can take defensive reps and not hurt you there too as opposed to being on roster soley for ST's Ws part of reason why letting Lawler go and "banking" on Schoen even being ready...let alone to where he was at before injury was a big risk ...If we truly wanted to keep Lawler we could have....there are several salaries on our roster we could have expelled and moved money that we wouldmt have missed in the least...My feeling is tho they airing on the side of caution....which in itself again reeks of country club TC attitude ...again.....

and he did here too...and nice intermediate shots too....Grey cup TD.....Augustine shot in BB when he sucked defence in with a fake run....off top my head....also run his college game film...many many beauty passes...and a lot of huge runs because teams had to respect the pass.....as mentioned here many times..Lapo-Buck once it became obvious he could run and make hay with his legs...when opportunity called for it...almost ruined him...and definitely stunted his progression Also what QB of recent memory up here lingered as long as he did in the NFL...Actually on a roster and getting play time?....There is a reason for it and NFL pratcices..as well as assessing a guy is wayyyy more intense and productive as it is up here....You dont stick around....and they definitely dont keep around a player....especially a QB who lacks in any aspect of their position...they just dont....you get chewed up and spat out in short order...An engaged....fully utilzed and integrated Streveler along with whatever ZC has left in him is our best shot at Cup #3 in 6 yrs I'm almost in the camp now with a few things I have gleened that the changeover with coaching and OC here may actually bring a bit of a renaissance with ZC as well.....we shall see

Streveler getting more reps may turn out to be a blessing.

Also the fact that no penalty was mentioned in the policy. Want players to take it seriously? Let them know the consequences for not following the rules. He's clearly too strong for his own good now - so gassed up during GC that he nearly ripped his finger off trying to throw the ball.

Important to remember that for officiating purposes all the teams do is declare how many Canadians are playing on O and D, and who the DI's are. It's possible to sub an American for a Canadian if you're regularly using more Canadians on a side of the ball than you declared. If they go 8-9 Nationals as functional players, someone like Logan could be used as a sub and not classified as a DI. You just need to have the right number of Canadians on the field at all times. So if you had 6 Canadians on the field for O but only declared 5 on O, 2 on D, you can sub Logan in for anyone. But I think it will be hard to find that 6th Canadian unless they force a 3rd receiver out there. Gotta think they will list Bryant or Jefferson as a nationalized American. Vulnerabilities for us are Oliviera and Demski in terms of injury IMO. You need to have a solid plan to get out of a game without them.

At least Jim Montgomery has time now for his medical practice.

There are not many teams who would have won this game, minus 2 players of that calibre. Absolute blood and guts effort. Double overtime with 5 D, against a hard hitting group of forwards.

I literally cannot believe what I just witnessed. What a comeback. I was bitching about someone not stepping up and then there is Cole Perfetti. Now let's hope and pray that JoMo and Scheifs are ok.

3 Stars: 🥇17 🥈 91 🥉 37

Hopefully, the Vezina version of Hellebuyck shows up in OT

It is. I don’t think it’d be financially viable to have these guys playing all over. I think it’d have to atleast start out as a south Ontario to qubec thing. With in a 4 hour ish drive radius you have a ton of infrastructure. It you send kids there who aren’t gonna be in the cfl, give them a chance to make it and 25-35k, you’ll scoop up a huge portion of the guys who fall out of the league. I might add globals as well. Say a limit of 5 globals and 5 Americans per team.

Yup...love his mindset and looking forward to what he brings He was a prospect several teams had on their radar before he became global eligible...may be a major score for us

Nothing wrong with his deep throws at all, he threw a couple beauties in the NFL. It's all the former lapo-buck tomfoolery with him. He can't survive in an offence with deep routes, no one can in the CFL. We saw lots of that last year where everyone runs a 5-yard out and the D runs downhill, making an easy play.

Or any combination of play actions...roll outs....sprint outs...and just standing in pocket until he "needs" to run....

and actually allows Strev to take reps and ownership of the actual offence and schemes...mind you if he wasn't assured that he wouldn't have signed anyway....but this is a positive thing anyway you slice it

All are already starters... But being day 1 of mini camp there isn't much to report. And all eyes were on Collaros and his situation so everything else was buried. Was hoping to get there Friday but I'll definitely be there Monday. Weather looks incredible for the start of camp!

Patterson will be gone shortly I think. Elgersma signing with the pack. I hope to see heavy usage of Streveler and Wilson in preseason with Zach taking reps only in the 2nd game.

It seems outrageous to me that a player would be suspended based on not looking at his voicemails religiously. I check mine only when I recognize the number. Other than that it's like once a week or so. The CFL can be so infuriatingly bush league sometimes. I would 100% appeal.

Some people a province over from us probably cooking up an angle now of he was only good he’d because we juiced him to the **** lol right? Soo bizarre.

Thats why I hope we are able to only designate 5 for offence and then Logan can come in freely...even with BO on the field Ace in hole in my opinion is Makonzo...legit National Talent, as well as Jaylen Smith and Shay now...all 3 are gonna be able to come in and take reps where we used a DA last yr....so it's gonna give us a lot of rotational flexability....even more so if Bailey is legit...so designating 2 Nationals on defence should be a slam dunk and if we choose to go 3 import on Oline then BO...Demski...Clercius and 2 oline guys have that easily covered but with Eli..Wallace in house I cant see us having to go that route...Camp gonna be interesting as how they work things

we prob win 5 cups with what you said that I bolded and replace OL with coaching Bailey was actually persued by several teams before he was found out to be an eligible Global...so that trade up for him was a wise move and he will add more value most likely than any Canadian at bottom of roster. Pass protection wasn't necessarily our demise...poor scheme and coaching and playing with crippled players had more impact. With that Peterson we traded for along with Logan...we more than capable of backing BO up especially if we only designate 5 Nationals need to be used on Offence as opposed to 6...as well if we actually designate and use a Nationlized American on offence....with the amount of guys we now have to switch in and out on defence....going 2 nationals on defence and designating Stanley as the Nationalized player makes uber sense

Thought I’d throw out the remaining schedule till kick off May 7th, rookie camp. May 10th cut down to 85 players excluding none counters May 11th TC opens May 13th cut down to 75 players May 24th first pre season game, at home vs ssk 4pm est kick off May 30th 2nd pre season game in ssk 9pm est kick off May 31st training camps close June 12th week 2 our first game at home vs bc 730 cst kick off. We will have a bit of extra time to finalize our game day roster, practice and be under the sms to start the season with the week 1 bye.