Colin Unger

I would also have a category for top tier up and comers for guys like Gray. I know some people have this mindset that any player is just a prospect until they prove it. However, no CFL GM is going to trade their first round picks for 2nd round picks straight up. You'd be laughed off the phone if you proposed that trade. So yeah.. There's a difference between a guy like Gray and a guy like Couture/Speller. Id also have a separate category for Ratio Breakers Allstars and guys who were allstars at a position where Canadian starters are relatively easy to come by. I think all the proof we need that the bombers have good confidence in their replacement Canadians is that they seem to not have much of a plan for their first round picks this season and are willing to look at offers on them.

John Hodge responded to being called out on the bombers not being in SMS trouble in the comments. Here's what he said "Thanks for the comment, Gerry. I should have been more clear -- I think the Bombers have some cap space, but they have most of it set aside for cast-offs from the AAF and NFL. I don't believe they want to spend a lot of it on draft picks. Remember that Bighill wasn't the only big raise the Bombers handed out this off-season -- Jackson Jeffcoat and Brandon Alexander got paid, too. Geoff Gray will also be making first-round money as well." We were all right.

XFL is starting to remind me of Madden House rules events!

I would personally put Wolitarsky in the above average category. I believe he had the 4th most yards of any Canadian receiver despite playing on a low passing volume team and field side wideout. With the move to slot I see him as a 1000 yard guy this year. Probably a better receiver than any current American we have aside from Darvin.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/04/xfl-rules-overtime-9-point-touchdowns

No way bombers are at the ceiling.. They just may not want to put 200k into first round picks who won't be starting. Let's hope they can trade one of the picks for maybe a 2nd or 3rd round pick and an american receiver we need.

I think that's part of it.. But I think people also got exhausted from the long season and long playoffs last year. I know I did.

There was something extra special last season because it was the first time the jets made the playoffs with an actual good team. I feel like the obsession among fans isn’t as high this year.

I wouldn’t consider a guy like Gray as being last years backup. He was the most highly touted offensive lineman his draft year and then signed in the nfl. I was just as excited to have him when I thought Chung and Goosen were coming back as I am now. He will just start sooner than if we got everyone back. But eventually I expected him to be an upgrade over anyone we had as a Canadian on the offensive line.

I’d rather have the Jets completely fill the gap until bombers season.

Can't really blame them for that. The problem is that it's not a wealthy league and the league just had to take over a team to save jobs and a franchise. We all want the players to make more money. This is why I've been so supportive of the Global initiative which has the potential to significantly increase the salaries for all players in the CFL. Yes some tactics are being used and there were some pretty bad tactics used on players in the past. Just ask anyone who played for Cal! However, the league has never had a work stoppage and the league has survived and been able to pay players year after year after year. Unlike the AFF, XFL 1.0, USFL, Arena League ect ect.

It seems like you're trying to suggest that any young Canadian should be viewed the same. Yeah any player who hasn't proven themselves as a starter could be great or not great down the road. This statement isn't factually incorrect. But when you have a track record of drafting and developing elite level Canadian talent and we are looking at another very good crop of Canadian players there's no reason to worry. Track records matter. How highly regarded they were heading into the draft matters. By your logic, the Calgary Stampeders should be expected to be near the bottom of the league this season. They certainly lost more talent than Winnipeg included a Canadian that is near Bighill level and didn't add as much Winnipeg. However, based on their track record of developing replacements I'd still have them at the top right now until proven otherwise. How many of these Canadian All-stars were on the team when Walters took over the reins? Based on track records.. I maintain.. Not worried about the Canadian talent we will be better than most teams. Also based on track record I'm concerned about the American talent in our receiving core.

Unlike the league, the players union really seems to be taking everything public and throwing a pity party for themselves to try and divide fans.

Players stick together. The league is wise to not pay the bonuses which are part of the players 2019 contracts and pre-payment on what they hope the players will do during the 2019 season. I can assure you that if the league paid the bonuses and a collective bargaining agreement is not reached the players would not be paying the money back. The league would refund season tickets and sponsors. Negotiations are tough but even tougher when they pay money to the party you are negotiating with and then try and negotiate.

I would think that that would be pretty normal for a cfl. Team. Where is Calgary at after the loss Singleton and Durant. I would imagine they are less than Winnipeg. Another top team in the league is Hamilton and they're pretty similar to Winnipeg id say. One of the few teams that are blessed with two ratio breaker's in Ted Laurent and Jamaal Westerman. And future bright with all those picks they got for "John" Manziel After that, they've got nothing special overly special. Edmonton is nothing special. Didn't even have a good offensive line despite starting 3 Americans last year. Montreal has some good front end talent in Muamba and Loffler. But we all know Loffler isn't going to be a long career type guy and their cupboards are empty for the next few years thanks to poor management. The point im making here is that Winnipeg isn't noticeably worse than the rest of the league in terms of proven commodities and they have a bright future. Who knows what we will think of Gray, the 2 first round picks, Couture, Jones, Petermann, and Simonise by the end of the season. They all have high upside. Im not worried about Winnipeg's Canadians versus the rest of the league right now.. Should I be? Winnipeg is well positioned IMO if the league drops down to 5. Mainly because we didn't way over pay for a Canadian. If the league drops to 5 the only Canadians who will really be worth money is a player who would be playing even if they weren't a Canadian. So guys like Harris, Laurent, Westerman, and potentially Loffler. Suhk Chung's contract is a joke in a league with 5 Canadian starters. You can replace him with an american for 80k.

The real question is not how much talent was lost but how much talent remains. Winnipeg may still have close to the best Canadian talent in the cfl.

Im gonna laugh when the CFL announced that only 5 canadian starters are required starting this season

I'm not saying that these players aren't good players and that I wouldn't rather have had them coming back. However, I felt the same way about TJ Heath and Jamal Westerman. Loffler is a good safety still however his style of play has been significantly impacted by all the new rule changes that have come out in the last few seasons where he's no longer able to light receivers up once their fingers touch the ball. Safety is simple not the impact position it used to be. In his first two seasons he had 7 forced fumbles and 0 last season. Calgary played great defense and won the Grey Cup with Adam Berger playing at safety. It's one thing to have to replace 3 ratio breakers who are all-stars. However, in these cases, we are talking about a guard, a center, and a safety. Not a right tackle, linebacker, and defensive end. The bombers have been drafting and developing replacement players in these positions. Positions that have largely been considered non-ratio breaker. Meaning that there is a steady supply of Canadian who can play these positions. You just gotta keep drafting and developing them. Which Winnipeg has. We didn't look that bad defensively even when Hect was in at safety. With an improved pass rush this season we should be just fine. The defense is not something I'm worried about. In the CFL you're always going to have turnover. At any other time, I would be worried about our offensive line after losing players of this caliber. But at this juncture, we will be fine because we have players in the system who can fill those roles. When Walters took over we were 5 starters short of an offensive line and nothing in the system. Now we lost 2 guys and have several options already in the system who can fill those roles and 2 picks in the first round. There's a reason why Winnipeg made no attempt to sign a veteran offensive lineman in free agency despite having the cap space to do so. These 3 Canadians keep being brought up however I'm not worried about it. I'm more concerned over whether or not our quarterbacking and receiving will be improved over last season.

Correct. Goosen needed to develop for s period of time first. I believe we wanted to draft Pierre Lavertu because he was the only center in the draft who could potentially come in and start immediately. Calgary traded Gott for a pick and then picked Lavertu before we could do we drafted the next best center and developed him.

Right. And some times they ain’t as good as the previous starter and sometimes they are a significant upgrade.

I hope nobody is suggesting that I don’t think that Chung is a good guard. What he lacks in physical ability makes up in fight and tenacity. But he struggles against physically dominant defensive tackles like Mica Johnson. Chungs got a real mean streak out there.

It’s true that Chung only made it as an all star due to voting from outside Manitoba. I’m sure that the Toronto cfl media really breaks down the deep analytics before making these decisions. I’m not suggesting Chung isn’t a very good Canadian guard. Just that he’s probably not the best right guard in the league. Im much more concerned about what kind of center will have to replace Goosen than whether or not Grey will become better than Chung.

While both Goosen and Chung were all-stars only one of them really deserved it and that was Goosen. Winnipeg offensive line in general received votes from across the country due to the performance of Andrew Harris. Chung wouldn’t have been an all star had it been based only on the votes from Winnipeg media. Sure Grey wouldn’t have started this season had they still been around. There will be growing pains early on but he has an excellent chance of being better than Chung in the long run. He’s certainly further along than when Chung started as a rookie. And it was only going to be a matter of time before Grey would was the top offensive lineman available in his draft year would be starting. He’s the kind of guy you move an asset to get into the lineup. Winnipeg will still have a dominant running back and our tackles will give our qbs time to throw the ball.

https://www.tsn.ca/report-cfl-buys-alouettes-with-goal-to-sell-to-new-owners-1.1288582 Sounds like the CFL ended up buying the Als. Let's hope they can find a strong local owner with the ability to deliver a new stadium.

The problem with giving players more money at this point is that there are still two teams that are losing money year after year. I want the players to get more money but not if it ends up costing the league a team or two. Its like the players want more money for rookies and more guarantees and perhaps pensions for veteran players. Where's the money going to come from? Owners in Toronto and Montreal out of goodwill or perhaps more money from Manitoba tax payers? Not sure how giving the players more money at this time grows the league. Im optimistic that with the global initiative eventually, player wages can increase significantly. But now doesn't seem like the time. Seems like players want everything that the AAF did which ultimately doomed them to fold. Some form of guaranteed money for veterans I think could work if it was done right. It would force teams to stick with what they've got which would be good for continuity. Similar to how the football operations cap makes it so that a team like the Riders didn't just fire their whole coaching staff and hire whoever they wanted after Chris Jones left. Would force teams to be more responsible.