Colin Unger

I'll be paying close attention to the Cleveland Browns in the NFL draft over the next few days. Currently Geoff Gray is a fringe roster player but that could change depending on how many offensive lineman the Browns end up drafting and where they draft them. Typically NFL teams like to carry 9 offensive lineman on the gameday roster and 2 of them tend to be young developmental guys. Geoff Gray will be in a battle to stick as one of the two developmental lineman. If healthy, tackle Rod Johnson who the team drafted in the 5th round last year would be in line to be one of the two making the roster. Gray would currently be competing with undrafted free agents Victor Salako and Christian Schneider for that final roster spot. No doubt they will bring in more undrafted free agents this season but the real wildcard here is the fact that the Browns are loaded with 12 picks in this year's draft. They could use a first or 2nd round pick to draft a tackle to compete for the starting job which is currently available but this would have little impact on Gray as it would likely lead to a veteran backup being beat out. What I'm most interested to see is if they pick any offensive lineman in rounds 4 through 7 who would be very hard to release after having given them signing bonuses and have spent draft picks on them. Typically 20% of picks are used on offensive lineman in the NFL. So the way I see it they pick one in the first two rounds and then 1 or 2 later on in the draft to develop. In a few days we should have a much better idea of what Gray's realistic chances are of sticking with the Browns this season. I view this season as a make or break year for him. He needs to make a roster. There's simply too much attrition going on and after failing to crack two rosters so far this could be one of the last opportunities he has to stick it out in the NFL. By next season he'll be 24 and no longer viewed as a developmental project. He'll undoubtedly start being viewed for only what he currently brings to the table. The clock is ticking. I hope he does well but deep down I would love to see him come up here and have a long career for the bombers.

Its something that you'll keep hearing until the guy proves he can do it. It's common sense. I can understand people who are suggesting we will have enough depth with Spooner, Couture, and a guy we draft in the first round. But I wouldn't understand the confidence that Nuefeld can stay healthy or that durability isn't an issue for the guy. I would almost sooner start Couture and keep Nuefeld in the role he was in last year where he was able to stay healthy without the 18 game workload.

What’s the most number of games he’s ever started in a season? Spooner can stay on the dev roster until an injury happens. I just don’t trust injuries not to happen. We need depth.

https://www.cfl.ca/2018/04/24/dyakowski-hecht-among-4-riders-cuts/ Riders cut 4 players including Hecht and Dyakowski. At the right price I could see both players providing benefit to Winnipeg. Since we lost out on Muamba and Westerman we need all the depth we can get at our Canadian starting positions. Nuefeld is not somebody you can pencil in for 18 games without getting injured. So assuming that Chung and Goosen will be healthy we are likely still looking at starting Couture for a period of time with completely unproven depth behind him. Would love to see Dyakowski brought in to compete against Nuefeld. He played 18 games last season and has been pretty durable. Would also be interested in have Hecht backup Taylor Loffler at safety. Thoughts?

https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2016/5/24/11759282/eagles-rookie-profile-quentin-gause-rutgers-linebacker-profile-scouting-report-philadelphia They said in the radio just now that Quentin Gause is the early favourite to win the job at middle linebacker. He’s a physical phreak, shows good speed and is a good character and a academic. He is a bit short for the nfl at 6 foot tall but shows a good vertical. He spent he last two years on NFL practice rosters.

I remember being disappointed we got Goosen instead of Lavertu. Thing worked out well for the bombers there.

Maybe he will sign in Winnipeg after the next time he gets cut.

At this stage of their careers I'd say that Wilder is the better of the two at rushing the football. I think Harris is the better receiver right now. He's got great hands and his smarts and CFL experience really help him out there. It will be interesting to see how Wilder does when coming back with a larger contract and isn't thinking he's gonna be bolting for the NFL in the offseason. Time will tell but Wilder was surely impressive last season once he adjusted.

Andrew Harris is a special situation. He's playing with a hometown discount plus he's got an offensive co-ordinator who really knows how to use his skills and a qb who's on the same page. Muamba is a solid middle linebacker and would make a two-fold impact on the team. He would solidify our weakest area on D with quality play and also give us much needed non-import breathing room on the roster. Overall.. Muamba would definitely provide an impact.

Is having Homer and Flanders on the same team Corney or Wild?

Red herring

The bombers owe us a name dangit!!

https://www.cfl.ca/2018/02/20/cfl-reveals-list-10-negotiation-list-players-team/ Here are the bombers that were revealed. Jayson DiManche LB Southern Illinois Quinton Flowers QB South Florida Alex McGough QB Florida International Felix Menard-Briere K Montreal Shakim Phillips WR Boston College Cody Prewitt DB Ole Miss Marcus Sayles DB West Georgia Tharold Simon DB LSU Chris Streveler QB South Dakota Corey Washington REC Newberry College

CFL.ca Is about to reveal 10 names from each team's negotiation list. Pretty cool. Check in to CFL.ca at 3 p.m. ET as the CFL reveals 10 players from each team's negotiation list for the first time ever...

Lucky him... Gets a paycut in exchange for a non-guaranteed extension of term

I greatly prefer the stupid penalties that Westerman would take.

Makes sense why they would want a guy like Franklin to come in and back up for a year and learn the offense before becoming the starter.

I think that the main reason Dressler was getting hurt is we were relying on him as being that guy who catches a 7 yard catch and turns it into a first down . Running sweeps with him ect. With two talented bigger guys being added to our receiving core I think we can use Dressler in a different way which would help him to stay healthy. With injuries there were times where Dressler seemed to be the only reliable receiver we had out there outside of Harris. Both of those guys were taking on a lot of physicality. We need to shelter both of them a bit more this season.

If we can keep him healthy Dressler is still a 1000 yard type guy. When you give some of the rough stuff he had to do to Demski and Bowman I think he's going to have a great year. He'll have a huge role.

Based on what Walters said in his press conference it sounds like Fenner will play SAM and Leggett will play one of the halfback positions. He said that SAM was definitely Fenner's best position. I wonder if they believe that Leggett will have a better chance to stay healthy if he's further away from the line of scrimmage? Also.. Both Lefrance will be learning the hybrid runninback/receiver position and Demski will have an opportunity there as well. After Westerman moved on they signed LeFrance because they may not have the luxary to play an american at runningback. If this team needs to shed salary I wonder if Flanders is a possible trade target? Maybe to Toronto??

https://globalnews.ca/news/4028561/edmotonton-eskimos-john-white/ I seriously thought John White had signed in Montreal

The only problem will be that there will be several teams interested and I don't know that we have the cap space. Depending on what the Riders do this could drive down the price of Woods and Tank Reed.

Plus an extra Canadian starter would be a great insurance policy allowing us to replace with americans at receiver or offensive line should injuries occur.

Queue the pr BS - "Never wanted to leave Winnipeg"! At this point i'd love to have him back.

Wow.. Can't believe he's still being paid that much.