wbbfan

So, I'm gonna dive into 2022 to start. I think 21 is a strong draft, and honestly, we could've used talent we took in that draft better. People often look at 22 as a start of drafting drop off, but keep in mind we traded for Lawson, a high-level starter with all-star potential and a realistic chance to fulfill that talent, plus with the 2nd round pick we got Ford. Which, for most teams, is a generational draft to get 2 guys at that level. We wasted Burtenshaw for the marine, but that was still an excellent value pick. A grade. 23, Bennett was an ugly pick. We followed up with Kelly, who I think has a good chance to start for us this year. We got Murphy, who is seldom off the bench/pr. Schmekel, who has played a ton of games, isn't a starter or star but a solid role guy with versatility. Korny, who didn't get much of a shot despite them liking him, Rosery honestly got hosed and should've made the roster last year, and a couple of TCF guys. Overall, we swung for the fences and missed, but we came out with a strong depth draft. B- grade Last year, we got Big Kev, MCI, Wallace, Samson, Laroux, Manu, Hubert, and Gassama. Laroux is the snapper who will likely be dead money in camp but is supposed to be a money snapper. Gassama is back for a 2nd camp, Hubert is with the Cats, Samson is back, Manu is on the Lions PR down south, and Wallace/Mci/big Kev are penciled in as 2 starters and a backup. That's a stud draft. A grade. Even the 20 draft, Legs is doing great in Hamilton, Hallett can't stay healthy but is a solid teams guy, Bolo who we lost in FA, and Cadwallader who is a beast on teams. B- grade. Draft-wise, I think we've done well. I think we've aimed for teams guys a bit too much at times, but mostly, we've wasted and lost guys to free agency. This is the list of players we've drafted and who signed with other teams going back to 19: Desjarlais, Kongbo, Exume, Bolo, Legs, Dobson, Rene, Ford, Bennett, and Hubert. The list of guys we wasted: Bolo, Legs, Rene, Borsa, Burtenshaw, Rosery, Hubert. We've lost a bunch of guys as premium free agents in that first group. Bennett was a poor choice and a pick for need. We hoped he would have a high floor, he did not. I question our aim in drafting some of the guys we took, but more so I question our use of talent once we get them. QFT, stadium is very nice but far from new. And as Goalie said, it's location is sub optimal to most fans. Plus some of the issues with finish quality, time, and traffic early on hurt us far more than it helped. Half the teams in the league would need to have an NHL heritage outdoor game at half time to get those kinds of attendances. Brand new stadium or no.

Winning championships is certainly the biggest success indicator and goal but far from the only one. I think a lot of people would say consistent winning is next. I think that’s in the next tier, but I’d put the ability to find ways to win when the underdog (like toronto) and limiting upset losses are the next biggest ones. With that, we are clearly one of the most successful teams in the league over the past decade. Currently, I think Toronto and Montreal handily out perform our coaching staff where and when it counts. But we 3 are the top tier for sure.

I think how we recruit free agents and at what positions vs how Hamilton does will give us a strong indication of how much was the guys under Walters and how much he had a strong hand in. It’s a big proof is in the pudding year for us.

https://www.reuters.com/sports/report-ufl-quarterbacks-holding-out-over-pay-dispute-2025-02-27/#:~:text=February 27 - The 24 quarterbacks,between the USFL and XFL. every ufl qb is holding out for more money and year round health care. (55k salary last year)

With a developmental step yes. He’s really half way to being a nose, 3tech or an end. He could be one of those things this year but not likely to be two. And imo, the best move is to develop him as a 3tech/4i. Woods and Lawson should have nose locked up. https://3downnation.com/2025/02/28/top-results-from-the-2025-cfl-invitational-combine/ some pretty good performances.

I’ve always admired the Steelers way of working with coaches and not canning guys. I think it is repeatable, if you have a growth mindset top to bottom. easy to do but hard to do well. Filling bottom end roster spots with above average starters at a contenders level is a strong option imo. Wr is pretty much as it always has been when we’ve needed talent. The upside is we have the tools to develop WRs quickly. Dobson is replaced either by ratio swap or Wallace. Either way I think we will be better and I like Dobson. dt I think comes down to our usage and health. Woods and Lawson is tremendous. We. Could use a sayles style 3t pressure guy who can play 30 edge maybe 40 edge too. Walters and co needs to step up here. the pressure is gonna be on Walters. He needs to have one of his best recruiting crops this year.

That’s true on both counts imo. I think Walters has potentially been adjusting to this. I wonder how much but I think we will really see this year. Qft. Do you think GMs are more replaceable in the cfl today than coaches? Nice guy leadership in sports is the hardest archetype to maintain successfully. I wonder if COs who are harder in a reverse good cop / bad cop situation would work well. Or even if JY is stricter than we see. Guys love him and would run through a wall for him (especially dbs) but he might be more demanding that one would expect. I feel like extensions will always be last minute now with the tightness of the operating cap.

I wonder if it wouldn’t be easier and more effective, if (and only if) we continued to back slide and can’t get out of it, to replace Walters. Find a gm who can reign in and push mos to develop and improve. Remove and prevent crutch players (we all know the names) and maybe improve our free agent approach. (If we falter I think it’s fair to expect our quantity over quality approach this year failed too) One day every coach leaves, and it’s virtually never a good way out or an immediate upgrade for long term coaches. When it happens it’ll probably lead to a further down turn and rebuild. Mos is still a pretty young hc though. If he can take another step forward it will go far and he could be here for another 10 years.

Every team is thinner in the offseason than in camp; that is for sure. And every team is wanting, probably needing to hit on at least 1 rookie this year. But we are certainly thinner than most contenders. Toronto isn't banking nearly as much on rookies, they are banking on returning role players taking a step forward and becoming starters and all-stars. Which is a world of difference. Imo, of last year's playoff teams, we have the least ability to absorb injuries at the top end of our roster. Our ability to replace guys at the bottom is pretty strong, though.

He must 100% put the team's best interest before his agendas and ideals, but he won't unless he is forced to. In the past, nice guy "player" coaches had a shelf life. You'd see discipline and execution slip further and further until teams would move on, usually to a stricter guy. But in modern pro sports, that heavy-handed type of head coach just doesn't work anymore, so it doesn't exist. You have shades of nice/strict but nothing close to the guys 20-25 years ago. And coaches don't have the power to use practice to reel in such issues anymore. I think Mos position with this stuff is a crossroads that many coaches in pro sports are at. I don't think anyone knows what the next step is, but in the meantime, moving further into the stricter, higher accountability side would be a big improvement. For a rebuilding team, firing a coach is easy. Because the expectation resets. For a playoff/contender, it's a really hard situation. You need to know you have access to a guy who is turnkey at that level of winning. I don't think that is available today. And I am sure the team is not willing to risk a rebuild. The only ways out for Mos are for someone unexpected to become available and the change is made, most quits/leaves at the end of his deal, or the team collapses into a rebuild. I don't think any of those are likely. Though the most likely one is a collapse. We do not have the roster flexibility to absorb more than maybe 1 all-star caliber injury and still stay in the race.

The specifics vary a lot coach to coach but yeah that is generally how it works, situationally. Some spots more than others. Also depending on install the hc will often be the one to call in a niche play. Many hcs want control over trick play timing etc. I’m sure mos is generally one of the less intrusive hcs. Not like maas, dicky, etc who either coordinate fully or every thing but in name. Agree with that. I don’t see him as a lber candidate. He will have to bust ass especially on teams earn a spot and work up.

It went off the rails at times the previous year. It was derailed almost all of last year. Couple good games is it. he should’ve, but wouldn’t do it on a large scale. In the mic’d up game we saw him over ride play call twice. Also that is how football works on the larger scale. Hcs manage co’s. Some more than others, but on most pro teams you have a hc who wasn’t a qb telling a former qb coach what to do. In our case that usually boils down to situations where mos told buck run or pass and buck called a specific play of that variety or the odd time that mos would that changed. The times I saw it with the mic’s hot was putting in runs on 2nd and short. I don’t think the issue is that we had growing pains, it’s that buck didn’t do any thing to make it easier for the new guys. He basically expected Zach to sit back and chuck deep when we didn’t run and do the same stuff we did when we had the best ol and we core in the league. He simplified things by taking out pa, sweep and motion. Instead of simplifying the roles of the new guys he took away our multiplicity, versatility, and wrinkles. Which failed miserably. And he never tried to adjust it in another direction.

And that is WJs MO. When he switches it on he makes a lot of plays. But he misses as many as he makes. Over all out DL plat was poor in the GC, but WJ played his best game of the year by a mile in it.

I'll preface this by saying I am biased against the unathletic Canadian safety who sits in the smallest zone, hoping he doesn't have to pick anyone up. But I don't see that fitting in our system, tbh. JY's D is all about guys coming up and making plays on the ball/target. And it requires considerable flexibility from each position in terms of being able to switch off on guys to maintain leverage. We pack most of the best athletes on the team into the secondary with one guy here and there otherwise.

Horth and pile fit a need for us in a big way. Nitychoruk I think we only go after if he’s a late pick. We don’t seem to go after u of m guys mid to high. His size is tremendous and he can fit easily as a back up but idk if he has the upside we go for. Wanadi will be interesting to see how he tracks through the process. I could see him going at the bottom or earning his way into the top 1/3rd of the draft. He really needs to nail the interviews and 1on1s though.

https://3downnation.com/2025/02/26/15-players-to-watch-at-the-2025-cfl-invitational-combine/

We can blame buck for not off setting some of zach and the offenses weaknesses. Zach is a chucker, and if you don't give him a clear effective path to victory with your game plan, thats gonna happen a lot.

I really got a lot of the same feeling. Some of zachs comments seemed guarded in a way that hinted at things with buck previously not being great. And that he just wants to be on the same page as hogan. Overall I thought it was heavy on fluff. And to be fair it is likely that is what people tune into these things for. Some highlights: Vaughters was careful in his wording of why things in calgary fell off, a lot of it sounded applicable to us though as well. Loved his comments about guys putting in all the little bits of hard work in order to win and his move here being based on wanting to win. Wallace talking about his recovery sounds very promising, as well as his continued improvements to his conditioning. Love that buffalo moved him side to side and out to tackle from early on in his days in practice. Hogan didn't give much for specifics, which is no surprise. Sounds like hes been going down the rabbit hole a bit in terms of what is in vogue down south these days. Said he likes simple concepts but has a special interest in trick plays and stuff that has higher engagement. Honestly he sounded a lot like lapo, but it is a very brief conversation.

Ava l o n aaaaaaavvvaaalllooooonnnn

We need some one to listen and take notes haha. Do they have a mechanism to relisten? Will it be on the bombers YT or some thing?

Maybe on the edges, but if he goes into snake-handling country he will be right at home.

100%, they also have that chip on their shoulder and the work ethic to create success. Plenty of talented guys can go far just by winging it. MBT could be extremely successful as a coach at HS or the college level in the bible belt. His schtick would be extremely effective on kids.

For sure. That's why we see the clipboard guys move the fastest up the ranks in coaching. People always think it'll be the extremely successful qbs that translate, but the guys who didn't make it tend to out perform by a lot.

Nice that’s awesome. Yeah it’s no joke down there. I’ve seen a bunch of kids teen to 20 ish and the knowledge gap is heart breaking. Even young teens and single digit aged kids knowing and doing some crazy stuff just to live. Up in the middle of the night to walk to soup kitchen the safe way to be in line for when it opens then walk back to bring food home for family. But then don’t have basic understandings of soo many things even up out of the teens. Reading, normal life and family relation stuff. Just gutting. Malcolm gladwell has a couple books that goes into various factors in poor areas. ( tipping point/outliers/ why I hate the Ivy League) Even for the athletic stars and brilliant minds it’s soo hard for those kids to break free. Juco, the fledgling leagues down south and the cfl have done soo much to change soo many guys lives. If any thing we need a better vacuum to pull those kids up. I appreciate every one who works to lift those kids up get them into juco, college, Europe etc. People like to poop on football programs, and how much money their programs draw. But those programs have all saved countless kids lives and provided them escape from various hellscapes.

Damn that’s wild. Ott has always had pretty active game day fans but that’s some thing else. Yeah it is, no joke in a lot of places. Going to a couple restaurants between towns with my co worker from nc and I got referred to as a northerner a bunch of times and he’d always just be like oh he’s Canadian. It’s nutty. I know plenty of guys are numb to it. Others have a us vs them thing with in their own team and fan base. At the same time that area has seen a big change in the diversity of coaches and modernization of leadership styles. I can’t imagine what it was like in the era of guys like Jim brown. Great sharing, thanks guys I love this stuff.