TBURGESS

Donovan Alexander
 
Not a big fan.

Right. Mimbs had a great year in 1990, the Bombers basically rode that guy as Burgess wasn't much of a passer, or runner. But he could sure hand off!

Would have liked to see Higgins as GM in Winnipeg with Walters as his assistant.  Guess time will tell if the Bombers made the right choice.

I'm glad we have a QB coach, but I'd have prefered one who is a little younger and who has some CFL experience.  

I wasn't unhappy with O'Shea as our new head coach but I would have preferred Higgins due to Higgins' experience. I remember him as professional and always available as well as polite to the media even after a tough loss. Higgins ought to do well in Montreal.

I would've liked him in our organization. 

He'd have a better shot of being a starter in Ottawa.

Because it means 1 in 4 starters (or in some cases, 2 in 4 starters) are all stars. Not really accurate.

Can't say that I like the way the coaching staff is shaping up.  Our HC has zero HC or DC or OC experience at any level.  Our OC had more than half a season last year to turn things around and didn't.  We kept our receivers coach even though our receivers looked best in their first games for us then go downhill from there.  Our DC's Mad Scientist ways led to him not being in the CFL since 2010.  We don't have a special teams coach yet, but we had one who was top 2 in the league last year.   It's not hating.  I can see why folks are underwhelmed. 

I could find quite a few ways to criticize our coaching staff but I'm not sure that a lack of CFL experience would be one of them.
 
On offense, our OC has 5 years experience as a CFL OC, our WR coach has 3 years as a CFL WR coach and our short list for OL coach includes very experienced candidates.
On the defensive side of the ball, our DC has 6 years experience as a CFL DC, our DB coach has 4 years as a CFL DB coach and our DL coach has 2 years as a CFL DL coach. That's quite a bit of experience for those positions.
The least experience comes on ST, where our HC has a good amount of experience.

Yeah I would think that Walters knew damned well that Matthews was gone and Edwards was retiring before he even had the chance to try and sign Moore. 

We have our 1st rounder, Toronto's 3rd, Calgary's 3rd, our 4th, our 6th, Edmonton's 6th, our 7th.

Based on Walters comments, I think they'll be drafting a couple of OL prospects this season.   
 
He used Montreal as the model system for it's ability to bring in NI talent along the offensive line and noted that they bring in 1-2 guys every year.  In my mind, this is ideal.  Draft picks don't always pan out and you *need* a continual influx of talent to offset complacency, injuries and turnover.  Looking at the last decade for Montreal:
 
2004: 1 offensive linemen drafted (Round 2)
2005: 2 offensive linemen drafted (Rounds 4, 6)
2006: 1 offensive linemen drafted (Round 3)
2007: 3 offensive linemen drafted (Rounds 1, 2, 3)
2008: 2 offensive linemen drafted (Rounds 2, 6)
2009: 3 offensive linemen drafted (Rounds 1, 2, 6)
2010: 2 offensive linemen drafted (Rounds 1, 4)
2011: 3 offensive linemen drafted (Rounds 2, 3, 4)
2012: 1 offensive linemen drafted (Round 6)
2013: 2 offensive linemen drafted (Rounds 5, 6)
 
20 offensive linemen drafted over the last decade.  Not every pick sticks or takes that next step but obviously they are well positioned to find that diamond in the rough.  It's also interesting to note that during this time they had some quality non-imports on their line .. they weren't necessarily drafting for need (rather long term sustainability at a position where non-imports are worth their weight in gold).
 
Compare that to Winnipeg:
 
2004: 0 offensive linemen drafted
2005: 1 offensive linemen drafted (Round 6)
2006: 1 offensive linemen drafted (Round 3)
2007: 0 offensive linemen drafted
2008: 1 offensive linemen drafted (Round 1)
2009: 2 offensive linemen drafted (Rounds 3, 4)
2010: 0 offensive linemen drafted (1 if Greaves is counted - Round 6)
2011: 1 offensive linemen drafted (Round 4) - 2 (if Dunn, who was drafted in Round 3 as a DT / OL is counted)
2012: 1 offensive linemen drafted (Round 1)
2013: 0 offensive linemen drafted
 
7 (9) offensive linemen drafted over the last decade.  Found the disparity here quite interesting - especially when one considers the state of our offensive line over the last number of years.

I like the fact Wally let fans know in the cloak & dagger world of the CFL where teams don't release details of contracts.

i just miss winning..

the Peter Principle in action once again. 
 
weird that all 3 of these guys on our 2014 staff (Burke, Creehan, Daley) all proved their inability at superior positions in Winnipeg...

Very different.  First off, the QB-centre exchange is the most important skill in football.  You can't do anything without it.  You can't just plug anyone in at centre and expect them to be able to get the ball to the QB at a CFL level, which is the problem with guys like Kowalczuk and Parenteau etc.  That is a huge skill in and of itself.  The centre makes some calls to protections, but this is way overrated in Canadian football, most plays have the protections built in and basically what both the centre and QB both do is count how many guys are inside the tackles and which gap the defence is centered on, basically what they are playing as the strong side, which 99% of the time mirrors the offence or the width of the field anyways.  This is different than American football, mostly the strong side of the field down south depends on the strong hand of the QB since the field is not nearly as wide.   This is most of what the calls are, and the protection adjusts based on it, but every guy can see that when they look up, and if you're playing somewhere noisy, there's not a lot you can change at the line.   Everyone is watching for potential blitzers, that mostly falls on the QB to make a call to react to that. adjust a route.  OL have to block from their inside gaps out and do their best to take whoever comes...that's why you'll often see guys coming off the edge free when a defence sends more than 5.  When you see guys come free through the 4 middle gaps, that means someone really screwed up, either took the wrong block or got completely dominated physically.
 
Zone run blocking, it doesn't matter where the defence lines up or how many, they are blocking gaps and chipping upfield.  Zone plays head to a side of the field, not a specific gap, you're basically creating a 3 on 2 situation for your blockers all along the LOS on the play side, allowing at least one of those guys to chip and get to the next level to take a LB or HB.  The RB reacts and finds the opening.  So really a centre doesn't call anything there, every OL needs to read their initial block and come out of their stance properly to get that done.  The first 3 steps are key, can't waste any if you need to get upfield, or get a bit wider.
 
I guess it depends what you think a sub-par lineman is.  IMO, most of the centres in the league lately have all been subpar, meaning they'd really suck if you moved them to another spot where they actually ended up blocking someone 1 on 1 on the majority of snaps.  But that's where the snapping part comes in, a guy who can snap very well and consistently can make a career, even if he struggles to make a block.  Just look at a guy like Dominic Picard.  If I had a dime for everytime he's literally been carried through the pocket by a DT, I could pay for my season tickets this year.  Mostly you're just hoping they can be a good speed bump.  Guards need to be more mobile, presumably you want them to be able to get to the 2nd level (LB's, HB's) in run blocking, although there are enough guys around the league lately that don't really have that ability (Kabongo for one).  They both need to be smart enough to know where their block is and guards need to be patient enough in pass protection to not give up their inside gaps.  Patience in OL is a sign of intelligence and football smarts IMO.  This is really what the blitz is all about, challenging the OL to give up their inside gaps and a more direct route to the QB, the QB can read the outside rush, when it's coming right at him there's not much he can do.

Korey Banks in two weeks has become the leader of this team. Walters said he was in his ear asking if there was anything he could do to get guys here. Made several calls to FAs including Moore and Randell.

@PentonKirk: Farhan Lalji says Nick Moore has agreed to terms with #Bombers. The end of Terrence Edwards in Winnipeg?

Hard to see where Ferri fits on our team, even without knowing what we have in the young imports we've signed.  We're covered at WIL, Banks is probably going to play SAM or some hybrid position that takes that spot, Ferri is no better at HB than the DB's we've already got.

Meanwhile, back at the football forum...

Randle highlights ...
 

Sometimes I don't read everything you type because you've been wrong so often and your obnoxious too.  
 
My track record?  I'll put mine against yours any day.  Lets review.  I was against Mack in his last two seasons.  Against the Jade and the Pencer draft picks.  Wanted Laurent instead of Kito because we needed a DT more than yet another young receiver.  Your track record is exactly the opposite.  Loved Mack.  Argued with anyone who didn't like the Jade or the Pencer draft picks.  I can't remember if you wanted Kito or not, but I'm going to guess you supported that move too cuz you loved everything the great and powerful Mack did.

Sometimes I don't read everything you type because you've been wrong so often and your obnoxious too.  
 
My track record?  I'll put mine against yours any day.  Lets review.  I was against Mack in his last two seasons.  Against the Jade and the Pencer draft picks.  Wanted Laurent instead of Kito because we needed a DT more than yet another young receiver.  Your track record is exactly the opposite.  Loved Mack.  Argued with anyone who didn't like the Jade or the Pencer draft picks.  I can't remember if you wanted Kito or not, but I'm going to guess you supported that move too cuz you loved everything the great and powerful Mack did.

I hate the idea of losing a DI spot to a kicker.