Jpan85

I seem to remember a goalie in this town who did not report a DUI for two months. This will blow over (no pun intended)

Made it out for the afternoon practice today.  Some notes:
 
- I've never seen the Bombers dedicate so much time and effort to special teams.  Dickenson is really putting his stamp on the team.  They practiced kickoffs for awhile:  Palardy put his two kickoffs at the 13 and 15.  Pavlopolous put his two at the 14 and 15.  Cameron put his two at the 22 and the 9.  I saw Massey, Denmark, Ford, Simpson, Kennedy, and Washington lining up as returners.
 
- The battle is on for the right tackle job.  Both Douglas and Boatman were getting reps with the first team.  Boatman is a big boy but Douglas is certainly more agile.  The rest of the OL looks the same as last season.  Kowalczuk had a few atrocious snaps as the second team centre.  Pencer seems to hold his own as the left tackle on the second team.
 
- Let's hope our starting receivers get healthy.  Matthews, Watson, and Edwards were all sidelined.  Watson's hand was wrapped but not in a cast.  First team receivers were therefore Denmark, Etienne, Poblah, McCree and Adams in Matthews' spot.
 
- Pontbriand still has the edge as the number one fullback.  Good hands, good quickness for a big guy, and he absolutely steamrolled a DB who got in his way.  That said, Fitzgerald made a nice catch in traffic and had some guys bounce off him.  He looks like he has improved already from when I saw him at rookie camp.
 
- Woodson was out there practicing and man does he look dangerous with the ball in his hands.  Let's hope he can stay healthy this year because he could be a difference-maker.  He can run, he can catch, and he made Dan West look silly in the open field.  He also took a big hit from a DB but bounced right back up, so that's a good sign.
 
- Clement got a chance to run the first team offence near the end of practice and looked the best I've seen him look so far.  Made nice throws to Poblah, Denmark, and a beauty to McCree in the endzone that McCree leaped for and came down with.  Clement also had a good run up the middle... I mean it's hard to say because they can't tackle him, but he's got some serious wheels, that's for sure.  Hall also got a chance but suffered a couple ugly drops from Massey and Poblah... Massey in particular is going to have to show he can be more consistent catching the ball or there's no way he sticks around.
 
- What can be said about Etienne that hasn't already been said?  He's fast, he gets open, and his hands look so soft... he plucks the ball out of the air like it's nothing.  Can't wait to see him get a chance in a game.  Brett Carter didn't do much today and lost a contested ball to Desia Dunn who ended up hanging on for the interception.  Still like the potential there though.
 
- Overall, I was not very impressed with the offence outside of the one Clement drive.  The receivers looked a little confused, they certainly weren't on the same page as the QBs on a lot of plays.  Though the defence was flying around so they deserve some credit as well.
 
- Alex Hall looks like he's ready to pick up where he left off.  What a beast.  In fact the whole d-line looks like they are ready to go.  I'm excited to see what Gilmore brings to the table, because he looks pretty deadly out there.

Even the fundamental premise of the article is flawed... if we are going to include coaches in the list of Joe Mack's biggest accomplishments as GM, I think you have to point to luring Tim Burke away from Montreal before you look at landing Craig Dickenson.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers 2013 Season Preview
Starters on Offence (based on incumbent starters)
QB: Buck Pierce
OL: Glen January, Chris Greaves, Justin Sorenson, Steve Morely. RT will be up for grabs.
RB: Chad Simpson
FB: Michel-Pierre Pontbriand
WR: Chris Matthews, Terence Edwards, Cory Watson, Kito Plobah and Clarence Denmark
Starters on Defence (based on incumbent starters)
DE: Alex Hall, second spot up for grabs
DT: Bryant Turner, second spot will be up grabs
LB: Henoc Mumba, both WILL and SAM spots up for grabs
Safety: Cauchy Mumba
DB: Alex Suber, Brandon Stewart, Jonathon Hefney, and Jovon Johnson
Key Special Teamers
The return games has two guys in Jovon Johnson and Demond Washington who can take back the ball to the house every time they touch the ball. In the cover game Henoc Muamba and his MLB partner Pierre-Luc Labbe lead the way. While the team of kicker Justin Palardy and long snapper Chris Cvetkovic have been one of the more accurate duos in the league.
New Additions: QBs: Max Hall and Chase Clement, C Mark Dewit and S Cauchy Muamba
Draft: #2 DL Andy Mulumba (Green Bay Packers) #11 DB Kris Robertson (out ACL injury) #20 TE/FB Carl Fitzgerald (signed) #29 WR Michael DiCroce (signed) #46 WR Stephen Alli (taking a year off from football with a nagging injury) #54 P Billy Pavlopoulos (signed)
Players on the Bubble: The biggest player on the bubble at the moment is Mike Renaud. With three punters being brought in to compete he will be in tough. Clarence Denmark seems to be the receiver that will be under the biggest threat to lose his starting job. With 9 rookie DB's being brought in to camp there could be changes in the defensive back field. Another area where changes might be made is on the right side of the line with Steve Morely under heavy pressure to win his old job.
Last season summary: 6-12, 3rd in the East, missed the playoffs. Coming off a Grey Cup appearance things were looking up for the Bombers. However with a season opening 4 game road stretch and myriad of injuries to key players such and positions the Bombers got off to a rough start, which cost head coach Paul LaPolice his job. Included in those injuries was Buck Pierce who miss a majority of the season with multiple injuries. Under new head coach Tim Burke thing did not immediately get better. Yet as the season went on a offence that really had struggled in the first part became much improved under OC Gary Crowton. Defensively the team took a step back from the previous year where they were the number one unit in the league. Although flashes of the previous season were seen there were too many broken coverage's and assignments leading to a huge number of long plays against the them.
2013 outlook and prediction: It will be interesting to see if the Blue can build on the late season emergence of their offence with Gary Crowton totally in charge of the offense dozen from start to finish. This will all depend on the O-lines ability to keep Buck on his feet. The lack of experience behind Buck means win may be hard to find if he goes down during the season. While a much improved run game led by a healthy Chad Simpson, which was seen during the latter part of the season, may help keep Buck healthy. On the other side of the ball a large influx of new players from the states was brought in to challenge some of the underperforming vets. It will be seen if any of these players can plug the holes at WILL/SAM/DE/DT and elevate the Bomber D back to the top of leader board. Predicting the Bomber record comes down to one fact Buck Pierces health, if healthy there is no reason this team cannot go 10-8 or 9-9 with a playoff berth. Without Buck it looks like it could be another 6-12 season with no playoffs.

Before he is done with football he is going to win a Most Outstanding Canadian award.