MOBomberFan

Not sure we've actually linked anything yet, here you go: https://3downnation.com/2024/01/29/winnipeg-blue-bombers-sign-centre-chris-kolankowski-to-two-year-extension/ Per sources, Kolankowski will earn close to $140,000 in 2024 and around $150,000 in 2025 as part of his new deal. This is a significant raise over what he made in 2023, which came in just shy of $90,000.

Exactly this. You'd hope that Eli would be able to win the position out of camp at this point. Though I suspect the Bombers are bracing for a couple losses along the O-Line and are bringing back as many familiar faces as possible rather than trying to insert someone entirely new. If Eli starts it might be at G in place of Gray while Kola stays at C where he is most useful. Kola is no world beater, and every group has a 'best' and a 'worst' but as a unit our OL was the best in the league and I'm not sure how that happens with a terrible C

Totally where my mind went. Prove you can be more than a gadget QB and you can take the reigns. Naysayers like to write him off as one dimensional but that's just how he was used... Strev can throw the ball just fine

Eli was very good at clobbering the guy infront of him, no doubt about it. Compared to Kola, Eli is enormous. I can understand the disappointment... even though I've been defending him all season, I'm also disappointed that Eli isn't moving on up as I had expected. I'm left wondering... is it actually favoritism? Could it be that Eli is so far behind Kola in football IQ that his size and athleticism can't make up for it? Seems hard to believe, given the hype associated with Eli since before he was drafted... at this rate we may never find out how good Eli could be, they are both now signed through 2025...

I recall the exactly first time I heard 'Fort Hew'. It was Aug17 2017, Winnipeg is hosting Edmonton that night... Wade Miller happens to drive past by my worksite and spots me decked out in Bomber gear, I spot him and give a hearty cheer. He hits the breaks and asks us to sit tight and soon after his assistant is on site handing us tickets for the game. Most of these guys had never been to a football game in their lives and were completely unaware of all things Bomber related, but they were pumped to go. Fast forward to gathering at the stadium and someone asks me what this #FORTHEW printed in bold on the ticket meant, but of course they pronounce it 'Fort Hew' and I like to think that put the term out there into the universe somehow. A few short weeks later the police would be called in to tranq Hewey, our famous moose on the loose. Big year for bomber stadium lore, whatever you call it. PAS is taking some time to grow on me...

Ayers was a boyscout and Bridges plays a lot of Call of Duty

Not yet! Ayers was one of the names revealed from our neg list this year, he's been on our radar a while. Bridges and his North Dakota State team won 70 of his 75 games (including his redshirt season)... played and won 12 playoff games and 4 national titles. Goes on to win the IFL championship as a first year pro. All the guy does is win! Bounced around a couple NFL camps before landing here.

Damn, one of my favorite players when he was playing here, 47 is way too young to go whatever the cause

Lots of reasons add up to losing those cups. Prukop's bonehead pick in 2022, none few of our stars showing up in 2023, it's not all poor Jake Thomas' fault

We did however give up almost 6 yards per carry, teams simply had fewer chances to run on us because we are the best team in the league in so many other facets. Shore up that interior line and we are potential juggernauts

For context, at the end of the regular season we were #1 in Yards allowed per game (319), Passing yards allowed per game (229.4), and Points allowed per game (20.9). We were #3 in Rushing yards allowed per game (90.2) behind TOR (83.7) and OTT (84.8)... only reason OTT is ahead of us is because teams passed on them at will and didn't even need to run the ball.

That's the hitch right there, not everyone can afford the extra spending, the field becomes potentially imbalanced again

He's never been any sort of dominant force that we love to see but he is deceptively strong and verifiably athletic, he plays all across the line, that's not something you discard lightly... size can't be taught... still plenty of time to peak, he's only 29

That would be a numbers game like any other, and it could work... cap usage is a rolling number that accumulates as the season goes on, an extra column is not that hard to track... teams with the need or desire to free up $ by season's end (maybe bonuses and extensions?) could take advantage and more CanCon gets showcased in the process. Of course it shouldn't come at the cost of winning. Nobody wants to hear we lost but hey at least we saved some cap

Yes indeed! Today we lament the impending loss of Oleary Orange and crow about the potential in Tui Eli.... both of whom were 4th rounders. More picks in the 2nd is a great thing

I read somewhere that barely 10% of CFL draft picks make it on to a regular season roster. Of course, your odds of finding one of those 10% goes up with more selections. As we creep towards cap hell trying to extend everyone it's important to have guys in the pipe 14-4, first in the West and a championship berth on hard mode! AND a bonus draft pick! Stop bragging!

Came real close to doing both... besides, the draft picks are rewarded to the teams with most Canadian snaps by end of the season, not the most Canadian snaps in the championship game... so the two things have little to do with one another... To answer the question though, obviously a GC! But they are not mutually exclusive.

Now that we are being rewarded for it, playing 8 Canadians at times and relying less on the new Nationalized import rules seems like less of a failure to utilize the roster and more of a strategy to lock down a bonus draft pick. Great incentive to play Nationals even when you have Nationalized imports with snaps to spare

From most outsanding rookie runner-up to the SSK scrap heap... if he plays anywhere in 2024 it will be at bargain bin discount prices

Agreed! The dumb icing on this dumb cake is the revelation he personally caught a TD that ruined one of his own over/under bets

Wow. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion Brown was leaving. I'm impressed we were able to get anything at all as it was crystal clear he was heading to FA... OTT taking no chances on someone else swooping in. Kudos Walters and congrats to OTT, they poached one of the most coveted pending FAs

Arland Bruce IV... I assume this has to do with the indefinite suspension that was never lifted by the NCAA, or just the stink associated with gambling on your own games... still a shame, he is no doubt a talent

Exactly how I felt when I read that Arland Bruce IV is a CFL player

https://3downnation.com/2024/01/15/saskatchewan-roughriders-finalize-coaching-staff-under-corey-mace/ New to the team are receivers coach Marquay McDaniel, offensive line coach Edwin Harrison, pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach Josh Bell, defensive line coach Phillip Daniels, linebackers coach and run game coordinator J.C. Sherritt, defensive assistant Jordan Linnen, and assistant special teams coach Jeff Higgins... Anthony Vitale, who was Saskatchewan’s offensive line coach a year ago, will now serve as the running backs coach... The group joins Mace, who will also serve as the team’s defensive coordinator, as well as offensive coordinator Marc Mueller and special teams coordinator Kent Maugeri. The Riders were way overdue for fresh faces. Nice to see JC Sherritt back in the CFL after spending a few years in the NCAA ranks

When an agent reports an offer they can say "I can think you can do better" true or realistic or not.