Doublezero

You tell me! Not the first erroneous decision by Coach Reinebold. I liked him though.

Here we are running a dive play called a 44Woodie just before someone tapped me on the shoulder and whispered "coach wants to see you, bring your playbook" which of course meant I got cut. This was '97 camp, and I am moving Shonte Peoples (21) the hell out of the way - Ronald Humphries slipping through the gap. Jeff Reinebold was head coach. Might've been Milt's first season too. Camp was in Portage la Prairie. Chris Vargas and Kevin McDougal at QB along with ugh, the late Cody Ledbetter.

Regardless of where Dru Brown signs next season (I hope it's the CFL and Winnipeg) how much will he be paid? There's much speculation there will be multiple bids for his very obvious talent. Based on this list of top 15 CFL QBs in 2023, where do folks see Brown, a first-year starter, in 2024? https://3downnation.com/2023/04/17/the-cfls-15-highest-paid-quarterbacks-for-2023-season/ As there might be a bidding war, I see him falling somewhere between Vernon Adams Jr ($350,000) and Taylor Cornelius ($432,000). It's an interesting list, BC got fair value out of VAJ, I'd say, and Cornelius, among others, way overpaid obviously. If it were not for the fact that Cornelius is guaranteed 50% of his salary in 2024 - I could see Elks going hard after Brown and just cutting Cornelius altogether.

Very glad to see Kyle, Danny and Ted locked up for 2 more seasons. Pretty obvious from KW's comments that big challenges are at hand. There's little doubt we are going to lose a good number of players to retirement and to free agency. More than in the past few off seasons. No more hometown discounts or players taking haircuts just to stay in Winnipeg. And if we lose Buck, which seems likely, that will immediately diminish the club's ability to fully evaluate everyone on the O side of the ball - O line, QBs, receivers, RB and positional money allocations and priorities there. (Until a new OC is in place). That's why everyone was so upset at losing the Big Game. It was the best last chance. Link to KW's news conference https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/11/29/kyle-walters-november-29/

Doubtful. We had mostly 2nd and short thanks to Oliveira - that kind of outstanding ground game makes things hugely easier for your QB. Less is required of him. One could argue BO's routine 6-9 yards gains masked Collaros's shortcomings. Collaros also benefitted from tossing to the best receiving crew in the CFL. That won't necessarily be so next year and that handicap really showed in the Big Game. To me, for whatever reason, Collaros looks like he's routinely facing indecision in the first couple of seconds post-snap. Lot's of folks said he often looked like a deer in the headlights. Why? Because he's taking off to scramble too soon. Why is that happening? Because he's taking too long to process things. Just my opinion but Brown is the better QB right now because, after 3 years in this offence, he makes faster decisions and can put that football at high velocity exactly where it needs to go.

For past couple regular seasons (let alone playoffs) ZC hasn't passed the eye test. Stats-wise, OK, fine. But he's been very inconsistent - are you going to get the good Zach or bad Zach? Downward trajectory especially noticeable when he came back after sitting out couple games with a neck injury Game 10 thanks to what should've been RP by Elks Kony Ealy. But even prior to that Zach was very hot/cold in my opinion. It looked like Buck might've adjusted the playbook after that - taking a more conservative game manager approach that doesn't exactly suit Collaros's style. But it also seemed Zach was taking longer than normal to process things. That could be why Dru Brown had such brilliant success in relief. Much quicker processing time, quicker release, high velocity throws.

I would not want Zach's 2024 season to look like Calvillo's final year in Montreal. Even before his career-ending concussion 7 games in, Calvillo's production dropped off considerably in that final year. It was hard to watch such a great QB in decline. My argument in favour of going with Brown over Collaros is simply this: Collaros has always been a high risk - high reward quarterback. He makes throws other QBs would not/could not make. When he's on - it's great. When it's not, well, ask Hammy, Toronto and Sask why they parted ways with him. As QBs get older, and Collaros will be 36 next year, that style of play gives way to a far more a conservative approach. That is the trajectory. I saw the movie Napoleon last night. Same deal; high risk - high reward. Until the strategy exhausts itself and you end up defeated, injured, disgraced and in exile.

Let's project current stats into the future, just for fun. In the same offence, Brown in fact threw 20% as many passes as Collaros in 2023. Based on Collaros's 15 picks, running the same offence, you'd expect Brown to throw 3 picks. But he didn't, he threw 0 interceptions. Meanwhile Collaros threw 33 touchdown passes. Brown threw 9 TD passes. If you extrapolate that based on equal playing time Brown would have thrown 45 touchdowns - far more than any QB in the CFL. The other thing is that Brown has a much quicker release than Collaros, that's a big part of his success.

Could just as easily argue that you don't know what you're going to get with Collaros anymore, who is looking more and more like BLM or Calvillo at the end of their careers. Meantime Dru Brown threw for just under 1000 yards this past season and had the highest overall QB efficiency rating of all the QBs in the CFL - by far. He had a higher pass completion percentage than Collaros - and was second only to Fajardo who thows for an average of 5 yards while Brown threw for average of 11 yards - again, highest in the CFL. Based on numbers alone the guy, who has been mentored here for 3 years, is an outstanding prospect. And when you actually watch him vs Collaros, Brown has better vision, better accuracy, better pocket presence and throwing velocity. It would be irresponsible to let a guy like that get away ...

It wasn't just the Big Game where he looked like a deer in the headlights, forced throws, and lobbed it into traffic though. He threw for alot of yards and TDs this season but also a pile of picks and bad pick-6s. Compare Collaros's, pocket presence, calmness in the pocket, his vision, throwing velocity and accuracy with that of Dru Brown and you can see Zach is on the downswing and Brown is better. It happens to every QB. Brown has had tremendous mentorship in Winnipeg. Why would you let him get away? They have to figure out a way to sign him as the starter. If Buck leaves, promote Zach to OC (or give him a role like Calvillo in Montreal) and let Brown lead the charge.

ZC confirms what many others believe - Dru Brown could be the best QB in the CFL. So, if that is the case, why on earth would Winnipeg let him go elsewhere? Obviously if we can only afford to keep one of either Brown or Collaros - it has to be Brown. “Under the right leadership and coaching and play calling and all those things, I think he can be one of the best if not the best guy in the league. I truly feel that way about Dru,” said veteran quarterback Zach Collaros. https://3downnation.com/2023/11/22/zach-collaros-in-right-situation-dru-brown-could-be-best-qb-in-cfl/#google_vignette

OK fair enough, although I'm not sure Johnny A was really given the chance to actually compete for the starting job. He never got enough reps. Few starts he managed to get in prior years, he show some real flashes. I know I'm in the minority but I think he's very under-rated.

I'd be shocked if Oliveira isn't back in Blue and Gold next season. But curious: why would you say Augustine is not a starter?

Maybe, but even Collaros said (thanks for his honesty) that Schoen and Bighill probably shouldn't have been out there. He also said Demski and Sheed were playing hurt, Sheed with a 2nd degree hamstring tear.

I just watched MOS pos-game newser. That was pathetic. I know the players seem to love him but man, he is so stubborn. Asked if Bighill and Schoen were actually ready to play he said: "You gotta give the players a chance to be great - they can't do that on the bench." But they were hurt. And allowing them to play actually hurt the team. What kind of thick head couldn't see that?