Armchair GM

This team shouldn't be as bad as they've been. I actually think the OL has been at least middle-of-the-pack. We're actually to some degree, using the screen game. We're doing things that in past years I've wished we would do, but didn't. But we're not staying on the field on O, and we can't string anything together. Our D can't win us games like BC, MTL, and HAM's can. They're bottom 4. They can be better, but it starts with momentum, which starts with the O. It all comes down to quarterbacking. Willy needs to recognize blitzes and call protection changes. He needs to understand that even if those changes are made, the blitzers are coming, so have at least 2 hot route available. LaPo's offense seems to often allow Harris to slip free, and one SB to be available for a screen. Honestly, the pieces are there offensively. It would just be f**king nice if they put them together.

Yeah... the crowd will definitely lock in the Ticats D. But you don't win GPP's on DraftKings picking with the crowd. A desperate Bombers squad is a total long shot... you'd take down 1st place if you had the right players. You need massive stones to do it, but Bombers are the play this week if you want to take down a big GPP.

This is about the best comment on this thread. Not sure about Burnett, but we need to maximize our players' talents. Leggett is a very strong safety. I'm not sure where the thinking comes from that we move our best players on D out of their best positions. Makes no sense to me.

The only thing Willy can lay blame on is himself. Woefully inaccurate; in a totally winnable game, he was the difference. A major difference-maker. Secondly, are we really calling for Nichols and Flanders already? One game in, and it's time to throw in the towel on our entire offseason plan? The Flanders comment isn't just shortsighted, it's painfully flawed. Harris was not the problem. He was solid once we started using him in the 2nd half. And where do we pull an import from to start Flanders? I think it's been proven that a starting WR corps does not include 2 starting CDN receivers, based on our present personnel.

Those of you who disagree that Lapo is the right choice... who IS your right choice? I think this certainly has the optics of continuing the time-honored, recently unsuccessful tradition of bringing back former Bombers... but who better is out there, that would be available? Khari's track record as OC is terrible. Dyce was mediocre as OC. Cortez can't hold onto a job. Condell is a complete unknown because of the influence of Austin. Danny Barrett's been out of the CFL a long time. Brady and Maas were not made available. And I don't think we want to go NCAA again given the wild success of Crowton. I hate the optics of bringing back former Bombers that were unsuccessful too, but maybe, just maybe, he's not just a qualified candidate. Maybe he's changed somewhat. Either way, there really isn't much better that I can see, that was available.

Oh Winnipeg... I see why others call us Loserpeg. "If we don't get immediate success, we have to change everything." Short-term thinking in a long-term business. Coaching changes work when the HC has lost the room, or when you have a team that's on the cusp, and the current HC can't get the team over the hump. Or if you have someone pull a Tillman... then he has to go. That's about it. The players still play hard for O'Shea. The first co-ordinator change went well for the Blue, and we have a top third defence. And the franchise QB has been injured and missing for half of our season. Do we need a winning record to get some continuity around these parts? Seems like a chicken-and-egg scenario...

If a good GM gets 2 coaches, a good coach should get 2 sets of co-ordinators. I'm all for giving OSH until the offseason to get rid of Bellefeuille. Richie Hall's appointment as DC has been a success, so let's see what OSH can do when given the opportunity for a new OC, and the knowledge that this decision will ultimately be a big factor in his future as HC here in Winnipeg. I get that Edmonton and Ottawa have become successful in 2 years. But the Bombers under O'Shea have NOT been a train wreck. They've improved. The organization and how players feel about Winnipeg as a destination has improved. They're in a similar spot to Lapo's Bombers of 2010 where we've been good enough to lose close games lately. When taking over a REALLY BAD organization, can any of you calling for OSH's head realistically think that 2 years is enough time? Maybe if Willy doesn't get hurt, the Bombers are 8-8 right now, but regardless, this was a massive turnaround. Canning an HC (and possibly a GM) makes no sense to me after 2 progressive years.

Tajh Boyd was solid at Clemson, but JFALK24 nailed it when he says that he had great WR's to throw to. I watched a few of their games last year, and Boyd impressed me. Excellent mobility, bomb of an arm, seemingly good accuracy, albeit against college defenses. As long as we don't expect him to change the world immediately, Tajh definitely has potential. I'm excited.

If there's any reading between the lines to be done here, it's that Huffer's not ready to give up coaching (as Noeller suggests), and that the Stamps want to move onto Dickenson so that they don't have to lose him. I don't care who the co-ordinator is... forcing Huffer upstairs now would be akin to forcing Wally upstairs in his prime.

The obvious point here is that it's a really unsubstantiated rumour at this stage. But for kicks, here's an excerpt from Rod Pederson's (@sportscage) blog today: 4 - IN A HUFF: Sportsnet's Arash Madani cranked the rumour mill on Wednesday saying the #1 gossip in the CFL these days is regarding John Hufnagel leaving Calgary to become head coach and GM in Saskatchewan. I caution this is just rumour, but I'm not prepared to discount it at this stage either. I've heard rumblings about this going back to last December. Arash is going to drop a bigger bomb about this on CKRM's SportsCage TODAY and he asked me to hold off on saying anything more until he's had a chance to go on air with his findings. Let's put it this way -- this rumour has more to do with Hufnagel perhaps wanting out of Calgary than it does with the Roughriders trying to woo him away. The best thing I can say about it right now is ... John Hufnagel's built the Calgary Stampeders into the CFL's model franchise - two Grey Cup wins in seven seasons - and for anyone to else to try and steal the credit or question Hufnagel's methods, well then that person's an idiot. Huff doesn't need to put up with somebody else's fragile ego at this stage of his life and career. Stay tuned. This will go on well into the off-season. A lot of this - we're told - is coming out of the Argos' office.

Do you really think that is the sole problem? Scheme is just as important and execution. Great execution of a bad scheme is just as bad as poor execution of a great scheme.

MB sucks...but it's hard to blame him for having to gameplan around Brohm as his starter. There isn't a coordinator in the CFL past or present that was going to be able to do anything of value with him, It's not hard to blame him. The only QB who has been able to win in his scheme is Willy... and I'd argue he has the tools and ability to be more successful. You can only cycle in so many players with unsuccessful results... we've been doing that since MB came in. Nice guy, probably an OK coach, but we've brought in top-end OL talent and we're still getting crushed on pass rushes. For every person that argues "it's hard to blame Bellefeuille for having to gameplan around Brohm;" I say "it's just as hard to blame Brohm in a Bellefeuille offense." Brohm's not a CFL starting quality QB, but Bellefeuille's scheme is also not CFL quality.

Our offensive deficiencies are specifically caused by our awful OL play. But I'm not putting the blame on the OL. We've cycled so many O-Linemen through Winnipeg in recent years, and you can only do that for so long before it's readily apparent, that maybe, just maybe... it's not the players. I'm personally convinced that our OL's poor play can be attributed to scheme. The same way Chip Kelly can make an average QB look like a star... a bad OC can make his OL, QB, and entire offense awful. Bellefeuille's gotta go. I can't write off O'Shea because he's got a bad OC... but retaining the status quo would be unacceptable. Bellefeuille is sinking this ship. Another poster said "imagine Willy with a different OC." I'm salivating at the prospect, because Willy won 3 games with Bellefeuille.

Oh gawd. I doubt there's a GM in the league that is counting on the hope and prayer of a team property currently in the NFL. In reality, Bilukidi if cut, would likely wait to see if his agent can catch him onto another NFL team. That's a wait that could go all season, due to the physical nature of the sport, and injuries. We're probably not going to see him in Winnipeg this year... but I don't see Walters completely ignoring the possibility. It would be an unexpected bonus, but one that you have to have a plan ready for.

The other problem I have with this thread is that we're blaming the coaches and the line. "We shouldn't have left Willy in an unwinnable game" (at the expense of proper leadership by the HC), "Bellefeuille's schemes are at fault" (maybe, but the guys actually have to block), and "We spent money and high draft picks to upgrade our OL, and we're getting decimated." How many times to coaches and players say that it takes time for an OL to gel? To learn to play together? To learn each others' tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses? I fully expected the OL to be AT BEST wildly inconsistent for the 1st half of the year. By the time game 10 comes around, that excuse no longer flies; but the hope is that by playing in the trenches together for 10 games, they've at least figured out the major points by then. This reaction is knee-jerk, and SOOOOO Winnipeg. Did you really think spending a bunch of money and winning the offseason would fix our problems immediately? Guys take time together. Khari knew where Milt was on off-days, and could hit him for a TD pass at a Goldeyes game if he wanted to. That's chemistry. That's time playing together. That's something our OL has not had yet.

Oh God, what an annoying comment. A week ago we were all praising Waggoner as being having future MLB written all over him. Now Willy gets hurt and we're ASSUMING we're going to finish last or 2nd last in the CFL, and that we blew it by picking Waggoner. Sometimes, you have to go with your gut, and if you feel Waggoner has a great chance at being an impact starter, you go for it. Complete clusterf***? Really? P.S. What if Marve comes in and wins us a number of games? Is the Waggoner pick still a bad one?

It does if Bass can play MLB. A linebacker corps of Wild, Bass, Randle looks infinitely better than Bass, Hurl, Randle. I honestly don't care about whether or not O'Shea tells Lawless that Hurl is "grading out well." You play your best players, and Bass and Wild have much better noses for the ball.

You think they would activate Gordon? I think Veltung might make more sense if Adams can't play this week. I don't know why Veltung would make more sense to some folks, Veltung was hardly a consideration at receiver throughout camp and likely wouldn't even be on the roster if not for the fact Stoudermire AND Carlos Anderson both got hurt - meanwhile, Gordon ran with the 1s and 2s almost all camp. Maybe Veltung is a better game performer than practice performer, that definitely does happen with guys now and then, but Gordon still looked impressive and if he and Willy can get some chemistry, he could be dangerous. I think Veltung has made the most of his chances and has done a pretty good job as a returner and receiver. Maybe he continues to get better given more opportunity . He is definitely what you'd call a skilled player. Speed, quickness, seems to be able to catch the ball. Gordon hasn't really proved much except for how to piss Willy off running the wrong route Agreed, Veltung has earned his chance, best not rock the boat by giving the opportunity to Gordon over him. Hopefully Adams injury is legitimate and they're not just shuffling the deck after 3 games, he's a solid receiver and it's up to Willy to throw the ball in his direction. Poor red-zone production could be a factor in keying on only 2 receivers. I really disagree with this. There should be no "earning your chance" at WR with excellent play as a kick returner, when one of our receivers goes down with an injury. There's an open roster spot, so why wouldn't we activate Gordon if he's deemed our next best receiver? The only instances I would consider multi-tasking with Veltung are either A) He's the coaches #4 choice at import receiver, and in effect, the next man up; or It is better for the Bombers to start another import elsewhere (ie. at corner for Bucknor, instead of a 2nd CDN receiver, etc.)

Have you ever seen him take reps there? I know it was suggested by a few people (myself being one) that a move to centre would probably be the best career move/way for the team to use him offseason, but I've never seen him there. If Goossen were to assume a starting guard position, and someone got hurt, would it not be possible to just move Neufeld to the guard spot, and Goose to C? Unless of course, Goossen got hurt. Then we see what Paddy is really made of.

You actually only need to make over 50% of your 2 pt tries if you assume that you would make 100% of your 1 pt converts. I wasn't able to quickly find a hard number, but field goals 30-39 yards since 2010 have averaged approx. 85%. So let's say that Lirim hits 85% of his field goals. That's 17 pts. on 20 TD's. Contrast that with hitting the NFL average of 47.9% of 2 pt. converts... 19 pts on 20 TD's. I'll agree with your point of kicking for 1 in no-brainer situations... but that's the only time I would support it personally.

I've been thinking the same thing all season. If we're going to be 75% on convert kicks... every 10 TD's we score, the converts are worth 7.5 pts. The NFL's historical success rate to-date on 2 pt converts is 47.9%. If we do that, that's 9.5 pts per 10 TD's. The math is in favor of being progressive... if only the coaches would buy in.

Agreed on all counts. Ability to teach his offence how to adapt and beat the blitz will be either how Bellefeuille's coaching profile rises again, or how it unravels permanently in the CFL. If there are outlets for the QB on every play... MB's gotta prep the offence during the week to hit these outlets and hot routes. There is no reason why Cotton and Marshall can't torch a blitzing defence with an effective screen-game.

This is a great point, and not one that can easily be dismissed by saying talent is the problem (as I've previously suggested). I'm of the opinion that we don't have the talent to execute Hall's defence effectively right now. But a scheme predicated on front-four pressure and tight CB play might be a bad fit with the new rules. The one thing I think we can all agree on is that Randle's a poor fit at SAM, and last year was a great CB. That's an easy problem to fix, after we concede our stubbornness isn't helping our defence. It doesn't matter that Randle played some SAM in Calgary. It matters to put your talent in the best position to win. And for Winnipeg and Randle... that's at CB.

Hall's defence is like Burke's defence. Its effectiveness is predicated on above-average front-four pass rush, and above-average cornerback play. He inherited much of Etcheverry's talent, and therefore, he either doesn't have the talent, or the talent needs to get acclimated to his D. I think the talent's the issue personally, but that's just one man's opinion. Bottom line is Hall's scheme can be effective once it's got the right talent, and that talent gels. Neither is there yet, and the results are what we see on the field.

Handling the blitz isn't difficult conceptually. If they're sending 6 or 7 guys; 1-3 of your guys are roaming free. Know your hot routes from your play selection and pre-snap reads, and the D will be forced to abandon the mass blitz packages pretty quickly. Being unprepared to counter the blitz is a failing of game-planning, and therefore the OC. I fully expect opposing defences to blitz us relentlessly until we make someone pay, and probably multiple times. Our blocking stepped up in Regina and we handled it well against the best DL in the CFL. Hamilton sent overload packages at us all game, and confused our OL. We tried doing what we did in Regina (blockers stepping up, and throwing downfield) but it didn't work against their overload blitzes. We need to find a way for Cotton/Marshall to be safety valves against the blitzes in a way that Brandon Whitaker has mastered. If we can do that, we become VERY dangerous offensively.