3 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

No, most of you know I call a spade a spade here. I say what's on my mind & don't bacjk down. He's a very good coach. End of story. Too bad if some of you  are butt hurt about it. I'm not changing my mind even if he is the Riders HC. 

Because it's you being you. 

You being you isn't exactly a treat for many forum members here. Not sure when it is that you decided your opinion allowed you to act like a jerk off to those that disagree with it under the guise of calling a spade a spade? Maybe you ran out of blue pills? Idk...but at least dont put words in others mouths to justify your failure to post civilly.

At no point did anyone here call him a bad coach, but you decided to read that into some criticisms of his performance and be the self imposed defender of his honor. I know you are old but not everyone thinks in black and white like you do.

1 minute ago, Stickem said:

He would be a good fill in for Vaval.....don't know about a fill for Brady, as we'd probably go with Peterson....Coaches still high on the guy

We would go Peterson if all things are equal. I am hoping JJ jumps off the page and makes us look at ratio elsewhere if BO went down.

On 2026-02-02 at 2:34 PM, JGD said:

Did you just say to compare their physiques?    Seriously? lol

I never said Vaughters was as good as Carney, I said Vaughters could be a good rotational player in Mace's system.  I believe they worked together in Calgary so Mace is familiar with them.  

How exactly is the Riders receiving corp a shell of what is was?   We lost 2 depth receivers to other teams and one starter to the NFL.  Meyers will be back by LDC like Ajou last year, you and I both know that.    Very few heard of Nield or Robistelli at this time last year.

Saskatchewan does not hold his rights. He was on an expiring contract. He may be back in the CFL, but there is no guarantee he will be back with you guys. He would look really good in Blue and Gold. Fairly certain we are probably the front runners to sign him as with most RIder receivers they can't wait to get out of there.

49 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Ehhh he's still prone to some dumb things. They are god damned lucky BC gave them the out in the playoffs cause the situation Mace went into was super sketchy coaching decisions. It worked but if it hadn't no one would be here calling him a good coach right now.

He's a good coach, but far from perfect, and that is OK for a HC. He has flaws, some that cost his team. Not sure, why pointing that out gets S27's knickers in a bunch.

46 minutes ago, Mike said:

Kory Sheets? In what way?

In that he came from the NFL later in his career, and was kind of a surprise to make the roster and then dominated when given the opportunity. Just a loose analogy. Obviously, we have BO and will ride or die with him no matter what. Just saying JJ maybe sticks around and if BO goes down we could get high level RB play from him.

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

One of those rare times I agree with Farhan. Dedicated QB sneak guy is dumb. Now, having a dynamic running threat that can run a package and a simplified playbook does make a lot of sense. And that type of guy is automatically going to be solid at keepers if he stays low.

 We saw it in the 19-playoff run with Strev. Going, hurry up from the heavy set after a 1st down conversion was deadly. 

 The thing about run first qbs is 1, they need to be quick rather than fast, 2, they need to be just physical enough to push the tackle spot forward rather than fall back (but not a brute), and 3, they need to be quick to move on from them. It's a sad reality, but the shelf life of run-first or even dual threat qbs is very, very short. And the supply is extremely high. Strev made it work as a brute who was more top-end fast than twitchy quick, but it ended the way it did in part because of how he ran. 

 

Especially in this era where the elite QBs are virtually gone, the league will need to diversify and evolve. And the easiest way to do that is to spread the field, then have a dynamic running QB play 2-man games with coverage and run for first downs. 

Who is hating on Mace.? Not everyone needs to go all bipolar and hate when they criticize aspects of someone's performance. It was an observation on different coaching styles and culture development, not hate. I HATE his team, but can discuss someone's good and bad, based on some of your posts you are the one struggling with that sometimes not me.

54 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

I am with @SpeedFlex27, Mace is a good coach.

Who said he wasn't? Contrary to popular belief around here, a coach can struggle in certain aspects of the job and still be a very good coach overall. It is some guys on this forum that think criticism should equal all out hatred. Like they are at war or something. I wish that MOS got the same benefit of the doubt around here by some posters as they are giving a Rider coach on a Bomber forum. Good gravy, the hypocrisy can be too much sometimes.

1 minute ago, rebusrankin said:

Will we starve the offense again by not giving it 1 DI?

Probably. Hate to say it but they are more valuable to us on D given our current usage.

JJ Taylor is quite an intriguing signing. Bonafide NFL pedigree. Could he become our Kory Sheets if BO were to go down. Possibly.

14 minutes ago, bearpants said:

 

totally agree that Stan is a legend and he'll likely play... but he's a downgrade from Broxton at LT... switching to RT, I'd be hard pressed to think he'd be better than Randolph... and he's never played inside, so likely a downgrade from Vanderpool...

I still think he'll play... I'm just interested to see how it shakes out... for the record (I haven't purchased it yet) Bryant #66 is going to be my next jersey, if you're questioning how I feel about the GOAT... 😁

Stan will win a OT job. Book it. Randolph is our future at one of the OT positions, but it won't be this year. The difference between him and Stan would be negligible and in that scenario you let the GOAT play. Randolph will be heavily involved this year, but it will likely be as a backup and heavy set guy. We can ripen him on the vine, and we should do so.  As long as it is communicated properly to Randolph that '26 he will be the incumbent at RT, there should be no issues with him being disgruntled.

23 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Vanterpool* is drastically better at guard than Randolph. Vanterpool is a G that we tried to shoehorn into T. Randolph is a T. At the point of rando at G you may as well just be going with 3 NIs. If we used a naturalized imp or di on the OL, we could use Randolph on the outside shoulder of big stan. Randolph's primary college use was as a 6th ol in heavy sets, both passing and running. You could na bryant and still have him play most of the reps with Rando in on heavy passing downs. Or you could DI rando. Unless Bryant has a resurgence like Hardrick did, though, Rando is the better pass blocker. He was all of last year. 

Imo, with Rando and Broxton, we have the 2 best pass blocking Ts in the league. With Rando a small margin over Yoshi, though Yoshi was the best run blocking ol in the whole league again last year. Broxton was one of the best run blockers, too. He's just a freakin beast. 

Does seem from last year that they want to move Kramdi to S. I could see it being a package /base for pass d. Griffin at Sam, Kramdi at S, maybe even in a 2 high we showed some last year with 1 Canadian, and Woodbey at Wil. 

I don't see one of Vanterpool, or Randolph starting. Stan is the GOAT and Stan will start, It's quite possible neither of the aforementioned start. Stan doesn't need a resurgence, He is no longer the best OT in the league, but he is still really good.

45 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

So, ONE guy???

One guy I remember. However, he did rotate a ton of starters in and out of the lineup and that was also a lot of the problem players had with him. Then mentioned to the media that they were out because he wanted to send a message. Like I said earlier, that's a good thing for a coach to do. What's not good is going outside your dressing room to the media to explain it.

5 minutes ago, Booch said:

I think we knew we would be landing Broxton before we re-upped Big Stan and he gonna be a big part of the lineup regardless...Broxton will be his replacement next yr, and he has also played RT too, so Stan has earned to be in his spot, and compete for it....and if in camp the 2 Tackles show they deserve to be playing then Stan I bet becomes the super 6th and will be on the field a lot regardless....and what a backup to have if a tackle goes down

Yeah he is 40....but he really showed no real drop in play last yr, and times when it seemed he would at times get beat wide...was it an issue of him compensating a bit to his right with Wallace growing pains and Kolo...just being Kolo?...Me thinks so

Stan doesn't worry me much, and we are in a great spot if he suddenly hits the age wall.

3 minutes ago, Booch said:

well Kramdi was worked and used at safety already...And Griffin was used at SAM and was our best SAM in yrs since Darby before he got yanked for Kramdi

3 import oline is easy...especially if we go 3 canadian recievers, but we dont even have to....Have a C and Guard...BO...Demski and another Cdn reciever...thats 5...Lawson and Kramdi on defence..theres the 7...And you rotate in Shay/Smith....Bailey....easy peasy

Would be nice to pick through the FA's and get some NAT depth, but what we have is not too bad either.

52 minutes ago, Booch said:

Moreso as well the 2 guards not having to worry or try and compensate to whats on their left...and right

Jury is out on our C until he proves himself, but our OGs need not worry much about OTs.

13 minutes ago, bearpants said:

I genuinely wonder about where Big Stan fits in... if you consider a potential starting line up of Broxton-Vanderpool-Eli-Paddy-Randolph.... where does Stan play that makes this group better?... Could he dress as a DI and play TE on 6-man sets?.... that would be an easy way to count him as a DA

I highly doubt Randolph displaces Stan/Broxton at OT. He probably plays inside over Vanderpool.

2 minutes ago, BBlink said:

Combination of Big Stan and Broxton (I'm assuming) on the left side is going to be wild. Eli should have a tonne of confidence in the middle when he doesn't have to worry about anything to his left. Snap the ball and do your job.

Still not convinced it will be Eli at C, but if it is then certainly having Stan/Boxton bookending is going to allow the OGs to do better, which takes pressure off Eli as well.

7 minutes ago, Booch said:

so as it see it currently...not based on any further signings, or what happens in RC....Our defence could shale our as such as a base set

Allen...Nichols...Kramdi...Holm....Moxey

Wilson...Jones...Griffen

WJ...Lawson..Ceresna..One of Jenkins/Romanowski and Bailey rotating

When we go 3 Dlinman front lots of variations with Woodbey and I can see Smith and Shay subbing in an when we do those other sets where Hallet came in as well chaing guys but not really doing much that could be Vaval's role if he doesnt take the other Corner spot

Thats a far cry from last yr and the making of a pretty stout defence

Offensively

Bryant...Vpool/Randolph...Eli...Neuf...Broxton and Wallace as the 6th

Gimme Banks outside...Demski..White...Pokey....Neild/Clercius....

And of course ZC and BO in backfield.....and the key...an O.C who has had success in the league

That looks light yrs ahead of where we were, and camp and the rest of FA hasnt even concluded yet

I'm just thinking good luck teams stopping is on second and short and Jumbo when you could have a side of the Oline with Eli..Broxton..Wallace...Bryant ..grading road

yup....and dide scored 14 td's....pretty much double any other reciever...so obviously was money in red zone or just getting in for paydirt

 

I like our roster coming in this year as well. We addressed all 3 areas of major weakness with some PROVEN talent. Boxton, White, Ceresna are all premier players. Instead of losing 3 all star calibre players like we did last year we added 3. Those are huge move the needle signings.

15 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Withn Tim White, Nic Demski, Tommy Nield & Ontaria Wilson having Lawler now would have been the icing on the cake. Not only would we have spread the ball around but we also would have had the best deep ball receiver in the CFL. That's the missing piece on offense right now. 

Agreed. Kenny last year would have helped, and this year would be more impactful likely.

15 hours ago, bearpants said:

you're right... signing Lawler would've added a few "wow" moments to our offense... having him may have led to more points and maybe an extra win... but his presence wouldn't have fixed our OL issues or DL issues or overall ineptitude of our offense... what's done is done... last year is a throw away (IMO) and let's look forward to getting back this year....

No doubt about it. Kenny wasn't going to save our season, but he would have been one step up the ladder from where we were and sure would look great in blue and gold this year as well.

1 minute ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Tell me what players Mace threw under the bus? 

Can't remember exactly, I'll see if I can find specifics. It was a DB I know that.

15 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Do you remember just how bad & undisciplined the Riders were under Craig Dickenson? He stood up for Garrett Marino who was a thug on the field & run out of the league. Duke Williams spit on an Argo & while injured off the Rider roster that same season took a swing at a Blue Bomber who ran out of bounds at the Rider bench right beside Dickenson. I don't recall much of a controversy at Mace's media conference when he was hired as Rider HC. Or if he even said that.

Players should have to make the team on merit. Not entitlement. We've seen that going on here for 12 years. We lost our fair share of players over the past 3 off seasons leading up to this one. The flip side is if you keep playing OTH veterans like Thomas & Kolankowski it creates a log jam & younger players who deserve it can't get on the field. They end up leaving at the end of their contract anyway. The older players keep signing because they want to keep playing & know that anywhere else they'd be cut. So, they re-sign these loyalty "cap friendly" deals.

I don't get your criticism of Mace. He's just doing his job. 

As I stated earlier, MOS took it too far the other way, but a coach showing loyalty to his players is exactly the right move for player retention in the long run. Throwing players under the bus leads to exodus in the offseason. That is what is happening in Saskatchewan right now. If you are seriously suggesting that the core of our talent stayed here on cap friendly deals in the peak of their careers to avoid being cut elsewhere you have truly gone off the deep end. We received many favorable contracts from players who turned down bigger offers elsewhere. I am not seeing that kind of loyalty to the Riders with the exception of Trevor Harris, to whom your point may apply. Just as you don't get my criticism of Mace, I really don't understand your praise of him? 

 

12 hours ago, Tracker said:

I suspect the real reason that some guys liked that they could under-perform and still have jobs. There will always be those who prefer that security over winning, or at least being in the hunt every game.

Weird take given our record over the past several years. Do you really believe that we have a bunch of players in our locker room that didn't like winning? I don't. That's a massive reach you guys and S27 are trying to make now. We weren't some last place team hanging onto aging vets who didn't care about winning. That is complete rubbish created by fans taking it over the top, 

5 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Would it have? Hamilton didn’t win. Our O was crap. Still Would have been crap but wow what a catch every few games from Kenny. 

Yes, it would definitely have helped. No way of knowing what kind of contributions he may have made. He actually stayed healthy last year and was by far, the best receiver in the league. Hard to come with a reason that wouldn't have helped. You say "wow what a catch by Kenny Lawler" like it's a bad thing. Those kind of grabs change games.

4 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Lemon / Mauldin could probably be picked up on the cheap.  Might be serviceable in a rotation on a one year prove me deal.    

Lemon will never go to the RIders imo. Bad blood between those two. However, Mauldin (if he was cheap) might be worth a camp invite. Even tho he looked really bad last year, maybe he just needs a fresh start,

16 minutes ago, JGD said:

I highly doubt the Riders are done signing Dlineman.   Hervey gave Carney a ridiculous amount of money, can't blame him for moving on.  I just find it odd that you say Vaughters is in decline when he had more than twice the amount of sacks than any other Bomber last year.   Will be interesting to see how he does in the Riders system as many wrote off Carney after the 2024 season.

Better not be done signing, you guys have what amounts to a pile of rubbish signed at DL right now. 

10 minutes ago, JGD said:

I highly doubt the Riders are done signing Dlineman.   Hervey gave Carney a ridiculous amount of money, can't blame him for moving on.  I just find it odd that you say Vaughters is in decline when he had more than twice the amount of sacks than any other Bomber last year.   Will be interesting to see how he does in the Riders system as many wrote off Carney after the 2024 season.

Let me type slowly so you will understand. Sacks, especially when you are talking 6 of them, mean nothing. His PFF was the 2nd lowest at QB pressures in the entire league last year. He, also, struggled badly at holding the edge because he was too slow. We had probably the worst DL in the entire CFL last year, and chose not to offer him a new contract. That ought to tell you way more about his on field impact than the fact the QB got pushed to him a few times last year. We had zero pressure off the edge last year...like none....and we got scorched because of it. Willie J was asked to drop out a lot of the time, so he can be forgiven, but Vaughters did zero and he was supposed to be our pressure guy off the edge. You guys got the worst De from the worst DL....and you think it was a good signing. You are proof that Da Nile isn't just a river in Egypt.

After about 2 games of running backs going around the edge on Vaughters and QBs breaking contain on him and QBs surveying the horizon because they have all day in the pocket, and you will realize fully what you had in Carney and what you got in Vaughters. It will cost you games. The losses you guys took will result in lost games. I predict no better than 3rd in the West for you guys next year, and MIGs, you know as well as I do that I am really good at accurately predicting the Riders.

Just now, JGD said:

1 sack in 11 games?   ok then

God I wish you were the GM of the RIders, we could have traded Vaughters for Carney last year. You guys lost probably the best DE in the league last year and replaced him with one of the worst who is in decline.

Just now, JGD said:

Don't forget Ajou and DuncanBusby

Mr. and Mrs. Inconsistency? Yea...good luck with that.