BigBlueFanatic

I think our roster composition and player deployment is going to get stupid and cost us a win or two (as it always does) but overall, the talent at the top is there. The scary part is it’s old.
Brady, Demski, White, Pokey is definitely enough to compete on O, the D is going to be flying around, ST should be solid. I’m not worried that we’re going to lose 12 games, I’m worried we’re going to lose the last one because we’re old, beat up and not putting our best roster on the field.
Does anyone believe that if the decision needs to be made in the playoffs, Kyrie Wilson with a torn hammy isn’t coming off the field? That’s still my concern.

I've never liked you.

Every time the Riders lose an angel gets its wings.

It's the crown jewel of the sovereign republic of alberta

It’s starting to feel like, a week in, it’s business as usual and we haven’t learned much. Still looks like we’re getting ready to trot out 8-9 Canadians for no reason and value experience above everything. It’s hard for these rookie Americans to get experience because irs a revolving door for them by design - we don’t give them experience and then fault them for not having experience.
There’s genuinely no reason someone like Gavin Cobb or Joey Corcoran should be taking meaningful reps with the first team at this point in camp. If you can’t find an American rookie that can perform better than 2* Canadian prospects, what’s the scouting department even doing? And the lot default “they’re all starters and the Canadian provides roster flexibility” thing is so hollow, we don’t need the flexibility. We don’t even use the flexibility we currently give ourselves.

Must have been quite an impression on your new co-workers when you walked in like this on your first day!

How did 2019 so quickly become "the good old days" instead of a thing that just recently happened...

Can't read too much into a couple of reported reps. Every DE ever gets swallowed up and heck of a lot more than they dominate. All QBs would be in the hospital if this weren't the case. He will definitely be rotational for all this season though. The last two really good NAT DE's I have in recent memory are Ricky Foley and Mathieu Betts and both were rotational until year 3 of their careers.

Weird. Cam Allen looked pretty awesome last season at safety. Why would you fix something that isnt broken?

I can't speak for these other guys, but strippers do love me. If these guys can't buy a stripper's love then they need to rethink their banking strategy when going to the peelers.

That makes sense with Smith and Shay but honestly I think they could take some reps on D and we'd be fine.
As for you have to earn it, we started Kolo for multiple years and each week you could watch the film and see him get blown up multiple times. We played Kornelson reps last year and he was invisible. Damian Jackson got reps and he was limited at best. Ditto Corcoran.
So yeah I get earning reps but don't tell me MOS applies this to everybody.

When given the chance, he could definitely pitch...
College numbers: 12,616 passing yards (6th in NCAA history) and 96 touchdowns over 47 games

AND in all honesty...he played well in playoffs and if not for a seive defence vs..was it BC??...He would have pulled off a playoff win...we lost but not from his play. I bet his playoff stats are much better than ZC's in his time here

I had a leftover day of vacation to use up so I rolled through the stadium today and concentrated on the offense
Bryan Randall appears to have a leg up on the QB2 job, Darryl Hackney looked awful in skelly and throws an ugly ball
Onterrio Smith looks like a total pro out there in the backfield, Ramonce Taylor looked good in limited action but seemed to disappear halfway through practice
Justin Surrency catches everything thrown his way and seems to be a lock to make the team, he even made Roc Carmichael look silly on every rep they matched up for. Antonio Brown can run by everyone on the field but on one rep across the middle, Dwayne Slay lined him up and made him pay for it
Tyson Pencer is a mountain of a man out there and will be a sure-fire ratio breaker at tackle if he keeps this up
We’re going to the Grey Cup

Great QBs on great teams don't screw things up. They play like game managers, make great plays themselves at times but let the talent around them win games. BLM may not have been as great if he had played for the Lions instead of the Stamps. Or with us from 2013-16. We were a wasteland at qb back then as I recall. Look what Collaros did in Saskatchewan. Virtually nothing. Then he comes to Winnipeg after another useless stint in Toronto as a washed up pivot & set the CFL on fire as a Blue Bomber in 2019 & 21. How good would Ken Ploen have done had he signed with the Alouettes instead of the Bombers. All the pieces have to fit in place even with the great ones to win.
BTW, I think Matt Nichols doesn't get the credit he deserves. He came here for a bag of footballs as Ed Hervey felt he was washed up. Nichols turned the fortunes of the Bombers around. I'd like to see the Bombers recognize his contributions to making this organization a winner.

Strength of the team is a tough one. Did Flutie ever start on a bad or average team? Do we downgrade Zach's renaissance because he was on a generational team? Does that, by extension, nearly wipe out Kharis' career? What about AC's loyalty to the Als or his willingness to remake himself late in his career?
Something similar can be said of all the top QBs. Some of those factors are bigger than others. Imo, the big ones are Danny Mac just slinging it on so many bad or mediocre teams (while piling up the picks), Allen padding numbers like emmit smith while only having a small number of good passing years, Harris/KG padding on good teams and not elevating teams, and just the vastly different era for guys before Brock/Moon/Clements. Even that era, up through Khari to the modern era, is a massive change.
Nothing is gained by reducing the greatness of any of those guys, though.

56 LB Ja'Kobe Clinton 6'2" 230 (West Florida)
51 LB Johnny Hodges 6'1" 231 (Texas Christian)
78 LB Cohen McCluskey 6'1" 225 (Rifles)

love this, thanks!... but it does bug me to see Wilson listed at WIL with 3 better options listed behind him...

I mean, pretty good first interview? Came across confident, but also humble and grateful. No red flags so far anyways.

100% agree. I honestly believe Ray is the most underrated CFL QB ever. It's gross how good he was and that the league forced the trade to TO in a lame attempt to save the franchise by gifting them GCs.

He's right up there with Pacman Jones and Darian Durant as all-time great Blue Bombers!

With Rookie Camp getting underway Wednesday morning, it's officially time to talk about the 2026 Winnipeg Blue Bombers!

So I am assuming that this thread is dying on Wednesday?? Camp starts on the 6th of May - the offseason is over!!! LFG!!!!!!!!!! WOOOO!!!

The upgrade from Jake to Jake is almost unbelievable....
....thoughts and prayers for health across our roster, but for Ceresna in particular. He's had some recent injury trouble but hopefully will be free and clear all year.

I can't stand the way he interacts with people online. It's insanely disrespectful. But I'm willing to give him a chance to with colour commentary. Though, it's a shame they couldn't/wouldn't find a former CFLer for that role.