I have not been a fan of Hurl. If he is standing in the right spot and the play comes to him, he can cope. He doesn't seem to be able to recognize the unfolding play in time to flow to the right spot. If Poop Johnson is as good as or better than Okapalaugo, there's money to saved there, and maybe we can trade him for a good MLB.
Was listening to John Hodge interview on 1290 this afternoon on way home. Hodge opined that the Bomber O-line was probably the best in the league, that Poop Johnson way outplayed Okapalaugo (making Okapalaugo expendable?) and that Hurl did poorly at MLB with Knox only marginally better if at all. He also had concerns about the Bombers defence in general.
I'm gonna argue that one. Kelly had crap for quarterbacks which led to a terrible offence but he treated fans and media with contempt. Burke was just utterly clueless and he knew it.
Possibly so, but in the swagger days, we had a pretty good set of linebackers. The linemen could just pin their ears back and charge knowing that if anyone slipped past them, they wouldn't get far. Hurl doesn't have to be an all-star but he has to be at least average for this to work, and he hasn't been so far.
The difference between Kelly and Burke was that Kelly sort of knew the game but was arrogant, condescending and abrasive whereas Burke was totally clueless and right from day one had the attitude of someone waiting for the guillotine.
To counter your point- how many quarterbacks are remembered as good to great if they couldn't string together enough wins to make two consecutive seasons or more? How many times have you said, "Good quarterback but loses a lot of games?" Mitchell might not have won as many games in green livery, but he still would have been a good quarterback and put together strong seasons.
One of the most colourful/polarizing/brilliant figures in the CFL's history. Thank you Don, for all you did to make this an entertaining and occasionally infuriating game.