Championship clubs are not  built by accident. It takes tough courageous patient decision making. Without wisdom and conviction we end with mediocrity and frustration.

We are not going to win a championship by standing pat.

[1] What bigger fundamental structural changes do we need to make to improve this ball club? 

[2] What small nuanced changes do we need to make to go from good to very good?

[3] Do we have any glaring weaknesses that have to be overcome?

First a championship, then a dynasty ...

1 hour ago, bearpants said:

Just curious who this is... Shologan? Ian Logan? Wolverine?

wolverine. old man logan never loses. 

MOS has to continue to develop as a leader ... he has many of the elements but has not put it alll together ... he has made a number of courageous calls - - some have worked out, some haven't .... leadership is about competence which means MOS needs a higher percentage  of his decisions to work out well ... When the head coach blossoms in confidence it spreads to the other coaches and they become less passive, more heat seeking ... when the coaches are highly confident the players are freed to get to the top of their game .... when does that come in Winnipeg?

16 minutes ago, BigBlue said:

MOS has to continue to develop as a leader ... he has many of the elements but has not put it alll together ... he has made a number of courageous calls - - some have worked out, some haven't .... leadership is about competence which means MOS needs a higher percentage  of his decisions to work out well ... When the head coach blossoms in confidence it spreads to the other coaches and they become less passive, more heat seeking ... when the coaches are highly confident the players are freed to get to the top of their game .... when does that come in Winnipeg?

I'd prefer to hear you provide examples of how it already hasn't.

What's the percentage of success on MOS' decisions currently? You must have it to suggest he needs a higher percentage.

Unlike previous years not too much needs to be done for next season.  Improving on this year is certainly doable.  Assuming Nichols comes back the offence should continue to improve with stability at QB, OL and OC for the first time in a while. On D we have a very good group of DBs, the LBs could maybe use an upgrade at MLB but otherwise are in good shape, but the D line needs to find a better DE opposite Westerman and a suitable replacement for Cummings if he goes to the NFL for a while.  We gave up a lot of passing yards this season and more pressure from the front 4 is needed.  At the draft we need 1. WR (replace Kohlert/Richards)  2. DL (eventually replace Shologan unless Butcher is good to go next season)  3. OL (because it's the CFL lol and I assume we move on from Neufeld) then BPAs.  And of course keep on scouting new talent to push or even improve upon existing players.

Re-sign O'Shea despite (my opinion anyways) his error in trying the FG last game.  He's a solid HC and is getting better each season.  Worth bringing back and I bet the players would love it.  Replacing Hall would be nice if Thorpe or Steinauer would come here but if not another year of Hall wouldn't be the worst thing to happen (I hope).  And re-sign Walters, this shouldn't even be in doubt.

Well, there are a few things I would like to see happen: develop/sign a dynamic, mobile Q.B., sign a stud middle linebacker, draft/sign a good canadian receiver, and sign a stud rush end.

 

Now, what do I think this team will do in the offseason? Kyle Walters may try to sign a middle linebacker if one comes free in free agency; he will also try to draft a canadian receiver and offensive lineman...but if it was just up to O Shea, he would go with the status quo because rightly or wrongly he is loyal/stubborn to his players and coaches.

1. Big tall, physical receiver. Someone that we can throw a deep ball to on occasion. Adams showed glimmers of excellence - but couldn't stay healthy. I think the PI rule makes this an even more important acquisition. I'd be okay with trying to bringing in some fresh meat - maybe a hidden gem like Chris Matthews from a few years ago.

2. A better kick returner - personally I don't think McDuffie has done enough and I could see the Blue cutting him loose for someone new next year. Especially if the newbie comes at a lower price. If Fogg ends up being the odd man out on D, I'd be interested to see him return kickoffs.

3. Defense - I think we have the right core of guys, if we can replicate our turnover production next year, I have no problem with giving up the massive yardage per game. That said, conventional wisdom would dictate you can't do that consistently without getting burnt... time will tell I guess.

On 11/15/2016 at 5:17 PM, Nolby said:

Bring in some serious competition at kine backer and give a few guys to help compliment Westerman on the D line. Other than Jamaal, that d line was pretty quiet for most of the year.

What's a kine backer? Is this why there was so much blown coverage this year???

15 minutes ago, Eternal optimist said:

What's a kine backer? Is this why there was so much blown coverage this year???

Well, "kine" means "cattle" so, we may be looking for a farmhand who funds cattle.

6 minutes ago, tracker said:

Well, "kine" means "cattle" so, we may be looking for a farmhand who funds cattle.

Maybe he meant we need to recruit Bovine Mitchell to play kine backer...he certainly slings enough cowpies with his arrogant attitude...

what was wrong with JFG as the NI receiver going forward? In limited action I thought he did pretty good. Depending on next season I think drafting a NI receiver might be a 2018 issue more than 2017.  Unless of course there is a stud in the draft you just cant pass on.  But i'd be fine going with JFG backed up by Kohlert (assuming he resigns)

I wouldn't change too much.

1. That LB crew is too small.

2. Rush End

3. Possession receiver. These are hard to find I know.

4. Next QB.

 

 

 

- Replace Hall

- Find a breakout receiver

- A few changes on the defense

 

It's not a big list of things we need to change, which is good.  We're just a few key elements away from being there.

News Release
The Winnipeg Blue Bomber Football club has announced that If'Only has not accepted yet another contract offer from the Club. If'Only has stated that prior arrangements had to have been made to allow for a different result. Winnipeg is not the only organization that has sought the services of If'Only. If'Only's name has been brought up many times in many different scenarios by almost everybody who has thought of a different outcome for their situation. 
If'Only has cited differences in opinion on compensation and length of term in turning down the offer.
Winnipeg is now said to be pursuing the services "Now-if-things-had-only-been-different"....

 

11 hours ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

what was wrong with JFG as the NI receiver going forward? In limited action I thought he did pretty good. Depending on next season I think drafting a NI receiver might be a 2018 issue more than 2017.  Unless of course there is a stud in the draft you just cant pass on.  But i'd be fine going with JFG backed up by Kohlert (assuming he resigns)

That could be Danny Vandervoort out of McMaster.  He was ranked 4th overall in the initial draft rankings (3rd now I guess since the guy ahead of him has retired due to concussions).  He's 6'4, 205lbs, and has been compared to Andy Fantuz.

17 hours ago, BigBlue said:

MOS has to continue to develop as a leader ... he has many of the elements but has not put it alll together ... he has made a number of courageous calls - - some have worked out, some haven't .... leadership is about competence which means MOS needs a higher percentage  of his decisions to work out well ... When the head coach blossoms in confidence it spreads to the other coaches and they become less passive, more heat seeking ... when the coaches are highly confident the players are freed to get to the top of their game .... when does that come in Winnipeg?

By definition, a courageous or "ballsy" call has to have some level of risk associated with it, so it's expected some of those calls won't work out. I actually thought his overall ability to manage games improved this year over the prior. As a whole though, we have to have better time management there were definitely a couple of times this year where it should've burnt us, but we managed to get away with it. You can only play with fire like that for so long though.

 

I would like to see a more aggressive defence. I understand that there is a lot more risk & reward with an aggressive defence but I enjoy watching it more.

So, I guess, I would like to see Hall replaced.

I don't believe our QB, receiving corps, and parts of DL and Lber crew are championship calibre. Don't have to fix them all but it would be nice. I would start at QB. I'm not sold on Nichols. Does anyone here truly believe that he is a championship calibre QB.

Edited November 18, 20169 yr by gcn11

6 minutes ago, gcn11 said:

I don't believe our QB, receiving corps, and parts of DL and Lber crew are championship calibre. Don't have to fix them all but it would be nice. I would start at QB. I'm not sold on Nichols. Does anyone here truly believe that he is a championship calibre QB.

Absolutely. Protect the ball. Move the chains. Be a leader. He does all of those.

 

Matt Nichols would not be my 1st choice, but yes, we could win a championship with him. Did anyone believe Marcus Crandall would defeat a 14-4 football club?

20 minutes ago, gcn11 said:

I don't believe our QB, receiving corps, and parts of DL and Lber crew are championship calibre. Don't have to fix them all but it would be nice. I would start at QB. I'm not sold on Nichols. Does anyone here truly believe that he is a championship calibre QB.

His game in the WDSF went a long way to getting my vote of confidence. He's no BLM but he's more than good enough to win with, For now... 

17 hours ago, Brandon Blue&Gold said:

Re-sign O'Shea

two more years.

I don't care what people think about Mike as a person, and all the rest of it, five years is enough time to get to the Grey Cup.

Re needing a "big" middle linebacker... keep reading this.

just checked elimimian is 225, Bighill 230 according to Lions website. Guy in Edmonton looks fairly small to me. (5ft 9, 218)

Bass weighs 224 pounds. That's big enough for the CFL.

You really wonder if quite a few of the defence guys were playing hurt. Bass was a game wrecker previous season.

But definitely need to stop the runs up the middle. They did stop Messam in one game I think.

 

Edited November 18, 20169 yr by Mark F

1 hour ago, Mr Dee said:

Matt Nichols would not be my 1st choice, but yes, we could win a championship with him. Did anyone believe Marcus Crandall would defeat a 14-4 football club?

Seems like the classy thing to do is not bring that up. 

2 hours ago, Mark F said:

two more years.

I don't care what people think about Mike as a person, and all the rest of it, five years is enough time to get to the Grey Cup.

Re needing a "big" middle linebacker... keep reading this.

just checked elimimian is 225, Bighill 230 according to Lions website. Guy in Edmonton looks fairly small to me. (5ft 9, 218)

Bass weighs 224 pounds. That's big enough for the CFL.

You really wonder if quite a few of the defence guys were playing hurt. Bass was a game wrecker previous season.

But definitely need to stop the runs up the middle. They did stop Messam in one game I think.

 

I was surprised to find that Bass was as big as he was, but he simply did not get the job done at MLB. Wild was just not the same player after his injuries, and both should be challenged in training camp.

5 hours ago, BlueGoldBozo said:

1. That LB crew is too small.

This is just wrong... first of all, our LBers are pretty much the perfect size for each position they play: Wild 6'0 210, Bass 6'1 225, Leggett 6'0 200... but more importantly, size is irrelevant (obviously to an extent, you can't be 5'7 175 and play MLB)... Bass and Wild weren't missing tackles b/c they're too small, they were missing tackles b/c they were positionally unsound and had sloppy execution...

2 hours ago, gcn11 said:

Does anyone here truly believe that he is a championship calibre QB?

He's not the best in the league... but to answer your question.... yes, I have absolute faith he can lead us to a Grey Cup...

Edited November 18, 20169 yr by bearpants

If Scott Milanovich gets fired in Toronto and they give the job to O'Shea, does Walters hire Milanovich or does Paul LaPolice become the Bombers HC for 2017?