RHÉANNE M.

WINNIPEG, MB., May 11, 2017 –  The Winnipeg Blue Bombers today announce the club has invited Winnipeg Rifles wide receivers Xander Tachinski (#73) and Brendan Naujoks (#74), running back Michael Ritchott (#76), and defensive back Andrew Ricard (#77) to take part in the club’s three-day rookie camp commencing Wednesday, May 24. The players will continue with the team through the first part of the main training camp.

Tachinski and Ritchott attended part of last season’s rookie camp, and most recently played in their third and fourth years with the Rifles, respectively. Naujoks and Ricard have both spent three seasons with the Rifles.

“The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have continued to try to invest in the growth of younger football players within Manitoba,” said General Manager Kyle Walters. “This will be a great experience for all of them to be on the field with professional players, and to continue to grow as athletes.”

Quarterbacks and CFL newcomers will report to Winnipeg and will be on the field for the opening of rookie camp on Wednesday, May 24th. Veterans report on May 26th and will begin practicing on May 28th.

The Blue Bombers will play two pre-season games:  June 10th at Mosaic Stadium in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and June 15th at Investors Group Field against the Edmonton Eskimos.

 

Edited June 5, 20178 yr by Mr Dee

2 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

We had the second worse rush defense in the CFL in 2015 when Hurl was MLB. Why are we even wasting 1st team reps on him? If they need a NI there, use Miles who actually played better there in Toronto than Hurl ever has.

I'm pretty sure that's why they picked up Drake Nevis, Faith and Tristan O

Edited June 1, 20178 yr by Gotmilt

4 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

We had the second worse rush defense in the CFL in 2015 when Hurl was MLB. Why are we even wasting 1st team reps on him? If they need a NI there, use Miles who actually played better there in Toronto than Hurl ever has.

how was our rush D last year with Bass?

14 minutes ago, M.O.A.B. said:

Looks like LB and REC is not the strong suit for Walters in terms of recruitment

 

I would say this is more of an indictment of the offensive line recruitment and development.  We should be able to replace either Bond or Hardrick with a national.  Then an import at Mike makes sense.  The way our team is currently comprised we really need to start each game with 8 nationals.

18 hours ago, fosey58 said:

Hey fellas. Can someone confirm for me that training camp is going to be a full session tomorrow as per the schedule on the Bombers site. I am from out of town and want to come in tomorrow to catch a day of training camp, but don't want to drive in if it's going to be a shortened day. Thanks.

Try tweeting Darren Cameron of the Bombers. 

Edited June 1, 20178 yr by Jacquie

4 minutes ago, MC said:

I would say this is more of an indictment of the offensive line recruitment and development.  We should be able to replace either Bond or Hardrick with a national.  Then an import at Mike makes sense.  The way our team is currently comprised we really need to start each game with 8 nationals.

Why would you want to replace Mike with an import? I like our National Mike.

14 minutes ago, Atomic said:

how was our rush D last year with Bass?

I spoke with Leggett and he said Bass was selfish. 

He had a few glasses of wine that night, great guy!

Edited June 1, 20178 yr by Gotmilt

20 minutes ago, Atomic said:

how was our rush D last year with Bass?

Bottomish.

just sayin, If you don't think an Improved D-line will improve our rush d you can take a hike.

31 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

He brought Bass & Leggett into the league. That's pretty good. I also think five days into camp is a little early to give up on our current lb prospects.

lol no doubt.   Roc has looked lights out and all the MLB prospects have been praised.  Moe and Bass are both very good.  Did mack bring in Wild? hes a keeper as well..

 

 

receiver tho, ya you got a point.   nobody is leaping off the page yet as a stud pickup.

4 minutes ago, Gotmilt said:

just sayin, If you don't think an Improved D-line will improve our rush d you can take a hike.

I'm all hiked out, predicting Bass will be an Eastern All-star, twasn't his fault.

5 minutes ago, SPuDS said:

lol no doubt.   Roc has looked lights out and all the MLB prospects have been praised.  Moe and Bass are both very good.  Did mack bring in Wild? hes a keeper as well..

 

 

receiver tho, ya you got a point.   nobody is leaping off the page yet as a stud pickup.

Like I said in another thread, Walters doesn't seem willing to spend money at the Z position.

I'm speculating here but I don't think we just let Kohlert walk, I think Calgary simply offered more money.

Edited June 1, 20178 yr by Gotmilt

4 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

I'm all hiked out, predicting Bass will be an Eastern All-star, twasn't his fault.

I don't think it was his fault but I have a sneaking suspicion he didn't quite like getting his nose dirty and run stopping.

1 hour ago, Rich said:

 

According to that offensive lineup, we've got Feoli and Gudino starting at receiver.  See guys, we have plenty of depth at NI WR.  No worries.

Just now, BomberBall said:

According to that offensive lineup, we've got Feoli and Gudino starting at receiver.  See guys, we have plenty of depth at NI WR.  No worries.

Who else would they start? The long snapper or The guy who was injured all year with the Bisons?

Just now, Gotmilt said:

Like I said in another post, Walters doesn't seem willing to spend money at the Z position.

I'm speculating here but I don't think we just let Kohlert walk, I think Calgary simply offered more money.

well that and the fact that our offense uses it so sparingly that we hypothetically put in Yachison or Coates and as long as they block and make 1 catch every 2 games, would be functional lol.

51 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

We had the second worse rush defense in the CFL in 2015 when Hurl was MLB. Why are we even wasting 1st team reps on him? If they need a NI there, use Miles who actually played better there in Toronto than Hurl ever has.

And it didn't improve much last season even when Hurl was replaced. This just shows there's more to a good rush defense than one player, namely a strong defensive line. The Bombers haven't had a strong defensive line for a while now and it's exposed the LB corps. To be clear, I'm not defending Hurl but there's more to the picture than just him.

39 minutes ago, MC said:

I would say this is more of an indictment of the offensive line recruitment and development.  We should be able to replace either Bond or Hardrick with a national.  Then an import at Mike makes sense.  The way our team is currently comprised we really need to start each game with 8 nationals.

Disagree. The O-line has improved dramatically with the additions of Bond and Hardrick, particularly the former. The Bombers have pretty decent ratio flexibility and the last thing they should do is shake up the O-line, IMO.

Doesn't Sinopoli play that position in Ottawa? A guy like Burris can make that throw but I think Nichols has trouble making it.

just caught the last hour of TC today here's my take on what I saw;

#92 Drake Nevis will be a beast for us in the middle this year.  During the Oline vs Dline session the guy has a crazy good motor and is able to beat Olinemen with what appears to be ease. 

#96 Rupert butcher is one massive dude. Probably could one day do what Thomas does in being a emergency Oline sub with that kind of size. He makes the rest of Dline look kind small tbh

#13 Dan Lefevour tossed up a 50+ yard pass almost right on the money, from all the reports on Apodacas arm I thought it was him at first (didn't have one of those roster sheets with me)

#6 Davis has a nice touch on the short passes. I was kind of joking to myself we should be rotating QBs with their different skill sets as the play dictates, as they all seem to bring something to the table,  but obviously that would be to obvious for D's.

#65 Dominick Jackson looked good at LT rotating with Bryant in the OL vs DL

I need to clarify my point. No question a stronger d-line is one factor in improving a run D. My point was for those who say Hurl is fine at MLB was that when he started we had the second worst run D in the CFL. Last year, it was 6th which isn't great but it was better than it was in 2015. I don't think Hurl is good enough at MLB.

21 minutes ago, Gotmilt said:

Like I said in another thread, Walters doesn't seem willing to spend money at the Z position.

I'm speculating here but I don't think we just let Kohlert walk, I think Calgary simply offered more money.

JFG is an instant upgrade of Kohlert as well. I was more than happy to see him take off to Calgary.

oh yeah #33 Harris made a nice 30 yard grab in traffic along the sideline. He actually looked pretty decent out there as a receiver in those drills. Could be a calling for him if his days as a RB are even nearing an end or we have just too good a RB that we need to play over him

3 minutes ago, Nolby said:

JFG is an instant upgrade of Kohlert as well. I was more than happy to see him take off to Calgary.

That's debatable.

1 hour ago, blue_gold_84 said:

From a NAT perspective or in general?

In general

6 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

I need to clarify my point. No question a stronger d-line is one factor in improving a run D. My point was for those who say Hurl is fine at MLB was that when he started we had the second worst run D in the CFL. Last year, it was 6th which isn't great but it was better than it was in 2015. I don't think Hurl is good enough at MLB.

OK but since Hurl was starting MLB the team improved it's defensive line... Was it replacing Hurl that made it go from 8th to 6th or upgrading the DL? I mean not like people haven't talked about Ritchie Halls defense needing a good DL to be truly effective since he was hired or anything...

5 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

OK but since Hurl was starting MLB the team improved it's defensive line... Was it replacing Hurl that made it go from 8th to 6th or upgrading the DL? I mean not like people haven't talked about Ritchie Halls defense needing a good DL to be truly effective since he was hired or anything...

Thank you, I'm pretty sure the entire defence revolves around speed, smaller quick Linebackers and dbs that have trouble stopping guys like Messam. Insert improved d-line, monster in Nevis in the middle and you get way less 1 on 1 matchups with Hurl up the gut.

Edited June 1, 20178 yr by Gotmilt