Sorry but I don't like the total silence coming out of Bomberville, but that's just me; I like action and news  like all of you.  Yes we've extended a contract or two and we are distributing the year-end money before the 2018 salary cap  comes in.

But what are the deep thinkers in our organization planning to do?

 I hope they are not thinking status quo; that never seems to work out well. Unless we are dedicated to making sharp improvements here and there, I believe we atrophy from last year.  

After the 2017 NFL cuts were made did we bring in any linebackers for a sniff? I saw other prospects up here but maybe I missed something.

We have got to fix what's broken and I think somehow management must know more than we do ... we are good prognosticators with our comments on this site but I would like management to show us up. 

We are not hearing a lot of news out of the Calgary and Edmonton football clubs so maybe our Blue Bombers are an elite club now (as we join those two in their silence). 

But man I hate twiddling my thumbs as I wait to see what our local gurus are going to do. No news is bad news, say the bored ...  Well at least were not coming off seasons like Ottawa Hamilton and Montréal had.

So maybe I should be grateful for our club and its management.

 

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

Neufeld isn't any kind of long term solution. Perhaps he's a place holder, but they've drafted too many OL too high in the draft for these guys to not be options sooner rather than later. 

If they were not interested in going at least 3 canadians on the OL why didn't we draft receivers and linebackers higher in the draft instead of always linemen? 

It would stand to reason that the team is interested in doing that - just hope they don’t do it prematurely 

I stand by the statement I made two months ago: the OL should be sacrificed last, not first.

On 1/16/2018 at 11:02 AM, TrueBlue said:

Poll Question:  Would you rather resign Bond or Randle?

First, I hope that's not an actual thing. 

The current secondary cannot be without Chris Randle, that much is certain.

The current OL would take a step down without Travis Bond, no question.  But would they take a nose dive?

So, if this truly is a choice between Bond and Randle, then I truly don't know what to say.   Bond is an outstanding guard, but the Bombers have been drafting OL heavily.  So, if the team still has to debate between the Bond and Randle, we got problems.

To answer your question concisely:

DB > LG

but 

LT > DB

 

1 hour ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

I don't remember Speller, how did they pick him up and when?

https://www.bluebombers.com/2017/12/11/bombers-add-three-roster-3/

I dont think its about the number of NIs you have where. I think its about the quality of the starters at the bottom, and the immediate back ups. 

56 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

https://www.bluebombers.com/2017/12/11/bombers-add-three-roster-3/

I dont think its about the number of NIs you have where. I think its about the quality of the starters at the bottom, and the immediate back ups. 

Starters at the bottom? Can you clarify that? 

5 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Starters at the bottom? Can you clarify that? 

I think he means how good is your 7th Canadian starter.

1 hour ago, Mark H. said:

Starters at the bottom? Can you clarify that? 

ask Drake about that.

I don't think anyone's arguing that Neufeld would not be a good 6th OL...  but if we're replacing Bond with him, I'm not too keen on that

If you want Neufeld in there, I'd probably replace Hardrick first - worst case you shift Bond over to RT

I'm torn on who you spend the money on. Randle has been phenomenal since we got him from Calgary. I can't imagine the secondary without him. The O-line really came together when Bond got into the lineup. They've both been incredibly important to where the team is. My gut says if we could only keep 1, I'd keep Randle.  With that said, it's been so nice to have an elite O-line after years of watching our QB's get wrecked. We don't have the depth to compete if Nichols goes down.

Randle/Leggett in my eyes have been the critical pieces of our D. The D line has rotated lots, we rely on those two in the secondary every down. I don't want to think about starting the season with Leggett still injured and Randle on another team.

But I have to say, man it's a nice change to say the Bombers have enough elite players to worry about who we can afford to keep, versus thinking about who we can afford to pry away from another team because our cupboard is bare. 

Benedict Ibisi was a very good lineman...but his passport worked against him...and the position he played (center)

1 hour ago, Booch said:

Benedict Ibisi was a very good lineman...but his passport worked against him...and the position he played (center)

As well as one of my favourite C Brandon (Dirt Bag) Dyson ?

It's gonna be a good Thursday when we have a Benedict Ibisi mention first thing in the morning.... 

3 hours ago, Noeller said:

It's gonna be a good Thursday when we have a Benedict Ibisi mention first thing in the morning.... 

Is this sort of like slowly eating a live toad first thing in the morning? 'Cause then nothing worse will happen for the rest of the day?

Im torn. I like Randle and i feel him and Leggett are elite and NEED to be back.. But i also feel changes are needed. 

Lets be honest... You can blame hall or whoever the scapegoat is but the D as a whole.. They werent good enough. 

Our 2 best DL? 2 rookies Id say. 

Our best DB? Randle and a rookie in Alexander. 

Best LBs Rookie JSK and Mo. 

Honestly... Id be ok if we made significant changes to several positions on the D side of things

22 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

 

Did no one watch the last few games of the year? Neuf played just fine. His health I can understand being in question. But his ability to play guard well has been established as far as I'm concerned.

I've watched the Big Blue more than a few games & history says Patrick Neufeld can't be a long term starter as he has injury issues which keeps him out for long stretches. It happened when he was with the Riders. It happened in 14, 15 & 16 until he was eventually replaced as a starting guard.  Now, they want to go back to him?This makes about as much sense as giving Sam Hurl the starting MLB spot when we all knew he couldn't start back in 2015. Only Mike O'Shea & Kyle Walters thought otherwise & we know what happened last season with Hurl back in there. It didn't work. Depending on Patrick Neufeld to be our long term starter is rolling the dice. What started the turnaround with the Bombers a couple of years ago??? Starting Travis Bond on our offensive line. Messing with it by playing Neufeld is a scary thing. Our backups will end up playing more than him which won't be good. The same ridiculous rationale for playing Hurl is going into this decision if Travis Bond leaves & signs elsewhere. 

I can just imagine the 2018 Bombers trotting our there with Sam Hurl and Patrick Neufeld as starters like it’s 2015.

Re: the Bond vs Randall debate.  We have one very good quarterback on hand two ..umm...questionable ones to protect and Bond has been a valuable and solidifying presence on the O-line.  On the other hand, despite Randall's efforts, our backfield got lit up a lot once again. So, close as it might seem, my vote goes to keeping Bond.

2 hours ago, Blueandgold said:

I can just imagine the 2018 Bombers trotting our there with Sam Hurl and Patrick Neufeld as starters like it’s 2015.

Then Bomber fans need to have barf bags passed out at every home game.

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 11:18 PM, 17to85 said:

They've spent how many high draft picks on offensive linemen? That's how it will be different. We gotta play Canadians somewhere, might as well be in positions they've invested the draft picks in. 

Not Neufeld!! This decision is about as rational as going back to Hurl as MLB. 

Lots of returnees here... good to see Straughan and Bingham

 Not sure why we're bringing two more DL in though - hope they are not moving on from Westerman...

@Wpg_BlueBombers

The team has added quarterbacks Josh Straughan and Philip Nelson, defensive linemen Sam Montgomery and Chris Casher, defensive back Zavian Bingham, receiver Garry Brown and running back Zach Bauman.

16 minutes ago, Floyd said:

Lots of returnees here... good to see Straughan and Bingham

 Not sure why we're bringing two more DL in though - hope they are not moving on from Westerman...

@Wpg_BlueBombers

The team has added quarterbacks Josh Straughan and Philip Nelson, defensive linemen Sam Montgomery and Chris Casher, defensive back Zavian Bingham, receiver Garry Brown and running back Zach Bauman.

They bring in extra bodies every year at every position... doesn't mean the starters are losing their jobs or leaving.

57 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I've watched the Big Blue more than a few games & history says Patrick Neufeld can't be a long term starter as he has injury issues which keeps him out for long stretches. It happened when he was with the Riders. It happened in 14, 15 & 16 until he was eventually replaced as a starting guard.  Now, they want to go back to him?This makes about as much sense as giving Sam Hurl the starting MLB spot when we all knew he couldn't start back in 2015. Only Mike O'Shea & Kyle Walters thought otherwise & we know what happened last season with Hurl back in there. It didn't work. Depending on Patrick Neufeld to be our long term starter is rolling the dice. What started the turnaround with the Bombers a couple of years ago??? Starting Travis Bond on our offensive line. Messing with it by playing Neufeld is a scary thing. Our backups will end up playing more than him which won't be good. The same ridiculous rationale for playing Hurl is going into this decision if Travis Bond leaves & signs elsewhere. 

I tend to agree with your assessment of Neufeld but I'm willing to wait and see how it all plays out.  Just happy they have Foketi in reserve because they just might need him.

2 hours ago, Atomic said:

They bring in extra bodies every year at every position... doesn't mean the starters are losing their jobs or leaving.

Straughan and Bauman looked very interesting, but we will see.

2 hours ago, Goalie said:

Im torn. I like Randle and i feel him and Leggett are elite and NEED to be back.. But i also feel changes are needed. 

Lets be honest... You can blame hall or whoever the scapegoat is but the D as a whole.. They werent good enough. 

Our 2 best DL? 2 rookies Id say. 

Our best DB? Randle and a rookie in Alexander. 

Best LBs Rookie JSK and Mo. 

Honestly... Id be ok if we made significant changes to several positions on the D side of things

Stay away for a while and the whole place starts making sense. 

On 1/16/2018 at 11:02 AM, TrueBlue said:

Poll Question:  Would you rather resign Bond or Randle?

Neither, use the cap space in free agency on another starting National so I don't have see Hurl on the field, except on the teams. 

58 minutes ago, Atomic said:

They bring in extra bodies every year at every position... doesn't mean the starters are losing their jobs or leaving.

Nevis re-signed and Poop, Jeffcoat, Okpo still under contract and one position on the DL basically needs to be NI maybe two

I just want to see a linebacker prospect that's all.  This reminds me of last year where LB and REC ended up being our weakest recruiting areas... again.