Every team had salary cap decisions ... we had to let Bond and Westerman go .... Jake Thomas won't be around but Demski will ... we are all cheering Hurl on in Regina now and we have this ex Rider QB

US recruits have their usual expectations with hopefully a couple nice surprises forthcoming ... and we will get a couple of developmental players in the draft

So my question is what has changed for us really especially relative to Calgary & Edmonton

We lost two very good linemen and we have made some coaching adjustments ... did Calgary & Edmonton lose more?

Do we have better depth?

Why would we be better, really?

Do we have more reason to be optimistic about our defense?

How big a role is coaching going to play?

Are we anywhere close to matching Calgary's organizational skills?

Has Edmonton suddenly become Swiss Cheese in the off season?

Has the whole team gained a critical maturity and potential "swagger"?

I think Heath not being back next year is being overrated on these boards.  The #1 problem was an MLB who played like a DL, a Safety who played in the box most of the time, and then a gap created at the traditional safety position.  

Get Loffler out of the box and wreaking more havoc with receivers - suddenly the entire backfield is looking better.

 

26 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

I think Heath not being back next year is being overrated on these boards.  The #1 problem was an MLB who played like a DL, a Safety who played in the box most of the time, and then a gap created at the traditional safety position.  

Get Loffler out of the box and wreaking more havoc with receivers - suddenly the entire backfield is looking better.

 

I agree 100% - get a real MLB that plays like a MLB and let our safety play like a safety instead of covering up for a weak MLB - and the entire D backfield will look better.

5 hours ago, BBRT said:

I agree 100% - get a real MLB that plays like a MLB and let our safety play like a safety instead of covering up for a weak MLB - and the entire D backfield will look better.

With JSK I think we will have that MLBer. If gause turns out to be a player he has the potential too. But no matter who we start it wont be as bad as kuale, err hurl... I hope? We seem to do a bang up job of picking the worst MLBers possible. 

5 hours ago, wbbfan said:

With JSK I think we will have that MLBer. If gause turns out to be a player he has the potential too. But no matter who we start it wont be as bad as kuale, err hurl... I hope? We seem to do a bang up job of picking the worst MLBers possible. 

I think Kyrie Wilson will factor into the middle linebacker competition as well.  There’s lots of competition. Like you say whoever it is will be a massive upgrade over Hurl. 

Not resigning Hurl was the best move to solve the MLB situation. 

16 hours ago, M.O.A.B. said:

Not resigning Hurl was the best move to solve the MLB situation. 

too bad the previous best move we made at MLB was not bringing back kuale... 

3 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

too bad the previous best move we made at MLB was not bringing back kuale... 

Lets just hope that O’Shea’s will be new favorite is a stud MLBer. Thats the next best move.

Edited May 7, 20187 yr by M.O.A.B.

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

Lets just hope that O’Shea’s will be new favorite is a stud MLBer. Thats the next best move.

fingers crossed. 

On ‎2018‎-‎05‎-‎04 at 6:56 PM, TheSource said:

Mike Kelly sounds good to me!

The players that he and "the database" brought in were the main reason they went to the Grey Cup a few years later.

 

And then got absolutely manhandled by a superior, balanced team.

Get over yourself, Mikey. You suck.

I am betting we go with a tried and true LB picked from last year's starting LB's. Any new comer is going to have to wait his turn to play MLB no matter how talented he may show, It seems this is the way our coaching staff is.

Watching that Nichols workout it looks like he has buffed up nicely. 

With today's surprise retirement by Durant, it reaffirms my belief that the team is worse than last year.  Lost Westerman, lost Bond, no quality vet backup, no new promising middle linebackers brought in to compete for the spot, loss of Heath.  Our top end Canadian depth has declined for two consecutive years by the looks of things...unless some of the young players like Corney, Couture, Spooner and Ekakatie take a monumental leap forward.  Players like this will have to improve to compensate for the decline of older players like Dressler, Harris, Leggett? (Depends on how he bounces back from injury).

Yup losing Durant has now confirmed our losing season.  we may as well just give everyone the wins this year.  mail it in..

 

Way to keep the faith and be positive BEFORE DAY ONE OF FREAKING ROOKIE CAMP EVEN FINISHES!

 

sorry.  may have had a slight aneurysm there.

On 2018-05-11 at 11:23 PM, blueandgoldguy said:

With today's surprise retirement by Durant, it reaffirms my belief that the team is worse than last year.  Lost Westerman, lost Bond, no quality vet backup, no new promising middle linebackers brought in to compete for the spot, loss of Heath.  Our top end Canadian depth has declined for two consecutive years by the looks of things...unless some of the young players like Corney, Couture, Spooner and Ekakatie take a monumental leap forward.  Players like this will have to improve to compensate for the decline of older players like Dressler, Harris, Leggett? (Depends on how he bounces back from injury).

Even though Durant had 2 good games against us last year, every other time he was on that field he looked cooked.  And besides, if we're going to get a safety valve just in case something happened to Nichols, I don't want a guy who's been hurt way more than he has over the last few years.

 

My main concern on offense is build depth in that WR core so that we're not stuck with duds like Lankford if something happens to D Adams or Dressler again.

As to our MLB position ... Well at this point I'll take anyone who does something more than just run into blockers.  Hard to imagine Hurl's replacement will be worse than him.

Anyway, thank God he's gone as well as old noodle arm LeFevour

On 2018-05-06 at 2:26 PM, BBRT said:

I agree 100% - get a real MLB that plays like a MLB and let our safety play like a safety instead of covering up for a weak MLB - and the entire D backfield will look better.

This is why I've been tough on Richie Hall.

5 minutes ago, USABomberfan said:

Even though Durant had 2 good games against us last year, every other time he was on that field he looked cooked.  And besides, if we're going to get a safety valve just in case something happened to Nichols, I don't want a guy who's been hurt way more than he has over the last few years.

 

My main concern on offense is build depth in that WR core so that we're not stuck with duds like Lankford if something happens to D Adams or Dressler again.

As to our MLB position ... Well at this point I'll take anyone who does something more than just run into blockers.  Hard to imagine Hurl's replacement will be worse than him.

Anyway, thank God he's gone as well as old noodle arm LeFevour

Bighill.

On 2018-05-11 at 10:23 PM, blueandgoldguy said:

With today's surprise retirement by Durant, it reaffirms my belief that the team is worse than last year.  Lost Westerman, lost Bond, no quality vet backup, no new promising middle linebackers brought in to compete for the spot, loss of Heath.  Our top end Canadian depth has declined for two consecutive years by the looks of things...unless some of the young players like Corney, Couture, Spooner and Ekakatie take a monumental leap forward.  Players like this will have to improve to compensate for the decline of older players like Dressler, Harris, Leggett? (Depends on how he bounces back from injury).

sure sonegativeblueandgoldguy

On ‎2018‎-‎05‎-‎07 at 3:06 PM, M.O.A.B. said:

Lets just hope that O’Shea’s will be new favorite is a stud MLBer. Thats the next best move.

Very prophetic.

Who knows if we are better than last year? On D we lost Westerman Hurl Thomas and Heath. I thought Westerman lost a step last year and obviously Hurl was a major liability. They get replaced with INT players. We have gained Bighill Roh Fenner Gaitor and Clarke. Obviously Bighill should be solid, Roh too IMHO. You can't replace Leggett but Fenner helps just in case Leggett can't perform at the level he did before his injury. Jones Fogg Branning Conteh Walker and Alexander should be de facto improved this year with a year under their belt. Same with Kyrie Wilson and Santos-Knox. Maybe someone like Gause will be rotational. Hoping Awoleke or Jeffcoat make noise on the Dline.

The Oline is one of the best in the CFL even after the loss of Travis Bond. I am not a huge fan of Demski or Lafrance but will be thrilled to be wrong if Demski makes an impact. Lafrance I know is ratio backup to Harris which may be necessary since my fear with the O is that Lapo relies too much on Harris to carry the mail as a power back and breaks him. We should be using #33 at this stage as a hybrid SB/RB - 600-700 yards rushing and 1000+ receiving. Our receiver group appears slightly better than last year but someone like Wolitarsky, Corey Washington or Myles White needs to make the team and be consistently good to make up for an aging and oft-injured Dressler. I am going to suggest White and Washington both are better than Lankford - but can they return kicks because Lankford wasn't exceptional. That is one area of the game where it felt like we really regressed last year - kick return field position. Unsure about Bowman but hope he rebounds from last year and is great for us. Hopeful Alex Ross is an upgrade over the departed Dom Davis but I liked Davis and thought he just didn't get enough game reps to get in a groove and show us what he can do. Maybe we can grab someone like Jeff Matthews for insurance.

Edited May 21, 20187 yr by Doublezero

9 hours ago, Doublezero said:

Who knows if we are better than last year? On D we lost Westerman Hurl Thomas and Heath. I thought Westerman lost a step last year and obviously Hurl was a major liability. They get replaced with INT players. We have gained Bighill Roh Fenner Gaitor and Clarke. Obviously Bighill should be solid, Roh too IMHO. You can't replace Leggett but Fenner helps just in case Leggett can't perform at the level he did before his injury. Jones Fogg Branning Conteh Walker and Alexander should be de facto improved this year with a year under their belt. Same with Kyrie Wilson and Santos-Knox. Maybe someone like Gause will be rotational. Hoping Awoleke or Jeffcoat make noise on the Dline.

The Oline is one of the best in the CFL even after the loss of Travis Bond. I am not a huge fan of Demski or Lafrance but will be thrilled to be wrong if Demski makes an impact. Lafrance I know is ratio backup to Harris which may be necessary since my fear with the O is that Lapo relies too much on Harris to carry the mail as a power back and breaks him. We should be using #33 at this stage as a hybrid SB/RB - 600-700 yards rushing and 1000+ receiving. Our receiver group appears slightly better than last year but someone like Wolitarsky, Corey Washington or Myles White needs to make the team and be consistently good to make up for an aging and oft-injured Dressler. I am going to suggest White and Washington both are better than Lankford - but can they return kicks because Lankford wasn't exceptional. That is one area of the game where it felt like we really regressed last year - kick return field position. Unsure about Bowman but hope he rebounds from last year and is great for us. Hopeful Alex Ross is an upgrade over the departed Dom Davis but I liked Davis and thought he just didn't get enough game reps to get in a groove and show us what he can do. Maybe we can grab someone like Jeff Matthews for insurance.

There seems to be a major difference in our scouting .... is it just our scouts maturing and connecting more ... or is it the newbies bringing old connections to the forefront?

I was watching CTV news last night and apparently it was Andrew Harris who got Bighill to come to Winnipeg. 

8 hours ago, BigBlue said:

There seems to be a major difference in our scouting .... is it just our scouts maturing and connecting more ... or is it the newbies bringing old connections to the forefront?

Didn't Bombers get Ryan Rigmaiden from BC as chieef scout of US colleges ~ who knows what part he might have played in getting some of the ex-Lions  - Roh, Gaitor, Fenner, Clarke - here. Also, coaching could make us better this year. O'Shea has another year under his belt and we had added some interesting new coaching talent on the defence: James Stanley Glen Young and Jordan Younger.

On 2018-05-21 at 3:41 PM, Doublezero said:

Hopeful Alex Ross is an upgrade over the departed Dom Davis but I liked Davis and thought he just didn't get enough game reps to get in a groove and show us what he can do. Maybe we can grab someone like Jeff Matthews for insurance.

I fear he may not be.  I won't say I'm bummed about letting Davis go, but the fact that Ottawa brought him over and thinks he still might get it is pretty telling.  He did look a little slow making some of his passes and took a few unnecessary sacks, but our receiving corps was also decimated so that may have had something to do with it as well.

 

I think he should have gotten all of that game against BC and the last one against Calgary to get one more shot to redeem himself.  It was a waste of time to play LeFevour since he was gonna get axed once the season was over anyway.

I didn't like what I saw out of Ross when he was spelling off Jennings.  Course he was kinda just thrown in there and told to make that team go with little time to learn the ropes, but Buono obviously saw enough of that.  I'm kinda leaning towards Streveler.  Guy is young but seemed to have some decent numbers in college and has a clean slate coming here.

Edited May 23, 20187 yr by USABomberfan

49 minutes ago, USABomberfan said:

I fear he may not be.  I won't say I'm bummed about letting Davis go, but the fact that Ottawa brought him over and thinks he still might get it is pretty telling. 

What is telling of that?   Other teams have picked up garbage cast offs many times before?  Means nothing at all.  

11 hours ago, Doublezero said:

Didn't Bombers get Ryan Rigmaiden from BC as chieef scout of US colleges ~ who knows what part he might have played in getting some of the ex-Lions  - Roh, Gaitor, Fenner, Clarke - here. Also, coaching could make us better this year. O'Shea has another year under his belt and we had added some interesting new coaching talent on the defence: James Stanley Glen Young and Jordan Younger.

We will win the cup for sure IF we can complete the trifecta and hire a coach with Youngest as his last name. 😁