(2019 Main Training Camp

Can’t remember a start to a main training camp where, even though we have openings at several spots (7?), we seem to have prepared to fill those spots with quality players and good prospects. 

Highlights coming into camp are the signings of Willie Jefferson and most certainly Chris Mathews. Not to mention the signing of all our draft choices, some of whom could be dynamic. 

We got bigger and better at receiver prospects.

We’ve stacked the defensive line to make it easier for Bighill. 

We’ve added defensive backs and linebackers to fill any perceived shortcomings. 

Little by little, day by day, shortcomings will be noticed and those players will fall by the wayside.

It’s training camp and the veterans will teach the newbies..in more than one way.

Today, medicals and film room. Good luck to all. Let’s put out the best lineup we possibly can.

 

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

Stanley Bryant*.          Jermarcus Hardrick*         Patrick Neufeld

Michael Couture.        Geoff Gray.          Drew Desjarlais

Manase Foketi*.          Cody Speller.       Asotui Eli

Ben Koczwara.            Matthew Ouellet de Carlo.       Delroy Baker Jr.*

Chauncey Briggs*.       Kendall Calhoun*

DEFENSIVE LINE

Jackson Jeffcoat*.       Willie Jefferson*.       Drake Nevis*

Brandin Bryant*.           Craig Roh*.                Jake Thomas

Patrick Choudja*.         Alex McCallister*.      Steven Richardson*

Maxx Forde*.                Connor Griffiths.       Tariq Lachance

Evan Perrizo*

LINEBACKERS

Adam Bighill*.       Jesse Briggs.       Shayne Gauthier

Thiadric Hansen***.    Manuel Hernandez-Reyes***.    Jonathan Kongbo (Inj)

D.J. Lalama.        Thomas Miles.      Nick Temple*

Dale Warren*.      Kyrie Wilson*

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Brandon Alexander*.       Elijah Battle*.       Christian Boutte*

Malik Boynton*.       Amari Coleman*.        Abu Conteh

Tyneil Cooper*.       Joe Este*.           Kerfalla Exume

Chandler Fenner*.   Jacob Firlotte.   Anthony Gaitor*

Payton Hall.       Nick Hallett.        Jeff Hecht

Chris Humes*.    Dexter Janke*.     Derek Jones

Mike Jones*.       Marcus Rios*.      Winston Rose*

Marcus Sayles*.   Sergio Schiaffino-Perez***

RECEIVERS

Darvin Adams*.      Chris Matthews*.     Nic Demski

Drew Wolitarsky.    Rasheed Bailey*.     Matt Hazel*

Lucky Whitehead*.      Chris Hubert*

Garrett Johnson*.     Kenny Lawler*.    Charles Nelson*

Daniel Petermann     Rashaun Simonise.    (Kenbrell Thompkins*)-suspended 

Corey Washington*.  Tim Wilson*      (Josh Stewart*)-released

RUNNING BACKS

Andrew Harris.    Brady Oliveira

Johnny Augustine.  Larry Rose III*

QUARTERBACKS

Matt Nichols*.    Chris Streveler*

Bryan Bennett*.   Sean McGuire*

Sawyer Buettner**

 

Can you feel it?

Edited May 28, 20196 yr by Mr Dee

19 minutes ago, Atomic said:

As mentioned, Neufeld and Harris were sitting out today.  The first-team offence was :

Matthews-Washington-Adams-Demski-Wolitarsky

Bryant-Desjarlais-Couture-Gray-Hardrick

Nichols at QB, Augustine at RB.

I had a tougher time nailing down the second team offence, but it definitely had OIiveira at RB, Streveler at QB, Simonise and Petermann as receivers.  Looked like the other receiver spots were Rasheed Bailey, Kenny Lawler, and Tim Wilson but I'm not 100% sure on those ones... I think they might have switched it up a couple times.  The OL looked like Speller at centre, Koczwara at guard, and Briggs/Baker on at the tackle spots... couldn't see who else was at guard.

I can't give you the defence at the moment, I was locked in on the offence most of the time.  Derek Jones was definitely the #1 safety and he is looking slim, trim and healthy.  Great to see.

One thing I can say for certain is that we are going to be absolutely deadly in the redzone with both Darvin Adams and Chris Matthews.  Already some chemistry developing between Nichols and Matthews.  Wolitarsky looked great as well, Bauming tweeted out his huge catch to start off the practice.  Hardrick grabbed the ball right after and tried to punt it into the crowd but it went straight up instead... that got a big laugh from everyone.  Love that guy.

I'm interested to see if we can find room for one of Larry Rose III or John Santiago... both looked really quick but they were not getting reps in the first two offence units.  Rose III in particular I thought looked pretty dangerous.

As expected, Bennett was running with the third team offence but surrendered some reps to McGuire as well.  Sawyer Buettner actually got one rep which I was surprised to see.  It was an overthrow that almost got picked but good for the kid getting some action in.

Should be lots of good competition at returner and the hands team gets a boost with the additions of Chris Matthews and Willie Jefferson... yes Willie Jefferson.  6'6" with receiver experence and he was getting some reps in on specials.  The returner competition looked like it involves Charles Nelson, Lucky Whitehead, and John Santiago.... definitely a few other guys back there too but it was hard to see exactly who.  Nic Demski is still involved as well.

Overall it was very much a "day 1" outing... hard to get a good read on anyone and it's wise not to jump to any conclusions.  The starters looked best.... Wolitarsky, Nichols, Matthews, Adams.  Augustine looked comfortable at RB and Oliveira is going to have to win that backup job from him... don't see Augustine letting go without a fight.  If I had to pick one new receiver who showed well it would be Kenny Lawler... looks like he has pretty good hands and I like his build as well... looks like a pro receiver to me.

Nice day for some football.  Noticed they have ripped all the seats out in the northeast and southeast corners in the lower bowl.  Not sure what that's all about.

 

Best reporting I've read in awhile......clear and insightful ...good on ya Atomic

Good job A.

I’m envious. Would be a great day to watch these guys vie for their own particular positions.

Atomic for the Free Press beat or maybe at the Athletic.

1 hour ago, AKAChip said:

Okay... but the team around him is demonstrably better than the majority of those guys. Nichols has had two seasons as a starter here. One good, one bad. And the fact that the team is so much better now arguably should give him less rope and benefit of the doubt than being on a crappy team. 

Nichols became the starter in 2016, went 10-3 and got us into the playoffs. Went 11-6 his next year as our starter, and in his “bad” year went 9-5. It’s time people got off his back, he has enough of a load to shoulder trying to carry the offence with Harris without these negative fan rankings about how our back up QB is always better. Everyone loved Streveler until he actually had to carry the team for an extended period in the Banjo Bowl, and we saw that he wasn’t really the saviour he was anointed as based on spot duty. Love Streveler’s game, but our best hope is that he has lots of mop up duty and the odd sequence to shake things up. A healthy Nichols is our best option, IMO. 

1 hour ago, AKAChip said:

I can see some similarities in their fiery passion but Nichols is far more mopey. 

I am STOKED to hear all your guys stories about being in the huddle with Reilly and Nichols! 

3 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I am STOKED to hear all your guys stories about being in the huddle with Reilly and Nichols! 

You don’t need to be in the huddle with a guy to have an opinion on how they lead. Nichols did a hell of a job last season taking absolutely no responsibility for poor games. And his body language towards receivers after missed plays is as bad as I’ve ever seen from a starting QB. 

Edited May 19, 20196 yr by AKAChip

It doesn’t matter whether/how WE perceive Nichols to be a leader and factor in our games. It matters that his cohorts follow his example and play to the best of their abilities. 

Until we see different, Nichols is the man. You don’t have to like him to back him. And from what I can see, his team likes him..

6 minutes ago, AKAChip said:

You don’t need to be in the huddle with a guy to have an opinion on how they lead. Nichols did a hell of a job last season taking absolutely no responsibility for poor games. And his body language towards receivers after missed plays is as bad as I’ve ever seen from a starting QB. 

And without him we'd have missed the playoffs.

Just now, SpeedFlex27 said:

And without him we'd have missed the playoffs.

Would we tho? Would Streveler have won less games?

2 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

And without him we'd have missed the playoffs.

Nichols was singlehandedly responsible for three losses last season. And he was certainly not singularly responsible for any of the wins. I love Streveler, but I can certainly admit that there’s a real good chance he never becomes anything in this league. But I would absolutely guarantee the Bombers make the playoffs comfortably with him as the starter all season. 

Day one training camp - Nichols vs Streveler debate... fun.

Just now, Floyd said:

Day one training camp - Nichols vs Streveler debate... fun.

Atomic is the only one who has given us anything else to talk about. 

3 minutes ago, AKAChip said:

Nichols was singlehandedly responsible for three losses last season. And he was certainly not singularly responsible for any of the wins. I love Streveler, but I can certainly admit that there’s a real good chance he never becomes anything in this league. But I would absolutely guarantee the Bombers make the playoffs comfortably with him as the starter all season. 

Until he shows he can perform consistently when teams force him to stay in the pocket, there’s no reason to believe he could carry a team to the playoffs. 

2 minutes ago, AKAChip said:

Atomic is the only one who has given us anything else to talk about. 

Yeah Im excited that Nichols and Matthews already have some chemistry...  And that we have a solid backup QB if our starter falters or gets injured...

Just now, Mark H. said:

Until he shows he can perform consistently when teams force him to stay in the pocket, there’s no reason to believe he could carry a team to the playoffs. 

The QB of this iteration of the Blue Bombers doesn’t need to carry anyone to the playoffs. That’s entirely the point. Basically, all he would need to do is not blow games. Even with a few games blown by the QB last season, the team still made the playoffs easily. There’s absolutely no way that one could make a reasonable argument that Streveler would have played worse than Nichols in either the Rider or the Stamp games in the playoffs last season. I recognize that Nichols was certainly playing hurt last season and there’s a reasonable reason to expect a better performance out of him this season but it’s far from a certainty. I make no apologies for not being a fan of the guy. It terrifies me that if this strong core of the Bombers fails to win a cup, I’m certain that it will be he and Lapo who are ultimately to blame the most. 

Just now, AKAChip said:

The QB of this iteration of the Blue Bombers doesn’t need to carry anyone to the playoffs. That’s entirely the point. Basically, all he would need to do is not blow games. Even with a few games blown by the QB last season, the team still made the playoffs easily. There’s absolutely no way that one could make a reasonable argument that Streveler would have played worse than Nichols in either the Rider or the Stamp games in the playoffs last season. I recognize that Nichols was certainly playing hurt last season and there’s a reasonable reason to expect a better performance out of him this season but it’s far from a certainty. I make no apologies for not being a fan of the guy. It terrifies me that if this strong core of the Bombers fails to win a cup, I’m certain that it will be he and Lapo who are ultimately to blame the most. 

Agree with a lot of this... BUT isn't it crazy that we're not talking about Richie Hall AT ALL anymore...??

Pre-Bighill Hall was basically to blame for everything while Nichols and Lapo 'carried' the team ha

1 minute ago, Floyd said:

Agree with a lot of this... BUT isn't it crazy that we're not talking about Richie Hall AT ALL anymore...??

Pre-Bighill Hall was basically to blame for everything while Nichols and Lapo 'carried' the team ha

This D has far too much talent to fail and Hall had a good enough season to deserve some benefit of the doubt for now. 

Hall had a good season last year. Nichols didn't.

It will be interesting to see what happens if Nichols gets injured again.  I mean at some point, it would be time to move on. 

I dont look at Nichols as a guy who can win games on his own, i look at him as a field manager type.. Where he just needs to not make mistakes. If Nichols doesnt force balls or throw picks.. Hes solid. If he does, hes not so good. Matt isn't gonna put up 300 yards plus a game.. He isnt gonna throw 4 or 5 TDs a game. He isnt gonna run for 30 yards a game lol.. Hes a 200 220 yard a game QB who when on, limits the turnovers. 

Hes replaceable for sure. Not saying i want him replaced... Just saying hes not BLM or Reilly or a guy who will go out and win a game on his own

Is Streveler? Hes prob more of a throw 200 220 a game but add 100 on the ground.. Id actually as a paying fan? Hes the more exciting QB of the 2 

If Matt struggles like last season i hope they are quick to make the move to Streveler.. Hes likely gonna get a game or 2 anyways.. As Nichols seems to have injury concerns yearly. 

I will add... I think with Harris u dont need to throw for 300 and 4 or 5 TDs but.. Man why not.. Lol

 

I think the conclusion i get with Nichols is when hes on hes one of the top QBs in the league.. When hes not.. Hes Near the bottom.. I do have to wonder how much Matty Ice and Streveler for that matter are sort of handcuffed by the OC. 

Lots of times we seem to run a square pegs round holes O. 

Look at Streveler in the Banjo Bowl.. That was not a game plan to take advantage of Strevelers strengths at all. 

Nichols strengths and Streveler are different.. Dual threat vs Game manager.  

The game plan tho was similar for both. 

 

Edited May 19, 20196 yr by Goalie

Josh Stewart has been released

36 minutes ago, AKAChip said:

This D has far too much talent to fail and Hall had a good enough season to deserve some benefit of the doubt for now. 

I've always said Hall is a great D Coordinator when he has an all-star MLB and all-star DEs...

But then again... who isn't...

I'm impressed:

Quote

 

 

4 hours ago, AKAChip said:

Okay... but the team around him is demonstrably better than the majority of those guys. Nichols has had two seasons as a starter here. One good, one bad. And the fact that the team is so much better now arguably should give him less rope and benefit of the doubt than being on a crappy team. 

Agreed. Nichols is not the kind of QB who will single-handedly win you games.  But he can single-handedly lose them for you, as he did last year  - at least 3 times - ie: 7 picks in a string of 4 losses where he hung on to the ball too long and looked like the reincarnation of Drew Willy or T.J. Rubley. 

Edited May 19, 20196 yr by Doublezero

https://www.bluebombers.com/2019/05/19/chris-matthews-may-19/

2 hours ago, AKAChip said:

The QB of this iteration of the Blue Bombers doesn’t need to carry anyone to the playoffs. That’s entirely the point. Basically, all he would need to do is not blow games. Even with a few games blown by the QB last season, the team still made the playoffs easily. There’s absolutely no way that one could make a reasonable argument that Streveler would have played worse than Nichols in either the Rider or the Stamp games in the playoffs last season. I recognize that Nichols was certainly playing hurt last season and there’s a reasonable reason to expect a better performance out of him this season but it’s far from a certainty. I make no apologies for not being a fan of the guy. It terrifies me that if this strong core of the Bombers fails to win a cup, I’m certain that it will be he and Lapo who are ultimately to blame the most. 

If that is still true this year, we're in trouble - other teams will adjust.