The off-season is officially over. I thought I would make a new thread to start off the season. Looking forward to some camp reports starting with Rookie camp today.

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

I think that last year we were wholly unfair to guys like Schmekel given their rookie status. Rarely does a NAT rookie jump off the page in their first year and the learning curve is much steeper for the guys coming out of the CIS.  That being said he was rostered and was thusly fair game. However, I don't believe a NAT out of CIS should written off in their rookie year. These guys come to us more raw and less polished than recruits from down South and require some patience. Schmekel obviously put in the work this offseason, and I am glad he is looking better so far because we really need him to be.

I agree. Schmekel had a great game, but I really thought Garbutt and Rivers showed they can play in this league.

I’m not sure the criticism of schmekel was unfair. He really was awful last year. I think it’s fair to say he was put in a position he shouldn’t have been. This year, he’s playing at a level that deserves that type of role. 
 Either way, I’m thrilled to have been wrong about him and look forward to what he does next. 
 

 

1 hour ago, GCn20 said:

We don't necessarily need starting calibre NATs in a rotation, just guys who are capable backups that won't hurt us for a rep or two while we give breathers.

This. We need guys who buy in to the rotation and play like their hair is on fire when on the field and trust/communicate when they need a rest. The previous group with kongbo Hansen etc seemed to do that extremely well. 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Booch said:

Interior DL/DT prob the easiest guy to just drop in off the street....Fox isnt new...and any competant guy beside him will be just fine

What CB did we lose to the 6 game?....I didnt see that

 

Yep. De is much tougher, you can find dts who just mash fairly easy. 
 If Lawson is out 6 Games(I hope it’s just roster shenanigans) I’d go two imp dt with shmekel backing up. We have the ni flexibility to do it with ease. 
 

I love the idea of ba as a dna, but with how he was last year still not being healthy I feel like his days are numbered. I have no expectations of him returning to form again. 

1 hour ago, Mike said:

I agree with @bluedawg I didn’t really see a ton from Rivers that wowed me. Thought D’Abreu was better 

I thought Rivers had the least burst of any of the DE’s but he’s really good at getting hands off him.  Just not sure he’s athletic enough to be an end up here.  Maybe try him inside.

 

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

I think that last year we were wholly unfair to guys like Schmekel given their rookie status. Rarely does a NAT rookie jump off the page in their first year and the learning curve is much steeper for the guys coming out of the CIS.  That being said he was rostered and was thusly fair game. However, I don't believe a NAT out of CIS should written off in their rookie year. These guys come to us more raw and less polished than recruits from down South and require some patience. Schmekel obviously put in the work this offseason, and I am glad he is looking better so far because we really need him to be.

I agree. Schmekel had a great game, but I really thought Garbutt and Rivers showed they can play in this league.

The problem with Schmekel last year is he had no business on the AR... that's a failure on management for not bringing in a veteran competent Canadian DL to take some reps... or a failure on the coaching staff to not adjust the ratio or take advantage of the nationalized American rule... either way, Schmekel should've been developing on the PR while continuing to "practice hard"... not playing actual games  

Didn’t he play like 1 game. 
 

 

 

Edited May 22, 20241 yr by Goalie

I made a depth chart for those who like that kind of thing. I may have missed a few Nationalized Americans because I couldn't be bothered to look it up.

Lawson on the six game...OUCH.........Injury bug hitting us early...Next man up and it could be Schmeckle.....

Well if who is on 6 game now stays on for full 6 games they have about 2/3 of a solid starter salary open.

Sucks for Lawson but not particularly concerned unless it's long term. We need to be good at the end of the year and we are still a great team that will win football games.

7 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I’m not sure the criticism of schmekel was unfair. He really was awful last year. I think it’s fair to say he was put in a position he shouldn’t have been. This year, he’s playing at a level that deserves that type of role. 
 Either way, I’m thrilled to have been wrong about him and look forward to what he does next. 

 

6 minutes ago, bearpants said:

The problem with Schmekel last year is he had no business on the AR... that's a failure on management for not bringing in a veteran competent Canadian DL to take some reps... or a failure on the coaching staff to not adjust the ratio or take advantage of the nationalized American rule... either way, Schmekel should've been developing on the PR while continuing to "practice hard"... not playing actual games  

 

Yup, last years criticism was warranted based to his level of play last year - and deservedly so.   He has clearly stepped up his game and is rightfully being lauded for it.  

Bennett also got roasted last year and that was also fair - if you step on the field as a pro, people should be able to expect a pro level performance.  They aren't expected to be an all-star right of out the gate but they should at least look like they belong out there.

28 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I’m not sure the criticism of schmekel was unfair. He really was awful last year. I think it’s fair to say he was put in a position he shouldn’t have been. This year, he’s playing at a level that deserves that type of role. 
 Either way, I’m thrilled to have been wrong about him and look forward to what he does next. 
 

 

This. We need guys who buy in to the rotation and play like their hair is on fire when on the field and trust/communicate when they need a rest. The previous group with kongbo Hansen etc seemed to do that extremely well. 

 

 

Yep. De is much tougher, you can find dts who just mash fairly easy. 
 If Lawson is out 6 Games(I hope it’s just roster shenanigans) I’d go two imp dt with shmekel backing up. We have the ni flexibility to do it with ease. 
 

I love the idea of ba as a dna, but with how he was last year still not being healthy I feel like his days are numbered. I have no expectations of him returning to form again. 

That's kind of what I meant. A rookie should probably not have been expected to play lights out and he clearly needed more development. That being said he was awful, but I think a lot of people gave up on him and that was the part that wasn't fair.

1 hour ago, Mike said:

I thought Bighill would be a test, but this is the one that will really show us where O’Shea has his head.

Whatever I said about Gauthier, amplify it by a million about Jake Thomas. If we can’t find a better replacement for Lawson than Thomas, just fire our entire front office

It's not even about replacement level, it's the fact there is no way that Fatboi can play that many reps physically now. At the peak of his career he was often gassed out from minimal reps. The Bombers couldn't possibly be looking for Fatboi to be on the field more than 20% of the reps. That is just obvious.

Edited May 22, 20241 yr by GCn20

14 minutes ago, BBlink said:

Sucks for Lawson but not particularly concerned unless it's long term. We need to be good at the end of the year and we are still a great team that will win football games.

my only concern is that we'll continue to roll out Thomas and Schmekel at DT consistently... rather than use the ratio in other areas... if the team plans to start Ford and Kramdi on D... that's already 8 Canadian starters without a DL.

13 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

 

 

Yup, last years criticism was warranted based to his level of play last year - and deservedly so.   He has clearly stepped up his game and is rightfully being lauded for it.  

Bennett also got roasted last year and that was also fair - if you step on the field as a pro, people should be able to expect a pro level performance.  They aren't expected to be an all-star right of out the gate but they should at least look like they belong out there.

Schmekel and Bennet being forced out onto the field before they were ready is on the coaching.

1 minute ago, bearpants said:

my only concern is that we'll continue to roll out Thomas and Schmekel at DT consistently... rather than use the ratio in other areas... if the team plans to start Ford and Kramdi on D... that's already 8 Canadian starters without a DL.

I can't see the Bombers rolling with a starting Schmekel with Thomas rotating in heavily. They will be rotational players and we will have to adjust ratio.

1 hour ago, bearpants said:

The problem with Schmekel last year is he had no business on the AR... that's a failure on management for not bringing in a veteran competent Canadian DL to take some reps... or a failure on the coaching staff to not adjust the ratio or take advantage of the nationalized American rule... either way, Schmekel should've been developing on the PR while continuing to "practice hard"... not playing actual games  

Schmekel only dressed for 5 games last season, the rest of the year he was on the PR.  If they try putting him on the PR again this year, he may go home to Sask. With Lawson now out Schmeck has a chance to oust Jake as the 2nd Natl..

I think they'll stick with the 3 DT rotation again this year, 2 Natl's and 1 Import, take your pick which one they keep, one other stashed on the PR learning the ropes.    

Edited May 22, 20241 yr by Fatty Liver

51 minutes ago, Booch said:

Interior DL/DT prob the easiest guy to just drop in off the street....Fox isnt new...and any competant guy beside him will be just fine

What CB did we lose to the 6 game?....I didnt see that

 

Isn't it Parker?

On 2024-05-22 at 10:15 AM, Atomic said:

I made a depth chart for those who like that kind of thing. I may have missed a few Nationalized Americans because I couldn't be bothered to look it up.

 

Edited February 5, 20251 yr by Bombertown

7 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Schmek only dressed for 5 games last season, the rest of the year he was on the PR.  If they try putting him on the PR again this year, he may go home to Sask. With Lawson now out Schmeck has a chance to oust Jake as the 2nd Natl..

  

We did get a small glimpse of Schmeck in Regina AND he didn't look half bad as the green guys were playing some first stringers....Now was it an apparition orrrrr was it for real....Got a feeling we're gonna find out

Edited May 22, 20241 yr by Stickem

22 minutes ago, Bombertown said:

Holm is not on IR

Oops thanks, I thought he was injured for some reason 

Lawson out sucks.

Hopefully they go RB, 2WR, 3OL, LB and CB. Gives them 8 NIs and you can go 2 starting american DTs. Bet we see Jake start and disappoint.

 

I wish those updates weren't only found on Twitter/X, 

Prediction: Booch (and others) won't be happy when the opening day roster is revealed.

Just now, bigg jay said:

I wish those updates weren't only found on Twitter/X, 

Until someone comes up with something better, it's still the best place for up to the second information.... I mean, **** Elon, but it's the only real option at this point. 

5 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Until someone comes up with something better, it's still the best place for up to the second information.... I mean, **** Elon, but it's the only real option at this point. 

I'm surprised some start up hasn't moved into that space as an X clone. With Elon as polarizing has he is seems like a missed opportunity. At the very least it would force Elon to buy you out.

Just now, GCn20 said:

I'm surprised some start up hasn't moved into that space as an X clone. With Elon as polarizing has he is seems like a missed opportunity. At the very least it would force Elon to buy you out.

Others have tried (Threads, BlueSky) - Threads is closest (IMO) but not enough people using it so far to make it a viable alternative right now.

12 minutes ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

Prediction: Booch (and others) won't be happy when the opening day roster is revealed.

I’ve already made my peace with this. I think the cuts are going to frustrate me more.