2024/2025 Blue Bombers Off-Season Thread

[M.O.A.B.]

Jack-Kurdyla played exclusively at RG in U of Buffalo. 

[Blue In BC]

21 hours ago, Booch said:

Solid pick...gonna pan out to be the best pick in my opinion...he's perfectly suited for what we wanna do here and is multi-use...A Canadian version of what Cole did for us without the DA tag...so hopefully it enables us to bulk up that damn dline with 3 solid interior guys...the Global guy as well if he is what many think will also allow us to use a DA elsewhere....no reason Woods..Adams...hopefully Person and or any newbie who flies off the page in camp cant all be rostered,

Gimme a WJ/Vauters/Lawson/Woods/Adams/Person/Bailey rotation anyday....and if another rookie makes a case to be on roster then even better....I know they think Jake is this perennial stud...but we have no need and really no room/use...If they want to roster a second National DT....To insert him over even Schmeck or another promising rookie is just foolish and a waste...You dont sacrifice youth and upside for an old vet who lost his usefulness 3 yrs ago already....just plain dumb

We have Kramdi..Makonzo...Shay..Smith...Kelly...Hallett...Hagerty....pretty sure we have the ability to put any 2 of those guys on the field at any given yime in lieu of a DT to make ratio if we choose to play 2 on defence...youth...athleticism and ability should trump loyalty to old dead weight 

It's always a question of how we deploy our ratio. The global player comes at a cost of an extra Canadian so that's going to be a tough choice. We added some Canadian DE's so it may become an either or choice. We have Gowanlock and Laing looking to win a spot.  All of this folds into whether we move towards a 3 import OL. That eliminates an import or even the global elsewhere on the roster in order to retain a Canadian back up.

[Goalie]

 

learn a bit about Mr Adams here. 

[blue85gold]

All rookie camp practices are taking place at the field Winnipeg Soccer Federation South, 211 Chancellor Matheson Road (times are approximate):

Wednesday, May 7 – 10:30 a.m.- 12:55 p.m.

Thursday, May 8 – 10 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Friday, May 9 – 10:15 a.m.-12:20 p.m.

Saturday, May 10 – Medical/testing, no practice

Main camp

Sunday, May 11 (Princess Auto Stadium) – 9-11:40 a.m.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2025/05/06/rookie-camp-25-primer/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAadd1DmFUEVV4nnvIc5ZqWnu8YQhHLZFIJI04vsNgxxtftumlEG_8Poc-Z7f9Q_aem_lW_FX7FDJqP2d5X__Mvtdw

[Booch]

2 hours ago, Blue In BC said:

It's always a question of how we deploy our ratio. The global player comes at a cost of an extra Canadian so that's going to be a tough choice. We added some Canadian DE's so it may become an either or choice. We have Gowanlock and Laing looking to win a spot.  All of this folds into whether we move towards a 3 import OL. That eliminates an import or even the global elsewhere on the roster in order to retain a Canadian back up.

I can't see Gowanlock or Laing getting defensive reps ahead of or in lieu of Bailey...Laing may be hard pressed to make roster this yr but is a great PR guy to see if he develops..he may just turn the corner with professional coaching and environment

If Bailey is what many think...and ceiling is high ...then him on roster over say a Schmeck...Thomas...Gowanlok...that's a major win in my eyes...and i think 3 import olinemen is a last resort..and would overall make us weaker

[wbbfan]

21 minutes ago, Booch said:

I can't see Gowanlock or Laing getting defensive reps ahead of or in lieu of Bailey...Laing may be hard pressed to make roster this yr but is a great PR guy to see if he develops..he may just turn the corner with professional coaching and environment

If Bailey is what many think...and ceiling is high ...then him on roster over say a Schmeck...Thomas...Gowanlok...that's a major win in my eyes...and i think 3 import olinemen is a last resort..and would overall make us weaker

Should be a big push by Guys like gowanlok, Novak, etc to take the last spot over a 7th ol. I’d be ok with schmeck taking Jake’s spot and being the 7th ol as the 7th dl. But short of injury I don’t think that happens. 

[Mark H.]

2 hours ago, wbbfan said:

I’d be ok with schmeck taking Jake’s spot and being the 7th ol as the 7th dl. 

Dost thou dream or blaspheme?

[rebusrankin]

3 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Dost thou dream or blaspheme?

[Mark H.]

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

Fence sitter.

[Noeller]

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

Wah wah I am the Lindbergh Baby!!

[SpeedFlex27]

8 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Dost thou dream or blaspheme?

Osh replace Jake? Even with Schmeck??? Ain't never, never, never, never going to happen. 

 

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2025-05-05 at 2:38 PM, Brandon said:

I know of a certain someone with loads of money, interest in owning a football league, and free time that can fund this....

Don't laugh. I read somewhere a long time ago that he approached the CFL & made an offer to buy the CFL. Vince McMahon would have been the sole owner of all 9 teams. The BOG's turned him down & Vince went ahead to form the XFL. 

[Colin Unger]

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

Jack-Kurdyla played exclusively at RG in U of Buffalo. 

Maybe he can be our next Paddy Nuefeld. 

[Blue In BC]

14 hours ago, Booch said:

I can't see Gowanlock or Laing getting defensive reps ahead of or in lieu of Bailey...Laing may be hard pressed to make roster this yr but is a great PR guy to see if he develops..he may just turn the corner with professional coaching and environment

If Bailey is what many think...and ceiling is high ...then him on roster over say a Schmeck...Thomas...Gowanlok...that's a major win in my eyes...and i think 3 import olinemen is a last resort..and would overall make us weaker

I don't agree or disagree. It's just a problem with the ratio and eliminates a Canadian we might want to keep on the AR. I don't have much faith in any global past or present so I can't assume Bailey is going to be worth keeping. Perhaps he turns out to be a good player. I can't believe any of our Canadian DE's is better either, so all the competition will be interesting during TC.

It's start with whether we have to start 3 import OL which I also think makes the overall roster weaker. If we find a solution for that, then we many have that extra import DL choice instead of a global.

Overall I'm not a fan of a 2nd global on the AR.

15 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

Maybe he can be our next Paddy Nuefeld. 

I guess we'll see if he is approached by the team. I'm surprised the Elks released him and the reasoning behind that decision. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

1 hour ago, Blue In BC said:

I don't agree or disagree. It's just a problem with the ratio and eliminates a Canadian we might want to keep on the AR. I don't have much faith in any global past or present so I can't assume Bailey is going to be worth keeping. Perhaps he turns out to be a good player. I can't believe any of our Canadian DE's is better either, so all the competition will be interesting during TC.

It's start with whether we have to start 3 import OL which I also think makes the overall roster weaker. If we find a solution for that, then we many have that extra import DL choice instead of a global.

Overall I'm not a fan of a 2nd global on the AR.

I guess we'll see if he is approached by the team. I'm surprised the Elks released him and the reasoning behind that decision. 

A couple things....

What makes the roster weakest is not being able to pass protect.  If they need 3 imports on the OL to be sure of that, they need to do it.  We probably win 5 straight Grey Cups with a consistent B+ OL instead of a C- OL trying to round into form/get healthy at the end of the season, 2023-24 especially.  That's priority over any other spot.  You figure the other spots out, build the OL you need to win first.

The biggest roster issue on O is how you back up Oliviera with 5 O starters.  Need another Canadian tailback to show they can handle some work, or another Canadian receiver to step up.  Alternative is being able to flip to another Canadian on D but that would not be possible during a game.  I think we are likely to be disappointed again with our American playmakers on O if there aren't a couple rookies ready to step in and step up.

Bailey started all 12 games last year at Weber State and was named to the FCS Central All-American Third Team and All-Big Sky second team honours after adding 18.5 tackles for a loss and nine sacks.

We'd be pretty happy to have an American prospect coming in off a season like that.

[Blue In BC]

3 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

A couple things....

What makes the roster weakest is not being able to pass protect.  If they need 3 imports on the OL to be sure of that, they need to do it.  We probably win 5 straight Grey Cups with a consistent B+ OL instead of a C- OL trying to round into form/get healthy at the end of the season, 2023-24 especially.  That's priority over any other spot.  You figure the other spots out, build the OL you need to win first.

The biggest roster issue on O is how you back up Oliviera with 5 O starters.  Need another Canadian tailback to show they can handle some work, or another Canadian receiver to step up.  Alternative is being able to flip to another Canadian on D but that would not be possible during a game.  I think we are likely to be disappointed again with our American playmakers on O if there aren't a couple rookies ready to step in and step up.

Bailey started all 12 games last year at Weber State and was named to the FCS Central All-American Third Team and All-Big Sky second team honours after adding 18.5 tackles for a loss and nine sacks.

We'd be pretty happy to have an American prospect coming in off a season like that.

Sure but college stats and highlight videos are a dime a dozen. Many of our import rookies sound great too and most will disappear quickly at the pro level. I get that it may be necessary to change to a 3 import OL,. It would have less of an issue if we didn't lose Ford as a starting Canadian. We were playing 9 starting Canadians and we may be down to 7 this year. That loss of flexibility is always a concern. In addition it's not clear whether our Canadian depth overall has taken a step backwards.

I've yet to be impressed by any global player. Let him prove me wrong. Regardless, a 2nd global even a good one comes at the cost of another Canadian on the roster. I'm not a pro ratio guy but still going to lean towards wanting an extra Canadian  rather than that global player.  With the 6 2025 draft choices ( currently signed ) and 25 other Canadians on the roster means we can't keep them all. 

Bailey might be better than our Canadian choices to rotate at DE but is he better than our import choices?  I always have the feeling that a given global wins a roster spot by default. Aside from Sheehan who makes the AR we only have 3 other global players in any sort of competition to make the AR. and PR rosters.  The 3rd global is the punter we signed in the 2nd round and at best he's just a PR guy barring injury. I doubt he even makes the PR.

[Booch]

15 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

A couple things....

What makes the roster weakest is not being able to pass protect.  If they need 3 imports on the OL to be sure of that, they need to do it.  We probably win 5 straight Grey Cups with a consistent B+ OL instead of a C- OL trying to round into form/get healthy at the end of the season, 2023-24 especially.  That's priority over any other spot.  You figure the other spots out, build the OL you need to win first.

The biggest roster issue on O is how you back up Oliviera with 5 O starters.  Need another Canadian tailback to show they can handle some work, or another Canadian receiver to step up.  Alternative is being able to flip to another Canadian on D but that would not be possible during a game.  I think we are likely to be disappointed again with our American playmakers on O if there aren't a couple rookies ready to step in and step up.

Bailey started all 12 games last year at Weber State and was named to the FCS Central All-American Third Team and All-Big Sky second team honours after adding 18.5 tackles for a loss and nine sacks.

We'd be pretty happy to have an American prospect coming in off a season like that.

we prob win 5 cups with what you said that I bolded and replace OL with coaching

Just now, Blue In BC said:

Sure but college stats and highlight videos are a dime a dozen. Many of our import rookies sound great too and most will disappear quickly at the pro level. I get that it may be necessary to change to a 3 import OL,. It would have less of an issue if we didn't lose Ford as a starting Canadian. We were playing 9 starting Canadians and we may be down to 7 this year. That loss of flexibility is always a concern. In addition it's not clear whether our Canadian depth overall has taken a step backwards.

I've yet to be impressed by any global player. Let him prove me wrong. Regardless, a 2nd global even a good one comes at the cost of another Canadian on the roster. I'm not a pro ratio guy but still going to lean towards wanting an extra Canadian  rather than that global player.  With the 6 2025 draft choices ( currently signed ) and 25 other Canadians on the roster means we can't keep them all. 

Bailey might be better than our Canadian choices to rotate at DE but is he better than our import choices?  I always have the feeling that a given global wins a roster spot by default. Aside from Sheehan who makes the AR we only have 3 other global players in any sort of competition to make the AR. and PR rosters.  The 3rd global is the punter we signed in the 2nd round and at best he's just a PR guy barring injury. I doubt he even makes the PR.

Bailey was actually persued by several teams before he was found out to be an eligible Global...so that trade up for him was a wise move and he will add more value most likely than any Canadian at bottom of roster. Pass protection wasn't necessarily our demise...poor scheme and coaching and playing with crippled players had more impact. With that Peterson we traded for along with Logan...we more than capable of backing BO up especially if we only designate 5 Nationals need to be used on Offence as opposed to 6...as well if we actually designate and use a Nationlized American on offence....with the amount of guys we now have to switch in and out on defence....going 2 nationals on defence and designating Stanley as the Nationalized player makes uber sense

[Blue In BC]

17 minutes ago, Booch said:

we prob win 5 cups with what you said that I bolded and replace OL with coaching

Bailey was actually persued by several teams before he was found out to be an eligible Global...so that trade up for him was a wise move and he will add more value most likely than any Canadian at bottom of roster. Pass protection wasn't necessarily our demise...poor scheme and coaching and playing with crippled players had more impact. With that Peterson we traded for along with Logan...we more than capable of backing BO up especially if we only designate 5 Nationals need to be used on Offence as opposed to 6...as well if we actually designate and use a Nationlized American on offence....with the amount of guys we now have to switch in and out on defence....going 2 nationals on defence and designating Stanley as the Nationalized player makes uber sense

It sounds good on paper and you may be right. I don't much about him. I don't get the Nationalized player designation at all. If Bryant gets injured we'll still be replacing him with an import the following week.  I'm not directly concerned with BO getting injured, he's pretty reliable. However, in game if something happens, Logan going in means an import receiver comes out. That's just the nature of the ratio.  Peterson might be a better alternative depending on how well he shows.

All bets are off until the main TC begins. There going to be many players thinned out very quickly.

Edited 1 hour ago by Blue In BC

[Booch]

4 minutes ago, Blue In BC said:

It sounds good on paper and you may be right. I don't much about him. I don't get the Nationalized player designation at all. If Bryant gets injured we'll still be replacing him with an import the following week.  I'm not directly concerned with BO getting injured, he's pretty reliable. However, in game if something happens, Logan going in means an import receiver comes out. That's just the nature of the ratio.  Peterson might be a better alternative depending on how well he shows.

All bets are off until the main TC begins. There going to be many players thinned out very quickly.

Thats why I hope we are able to only designate 5 for offence and then Logan can come in freely...even with BO on the field

Ace in hole in my opinion is Makonzo...legit National Talent, as well as Jaylen Smith and Shay now...all 3 are gonna be able to come in and take reps where we used a DA last yr....so it's gonna give us a lot of rotational flexability....even more so if Bailey is legit...so designating 2 Nationals on defence should be a slam dunk and if we choose to go 3 import on Oline then BO...Demski...Clercius and 2 oline guys have that easily covered but with Eli..Wallace in house I cant see us having to go that route...Camp gonna be interesting as how they work things

[wbbfan]

50 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

A couple things....

What makes the roster weakest is not being able to pass protect.  If they need 3 imports on the OL to be sure of that, they need to do it.  We probably win 5 straight Grey Cups with a consistent B+ OL instead of a C- OL trying to round into form/get healthy at the end of the season, 2023-24 especially.  That's priority over any other spot.  You figure the other spots out, build the OL you need to win first.

The biggest roster issue on O is how you back up Oliviera with 5 O starters.  Need another Canadian tailback to show they can handle some work, or another Canadian receiver to step up.  Alternative is being able to flip to another Canadian on D but that would not be possible during a game.  I think we are likely to be disappointed again with our American playmakers on O if there aren't a couple rookies ready to step in and step up.

Bailey started all 12 games last year at Weber State and was named to the FCS Central All-American Third Team and All-Big Sky second team honours after adding 18.5 tackles for a loss and nine sacks.

We'd be pretty happy to have an American prospect coming in off a season like that.

3 starting imp ol with 6 ol on the ar makes us soo much better on the field than 2 starting imp and 7 ol.  Success in football largely boils down to protecting your passer, and disrupting the opposition passer. Las year we disrupted the other teams passer with the back end of our coverage. Our primary limiting factor last year and this year will be pass pro. And to best way to support our pass pro, is starting an IMP g in all likelihood, and instead of going an extra blocker on the line going with a guy like MCI in a 2 back set so we have an extra layer of protection on either side of zach. 

I'm hopeful schoen will return to form. We need mitchell/white/sterns and or a rookie to pan out really well. We have a margin for error with the number of bodies we have, but we don't have a margin for underachieving. Some one or maybe 2 wrs needs to step up big for us. 

 

15 minutes ago, Booch said:

Thats why I hope we are able to only designate 5 for offence and then Logan can come in freely...even with BO on the field

Ace in hole in my opinion is Makonzo...legit National Talent, as well as Jaylen Smith and Shay now...all 3 are gonna be able to come in and take reps where we used a DA last yr....so it's gonna give us a lot of rotational flexability....even more so if Bailey is legit...so designating 2 Nationals on defence should be a slam dunk and if we choose to go 3 import on Oline then BO...Demski...Clercius and 2 oline guys have that easily covered but with Eli..Wallace in house I cant see us having to go that route...Camp gonna be interesting as how they work things

Makonzo and the NI lbers are going to be huge for our ratio. If we can use Makonzo as our dime pack will instead of an imp that gives us a ton of help shaping up the roster. The hard part is going to be limiting our imp lber commitments. 

[Blue In BC]

19 minutes ago, Booch said:

Thats why I hope we are able to only designate 5 for offence and then Logan can come in freely...even with BO on the field

Ace in hole in my opinion is Makonzo...legit National Talent, as well as Jaylen Smith and Shay now...all 3 are gonna be able to come in and take reps where we used a DA last yr....so it's gonna give us a lot of rotational flexability....even more so if Bailey is legit...so designating 2 Nationals on defence should be a slam dunk and if we choose to go 3 import on Oline then BO...Demski...Clercius and 2 oline guys have that easily covered but with Eli..Wallace in house I cant see us having to go that route...Camp gonna be interesting as how they work things

You lost me with the comment about Logan. He'll be a DI so he can only come in replacing an import on any down. That means a receiver coming off. That will be true whether we have 5 Canadians on offence or 6. I like Makonzo and the new Canadian LB's. Shay will be a little late to TC but yes these guys will be taking reps away from DI's etc.

Overall just hoping we don't lose some guys to injury in TC like last year. Lawson back should be a great improvement too.

A marginal concern about how recovery from injury Parker, Lawson, Makonzo and Schoen returning after significant injury in 2024.

I wonder if any posters will be at the rookie camp over the next couple of days.

 

[Blue In BC]

6 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

3 starting imp ol with 6 ol on the ar makes us soo much better on the field than 2 starting imp and 7 ol.  Success in football largely boils down to protecting your passer, and disrupting the opposition passer. Las year we disrupted the other teams passer with the back end of our coverage. Our primary limiting factor last year and this year will be pass pro. And to best way to support our pass pro, is starting an IMP g in all likelihood, and instead of going an extra blocker on the line going with a guy like MCI in a 2 back set so we have an extra layer of protection on either side of zach. 

I'm hopeful schoen will return to form. We need mitchell/white/sterns and or a rookie to pan out really well. We have a margin for error with the number of bodies we have, but we don't have a margin for underachieving. Some one or maybe 2 wrs needs to step up big for us. 

 

Makonzo and the NI lbers are going to be huge for our ratio. If we can use Makonzo as our dime pack will instead of an imp that gives us a ton of help shaping up the roster. The hard part is going to be limiting our imp lber commitments. 

I'm expecting we have an import DB as a DI.  We're bringing a boatload of rookie DB's to TC.  I get your comment about pass pro but it depends on the quality of the Canadians not the quantity of OL. It's the quality of the Canadian OL that is the question over the quality of a change to an import.  It's a 50/50 question at the moment. I don't think we can say anything more than Randolph has an edge over the other imports, but that could change quickly with many rookies in camp.

 

[Atomic]

[Booch]

8 minutes ago, Blue In BC said:

You lost me with the comment about Logan. He'll be a DI so he can only come in replacing an import on any down. That means a receiver coming off. That will be true whether we have 5 Canadians on offence or 6. I like Makonzo and the new Canadian LB's. Shay will be a little late to TC but yes these guys will be taking reps away from DI's etc.

Overall just hoping we don't lose some guys to injury in TC like last year. Lawson back should be a great improvement too.

A marginal concern about how recovery from injury Parker, Lawson, Makonzo and Schoen returning after significant injury in 2024.

I wonder if any posters will be at the rookie camp over the next couple of days.

 

depends on how we shape the roster...he doesnt have to be a DA 

2 minutes ago, Atomic said:

DEPTH Behind Demski is horrid...hope he stays healthy

[Blue In BC]

1 minute ago, Booch said:

depends on how we shape the roster...he doesnt have to be a DA 

DEPTH Behind Demski is horrid...hope he stays healthy

He doesn't have to be a DI but if we only start 7 Canadians then he almost definitely will be a DI. That's the advantage we had starting 10 Canadians in 2024 allowed us to do something like that.  So yes we added some very good depth Canadian talent but we lost at least one Canadian starter and two is we a 3rd import OL starts.

The depth chart above is interesting but we all know it's fluid. Interestingly is that 3 players released still show on the chart. No matter. It will all settle out shortly