2024/2025 Blue Bombers Off-Season Thread

[M.O.A.B.]

35 minutes ago, greenrider55 said:

Nice to see you guys reporting again 👍 weather is beautiful and CFL is right around the corner.

 

peeking for some info, are you? 

[bluto]

15 hours ago, Noeller said:

 

 

 

 

This brings an idea to mind...

@Noeller as the resident musicologist, you should start a thread (here or in the General forum) to compile a Bombers/Football/Season-is-coming Playlist.

Get a few pages of engagement and then post a playlist everyone can share.

[M.O.A.B.]

Winnipeg Blue Bombers bring back longtime DB Brandon Alexander as guest coach - 3DownNation

[Booch]

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

Winnipeg Blue Bombers bring back longtime DB Brandon Alexander as guest coach - 3DownNation

I like they keeping BA in the fold....Highly regarded guy and will be an asset to the team in whatever capacity they have for him...Could see him next yr actually being part of the coaching staff as well

[Noeller]

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

Winnipeg Blue Bombers bring back longtime DB Brandon Alexander as guest coach - 3DownNation

I knew that was him I saw yesterday! There was a coach out there working with DBs and he was relatively "young" like an injured player or something.... And I swore it was BA... Great to see he's still there!

[kelownabomberfan]

On 2025-05-12 at 9:34 AM, rebusrankin said:

For some reason, Gowan's hard hitting and ball hawking haunt me, they haunt me.

Didn't we already do this schtick a few months ago?

 

[rebusrankin]

2 minutes ago, kelownabomberfan said:

Didn't we already do this schtick a few months ago?

 

I can't pay writers for new material all the time.

[kelownabomberfan]

1 minute ago, rebusrankin said:

I can't pay writers for new material all the time.

I get accused of recycling jokes (Rod Black and Sam Giguere/Keith Urban and Glen Suitor for instance) all the time so didn't want to go back to the Gowan well again so soon.  It will be fun though - Gowan jokes always are funny.  

Edited 6 hours ago by kelownabomberfan

[rebusrankin]

Curious if any of the new WRs are standing out?

[Fatty Liver]

44 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Curious if any of the new WRs are standing out?

Apparently Myron Mitchell looking great, Dillon Mitchell not bringing much.

[wbbfan]

4 hours ago, Booch said:

I like they keeping BA in the fold....Highly regarded guy and will be an asset to the team in whatever capacity they have for him...Could see him next yr actually being part of the coaching staff as well

Yeah, BA was a huge part of the culture and a pivotal leader on the D. I know we have JY, plus Hall as an assistant on D, but BA is a guy worth having involved any way we can get him in. Of all our defensive players from 19 to date, he's the best candidate to coach. And we had a good few guys who likely have careers in coaching if they choose. Ba is a great student of the game, a tremendous leader, and a character guy. 

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

Curious if any of the new WRs are standing out?

 

55 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Apparently Myron Mitchell looking great, Dillon Mitchell not bringing much.

I have to say, this is going to be an extremely hard camp to iron out the WRs in. The system change, the established top-tier secondary with an unreal depth of talent, the need to get Strevy ready for week 1, but going forward with Zach, and the turnover in WR positions from this time last year. With Schoen out and the departures, it's Demski and a bunch of new guys to us. Anyone who succeeds early may benefit from strong early chemistry, but comes crashing back to earth once things even out and Schoen is healthy. And some guys might struggle to fit in because the whole unit is trying to fit in. 

 I'd temper expectations for the WR battle until the end of camp/start of the last preseason game. At that point, we need to have some answers figured out one way or another. 

[kelownabomberfan]

Speaking of recycled jokes - how does Manase Foketi look so far?  Has Friesen commented on him yet?

[wbbfan]

1 minute ago, kelownabomberfan said:

Speaking of recycled jokes - how does Manase Foketi look so far?  Has Friesen commented on him yet?

He's a front-runner for the Tony Ortiz TC MVP trophy. 

Idk what was better, the claims by the fake camp reporter that he was killing it, or the fact that the media had no clue till halfway through camp, he never showed up. 

[kelownabomberfan]

3 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

He's a front-runner for the Tony Ortiz TC MVP trophy. 

Idk what was better, the claims by the fake camp reporter that he was killing it, or the fact that the media had no clue till halfway through camp, he never showed up. 

Dwayne Slay annual fan appreciation award for best name and least amount of skill....lol...

[wbbfan]

 

The candor that WJ talks about his failures to execute and close out plays at times is refreshing. He chalked it up to "rust", which doesn't really fit as we've seen him falter late into the year. Though he did play his best game last year in the GC. But you seldom see that kind of honesty and self-criticism from athletes, especially top stars in any league. 

 

Apparently, James Evans, the rookie punter from the global draft, was booming some punts today. Mos redirected after complimenting his leg to say both guys were struggling to get the ball to turn over in the wind and get the placement they both were looking for. But he just landed here yesterday, too. 

[Fatty Liver]

4 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

 

The candor that WJ talks about his failures to execute and close out plays at times is refreshing. He chalked it up to "rust", which doesn't really fit as we've seen him falter late into the year. Though he did play his best game last year in the GC. But you seldom see that kind of honesty and self-criticism from athletes, especially top stars in any league. 

 

Re-watching game #18 against BC in 2023 on Waders27 YouTube channel, that was the rubber match after each team blew the other out on the road earlier in the season.  The Bomber pass rush was incredible, Willie, Jeffcoat, Rickie Walker, Jake and Lawson took turns creating incredible heat on VA throughout the game.  Huge contrast to what we saw last season and stunning proof they moved on from Jeffcoat way too early, pay him equal to Willie and they could have gotten another 2-3 years service out of him.  He was the driving force on that D-line, every other player benefited from his intensity and work ethic.  They spent big money on Lawler and replaced Jeffcoat with a couple of random marshmallows.

 

[kelownabomberfan]

Jeffcoat was injured too often and it limited his effectiveness.  Unfortunate because when he was healthy our D-Line was formidable.

[wbbfan]

5 minutes ago, kelownabomberfan said:

Jeffcoat was injured too often and it limited his effectiveness.  Unfortunate because when he was healthy our D-Line was formidable.

I don't think the injuries limited his effectiveness, it's just that you can't build around a guy who misses 10 games a year. When he was on the roster, he was a menace. I hate moving on from a guy like that, but I do get it. I don't think WJ is far off in terms of contribution tbh. WJ stays healthy, but he has huge streaks of zero effect in the pass rush while being a huge liability in the run game. At least with JJ, if he was on the GDR, you knew what you were getting. With WJ, you could get the MODP (which is all too rare these days) or a guy who is only visible when he's getting his lunch eaten in the run game. The number of times teams abuse him on read plays is absurd. 

 I love Willy, and I get why he struggles and coasts at times. He gets slapped next to fellow linemen who can't create enough pressure to squish a Kraft cheese slice. He and our D are hooked on playing his spot for PKD. But the WJ of 17-21 is not gonna come back. The best we can hope for is a stretch like the first 7 games of 23, where he had 8 sacks, 15 tackles, a couple of fumbles, and PKD. Unless he is surrounded by all-star DL and rotated heavily, I don't think he can sustain that for most of a season anymore. 

 

21 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Re-watching game #18 against BC in 2023 on Waders27 YouTube channel, that was the rubber match after each team blew the other out on the road earlier in the season.  The Bomber pass rush was incredible, Willie, Jeffcoat, Rickie Walker, Jake and Lawson took turns creating incredible heat on VA throughout the game.  Huge contrast to what we saw last season and stunning proof they moved on from Jeffcoat way too early, pay him equal to Willie and they could have gotten another 2-3 years service out of him.  He was the driving force on that D-line, every other player benefited from his intensity and work ethic.  They spent big money on Lawler and replaced Jeffcoat with a couple of random marshmallows.

 

I will always prefer to spend the money on the line rather than WRs. Especially in the CFL, where you instantly have room and the ability to create space for guys with the waggle. I love Lawler, Schoen, Demski, etc. But give me dominant line play any day of the week, and twice on game day. 

[M.O.A.B.]

Winnipeg Blue Bombers sign sixth overall 2025 CFL Draft pick Connor Shay - 3DownNation

[wbbfan]

 

One of the best huddles to watch so far, very much recommend it. 

 I particularly love what he talked about in terms of Elgersma going to the NFL camp. Couldn't agree more. The pace of going to camp with the Packers out of the CIS is going to be an immense learning opportunity. This is basically the best-case scenario for him. Hope he makes their PR for a bit. 

Some great discussion on how he sees the draft picks this year up to rookie camp, too. 

1 minute ago, M.O.A.B. said:

Winnipeg Blue Bombers sign sixth overall 2025 CFL Draft pick Connor Shay - 3DownNation

That's awesome. Man, I cant wait to see how we use these young athletic guys. 

Edited 2 hours ago by wbbfan

[M.O.A.B.]

That's a lot of LBs now in camp

NAT - Shay*, Smith*, Gauthier, Cadwallader, Novak*
AMER - T Jones, Wilson, Ayers, J Jones, Woodbey, Brini 
GBL - Weitz

[wbbfan]

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

That's a lot of LBs now in camp

NAT - Shay*, Smith*, Gauthier, Cadwallader, Novak*
AMER - T Jones, Wilson, Ayers, J Jones, Woodbey, Brini 
GBL - Weitz

Wouldn’t be surprised to see an imp lber cut before game 1 at this rate. Maybe even a wave of cuts before the game. It’s going to take an insane effort for a bunch of guys to make lber. Imp wise you have to beat a couple established vets.Other wise 1 of Novak and weitz have a decent chance of making the pr. And nearly no chance of at the ar, short of a pile of injuries at lber. 

[Atomic]

Hard to imagine them keeping all four of Wilson, Ayers, T.Jones and J.Jones although I suppose it's possible.

[wbbfan]

9 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Hard to imagine them keeping all four of Wilson, Ayers, T.Jones and J.Jones although I suppose it's possible.

Not only is the ratio a serious concern, having those 4, plus the two rookie candidates Gauthier and cadwallader.  
 8 guys dressed for 2 spots, when 1 (the wil) has half their reps filled by a db. That would be an awful roster issue to over come. 
 That would likely mean 9 starting Canadians including no imp guard. 
 

Going into camp I figured start 2 di 1 cut 1. With Shay and smith, I think you keep 2 imp, pr one of the other 2. 

[Fatty Liver]

MUNIER-BAILEY, the Global DE has missed multiple days of TC so far, sounds like they went out of their way to bring him in so hopefully they'll find a way to keep him around to give him another shot at making the team later on.