2024/2025 Blue Bombers Off-Season Thread

[Brandon]

43 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Punting from the end zone or deep in their own end is a no win situation, even if the punter boots it 55 yds. it's still likely to end up near the 40 yd. line and points will be given up.  In that situation it's easy to blame the punter, but it's 100% the offences fault for not moving the ball out from the shadow of their goalposts.

 Maybe it's selective memory but I always feel like we punt near midfield and somehow the opposition ends up getting it on their own 45ish rather then deeper in their own end.   I can't actually remember seeing a Sheehan punt and thinking "wow that was a good deep punt".

[17to85]

1 hour ago, Booch said:

Clercius...picking machine!!

Grab those balls!

[Atomic]

Dillon Mitchell was "excused" from today's practice as per MOS

[wbbfan]

29 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Dillon Mitchell was "excused" from today's practice as per MOS

interesting. Might not be any thing. Either way, I think he needs to play his way onto the team starting friday. 

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, Atomic said:

Dillon Mitchell was "excused" from today's practice as per MOS

Was he at La Roca last night?  

[Arnold_Palmer]

2 hours ago, wbbfan said:

interesting. Might not be any thing. Either way, I think he needs to play his way onto the team starting friday. 

Agreed. Man I thought he was going to be a super star when I saw him play in 2022. Very disappointing to say the least. 

[Mark H.]

Forgive me if this has been covered: how is the OL looking in camp? I'm hoping to see an American at guard, if that's what is necessary.

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

Agreed. Man I thought he was going to be a super star when I saw him play in 2022. Very disappointing to say the least. 

Yeah. Second to injuries, (and rider wins) the thing I hate most in sports is wasted talent. Hope he manages to get him self sorted and back to where he needs to play. 
 

9 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Forgive me if this has been covered: how is the OL looking in camp? I'm hoping to see an American at guard, if that's what is necessary.

it’s been a lot of adjustments and trials of different combos. 
 I don’t think Lofton has practiced much at all. Randolph has looked better than Lofton last year though imo. Hes settled into rt nicely. 

 Vanterpool has taken a nice step forward in general. 

 Wallace has been good. Saw him get beat off the line couple times but recover really well. Think that’s why he got a run at rt. He’s lost 15-20 from his pro day time and he hasn’t lost strength. Run block wise, he’s our best bet at guard imo. Pass pro, he’s worth growing with at this point. 

 Eli is pretty much the usual. Much better at C than G, though playing beside the other Cs he was better than with kola. 

 They really like vibert, and I could see him getting groomed on the pr for a year. Hes a nasty inside guy who can snap a bit and be groomed into a back up C pretty easily. Realistically could be a 6th ol in the league this year from what I’ve seen. Gets off the ball well, strong with a good base, nasty type we always like. 

 Neuf looks significantly more mobile than he did all of last year. More explosive than he’s been in a while. If he stays healthy he should be as good as you’d hope. 
 

Among the other rookie imps, Atkinson is a throw back body style. He’s thick and strong and significantly heavier than his listed weight. He’s aggressive and got some good attribute's, but he looks like a straight up guard in need of polish. Which doesn’t happen up here. 
 elsbury has the measurables and it shows on the field, but he’s raw. Reminds me of Randolph last year.  
 I like Hemphills upside, he’s more polished and probably the best of the zone run blockers among the imports. 
 

I could see us easily keeping 1-2 imp ol on the pr and 1 ni, and probably another guy on the ir. 
 Best ol imo: Bryant Neuf Eli vanterpool Randolph.   
 realistically, we are gonna start kola if healthy and I don’t think we have the ratio at this point to go 3 imps with our hurting the d and teams. 
Bryant Neuf kola Wallace Randolph with Eli as the 6th is likely.  
 
I wouldn’t be surprised to see more Wallace at RT. I could see a world where we go 4ni ol with vibert on the ar and Wallace at RT easier than I can see us going 4 imp ol.  If that happened, it’d be best to slide Neuf to his side to give him more help. 
 

Over all I like our ol crop, could still use more Canadian talent as always,  we likely have to face more struggles with change though. Guys needs to gel, and take some lumps as starters at their positions. But that is coming for us no matter what. It’s a good time to move forward with young guys and build in near future replacements for Neuf and Bryant. 

[bigg jay]

10 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

realistically, we are gonna start kola if healthy 

Didn't we start a GoFundMe to hire @Booch to avoid this scenario? 🤣

Edited 20 hours ago by bigg jay

[Atomic]

I wonder if they see Vanterpool and Randolph as our two tackles of the future. Bryant is obviously LT this season but possibly it is his last. The easiest way to keep both Randolph and Vanterpool is by starting Vanterpool at LG this season and Randolph at RT. I also think this would be our best configuration. We have enough Canadians starting elsewhere to go 3 import OL.

Start Kola and Neuf. Keep all 3 of Eli, Wallace, and Vibert, using the IR/PR where necessary.

Having a strong OL in front of Collaros is a must.

[wbbfan]

11 minutes ago, Atomic said:

I wonder if they see Vanterpool and Randolph as our two tackles of the future. Bryant is obviously LT this season but possibly it is his last. The easiest way to keep both Randolph and Vanterpool is by starting Vanterpool at LG this season and Randolph at RT. I also think this would be our best configuration. We have enough Canadians starting elsewhere to go 3 import OL.

Start Kola and Neuf. Keep all 3 of Eli, Wallace, and Vibert, using the IR/PR where necessary.

Having a strong OL in front of Collaros is a must.

I think that’s very much the case. Down the road I can see Randolph as the LT and vanterpool as the rt. Though Wallace may polish into that role. Now inb4 vanterpool gets cut lol. 
 Lofton might be viewed in a similar light though I don’t see remotely the same ceiling as either. 

[rebusrankin]

52 minutes ago, Atomic said:

I wonder if they see Vanterpool and Randolph as our two tackles of the future. Bryant is obviously LT this season but possibly it is his last. The easiest way to keep both Randolph and Vanterpool is by starting Vanterpool at LG this season and Randolph at RT. I also think this would be our best configuration. We have enough Canadians starting elsewhere to go 3 import OL.

Start Kola and Neuf. Keep all 3 of Eli, Wallace, and Vibert, using the IR/PR where necessary.

Having a strong OL in front of Collaros is a must.

So 2 OL (Kolo+Neuf), 2 WR (Demski+Clercius), 1 RB (Brady), 1 LB (Kramdi), 1 DT (Lawson/Jake) and a ? as the 8th?

Is 3 OL (Kolo+Neuf+Wallace), 2 WR (Demski+Clercius), 1 RB (Brady), 1 LB (Kramdi) and 1 DT (Lawson/Jake) better?

I agree on the strong OL point.

[Super Duper Negatron]

1 hour ago, bigg jay said:

Didn't we start a GoFundMe to hire @Booch to avoid this scenario? 🤣

He has been hanging out at Wheelies watching Kolo hone his craft.

[Mark H.]

Nice to hear that Neuf is leaner and better. Maybe he had another conversation in that cabin in the mountains.

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

So 2 OL (Kolo+Neuf), 2 WR (Demski+Clercius), 1 RB (Brady), 1 LB (Kramdi), 1 DT (Lawson/Jake) and a ? as the 8th?

Is 3 OL (Kolo+Neuf+Wallace), 2 WR (Demski+Clercius), 1 RB (Brady), 1 LB (Kramdi) and 1 DT (Lawson/Jake) better?

I agree on the strong OL point.

I think the drop off from Wallace to imp should be small. We gain more imo with the imp on D. 
 As it is we have 1 starter spot and hopefully 1 back up spot for woods, adams, person, pointer and Webb. 1 di spot for griffin, valval, ayers/jones, one for Sergio and one for a kr. 
 If we go none di for kr, and 3 ni on the ol it helps our ratio a whole lot. The injuries to Kelly and makonzo hurt a lot on D. 
 We are gonna have soo many bodies at lber again, we need all the dl and dbs who can actually on D on the ar. 

[Atomic]

10 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

So 2 OL (Kolo+Neuf), 2 WR (Demski+Clercius), 1 RB (Brady), 1 LB (Kramdi), 1 DT (Lawson/Jake) and a ? as the 8th?

Is 3 OL (Kolo+Neuf+Wallace), 2 WR (Demski+Clercius), 1 RB (Brady), 1 LB (Kramdi) and 1 DT (Lawson/Jake) better?

I agree on the strong OL point.

Remember we can start a nationalized American as the 8th. Could be Stanley Bryant, Eric Lofton, Kyrie Wilson, Willie Jefferson, Dalton Schoen, Deatrick Nichols, Jamal Parker, or Evan Holm. Lots of options. We only need 7 "true" Canadian starters.

[Booch]

11 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Yeah. Second to injuries, (and rider wins) the thing I hate most in sports is wasted talent. Hope he manages to get him self sorted and back to where he needs to play. 
 

it’s been a lot of adjustments and trials of different combos. 
 I don’t think Lofton has practiced much at all. Randolph has looked better than Lofton last year though imo. Hes settled into rt nicely. 

 Vanterpool has taken a nice step forward in general. 

 Wallace has been good. Saw him get beat off the line couple times but recover really well. Think that’s why he got a run at rt. He’s lost 15-20 from his pro day time and he hasn’t lost strength. Run block wise, he’s our best bet at guard imo. Pass pro, he’s worth growing with at this point. 

 Eli is pretty much the usual. Much better at C than G, though playing beside the other Cs he was better than with kola. 

 They really like vibert, and I could see him getting groomed on the pr for a year. Hes a nasty inside guy who can snap a bit and be groomed into a back up C pretty easily. Realistically could be a 6th ol in the league this year from what I’ve seen. Gets off the ball well, strong with a good base, nasty type we always like. 

 Neuf looks significantly more mobile than he did all of last year. More explosive than he’s been in a while. If he stays healthy he should be as good as you’d hope. 
 

Among the other rookie imps, Atkinson is a throw back body style. He’s thick and strong and significantly heavier than his listed weight. He’s aggressive and got some good attribute's, but he looks like a straight up guard in need of polish. Which doesn’t happen up here. 
 elsbury has the measurables and it shows on the field, but he’s raw. Reminds me of Randolph last year.  
 I like Hemphills upside, he’s more polished and probably the best of the zone run blockers among the imports. 
 

I could see us easily keeping 1-2 imp ol on the pr and 1 ni, and probably another guy on the ir. 
 Best ol imo: Bryant Neuf Eli vanterpool Randolph.   
 realistically, we are gonna start kola if healthy and I don’t think we have the ratio at this point to go 3 imps with our hurting the d and teams. 
Bryant Neuf kola Wallace Randolph with Eli as the 6th is likely.  
 
I wouldn’t be surprised to see more Wallace at RT. I could see a world where we go 4ni ol with vibert on the ar and Wallace at RT easier than I can see us going 4 imp ol.  If that happened, it’d be best to slide Neuf to his side to give him more help. 
 

Over all I like our ol crop, could still use more Canadian talent as always,  we likely have to face more struggles with change though. Guys needs to gel, and take some lumps as starters at their positions. But that is coming for us no matter what. It’s a good time to move forward with young guys and build in near future replacements for Neuf and Bryant. 

Nice break down....beats the media fluff all ado about not much...Thanks

[rebusrankin]

34 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Remember we can start a nationalized American as the 8th. Could be Stanley Bryant, Eric Lofton, Kyrie Wilson, Willie Jefferson, Dalton Schoen, Deatrick Nichols, Jamal Parker, or Evan Holm. Lots of options. We only need 7 "true" Canadian starters.

True but MOS has been reluctant to really use this option.

[Atomic]

4 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

True but MOS has been reluctant to really use this option.

Yeah he has. But it was used more towards the end of last year. We'll see.

[JuranBoldenRules]

11 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

So 2 OL (Kolo+Neuf), 2 WR (Demski+Clercius), 1 RB (Brady), 1 LB (Kramdi), 1 DT (Lawson/Jake) and a ? as the 8th?

Is 3 OL (Kolo+Neuf+Wallace), 2 WR (Demski+Clercius), 1 RB (Brady), 1 LB (Kramdi) and 1 DT (Lawson/Jake) better?

I agree on the strong OL point.

I don't see why Willie Jefferson wouldn't be the 8th as a naturalized.  Him or Bryant.

[HardCoreBlue]

14 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Forgive me if this has been covered: how is the OL looking in camp? I'm hoping to see an American at guard, if that's what is necessary.

For the O this where it all starts so do whatever it takes please and thank you.

[CrazyCanuck89]

6 hours ago, Atomic said:

Remember we can start a nationalized American as the 8th. Could be Stanley Bryant, Eric Lofton, Kyrie Wilson, Willie Jefferson, Dalton Schoen, Deatrick Nichols, Jamal Parker, or Evan Holm. Lots of options. We only need 7 "true" Canadian starters.

Difference is Walters and O'Shea are patriots and have no problem playing 9-10 Canadians.

[wbbfan]

6 hours ago, Atomic said:

Remember we can start a nationalized American as the 8th. Could be Stanley Bryant, Eric Lofton, Kyrie Wilson, Willie Jefferson, Dalton Schoen, Deatrick Nichols, Jamal Parker, or Evan Holm. Lots of options. We only need 7 "true" Canadian starters.

We could, but we will not use it on a starter as the mafia has been clear that they think that is unintended and shifty. I'm not sure if Parker qualifies based on years of service due to the injuries. Not sure how that works. Kyrie or Parker would be the best options for utilizing the spot. But then, with Parker, we are already going to be carrying Griffin and Shay as backups who can fill some DB roles. If Griffin took the CB job, Parker as the dime rotation guy would be great. But I think Parker could be getting passed by both Vaval and Gowan. Kyrie would bring some value, but he's the last of the 4 imp lbers who should be on the AR. 

WJ would be the ideal guy who is eligible. But I don't think they will even consider that. 

 I am fully prepared to be disappointed by our NA roster usage, again. 

4 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

I don't see why Willie Jefferson wouldn't be the 8th as a naturalized.  Him or Bryant.

WJ would make a lot of sense. Even Bryant could allow us to take off a NI for an IMP for half his snaps. I won't think our Imp WR depth is worth doing that though. Be great for a package around cooley, and eventually Logan when healthy. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

7 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

We could, but we will not use it on a starter as the mafia has been clear that they think that is unintended and shifty. I'm not sure if Parker qualifies based on years of service due to the injuries. Not sure how that works. Kyrie or Parker would be the best options for utilizing the spot. But then, with Parker, we are already going to be carrying Griffin and Shay as backups who can fill some DB roles. If Griffin took the CB job, Parker as the dime rotation guy would be great. But I think Parker could be getting passed by both Vaval and Gowan. Kyrie would bring some value, but he's the last of the 4 imp lbers who should be on the AR. 

WJ would be the ideal guy who is eligible. But I don't think they will even consider that. 

 I am fully prepared to be disappointed by our NA roster usage, again. 

WJ would make a lot of sense. Even Bryant could allow us to take off a NI for an IMP for half his snaps. I won't think our Imp WR depth is worth doing that though. Be great for a package around cooley, and eventually Logan when healthy. 

I'm talking for the nationalized starter, not the nationalized DI.  

[Booch]

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

We could, but we will not use it on a starter as the mafia has been clear that they think that is unintended and shifty. I'm not sure if Parker qualifies based on years of service due to the injuries. Not sure how that works. Kyrie or Parker would be the best options for utilizing the spot. But then, with Parker, we are already going to be carrying Griffin and Shay as backups who can fill some DB roles. If Griffin took the CB job, Parker as the dime rotation guy would be great. But I think Parker could be getting passed by both Vaval and Gowan. Kyrie would bring some value, but he's the last of the 4 imp lbers who should be on the AR. 

WJ would be the ideal guy who is eligible. But I don't think they will even consider that. 

 I am fully prepared to be disappointed by our NA roster usage, again. 

WJ would make a lot of sense. Even Bryant could allow us to take off a NI for an IMP for half his snaps. I won't think our Imp WR depth is worth doing that though. Be great for a package around cooley, and eventually Logan when healthy. 

Yeah....I've already accepted it willbe less than optimal again and have a few "huh" parts to it....and until proven/shown otherwise it's not a stretch to think that

SAnd maybe they should put their personal feelings/beliefs/bias aside and utilize hwat every other team is doing "Within the confines of the rules"....there's a grand thjought eh?....It would if anything only make us better....how we are going about i hnadcuffs us....