Blue Bombers - 2025 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[Arnold_Palmer]

28 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Interesting to hear big Kev talk about how much better this years play book is compared to last. Especially from a year 2 guy. 
 Seemed to be a lot of friction between Buck and the offence last year. Zach had a few eye raising comments in the off season about relationships with oc position and expectations. 
 

Similarly, Jackson’s comments about his relationship with zach, and how he views coaching QBs (not micro managing) sounds like a lot of his hiring was that fit both with hogan as an ast but also with the room. 

Friction? Based on that. I’m generally curious. I have listened to Hogans interviews and what O’Shea has had to say about Hogan and I’m impressed with his mindset and philosophy. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to be the next hot shot coordinator, but it doesn’t give me reason to understand why the Bombers brass are so high on him and why he got the opportunity to run the offense. 

[wbbfan]

28 minutes ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

Do you have a link for those Clercius quotes?

You can see some of it on the bombers yt, mos was asked about it and commented a bit in his usual way. 

[Blue In BC]

5 hours ago, wbbfan said:

I think that would be a good move to, I like Vaval as a db and a returnman. I think he's in a spot where that wont happen till the KR and or Bridgesc craps out. Imo, they are locked in on vanterpool too. he's been with the 1s most the whole time. 

 I would go Bailey in for sure, I think they might go with wallace over the 2nd global as a 7th ol though because we like that and we have run really thin at DL especially imp dl for the past few years. I don't think Weitz brings any thing in particular. He should be a warm global body incase some crazy rash of injuries happens and not much more. 

Id much rather have cobb return and cooley DI to be used situationally and rotationally. Maybe that happens eventually. 

Would you expect Cooley to rotate with a receiver or Oliveria? Again the point is that if Cooley is a DI we lose one import on defence. I don't see the trade off in taking out Vaval or any other defensive player to get Cooley on as a DI.

IDK. Maybe Cooley is everything some posters think he might be. Too small a sample and none of it against 1st string defenses.

[Booch]

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

Yes, we did it last year. But mind you, we are starting 3 Canadian OL and we have 3 regular Canadian starters in D - Thomas, Kramdi and Ford. Also at some point last year we started Gauthier and Hubert and started 3 Canadian receivers - Demski, Woli and Murphy/Clercius

Losing 2 Canadian starters is big a challenge this year.

doesn't matter how many Canadian starters are on defence if they only declare having to have 1...thats kinda moot

If they can roster 3 oline guys...Demski..Clercius and BO there is your 7 right there with Kramdi....that is part of the frustrating part of so much Thomas last yr...and way too much Thomas and Schmeck at the same time...making our defensive front piss poor for no reason other than ....Osh's man crush on middling Canadian players...Same with Hallett coming in on the times we dropped 9 guys off...Burned pretty much incessantly...pretty sure an import DB or use of an LB that was DA'd on roster....Cole/Ayers would have been a better option

We at times ...and no offence to Canadians fielded way more than needed...and it didnt make us better by any stretch for it.

1 hour ago, Blue In BC said:

Last year was last year and we often started 9 Canadians. For game 1 we're probably down to 7. If Kelly and Mazonko weren't injured I'd be ok without a DB as a DI. That plus he was getting the work as the returner. Others had some reps but he was getting the most. It doesn't guarantee that sticks but I'm guessing it does until Logan returns.

Noting that our early season returns were not that good and musical chairs.

Vaval played a lot at DB in pre-season and practice. It's debatable whether we need him as a DB but a fair argument / question. Posters seem to get excited about a new RB they want on the AR.  Maybe Cooley is that guy, but is he a better option than any of the 3 receivers ( excluding Schoen ).  Yes, it's a possibility but I'd be surprised.

I see Lofton confirmed as out but Neufeld is now questionable. That changes things possibly both LG and RG.  Vanterpool might have been choice 1 at LG ( still might be ). Who lines up where is now flip a coin. 3 import OL means we lose that extra import on defence. 

Still curious who you think are the 2 other DI's, with or without Vaval on the AR as a DI assuming one of the starting receivers does the returns.

when we didnt need to...didnt give us our best possible guys on field doing it.....can do dame this yr....6 on offence and 1 again on defence...If Neif is actually gonna miss the Vanterpool makes sense, tho have a hard time thinking one of Wallace or Eli couldnt step in...been here long enough and if they not trusted to actually step in...why they here?

 

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

Interesting to hear big Kev talk about how much better this years play book is compared to last. Especially from a year 2 guy. 
 Seemed to be a lot of friction between Buck and the offence last year. Zach had a few eye raising comments in the off season about relationships with oc position and expectations. 
 

Similarly, Jackson’s comments about his relationship with zach, and how he views coaching QBs (not micro managing) sounds like a lot of his hiring was that fit both with hogan as an ast but also with the room. 

yeah...not sure what happened with Buck but u could see it...and I sense he was a bit stubborn perhaps?...dunno but thanks for the prior work but good riddance

[Booch]

11 minutes ago, Blue In BC said:

Would you expect Cooley to rotate with a receiver or Oliveria? Again the point is that if Cooley is a DI we lose one import on defence. I don't see the trade off in taking out Vaval or any other defensive player to get Cooley on as a DI.

IDK. Maybe Cooley is everything some posters think he might be. Too small a sample and none of it against 1st string defenses.

Cooley iff in as the "5th" would have no impact on BO whatsoever...and they could be lined up in tandem outta backfield

And you dont know until you try...but nobody other than our starters from last yr..Wheatfall and the guy they ct...Hall showed much of anything...Cooley showed the most of anyone...has right attitude...is hungry and can catch and run....so create schemes to suit your players as opposed to forcing stuff on them that doesnt work or take advantage of thier skills

That's what I like about Jackson being here...he does that...and thetalk and optimism for Hogan and him doing such stuff too...is the perfect environment to do it....we have 4 recievers who are gonna get bulk of the passes...the 5th guy....likely not...but a guy like Cooley who you can incorporate in swings..screens...motions...misdirections with others...actually running....thats a nice piece to an offence

[JuranBoldenRules]

How many snaps did the entire league play last season with 2 tailbacks on the field?

I'd be surprised if it was more than 100 and probably 90 of them were Toronto.

1 hour ago, Blue In BC said:

Last year was last year and we often started 9 Canadians. For game 1 we're probably down to 7. If Kelly and Mazonko weren't injured I'd be ok without a DB as a DI. That plus he was getting the work as the returner. Others had some reps but he was getting the most. It doesn't guarantee that sticks but I'm guessing it does until Logan returns.

Noting that our early season returns were not that good and musical chairs.

Vaval played a lot at DB in pre-season and practice. It's debatable whether we need him as a DB but a fair argument / question. Posters seem to get excited about a new RB they want on the AR.  Maybe Cooley is that guy, but is he a better option than any of the 3 receivers ( excluding Schoen ).  Yes, it's a possibility but I'd be surprised.

I see Lofton confirmed as out but Neufeld is now questionable. That changes things possibly both LG and RG.  Vanterpool might have been choice 1 at LG ( still might be ). Who lines up where is now flip a coin. 3 import OL means we lose that extra import on defence. 

Still curious who you think are the 2 other DI's, with or without Vaval on the AR as a DI assuming one of the starting receivers does the returns.

Castillo, Griffin (DB), D Mitchell, American LB/DL

Edited Tuesday at 11:44 PM by JuranBoldenRules

[Slimy Sculpin]

I've been out of touch for a while but I have a question about Collaros and his suspension. Why has his suspension not been appealed?

[JuranBoldenRules]

1 minute ago, Slimy Sculpin said:

I've been out of touch for a while but I have a question about Collaros and his suspension. Why has his suspension not been appealed?

It was that's why it's not 2 games.

[Booch]

7 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

How many snaps did the entire league play last season with 2 tailbacks on the field?

I'd be surprised if it was more than 100 and probably 90 of them were Toronto.

Castillo, Griffin (DB), D Mitchell, American LB

Who won the cup ? Lol...im just poking fun...but who knows...who cares? 

How many teams wasted a DA on a useless import fullback in history? I can't think of....one...regardless u can have a player play a diff position than what he technically listed as or came into league as..we do it constantly on defence...how many teams field a ser with literally 8 dbs at times...how'd that work out for us...pretty good id say for most part

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

Friction? Based on that. I’m generally curious. I have listened to Hogans interviews and what O’Shea has had to say about Hogan and I’m impressed with his mindset and philosophy. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to be the next hot shot coordinator, but it doesn’t give me reason to understand why the Bombers brass are so high on him and why he got the opportunity to run the offense. 

Yeah. From zachs off season comments especially. But we also saw a few other signs. Last year mid season ish zach commented about having the play call go too long in the head set at times, which we saw on field frustration from him a few times as well. Covering his ears, hurry up signal to buck on the play call, buck coming down out of the booth during the losing streak etc. 

 for guys like Buck and zach it was just about every red flag you’ll see. 

[17to85]

Yeah i dunno what happened but it really seemed like buck got dumb last year.

[wbbfan]

50 minutes ago, Blue In BC said:

Would you expect Cooley to rotate with a receiver or Oliveria? Again the point is that if Cooley is a DI we lose one import on defence. I don't see the trade off in taking out Vaval or any other defensive player to get Cooley on as a DI.

IDK. Maybe Cooley is everything some posters think he might be. Too small a sample and none of it against 1st string defenses.

I would rotate Cooley with a slot. I’d have him run screens, motion plays, and block instead of big Kev. 
 He hasn’t had much reps pass catching or blocking but he showed a real aptitude for it. I would also have him return kick offs with the punt returner and have him fielding punts in practice. 
 

26 minutes ago, Slimy Sculpin said:

I've been out of touch for a while but I have a question about Collaros and his suspension. Why has his suspension not been appealed?

He agreed not to and in exchange they gave him 1 game instead of 2. Really hate it, no precedent for these suspensions. 
 

21 minutes ago, Booch said:

Who won the cup ? Lol...im just poking fun...but who knows...who cares? 

How many teams wasted a DA on a useless import fullback in history? I can't think of....one...regardless u can have a player play a diff position than what he technically listed as or came into league as..we do it constantly on defence...how many teams field a ser with literally 8 dbs at times...how'd that work out for us...pretty good id say for most part

Yep. Plus, in a league where every one is trying to run variations of the same offence, going against the grain can be a huge advantage. 
 

Defences today struggle with run fits against one rb, that’s part of why jet motion is soo effective. You are already pulling a db or two into the fits, now you can force the 3rd best run stopping db to be in the front side of the run play. If you read / use zone to get a dl/lber out of the play good luck stopping Cooley and Brady. 

[Blue In BC]

1 hour ago, Booch said:

Cooley iff in as the "5th" would have no impact on BO whatsoever...and they could be lined up in tandem outta backfield

And you dont know until you try...but nobody other than our starters from last yr..Wheatfall and the guy they ct...Hall showed much of anything...Cooley showed the most of anyone...has right attitude...is hungry and can catch and run....so create schemes to suit your players as opposed to forcing stuff on them that doesnt work or take advantage of thier skills

That's what I like about Jackson being here...he does that...and thetalk and optimism for Hogan and him doing such stuff too...is the perfect environment to do it....we have 4 recievers who are gonna get bulk of the passes...the 5th guy....likely not...but a guy like Cooley who you can incorporate in swings..screens...motions...misdirections with others...actually running....thats a nice piece to an offence

I'd like to see him in a game but what he might bring is wishful thinking we see early in most seasons.  I understand what he might bring in those types of play calls on offence. I also understand that eliminating a downfield receiver brings the defence closer to the LOS. That's a concern even above what it does with the ratio. It's not like we can't do those things with Peterson.

Being able to rotate him with a slot is not the same as replacing him with a RB on every down.

Edited yesterday at 12:45 AM by Blue In BC

[Noeller]

My only concern about Cooley is that he's never been a receiver. He said himself that he's only ever been a power back. Our first pre season game was the first screen pass he ever caught. It feels like it's asking a lot of a guy to step in and take the place of someone that's an actual receiver with years of experience running routes and catching balls. 

[Mike]

1 hour ago, Booch said:

Who won the cup ? Lol...im just poking fun...but who knows...who cares? 

How many teams wasted a DA on a useless import fullback in history? I can't think of....one...regardless u can have a player play a diff position than what he technically listed as or came into league as..we do it constantly on defence...how many teams field a ser with literally 8 dbs at times...how'd that work out for us...pretty good id say for most part

This is where familiarity bias is stepping in. BC dressed an American fullback who played zero snaps literally last week.

[wbbfan]

3 minutes ago, Noeller said:

My only concern about Cooley is that he's never been a receiver. He said himself that he's only ever been a power back. Our first pre season game was the first screen pass he ever caught. It feels like it's asking a lot of a guy to step in and take the place of someone that's an actual receiver with years of experience running routes and catching balls. 

Yeah, it’s a legit concern. You can game plan to make his plays as easy as possible, and the fastest way for him to get up to speed is by playing. We stuck guys from Flanders to Augustine into positions they’d never filled before. 
 
At worst you can have him do big kevs blocking and have him playing more of a pass catcher. 
 Even he didn’t have a ton of actually college experience as a pass catcher. Mbt didn’t as a qb either etc. 

 

 

[rebusrankin]

It is intriguing as heck what Cooley could do. If anything else, its time for an offense to come up with something new.

[M.O.A.B.]

Some hints... 

Quote

The Blue Bombers will release their season-opening depth chart Wednesday morning and expect this veteran lineup to be sprinkled with new faces like Smith, Connor Shay and Lane Novak — all 2025 draft picks — along with the likes of Jerreth Sterns, Trey Vaval and James Vaughters.

48-Hour Primer | Game 1 vs. B.C. Lions - Winnipeg Blue Bombers

[rebusrankin]

I like that we have three young Canadian linebackers in the mix. I hope that means they're ok with sitting an american linebacker (Kyrie) but not holding my breath. Don't get the appeal of Sterns. Guy was a JAG is Sask.

[JuranBoldenRules]

45 minutes ago, Noeller said:

My only concern about Cooley is that he's never been a receiver. He said himself that he's only ever been a power back. Our first pre season game was the first screen pass he ever caught. It feels like it's asking a lot of a guy to step in and take the place of someone that's an actual receiver with years of experience running routes and catching balls. 

Or blocker.

People's eyes get really big.  So we're impressed with how the guy runs the ball.  Now let's get him to do something he's never done in his life in pro football...while someone else does all the running of the ball.

Be patient.  We'll need the guy at some point I'm sure.

[Atomic]

O'Shea seemed pretty confident on the coaches' show that Cooley will have no problem with catching the ball

[Brandon]

4 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Yeah i dunno what happened but it really seemed like buck got dumb last year.

The degradation or elite play of a QB can determine if a coach is great or dumb.   I don't think Zach tossing lame ducks into triple coverage for the first half of the season helped with making Pierce looking good.   

Same thing happened before when Matt Nichols went noodle arm... suddenly the coaching seemed terrible when the guy wasn't able to throw a 15 yard pass.   

I'm sure it's a mixture of both which resulted in our team being wishy washy last season.   Pierce is gone and if Zach played as poorly as he did last season then Hogan is going to also look like a dumb coach.  

[Bigblue204]

4 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Yeah i dunno what happened but it really seemed like buck got dumb last year.

He just didnt have the horses to run the type of O he wanted. He was the same way as a player. Forced square pegs in to round holes.

[SpeedFlex27]

12 hours ago, Mark H. said:

I'll help you out and decline 

Thank you.

[sweep the leg]

So our 5’7 220 lbs rookie rb, with no prior experience at either spot and who runs in the 4.7s, is going to play receiver and returner for us? I’m willing to take bets we don’t see that on the depth chart tomorrow.