Blue Bombers - 2025 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[GCn20]

4 hours ago, 17to85 said:

No it's not the same. Wolitarsky was still a guy producing as expected from his role. Thomas is a guy playing more than his ability dictates which is the issue. 

Woli had a crap year last year. Let's not have revisionist history here. It's why we moved on. Comparing him and Jake is fair. Difference is Drew was never a whipping boy here. Guys clamoring go get him back are living in the past.

[17to85]

35 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Woli had a crap year last year. Let's not have revisionist history here. It's why we moved on. Comparing him and Jake is fair. Difference is Drew was never a whipping boy here. Guys clamoring go get him back are living in the past.

Did he? I mean he got hurt but he still did the things expected of him in his role.... 

Plus woli was a legit starter whereas Jake was always a depth guy...

[rebusrankin]

33 for 403 and a td in 10 games. Rebus's verdict is not a crappy year by Woli in 2024.

[SpeedFlex27]

14 hours ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

Makes sense for sure but it sucks that we don’t have a single young receiver in the pipeline that we can continue to develop over the season. 

We have Clercius. Thing is, the Bombers can just sign some free agents. If they choose. 

[aalgernon]

Man, we're still going on about this? We need the Bombers to sign Ontaria so we have something else to talk about.

[Tracker]

9 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

We have Clercius. Thing is, the Bombers can just sign some free agents. If they choose. 

Clercius has been a bit of a disappointment. He is still dropping passes that he ought to have caught and his blocking for a big man is suspect. We can blame some of this on the quarterbacking, but he seems to have hot his ceiling. BOLO was better.

[rebusrankin]

So Walters and the scouting staff have dropped the ball this year. Can they do better next year? Time to move on?

[Goalie]

5 hours ago, Tracker said:

Clercius has been a bit of a disappointment. He is still dropping passes that he ought to have caught and his blocking for a big man is suspect. We can blame some of this on the quarterbacking, but he seems to have hot his ceiling. BOLO was better.

Just love making **** up. Clercius 30 catches 258 yards. Bolo 11 for 144. 
 

try again.  Actually bolo when he was a bomber. His best season he had 233 yards receiving. So in no way has he been better. Some of you just like your revisionist history.  But it’s all good cuz neither bolo or Kevens would be a difference maker. You guys obsessed with the backups and 5th options are wild. Kevens tho is on pace to have more yards this season in his 2nd year than bolo has had in 5 or 6 seasons. Bolos most was last season. 330 ish yards. Which in the big picture is not lots. 

Edited Saturday at 10:29 PM by Goalie

[Goalie]

3 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

So Walters and the scouting staff have dropped the ball this year. Can they do better next year? Time to move on?

I think I’d move on from Kyle before O’Shea. Kyle has seemingly given up and gone silent while Osh is out there daily. Can’t play better players if they aren’t around can you. O’Shea ain’t the guy signing or not signing guys. O’Shea has his flaws but he has this team currently 3rd overall in the league and only 1 of 4 teams actually over .500

Complain about Jake. Kyle signed him. Kyrie? Kyle signed him. Zachs extension was Kyle also. 
 

seems to be nobody on the PR worth a damn. That’s on Kyle. Other teams signing guys, Kyle silent really. This mess started in the off season with Walters. 

Edited Saturday at 10:34 PM by Goalie

[17to85]

56 minutes ago, Goalie said:

I think I’d move on from Kyle before O’Shea. Kyle has seemingly given up and gone silent while Osh is out there daily. Can’t play better players if they aren’t around can you. O’Shea ain’t the guy signing or not signing guys. O’Shea has his flaws but he has this team currently 3rd overall in the league and only 1 of 4 teams actually over .500

Complain about Jake. Kyle signed him. Kyrie? Kyle signed him. Zachs extension was Kyle also. 
 

seems to be nobody on the PR worth a damn. That’s on Kyle. Other teams signing guys, Kyle silent really. This mess started in the off season with Walters. 

You really truly believe that Thomas and Lawson are better than Adams or Woods at defensive tackle? Truly believe that?

[Booch]

4 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

You really truly believe that Thomas and Lawson are better than Adams or Woods at defensive tackle? Truly believe that?

Hes obviously not too swift

Also blames Walters yet Walters isn't out on the road....HC also tells scouts what he wants in a player and who he likes signed or let go...he fails to realize or accept that...also HC does the cutting...and roster construct...not the G.M

Walters dropped ball on free agent targets but we also don't know if his HC said he didnt want player A...or B...or if guys said no cause they wanted to go to a place with an actual chance to play...as opposed to being back seat of a coach's favorite

He yammered on how BOLO is better than Clercius...and I know with 1000 percent certainty BOLO left here because of non use and final straw was standing on sideline all game in the grey cup while Bailey..Demski and Schoen played crippled...

[wbbfan]

7 hours ago, Tracker said:

Clercius has been a bit of a disappointment. He is still dropping passes that he ought to have caught and his blocking for a big man is suspect. We can blame some of this on the quarterbacking, but he seems to have hot his ceiling. BOLO was better.

nah not even close. last year he caught 32/40, this year he has 30/43. 70% catch rate is still very good, 80% is hard to keep up for any one. 

 Clercius is still extremely young in his career. Hes 25 in his 2nd year, and barely played wr in college. for highly polished wrs like lawler it takes a year or two to click. clercius still has tons of ceiling and time to fulfill it. and at that, he’s already an excellent guy playing a gritty role. 

[Booch]

19 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

nah not even close. last year he caught 32/40, this year he has 30/43. 70% catch rate is still very good, 80% is hard to keep up for any one. 

 Clercius is still extremely young in his career. Hes 25 in his 2nd year, and barely played wr in college. for highly polished wrs like lawler it takes a year or two to click. clercius still has tons of ceiling and time to fulfill it. and at that, he’s already an excellent guy playing a gritty role. 

Yup

[Brandon]

On 2025-08-29 at 6:31 PM, GCn20 said:

Woli had a crap year last year. Let's not have revisionist history here. It's why we moved on. Comparing him and Jake is fair. Difference is Drew was never a whipping boy here. Guys clamoring go get him back are living in the past.

Jake is a D level player who now at his best is a D+ level. He's old as heck , unathletic,  invisible on the field, offers nothing, and is taking valuable reps from anyone else.

Woli was an above average non import who when healthy could contribute and make plays. He is younger and had/has way more upside then Thomas. The reason people had no gripes was that Clercius was given a chance to play and performed at the same level so replacing him with a cheaper option is a no brainer.

Thomas sucks so badly that they could put anyone on the field and we would see absolutely no drop off.  Anyone has better upside then him. 

[SpeedFlex27]

7 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

So Walters and the scouting staff have dropped the ball this year. Can they do better next year? Time to move on?

Move on if we miss the playoffs. If we do but go out in the semi final, they can get one more year. However, Miller has to read the riot act to Walters as he's gone soft. If he's back he better find his edge as a GM if he has another chance. Osh will just be Osh no matter what. 

[GCn20]

On 2025-08-30 at 8:13 PM, Brandon said:

Jake is a D level player who now at his best is a D+ level. He's old as heck , unathletic,  invisible on the field, offers nothing, and is taking valuable reps from anyone else.

Woli was an above average non import who when healthy could contribute and make plays. He is younger and had/has way more upside then Thomas. The reason people had no gripes was that Clercius was given a chance to play and performed at the same level so replacing him with a cheaper option is a no brainer.

Thomas sucks so badly that they could put anyone on the field and we would see absolutely no drop off.  Anyone has better upside then him. 

Not a comparison of their roles, a comparison of whether or not it was time to move on. We got it right with Woli and wrong with Thomas.

On 2025-08-30 at 6:28 PM, 17to85 said:

You really truly believe that Thomas and Lawson are better than Adams or Woods at defensive tackle? Truly believe that?

Straw man argument because of a little thing called ratio. Of course Adams and Woods are better, just as most NATs have better IMPs that could play in their stead.

On 2025-08-30 at 8:13 PM, Brandon said:

Jake is a D level player who now at his best is a D+ level. He's old as heck , unathletic,  invisible on the field, offers nothing, and is taking valuable reps from anyone else.

Woli was an above average non import who when healthy could contribute and make plays. He is younger and had/has way more upside then Thomas. The reason people had no gripes was that Clercius was given a chance to play and performed at the same level so replacing him with a cheaper option is a no brainer.

Thomas sucks so badly that they could put anyone on the field and we would see absolutely no drop off.  Anyone has better upside then him. 

Should we miss the playoffs i expect pink slips for quite a number of people.

[17to85]

3 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Straw man argument because of a little thing called ratio. Of course Adams and Woods are better, just as most NATs have better IMPs that could play in their stead.

Straw man nothing, we don't need an all Canadian DL interior for the ratio, that's quite choice that is being made. 

[GCn20]

7 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Straw man nothing, we don't need an all Canadian DL interior for the ratio, that's quite choice that is being made

No it's not. We go all NAT DT on 15% of our snaps. We go 3 man front more often

Edited 5 hours ago by GCn20

[GCn20]

On 2025-08-30 at 6:38 PM, Booch said:

Hes obviously not too swift

Also blames Walters yet Walters isn't out on the road....HC also tells scouts what he wants in a player and who he likes signed or let go...he fails to realize or accept that...also HC does the cutting...and roster construct...not the G.M

Walters dropped ball on free agent targets but we also don't know if his HC said he didnt want player A...or B...or if guys said no cause they wanted to go to a place with an actual chance to play...as opposed to being back seat of a coach's favorite

He yammered on how BOLO is better than Clercius...and I know with 1000 percent certainty BOLO left here because of non use and final straw was standing on sideline all game in the grey cup while Bailey..Demski and Schoen played crippled...

I have NEVER stated BOLO is better than Clercius. I do blame Walters for lack of starting talent. That's a GMs job whether you like it or not. If you want to give him a free pass to hang onto the fantasy that the fringe talent that left for playing time is our downfall then you are the one not being too swift.

Unless it is your belief the REAL talent such as Lawler, the OL, our numerous actually talented DTs such as Sayles, that left was a coaching decision? I see a crap load of FAs making huge impacts with teams that have passed us and our GM did squat.

You can sit and suggest that MOS controls who is brought in the door and if that were the case all the more reason to fire Walters if he has handed off his job to his HC.

 

Edited 5 hours ago by GCn20

[17to85]

Biggest problem with this team is complacency and some guys never have to worry about their jobs regardless of performance (again, complacency).... that's coaching. 

Person and Allen and woodbey come in and look ******* good instantly but it was coaching kept the  off the roster so long.... so at what point do we stop pretending that osh is playing the best at every position when we can see that he doesn't always do that...

 

If osh won't change his approach this team will just get worse and worse because the message has gone stale. Too many passengers on this team right now and that's a coaches job to fix.

Let's even say that maybe there's an overall talent problem here.... Let's say that oshea is playing his best players at each position... there are still massive problems with the way the roster is constructed and that's a common theme going back a long way. We drafted some high upside linebackers who don't get a sniff on defense while career depth Canadians get to start continuously. We have in the past dressed players who taken 0 snaps. We dress Americans to only chase kicks or do really niche situational things. I've described it in the past as playing other games on hard mode. Well that doesn't work as your team ages and loses some star power. Replacing stars doesn't happen magically, you have to actually develop players to replace aging veterans.

Edited 5 hours ago by 17to85

[GCn20]

17 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Biggest problem with this team is complacency and some guys never have to worry about their jobs regardless of performance (again, complacency).... that's coaching. 

Person and Allen and woodbey come in and look ******* good instantly but it was coaching kept the  off the roster so long.... so at what point do we stop pretending that osh is playing the best at every position when we can see that he doesn't always do that...

 

If osh won't change his approach this team will just get worse and worse because the message has gone stale. Too many passengers on this team right now and that's a coaches job to fix.

Let's even say that maybe there's an overall talent problem here.... Let's say that oshea is playing his best players at each position... there are still massive problems with the way the roster is constructed and that's a common theme going back a long way. We drafted some high upside linebackers who don't get a sniff on defense while career depth Canadians get to start continuously. We have in the past dressed players who taken 0 snaps. We dress Americans to only chase kicks or do really niche situational things. I've described it in the past as playing other games on hard mode. Well that doesn't work as your team ages and loses some star power. Replacing stars doesn't happen magically, you have to actually develop players to replace aging veterans.

I don't deny roster construction is a problem. What i don't agree with is that many here seem to think it's our main problem. Overall talent level is 70% of the reason we are losing games. The other 30% is poor coaching, poor coordinating, and poor execution by the players.

Does anyone here honestly think we could get a different coach and suddenly this roster is a contender? I don't. Sorry, we are talent deficient at way too many position groups.

 

Edited 5 hours ago by GCn20

[GCn20]

29 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Biggest problem with this team is complacency and some guys never have to worry about their jobs regardless of performance (again, complacency).... that's coaching. 

Person and Allen and woodbey come in and look ******* good instantly but it was coaching kept the  off the roster so long.... so at what point do we stop pretending that osh is playing the best at every position when we can see that he doesn't always do that...

 

If osh won't change his approach this team will just get worse and worse because the message has gone stale. Too many passengers on this team right now and that's a coaches job to fix.

Let's even say that maybe there's an overall talent problem here.... Let's say that oshea is playing his best players at each position... there are still massive problems with the way the roster is constructed and that's a common theme going back a long way. We drafted some high upside linebackers who don't get a sniff on defense while career depth Canadians get to start continuously. We have in the past dressed players who taken 0 snaps. We dress Americans to only chase kicks or do really niche situational things. I've described it in the past as playing other games on hard mode. Well that doesn't work as your team ages and loses some star power. Replacing stars doesn't happen magically, you have to actually develop players to replace aging veterans.

This league has changed to one of one year contracts. It's time Walters changes his approach. I have never been a proponent of FA but it is now a necessity in an age of unprecedented player movement. The luxury of developing players is over.

Fact is that Walters did not sign a single FA that has been an improvement over one he lost. And anyone thinking that MOS chose the FA signings only to cut them or not play them is smoking crack.

We have to recruit players that are capable year one guys and then be ready to lose them after one year of them starting. That's life in the CFL now. Giving guys reps over vets just so they can bolt is not a sustainable roster build either.

Edited 4 hours ago by GCn20

[rebusrankin]

https://3downnation.com/2025/09/01/winnipeg-blue-bombers-bring-back-ontaria-pokey-wilson-after-nfl-stint/

Edited 4 hours ago by rebusrankin

[GCn20]

10 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Now we are cooking with fire. Good job KW. This will change the dynamic of our receiving corps similar to what Lawler would have in so far as how it impacts how teams can play D against us.

Edited 4 hours ago by GCn20

[17to85]

21 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I don't deny roster construction is a problem. What i don't agree with is that many here seem to think it's our main problem

If they built the roster better Jake Thomas wouldn't have been out there all game long huffing and puffing away... it's criminal how little depth we have on the DL when our guys are as old as they are (never.mind that Thomas is a career depth player). We spent a ton of draft capital on linebacker yet Kyrie Wilson (who i love as a player don't get me wrong) is always out there. He's not the future and give his injury situation in the past he's barely the present. We used to regularly dress 7 offensive linemen for few situations... well we justified it by saying we didn't want to lose a couple them... well 2 of them who were depth we didn't want to lose aren't here anymore anyway and the 3rd doesn't ever get a sniff of starting no matter what. So what was the plan? There is a clear disconnect between coach and gm. So who do we blame? Ultimately the gm since he can change the coach, but that's the first step. I'm going to go ahead and blame the wasted Bennett first round pick on coaching too. That was clearly a pick made to try and maintain the Canadian rotation on the DL. 

I think the flaws and strengths that each of the coach and GM have demonstrated over the last decade + are evident.... and weighing all of that I'd make a coaching change before I make a GM change. Personally I'd prefer Walters to kick O'Shea in the ass and make him use the roster he has better but not sure they've got that sort of relationship.