Blue Bombers - 2025 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[GCn20]

2 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

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. 

Baloney to blaming coaching for poor drafting. That's a reach and you know it.

[17to85]

Just now, GCn20 said:

Baloney to blaming coaching for poor drafting. That's a reach and you know it.

I'm saying it was a draft pick based on roster construction as opposed to picking best player available. So where does that direction come from?

[rebusrankin]

The Pokey Wilson signing is for this year and next year according to X.

[JohnnyAbonny]

22 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

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

Good. I’d guess Schoen gets more time to recover, Wilson takes the boundary wideout spot and Wheatfall moves into the slot? 

[sweep the leg]

17 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

 

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. 

I agree the best option is to keep both, but they need to figure out what this team is. We’re a slightly better version of the 2004 team right now. 

Jefferson, Thomas, Neufeld, Wilson, Logan, Vaughters, & probably even Bryant (with an immediate hof induction) shouldn’t be on the team next year. That’s a lot of cash to remake this team in the offseason. 

[voodoochylde]

8 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

I agree the best option is to keep both, but they need to figure out what this team is. We’re a slightly better version of the 2004 team right now. 

Jefferson, Thomas, Neufeld, Wilson, Logan, Vaughters, & probably even Bryant (with an immediate hof induction) shouldn’t be on the team next year. That’s a lot of cash to remake this team in the offseason. 

I’d keep Stan as long as he’s willing to play.  If a young guy comes in and beats him out for the LT so be it but even with his uneven play he’s still one of the better / best tackles in the league (and a strong voice in our room).

Willie you keep. You just need a more disciplined, well rounded end on the opposite side of him.  He’s got a lot in the tank still but he always thrived when he played with a guy like Jeffcoat.

[Mike]

Willie/Vaughters/Person as a rotation is the least of our problems right now. I don’t mind that much, although I’d like to see a fourth player added.

[Arnold_Palmer]

7 minutes ago, Mike said:

Willie/Vaughters/Person as a rotation is the least of our problems right now. I don’t mind that much, although I’d like to see a fourth player added.

Yeah I thought the D-Line played okay early on but it was apparent they were tired by the fourth quarter. We really need to get into the modern philosophy when it comes to rotational use. All the best teams are rotating fresh players on the DLine.

[sweep the leg]

4 minutes ago, Mike said:

Willie/Vaughters/Person as a rotation is the least of our problems right now. I don’t mind that much, although I’d like to see a fourth player added.

I think Vaughters has been really good against the run.  None of them wow me with their pass rush, but at least Person is still young. Willie will be 35 next year. It’s time.

[GCn20]

43 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

I'm saying it was a draft pick based on roster construction as opposed to picking best player available. So where does that direction come from?

You can say that all you want but Walters himself said he drafts BPA. In the past he has even drafted futures over BPA or positional need. He was very clear that he hasn't drafted positional for a few years now hence our problems with the OL now.

Edited 3 hours ago by GCn20

[Arnold_Palmer]

5 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

You can say that all you want but Walters himself said he drafts BPA. In the past he has even drafted futures over BPA or positional need. He was very clear that he hasn't drafted positional for a few years now hence our problems with the OL now.

I’m ok with that. Draft is a crapshoot. You never know what’s going to change year to year as players come and go. Grab the best player available. 

[GCn20]

9 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

I’m ok with that. Draft is a crapshoot. You never know what’s going to change year to year as players come and go. Grab the best player available. 

Well except for this year they were going LB no matter what but since 2018 Walters has gone BPA or futures and has been very clear about that in interviews. This year they felt NAT LB was a huge need with our NAT LBs aging out. 

The draft video is there for all to see, Walters makes the decision with scouting and then asks MOS if he is good with the pick. MOS has always said a simple Yes or Sure. There is no lobbying by MOS pre or post pick.

 

Edited 3 hours ago by GCn20

[JuranBoldenRules]

The front was great last night.  Kept getting Sask off the field.  I really liked the scheme.  Yeah you could have better players, but they aren't here right now.  Everyone did their jobs even with the adversity of losing Schmekel before half.  I think they could put more thought into putting Jefferson into a spot to succeed in that general scheme with the 3-3 look.

Really the big difference in the game was a couple breakdowns in the secondary and that we didn't score a TD on our 5 yard line turnover while they did.

24 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

I think Vaughters has been really good against the run.  None of them wow me with their pass rush, but at least Person is still young. Willie will be 35 next year. It’s time.

I personally hated when they had Vaughters doing the stand up rush bit on the inside.  He's not really explosive or challenging OL with length like a Jefferson does.  Didn't harm them, but just a waste IMO.

I really think Younger is not looking for an edge rush.  They've built scheme around getting in QB eyes more than getting to QB, and a lot of that is about Jefferson.

Vaughters made a lot of terrible plays on the edge vs the run, over committing to the flow of Sask's OL from the backside then one cutback and Ouellette was all alone.  Luckily he's really slow.

[GCn20]

5 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

The front was great last night.  Kept getting Sask off the field.  I really liked the scheme.  Yeah you could have better players, but they aren't here right now.  Everyone did their jobs even with the adversity of losing Schmekel before half.  I think they could put more thought into putting Jefferson into a spot to succeed in that general scheme with the 3-3 look.

Really the big difference in the game was a couple breakdowns in the secondary and that we didn't score a TD on our 5 yard line turnover while they did.

And 2 turnovers deep in our own end. We protect the ball there we most likely win and some real bone head and costly penalties.

Edited 3 hours ago by GCn20

[JuranBoldenRules]

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

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. 

Is this the junior high breakup letter forum?

Thought I was on Morning Big Blue.

[GCn20]

8 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

The front was great last night.  Kept getting Sask off the field.  I really liked the scheme.  Yeah you could have better players, but they aren't here right now.  Everyone did their jobs even with the adversity of losing Schmekel before half.  I think they could put more thought into putting Jefferson into a spot to succeed in that general scheme with the 3-3 look.

Really the big difference in the game was a couple breakdowns in the secondary and that we didn't score a TD on our 5 yard line turnover while they did.

I personally hated when they had Vaughters doing the stand up rush bit on the inside.  He's not really explosive or challenging OL with length like a Jefferson does.  Didn't harm them, but just a waste IMO.

I really think Younger is not looking for an edge rush.  They've built scheme around getting in QB eyes more than getting to QB, and a lot of that is about Jefferson.

Vaughters made a lot of terrible plays on the edge vs the run, over committing to the flow of Sask's OL from the backside then one cutback and Ouellette was all alone.  Luckily he's really slow.

Yea there were a at least a couple times Vaughters gave the edge far too early and made it an easy decision for AJ

[JuranBoldenRules]

50 minutes ago, Mike said:

Willie/Vaughters/Person as a rotation is the least of our problems right now. I don’t mind that much, although I’d like to see a fourth player added.

That's kind of the "roster management" issue that bugs me.  Ayres, Weitz, Shay, Smith....can we get a role for some of these guys on D even if they are just setting the edge and pass rushing for a few snaps a game?

Use those guys, maybe drop Vaughters and get a real DT out there.

I'm watching Jake Kelly get beat twice on the same play by two different receivers literally spinning like a top and wondering why they don't use Shay or Smith for anything.

Secondary is the real concern to me.  And you can open up a spot there to get another experienced body on by using all the guys in the first two levels of the D.

Also Logan...drop him and get Echols on.  Echols can return too.  If Vaval is playing corner, he shouldn't be returning unless there's an emergency.  Or if he's returning, get another DB on.

Edited 3 hours ago by JuranBoldenRules

[rebusrankin]

@JuranBoldenRules, how would you use Shay and Smith if you were DC? I'll also open this up to anybody else who wants to answer.

[JuranBoldenRules]

2 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

@JuranBoldenRules, how would you use Shay and Smith if you were DC? I'll also open this up to anybody else who wants to answer.

I mean I would think they would have utility to do a lot of what Woodbey was doing last night behind/along side a 30 front.  Edge rush, contain backer.

[17to85]

Why spend draft capital on guys when you don't want to use them? It just means you're playing lower upside Canadians somewhere else. 

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, Mike said:

Willie/Vaughters/Person as a rotation is the least of our problems right now. I don’t mind that much, although I’d like to see a fourth player added.

can add in lawson to that. i’d say adams too. problem is we are married to jake 

 

Glad wilson is back. hope he can recapture what he did last year and maybe take a step forward.. 

[wbbfan]

36 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Why spend draft capital on guys when you don't want to use them? It just means you're playing lower upside Canadians somewhere else. 

we keep drafted high upside guys to play low value spots and don’t move them up unless absolutely forced. 

[Mike]

37 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Why spend draft capital on guys when you don't want to use them? It just means you're playing lower upside Canadians somewhere else. 

Just to revisit the Shay pick, Walters literally said “we thought he was the best defensive player in the draft”

So here’s my question 

If you think you got the best defensive player in the draft but the best defensive player in the draft isn’t good enough to get a single defensive rep in the first three months of the season, then why did we follow it up by drafting another defensive guy with our next pick? And a futures pick with our third pick? And trade up in the global draft to draft a defensive guy too? In a home Grey Cup year, if this guy isn’t good enough to see snaps then maybe we should’ve tried to do something else with that pick, no?

or is O’Shea just not utilizing this guy properly? To me, that seems like the most obvious answer.

[SpeedFlex27]

2 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

The Pokey Wilson signing is for this year and next year according to X.

He'll help for sure. 

3 minutes ago, Mike said:

Just to revisit the Shay pick, Walters literally said “we thought he was the best defensive player in the draft”

So here’s my question 

If you think you got the best defensive player in the draft but the best defensive player in the draft isn’t good enough to get a single defensive rep in the first three months of the season, then why did we follow it up by drafting another defensive guy with our next pick? And a futures pick with our third pick? And trade up in the global draft to draft a defensive guy too? In a home Grey Cup year, if this guy isn’t good enough to see snaps then maybe we should’ve tried to do something else with that pick, no?

or is O’Shea just not utilizing this guy properly? To me, that seems like the most obvious answer.

I would not miss Osh if he left. He needs great players to win like any coach but his roster structure decisions means he needs more great players than a coach like Maas, Mace or Dinwiddie. 

Edited 1 hour ago by SpeedFlex27

[JuranBoldenRules]

5 minutes ago, Mike said:

Just to revisit the Shay pick, Walters literally said “we thought he was the best defensive player in the draft”

So here’s my question 

If you think you got the best defensive player in the draft but the best defensive player in the draft isn’t good enough to get a single defensive rep in the first three months of the season, then why did we follow it up by drafting another defensive guy with our next pick? And a futures pick with our third pick? And trade up in the global draft to draft a defensive guy too? In a home Grey Cup year, if this guy isn’t good enough to see snaps then maybe we should’ve tried to do something else with that pick, no?

or is O’Shea just not utilizing this guy properly? To me, that seems like the most obvious answer.

I think there's too much trust in coordinators who haven't earned it.  All 3.  And that's on O'Shea.

When did we ever have so many guys with no role on O or D?  That's the whole point of "next man up/everyone is a starter."

We've got like 22 guys dressed on D and we use 14 of them.