Blue Bombers - 2025 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[bigg jay]

1 minute ago, BomberBall. said:

He was just released from the Steelers practice squad.  Was a starter for them last year and I think he had 4 picks.

Yep, was defensive rookie of the month at one point too I believe.  Good add to the neg list but we'll see if he ever ends up here.

[Tracker]

3 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

After reading the article that @SpeedFlex27 cited, it does seem like MOS wants to keep the status quo, not just players but Hogan too. To which I say barf.

That's why we need the GM and/or BOD to step forward and wield an axe. Mille has shown himself to be pretty astute but he has to show that O'Shea's and Hogan's performances are worthy of dismissal.

[BomberBall.]

5 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Yep, was defensive rookie of the month at one point too I believe.  Good add to the neg list but we'll see if he ever ends up here.

I imagine he’ll get some looks down there, for sure.  We’ll see…. He’d be a good fit up here.

[Tracker]

3 hours ago, 3rdand1.5 said:

I believe if we still had Buck or Lapo calling the plays on O, we win at least another game or two and would have possibly been fighting for first in the West....

Easiest change has to be OC

Second to that we need to spend, turn over more rocks to improve the lines....they are not as bad as they looked, but we can not have "good" or "reliable" any longer...

 

IMO you give Zach a better O-line and real offensive scheme, give Younger an improved D-line, and give OSH a few players and an OC that take tasks away from him and leads like Biggie, Harris or Buck did and I believe we would be a damn good team.......But we cannot fill those with "good" or "reliable" like we rolled out this year we need to find "great" and "exceptional"

The thinking and attitudes that produced three years of very predictable decline are not going to go away. If nothing changes, then nothing will change. 

[M.Silverback]

4 minutes ago, Tracker said:

That's why we need the GM and/or BOD to step forward and wield an axe. Mille has shown himself to be pretty astute but he has to show that O'Shea's and Hogan's performances are worthy of dismissal.

Has Walters gone MIA? I'm waiting for his presser. If he comes across as towing the line, maintaining the status quo for next year, we're sunk. If we bring back the same core I honestly think we'll be last in the CFL. I'm not expecting full transparency if  Walters is planning big changes, but I'm hoping for some hints as a glimmer of hope. 

[17to85]

52 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Just to draw a comparison to the NHL, here's a blurb from NHL trade talk and the impact of allowing certain players to continue to play:

'The calls for Bouchard to sit are no longer whispers, and the players on his team, all of whom are watching Bouchard go consequence-free, are picking up bad habits'.

Works in football as well being the ultimate team sport that it is.

Is that referring to Evan Bouchard? Because if so it's a ridiculous comparison considering the absolutely dominating offense post seasons the guy has put together last 2 seasons and big point totals in the previous regular seasons. Guy like that having a poor start to an nhl season is a lot different than over the hill players or players who were never good enough getting continual rope. 

[Slimy Sculpin]

2 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Ok been thinking about this... who is the worst starter on the team? Genuinely curious what people think.

I'm leaning towards Kolankowski. So, what are the responsibilities of the centre? He's got to snap the ball either shotgun or short to the QB. Kolankowski seems OK with this but I've noted several mis-fires both long and short over the season. He's also got to call out or adjust blocking assignments for the called play based on what he sees of the defense. I don't know how he did this, yelling above the crowd noise? He certainly didn't do it by hand signals. And, given the way our QBs were under duress during most plays, he might not have done a good job of this. As for blocking, he looked terrible to my eyes. As someone else posted earlier, he was always looking for someone to block. And, I think that he is undersized.

[HardCoreBlue]

5 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Is that referring to Evan Bouchard? Because if so it's a ridiculous comparison considering the absolutely dominating offense post seasons the guy has put together last 2 seasons and big point totals in the previous regular seasons. Guy like that having a poor start to an nhl season is a lot different than over the hill players or players who were never good enough getting continual rope. 

Nope disagree whether you're an elite athlete or past your prime cuz the same result consequence free is the point.

[Tracker]

6 minutes ago, Slimy Sculpin said:

I'm leaning towards Kolankowski. So, what are the responsibilities of the centre? He's got to snap the ball either shotgun or short to the QB. Kolankowski seems OK with this but I've noted several mis-fires both long and short over the season. He's also got to call out or adjust blocking assignments for the called play based on what he sees of the defense. I don't know how he did this, yelling above the crowd noise? He certainly didn't do it by hand signals. And, given the way our QBs were under duress during most plays, he might not have done a good job of this. As for blocking, he looked terrible to my eyes. As someone else posted earlier, he was always looking for someone to block. And, I think that he is undersized.

From my understanding of O-line play, being undersized is not a deal-breaker but can be compensated by intelligence and technique. Not sure if either of those adjectives apply to Kolankowski.

 

[Booch]

40 minutes ago, BomberBall. said:

He was just released from the Steelers practice squad.  Was a starter for them last year and I think he had 4 picks.

well hopefully if he shows up here...with the status quo he cool with sitting behind guys like Kramdi...Lawson....we prob bring back a cut or 2   cause we liked them, but cut them regardless....and watch inadequate Osh boi's suck up the joint

[Booch]

18 minutes ago, Tracker said:

From my understanding of O-line play, being undersized is not a deal-breaker but can be compensated by intelligence and technique. Not sure if either of those adjectives apply to Kolankowski.

 

yeah an undersized center thats athletic...can thrive in the proper scheme

undersized center who is fundamentally sound and technically great....can succeed....again when you use them accordingly...If you have an overall smaller line...but athletic and technical, there are lotsa systems and blocking schemes you can use to actually be really sucessful...especially when you have  RB that can carry the mail...which we do....

Undersized center, if powerfull and strong, can thrive as well

Kolo lacks all of that....and an OC that couldn't likely draw up a system and a game plan to beat a California Prep school

Interstingly enough Tui is not undersized.....very athletic....had top notch college coaching and his technical skills are as good as you see up here, and by all accounts is strong as Eff.....hmmmm....Imagine.....But cant translate/develop that by not playing the position

[17to85]

40 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Nope disagree whether you're an elite athlete or past your prime cuz the same result consequence free is the point.

Guys who have a history of being top offensive producers get more rope, especially when the Oilers sucking in October is pretty much clockwork at this point. 

 

[HardCoreBlue]

4 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Guys who have a history of being top offensive producers get more rope, especially when the Oilers sucking in October is pretty much clockwork at this point. 

 

No Oilers suck all the time.

[bigg jay]

Not sure if this was mentioned but a few of the guys who ended the year on the PR are being brought back next season.

De'Shaan Dixon, Michael (Bucky) Williams, Hunter Poncius & Ben Dooley all signed future active contracts.

[Brandon]

5 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Ok been thinking about this... who is the worst starter on the team? Genuinely curious what people think.

The answers are obvious... but it's not like we only need to replace JT and things will be instantly better.  

I'd imagine we have like 10 starters that we need to move on from and like 75% of our "depth players" need to be replaced.    This team needs a lot of new faces and new energy.    Our depth has been really poor the last 2 seasons.    

[wbbfan]

4 hours ago, Slimy Sculpin said:

I'm leaning towards Kolankowski. So, what are the responsibilities of the centre? He's got to snap the ball either shotgun or short to the QB. Kolankowski seems OK with this but I've noted several mis-fires both long and short over the season. He's also got to call out or adjust blocking assignments for the called play based on what he sees of the defense. I don't know how he did this, yelling above the crowd noise? He certainly didn't do it by hand signals. And, given the way our QBs were under duress during most plays, he might not have done a good job of this. As for blocking, he looked terrible to my eyes. As someone else posted earlier, he was always looking for someone to block. And, I think that he is undersized.

Reality of modern cfl offences is that you run out of pistol the majority of snaps. They use it with backs in various alignments, but hand offs from under centre and snaps to full shot gun in the regular operation of an offence is pretty rare. 

The pistol snap is much easier, and really should never be mechanically problematic. 

 

The Centre sets the line, is responsible for adjusting the line due to defensive alignment, there’s a lot of nuance to it the same way a mlb/S will set and order the D.

In pass pro with out a man head up the C is responsible to pick up A gap blitzes, stunts, twists, and help on rushers who cross face the guard into his gap. Hes also the one who will help the G beside him pick up a dominant rusher for doubles, think how you’d block ceresna or sayles unless the line up in the far gap and don’t go inside after the snap. 

In the base tite zone scheme we run, it’ll most often be the C or play side guard who goes to the next level. The C basically is always going to double the T over the G when a nose isn’t in play on inside zone run schemes. They double to secure the point of attack, then the guy with leverage goes to the second level taking a lber out of the play and creating a large gap. If the gap gets filled that should then create a new gap for the back which is why vision and the timing pressing the line is always important for our backs. 

When a nose is in play, on runs it’ll generally be the G doubling with him and skipping to the second level. If its heavy set you would have a second linemen going to the second level, or if you read the end. None of which impacts the Cs role other then making sure every one is on the same page pre snap. 

In pass pro with an inside rusher, the Centres first job is to wall him off. If the dl breaks the anchor of the ol turning him or pushing him back, you end up un able to switch rushers. If a guy crosses your face and the guard on that side is straight rushing you go shoulder to shoulder and body block the crosser and help on the other T. make that guy have to go all the way around rather than pop off the guard who is engaged with the T. 

 

Call outs as adjustments are often silent once the huddle is broke. It’s a lot of the same signal ideas you see in silent cadence. Pointing, even using your arm to adjust a gap alignment. The communication is critical, it’s very nuanced and demands a great deal of trust and understanding of the play book, players both team mates and opposition, alignment etc. The greatest thing I can say about neufeld is he’s been one of the best trainers of centres the field has seen. He took soo many green rookies and molded them into elite Cs. 

With desjarlais, and peak Neufeld, beside bryant and hardrick, we didn’t need a lot out to our C. And Dls got soo beaten by those guys they didn’t look to exploit C, because we could cover early kola. And our previous Cs were very good at what they did. 

We got to a point where kola became exposed, and that by using that you can get the Gs out of leverage positions. Now teams run through him. 

4 hours ago, Tracker said:

From my understanding of O-line play, being undersized is not a deal-breaker but can be compensated by intelligence and technique. Not sure if either of those adjectives apply to Kolankowski.

 

It’s all give and take. If you are under sized but lean and athletic, especially if you have long arms and know how to maximize leverage relative to your height and the opposition it really doesn’t matter if you’re short or tall or 280 or 360.

A couple caveats apply, 1) you must be able to lock up and dead lock a line men for 3 ish seconds. 2) you need to be better in using bend. 3) you need quick enough feet and mentally to get into a better position sooner. 

Size is less important at C and T than G. C you don’t usually play a dt heads up most of the time in the cfl. At T you battle ends in the 250 range. G, you will be facing guys 275-300+ and often really powerful althetic imps or huge canadian bulls. Height can be a negative for the C. With shorter qbs you don’t want some monster eating up passing lanes. taller than 6’3 ish you gotta be smart understand the qb, offence and stay low. 

In general linemen are more athletic and trimmer than before. 6’ and 275 is fine, if you’re athletic, smart, and cerebral. Going up to 300 is ideal, unless you have some strange build/frame combo. 

[rebusrankin]

Interesting article in the WFP with Brady. I wonder if he's planning to stay or leave.

[Piggy 1]

26 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Interesting article in the WFP with Brady. I wonder if he's planning to stay or leave.

He'll follow da money ,like they all do. 

[Tracker]

20 minutes ago, Piggy 1 said:

He'll follow da money ,like they all do. 

At least we have a couple of blue-chip NI running backs in reserve.

[Noeller]

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

Interesting article in the WFP with Brady. I wonder if he's planning to stay or leave.

This, via ChrisD.ca, was something...

 

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers star running back is a pending free agent and told media in Tuesday’s end-of-season press conference that the team’s future roster and money will factor into where he plays next year.

 

”Playing for my hometown, it's been incredible,” said Oliveira, who was drafted by Winnipeg in 2019. “I have nothing but good things to say about my time here.

 

“And would I love to be back? Absolutely, but I think I owe it to myself to sit down with my agent and OTG Sports and to talk to my family and kind of see what the best scenario and situation is for me.”

[Super Duper Negatron]

2 minutes ago, Noeller said:

This, via ChrisD.ca, was something...

 

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers star running back is a pending free agent and told media in Tuesday’s end-of-season press conference that the team’s future roster and money will factor into where he plays next year.

 

”Playing for my hometown, it's been incredible,” said Oliveira, who was drafted by Winnipeg in 2019. “I have nothing but good things to say about my time here.

 

“And would I love to be back? Absolutely, but I think I owe it to myself to sit down with my agent and OTG Sports and to talk to my family and kind of see what the best scenario and situation is for me.”

On the one hand - the team's problems this year, and Brady's usage might be a big factor.

On the other hand, the dude has all sorts of balls in the air off the field. Wouldn't surprise me if he looked at Toronto or BC as a more convenient place for all of that stuff.

[wbbfan]

43 minutes ago, Tracker said:

At least we have a couple of blue-chip NI running backs in reserve.

sure wish we had done a semi competent job of developing mci in the two years we’ve had him, as a rb. 
Peterson is legit, he isn’t the pile pusher brady is, but if we polished mci he could be a real game changer with that break away speed. 

 

I love brady, both the player and the person. He turns 29 next season, and has essentially 1k carries. I’m sure he has 2 strong campaigns left in him, and he can likely be a strong useful player for many years after that. 

All that said, we paid him 240k a year on this deal. Betts got 266k. So i expect brady to look for a raise, maybe 255k range. I just wouldn’t pay elite dl money to brady. Or two top 5-8 dl in the cfl levels of money. Elite wr money. 

Especially not with Peterson and mci, who will already be on the roster. 

If you move on from schoen, wj, and brady, you clear up a massive amount of cash that you could use to fix the dl and wr core. 

15 minutes ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

On the one hand - the team's problems this year, and Brady's usage might be a big factor.

On the other hand, the dude has all sorts of balls in the air off the field. Wouldn't surprise me if he looked at Toronto or BC as a more convenient place for all of that stuff.

I really wonder how long he will play. I wouldn’t be disappointed if he decided to call it a career after one more 2-3 year deal with a bunch of front loaded bonus cash. Last thing I want to see is what happened to strevy/schoen. And he’s been a serious battering ram. 

[rebusrankin]

I'll be disappointed if Brady goes elsewhere.

[Super Duper Negatron]

Just rewatched the end of the game l because I am an idiiot.

Around four and a half minutes left, down by 6. The D gets a huge stop. Vaval gets a decent return, helped by a penalty. Offense takes over at the 45 with just over 4 minutes to go.

What do they do? Throw away under pressure with no receivers in the same zip code, and a two yard pass to Wheatfall. Punt.

Fire Hogan.

[wbbfan]

13 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

I'll be disappointed if Brady goes elsewhere.

yeah it’d suck big time, but that’s pro football sadly. No reward to keeping guys around as the peak. 
Paying a mill to brady zach and demski is unsustainable, maybe even puts us in an un winnable situation next year. And I don’t think zach can go down much. Nor do I think he would. 

2 minutes ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

Just rewatched the end of the game l because I am an idiiot.

Around four and a half minutes left, down by 6. The D gets a huge stop. Vaval gets a decent return, helped by a penalty. Offense takes over at the 45 with just over 4 minutes to go.

What do they do? Throw away under pressure with no receivers in the same zip code, and a two yard pass to Wheatfall. Punt.

Fire Hogan.

To be fair, it did look to me like jackson was calling the plays. But with some awful playbook install.