Blue Bombers - 2025 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[Booch]

2 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Ayers got NFL interest as a cover guy, and that will very likely be the case again. The rookie deals for Ayers, Wheatfall, and Wilson are all really low. Moving up to vet deals will easily see them go up in the 30-40k range minimum each. 

I could see some one going after Ayers to make him a starter as well. He is a way better football player than his role here. 

several on our roster are...but under Osh....many will never realize it playing here unless he shifts how he does things

I'd be shocked if Woodbey doesn't get looks....he basically debunked some of the negatives NFL teams/scouts placed on him prior to his draft, so he could be following the Ayers path as well....

6 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Ayers-Don't bring back

Wheatfall-Does not deserve a large raise. Would be fine if he's not back

Wilson-Time to move on

Vaughters-Not worth the $165000, fine if he's not back

Demski-Really like him, not sure he's worth the 225000 he's currently getting

Nichols, Holm. Kramdi-I think you need to pick 2 out of 3. Could Smith step into the Kramdi role?

Smith could step into that role easily as well as WILL....or a role like Griffin held as well...freeing up a DA spot for another end or true NT...Griffin tho needs to be brought back...Shay as well I am sure could be a WILL candidate and good at it, but like to see him groomed at MAC. 

Bang for buck we can be better off without all 3 of those DB's truth be told, and able to focus funds elsewhere...No cfl team shoud have 2....let alone 3 giys in the secondary making 140k+....but getting Nichols back at a reduced price if possible...or the same is prob the best scenario of the 3....he is one the vet pieces you hold on to as he can ball still and is the best all around of the 3....

[wbbfan]

6 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Powell in Hamilton is also a pending FA.  I would go after him if Hamilton lets him get the open market.

Good call, Powell would be a top target for me, along with Crum. If we bring in 1 of those 2, bring in Elgersma, and have Zach back, that is about as good as it can get for us. Personally, I would only give 1 of chase/wilson a rookie camp deal to compete with a couple new rookie arms. I'd give Crum/Powell a 180-200k base deal with heavy incentives if they take the qb1 spot and do well. 

Also, I neglected to mention the pest in Toronto. I expect him to be on the market this year. But I am firmly betting on Edmonton getting him. 

 

Just now, Booch said:

several on our roster are...but under Osh....many will never realize it playing here unless he shifts how he does things

I'd be shocked if Woodbey doesn't get looks....he basically debunked some of the negatives NFL teams/scouts placed on him prior to his draft, so he could be following the Ayers path as well....

Smith could step into that role easily as well as WILL....or a role like Griffin held as well...freeing up a DA spot for another end or true NT...Griffin tho needs to be brought back...Shay as well I am sure could be a WILL candidate and good at it, but like to see him groomed at MAC. 

Bang for buck we can be better off without all 3 of those DB's truth be told, and able to focus funds elsewhere...No cfl team shoud have 2....let alone 3 giys in the secondary making 140k+....but getting Nichols back at a reduced price if possible...or the same is prob the best scenario of the 3....he is one the vet pieces you hold on to as he can ball still and is the best all around of the 3....

That's a good point. I could see Woodbey in the NFL next year. I'd sure bring him in if I were them. He showed he can cover WRs from over the top very well, use his athleticism and size to make an impact coming downhill, and he's a good teams guy. I mean his ability to cover combined with his size alone is extremely valuable, quick like a db too. 

[Bigblue204]

44 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Ayers got NFL interest as a cover guy, and that will very likely be the case again. The rookie deals for Ayers, Wheatfall, and Wilson are all really low. Moving up to vet deals will easily see them go up in the 30-40k range minimum each. 

I could see some one going after Ayers to make him a starter as well. He is a way better football player than his role here. 

All of that can be offset by vets leaving. Though I'm doubtful Wheatfall will be in Blue and Gold next year.

[wbbfan]

1 minute ago, Bigblue204 said:

All of that can be offset by vets leaving. Though I'm doubtful Wheatfall will be in Blue and Gold next year.

It could, but we need to make room to make significant additions to DL, OL, WR, and QB2. Which are the 4 most expensive positions. The club really need to shed a lot of dead weight this off season.

 I could see some one giving Wheatfall a nice deal to see if he can step up into a no1 role with their system. 

[CrazyCanuck89]

53 minutes ago, Booch said:

several on our roster are...but under Osh....many will never realize it playing here unless he shifts how he does things

I'd be shocked if Woodbey doesn't get looks....he basically debunked some of the negatives NFL teams/scouts placed on him prior to his draft, so he could be following the Ayers path as well....

Smith could step into that role easily as well as WILL....or a role like Griffin held as well...freeing up a DA spot for another end or true NT...Griffin tho needs to be brought back...Shay as well I am sure could be a WILL candidate and good at it, but like to see him groomed at MAC. 

Bang for buck we can be better off without all 3 of those DB's truth be told, and able to focus funds elsewhere...No cfl team shoud have 2....let alone 3 giys in the secondary making 140k+....but getting Nichols back at a reduced price if possible...or the same is prob the best scenario of the 3....he is one the vet pieces you hold on to as he can ball still and is the best all around of the 3....

I think they see Smith as a SAM, he spent the whole season backing up there. Kramdi might head to Montreal in free agency.

[M.Silverback]

1 hour ago, TBURGESS said:

Brady is already overpaid for his position. When we rested him at the end of the season, his backup looked pretty damn good at less than half the bucks. Good for him if he wants to chase the money. RB's careers are short, and they should make the most while they can, but we shouldn't be players at anything more than he's being paid right now. 

Re: Eli... Some folks seem to think that Eli has to be better than our starting centre, likely because he's suboptimal, but the coaches who see him every day disagree. Blame it on MOS they say.  The facts are Eli's been here 5 years. He's started a few games, and he's the extra OL. MOS says he lets his coaches do their jobs, so I'd say that means the OL coach is the one who isn't starting Eli, not MOS.

Why is the debate between who is the better option between Eli and Kolo? Probably Eli, but the real issue is our Oline needs a serious upgrade. Center, one tackle and one guard at least. Whether it's through free agency, draft, trade or scouting, we're going nowhere with the current state of the Oline. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

2 hours ago, TBURGESS said:

Brady is already overpaid for his position. When we rested him at the end of the season, his backup looked pretty damn good at less than half the bucks. Good for him if he wants to chase the money. RB's careers are short, and they should make the most while they can, but we shouldn't be players at anything more than he's being paid right now. 

Re: Eli... Some folks seem to think that Eli has to be better than our starting centre, likely because he's suboptimal, but the coaches who see him every day disagree. Blame it on MOS they say.  The facts are Eli's been here 5 years. He's started a few games, and he's the extra OL. MOS says he lets his coaches do their jobs, so I'd say that means the OL coach is the one who isn't starting Eli, not MOS.

Peterson gets basically nothing after contact.  If he's the starting RB you don't have a run game.

[Brandon]

It would have been nice to give Eli (and many other guys) play time to see if they could shake off rust and end up being a better player.   

The largest issue this club has is the refusal of giving guys a chance.   

I don't accept that they purely evaluate based on practices.  This is the same club a few years back who refused to give starters play time during the pre season which ended up having guys struggling for the first month come regular season.  

[JuranBoldenRules]

2 minutes ago, Brandon said:

It would have been nice to give Eli (and many other guys) play time to see if they could shake off rust and end up being a better player.   

The largest issue this club has is the refusal of giving guys a chance.   

I don't accept that they purely evaluate based on practices.  This is the same club a few years back who refused to give starters play time during the pre season which ended up having guys struggling for the first month come regular season.  

Eli has started and been the 6th OL for 5 seasons.  He's played a ton.  He played over half of the playoff game you just watched.

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

It would have been nice to give Eli (and many other guys) play time to see if they could shake off rust and end up being a better player.   

The largest issue this club has is the refusal of giving guys a chance.   

I don't accept that they purely evaluate based on practices.  This is the same club a few years back who refused to give starters play time during the pre season which ended up having guys struggling for the first month come regular season.  

I don't think you can really do much evaluation in practice at all when it comes to non-vets. It's a little more than a warm-up before a game now. 

Rust isn't an issue, a chance to progress for sure that lots of guys need. Eli has played as much as a 6th OL can. I really think thats just a case of how we value the 6th ol and the love of kola for mos. 

[Bigblue204]

1 hour ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Peterson gets basically nothing after contact.  If he's the starting RB you don't have a run game.

Yeah I'm not as impressed by him as some others. He's a very solid change of pace guy, but not someone I'd want to take over for Brady.

[Booch]

1 hour ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Peterson gets basically nothing after contact.  If he's the starting RB you don't have a run game.

yes and no...He isnt as physical for sure....but he also hits line faster and has more explosive ability and likely would break longer runs at times....maybe home run hitter types...so 6 of this...half dozen of the other thing...But wouldn't wanna rely on him as a bell cow at this time....yet....A 2 headed deal tho with him and MCI could be workeable....as why they havnt been working him more and feeling out his b=value is been an utter waste

Uber athletic...prob one of the most in league really and great body type for CFL...Especially if they can implement him into the passing game more...He could be like a James Wilder type back minus the ****** if we put in the effort and could see the forest thru the tree's with guys on the roster

But nope...lets Pidgeon hole guys into roles and responsibilities that accentuate nothing about them or potential, and ride the "known" commodities until there's nothing left to ride...or we ride them into the dirt due to injury and then are scrambling with a lack of depth and trust in any backup guy....

35 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I don't think you can really do much evaluation in practice at all when it comes to non-vets. It's a little more than a warm-up before a game now. 

Rust isn't an issue, a chance to progress for sure that lots of guys need. Eli has played as much as a 6th OL can. I really think thats just a case of how we value the 6th ol and the love of kola for mos. 

nope...practice are a wasteland to prove anything...much less supplant a guy ahead of you...you have to use the ability to see and project talent/worth and roll with it....again...somethjing we dont do unless forced to cause a guy is literally in a body cast

[wbbfan]

34 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

Yeah I'm not as impressed by him as some others. He's a very solid change of pace guy, but not someone I'd want to take over for Brady.

He is big enough to run through arm tackles, with similar running power to Bell, Butler, and Rankin. It's not like Brady is out there trucking through guys every carry. especially not this year. As long as you are reasonably quick with decent balance and a basic level of running power, you can churn out yards. 

 

24 minutes ago, Booch said:

yes and no...He isnt as physical for sure....but he also hits line faster and has more explosive ability and likely would break longer runs at times....maybe home run hitter types...so 6 of this...half dozen of the other thing...But wouldn't wanna rely on him as a bell cow at this time....yet....A 2 headed deal tho with him and MCI could be workeable....as why they havnt been working him more and feeling out his b=value is been an utter waste

Uber athletic...prob one of the most in league really and great body type for CFL...Especially if they can implement him into the passing game more...He could be like a James Wilder type back minus the ****** if we put in the effort and could see the forest thru the tree's with guys on the roster

But nope...lets Pidgeon hole guys into roles and responsibilities that accentuate nothing about them or potential, and ride the "known" commodities until there's nothing left to ride...or we ride them into the dirt due to injury and then are scrambling with a lack of depth and trust in any backup guy....

nope...practice are a wasteland to prove anything...much less supplant a guy ahead of you...you have to use the ability to see and project talent/worth and roll with it....again...somethjing we dont do unless forced to cause a guy is literally in a body cast

We could also bring in a 3rd back on a base deal who is more polished than MCI, with pile pushing power. If MCI takes a step forward, it isn't really needed. Or if Peterson does either tbh. If neither does, we can accomplish our goal with the run game. 

If you take out Peterson's longest run, he's still getting 4.4 yards per, and looking back at his game logs, only 29% of his carries went from less than 4 yards. Cooley was double that. Augustine had drastically worse splits here. 

We don't need 200+ carries out of him a year. 

[Tracker]

17 hours 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.

I hope I am wrong on both counts, but it looks like O'Shea will be back and he apparently wants Hogan back. FOURLETTERWORD!

[blue85gold]

3 minutes ago, Tracker said:

I hope I am wrong on both counts, but it looks like O'Shea will be back and he apparently wants Hogan back. FOURLETTERWORD!

Curious what you're basing him wanting Hogan back on

[Tracker]

Just now, blue85gold said:

Curious what you're basing him wanting Hogan back on

I believe it was a recent Free Press article.

[Booch]

5 minutes ago, blue85gold said:

Curious what you're basing him wanting Hogan back on

if you read between the lines...aprt of what BO is saying about re-signing here is dependant on whats around him .....and he talking other offensive talent be it on the line....reciever and most importantly who is gonna create the offence.....and rightfully so

What player on either side of the ball would wanna re-up here, let alone sign here fresh with the knowing they likely to be playing with...or behind garbage, and garbage coaching....I'll tell you....none...zero...careers are short enough as it is and the window to win even shorter which is the main goal of any player

Guys who will tho...The JT's....Kolo's....the aged out guys with zero future who can still play a bit...but not at elite levels...and prob nowhere else, and offer zero upside...thats who...kinda what we have littered our roster with the last 3 ..4 yrs and the end results spoke for themselves....

[wbbfan]

How many Cos have the mafia canned? Hall stepped into a lower role for JY. Lapo left for a HC gig. Bellefeuille had his contract expire. Paul Boudreau had his deal expire with no extension offered. That one was more public, we aren't bringing you back. Then we canned Gary Etcheverry between seasons while under contract. 

 Wow, that is depressing. Hogan is every bit as bad as Etch was here. He 100% deserves the axe. Boy, I can not fathom trying to run it back with Hogan... 

[blue85gold]

9 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

How many Cos have the mafia canned? Hall stepped into a lower role for JY. Lapo left for a HC gig. Bellefeuille had his contract expire. Paul Boudreau had his deal expire with no extension offered. That one was more public, we aren't bringing you back. Then we canned Gary Etcheverry between seasons while under contract. 

 Wow, that is depressing. Hogan is every bit as bad as Etch was here. He 100% deserves the axe. Boy, I can not fathom trying to run it back with Hogan... 

Hogan contract could very well be expiring and that's the end of that. 

[wbbfan]

1 minute ago, blue85gold said:

Hogan contract could very well be expiring and that's the end of that. 

That is possible, I don't think the term was ever announced. 

[blue85gold]

13 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

That is possible, I don't think the term was ever announced. 

To me it would be weird if any of the coordinators had contracts longer than the head coach but what do I know

[wbbfan]

3 minutes ago, blue85gold said:

To me it would be weird if any of the coordinators had contracts longer than the head coach but what do I know

I think Mos has been working off a 1-year for a bit, though. It certainly isn't optimal if you need to change your HC/coaching staff. But if you don't even factor that in, it lets you adjust the HC pay around the coaching staffs each year. 

[Booch]

36 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

How many Cos have the mafia canned? Hall stepped into a lower role for JY. Lapo left for a HC gig. Bellefeuille had his contract expire. Paul Boudreau had his deal expire with no extension offered. That one was more public, we aren't bringing you back. Then we canned Gary Etcheverry between seasons while under contract. 

 Wow, that is depressing. Hogan is every bit as bad as Etch was here. He 100% deserves the axe. Boy, I can not fathom trying to run it back with Hogan... 

At least Etch had experience at pro level and some varying degree of success 

Hogan..zero...his main asset was mental health coach to BO...thats it

24 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

That is possible, I don't think the term was ever announced. 

Yeah...just promoted up from previous season..prob all aligning with the others...so unless reupped he best be gone like a fart in the wind

[wbbfan]

2 minutes ago, Booch said:

At least Etch had experience at pro level and some varying degree of success 

Hogan..zero...his main asset was mental health coach to BO...thats it

Yeah...just promoted up from previous season..prob all aligning with the others...so unless reupped he best be gone like a fart in the wind

Yeah, I mean, Etch had some pretty good years. I think his combination of age/health left him in a poor position to try and rebuild a team and get that crazy D of his working. Pretty disconnected from league trends too. 

Ugh, Hogan was the biggest reach. Maciocia had a similar leap, but he did much more time in the pros before going up to OC. I respect the balls of that guy and how he got into pro football with the als as well. 

[Doublezero]

I imagine Walters will be gone soon. And I want to see O'Shea gone too. He's arrogant and stubborn. Terrible in-game management. Who would replace him? No idea ... hopefully not Jarious Jackson who sucks as HC.

Why not take a shot at replacing Hogan with Collaros? It seems clear that he and Hogan did not get along. Who is more to blame for the sputtering 3 step drop no rollout offence? Take your pick. But it would be a mistake to let Collaros on the field as the starter again. So let's have competition at QB - develop the  prospects - Wilson, Artopoeus and maybe Taylor Elgersma behind an off-season CFL journeyman like Taylor Powell who looks like a free agent in Hammy?

If Oliveira wants to leave for the money, fine. I bet he stays. Especially if Bombers spend like hell this off-season on better FA vets, and younger prospects on both the O-line and D-line. Bombers looked especially weak in pass pro and discomboblulated run blocking. And we had no pressure on opposing QBs - all season long and going back to 2024. Success starts and ends in the trenches. 

Edited 49 minutes ago by Doublezero