Blue Bombers - 2025 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[JuranBoldenRules]

15 minutes ago, Noeller said:

If it's a hurt Alexander or a healthy MBT, I'm still going Alexander. Injured DA at least gives you a chance. MBT is toast before it even begins. But it absolutely is the exact type of thing Osh would do and get ROASTED for on here...

MBT is wrecked too.  He did not get a needed elbow surgery because they literally had no one to bring in.

[HardCoreBlue]

30 minutes ago, Noeller said:

If it's a hurt Alexander or a healthy MBT, I'm still going Alexander. Injured DA at least gives you a chance. MBT is toast before it even begins. But it absolutely is the exact type of thing Osh would do and get ROASTED for on here...

Man i think you’re off on this. Zac was hurt on a key part of his body, his throwing hand. He had no business going back into the game. This is the exact reason you employ/dress more than one QB. We had a healthy qb on the sidelines and for those that say he would have stunk not CFL material, one no one here has a crystal ball so we will never know and two if it was indeed a fact TW had no business being on the field for the big game then that’s a  whole other discussion to have on why even dress the guy, it’s embarrassing if that was the mentality of the coaching staff/management about TW, what a waste of spot.

[Booch]

13 hours ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Man i think you’re off on this. Zac was hurt on a key part of his body, his throwing hand. He had no business going back into the game. This is the exact reason you employ/dress more than one QB. We had a healthy qb on the sidelines and for those that say he would have stunk not CFL material, one no one here has a crystal ball so we will never know and two if it was indeed a fact TW had no business being on the field for the big game then that’s a  whole other discussion to have on why even dress the guy, it’s embarrassing if that was the mentality of the coaching staff/management about TW, what a waste of spot.

2022 Cup loss...a nobody inexperienced QB....a rookie for that matter came into game...and beat us...the heavy favorite..and he came in cause Dinwiddie saw they needed to make a change....not even really injury as Looney Tunes coulda still played....you dont know until you know....and a reason we have failed....ZC hurt 2 Cups....One cup 3 receivers were pointless....Biggie playing in another for no reason at all.....But we have all these starter quality backups but wouldnt trust them in the game.....piss poor coaching and that cant be denied

At least Dolegala had league experience...got wins as a starter....all he needed to do was manage the game....get good coaching in the game....rely on our bread and butter...BO.....but nope....

[HardCoreBlue]

14 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

MBT is wrecked too.  He did not get a needed elbow surgery because they literally had no one to bring in.

Difference here was TW was not wrecked, he was a 100% healthy QB.

So if the mentality is you have a 100% healthy QB at your disposal that you absolutely will not utilize even if your starting QB is playing at 50% there is something amiss here and deserves scrutiny not just at the coaching level but at the management/scouting levels. And it doesn't mean we hate MOS.

Edited yesterday at 04:32 PM by HardCoreBlue

[Booch]

1 hour ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Difference here was TW was not wrecked, he was a 100% healthy QB.

So if the mentality is you have a 100% healthy QB at your disposal that you absolutely will not utilize even if your starting QB is playing at 50% there is something amiss here and deserves scrutiny not just at the coaching level but at the management/scouting levels. And it doesn't mean we hate MOS.

Dolegala...an experienced to an extent starter was healthy too

[JohnnyAbonny]

30 minutes ago, Booch said:

Dolegala...an experienced to an extent starter was healthy too

Dolegala not getting a chance in that game perplexed me the most. Absolutely would have been better than handless Zach. 
Sure, he’s not the greatest but he’s capable of winning games. Hell, he had a win against us the year before in the LDC did he not? 

Edited yesterday at 06:07 PM by JohnnyAbonny

[HardCoreBlue]

32 minutes ago, Booch said:

Dolegala...an experienced to an extent starter was healthy too

For some reason I forgot he was dressed as well.

Two 100% healthy QB's available but, again, if the mentality was that both weren't even close to being serviceable as options that's a much different conversation to have.

[17to85]

And you can maybe excuse them for playing collaros in 2022 with the bum ankle.... but leaving him in when he couldn't grip the ball in 2024... just inexcusable. And dressing 3 hurt receivers and a hurt bighill in 2023 is just inexcusable. 

[blue85gold]

5 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

And you can maybe excuse them for playing collaros in 2022 with the bum ankle.... but leaving him in when he couldn't grip the ball in 2024... just inexcusable. And dressing 3 hurt receivers and a hurt bighill in 2023 is just inexcusable. 

Ya 2022 is very comparable to what the Als did this year. 

2023 was just a disgrace dressing all those injured players. 

2024 should have pulled him but I think we were pretty screwed either way with who the back ups were and how TO's D was playing. 

[Booch]

51 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

For some reason I forgot he was dressed as well.

Two 100% healthy QB's available but, again, if the mentality was that both weren't even close to being serviceable as options that's a much different conversation to have.

THEN ....why they even on the roster??...just incompetence if thats how they felt....but it is just a matter of Osh doin the Osh......guy for all his pluses...has some serious negatives/flaws...and it's cost us dearly moe than it's benefitted us

44 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

And you can maybe excuse them for playing collaros in 2022 with the bum ankle.... but leaving him in when he couldn't grip the ball in 2024... just inexcusable. And dressing 3 hurt receivers and a hurt bighill in 2023 is just inexcusable. 

It was apparent early tho it severly afftected his ability to throw, as he couldn't plant and fure...and was a sitting duck....made it easy to defend us....We had a back-up for a reason...to be used when necessary...and we didnt

Sometimes in a Grey Cup the least likely guy, or a guy coming in due to injury is a huge contributor....will never happen here tho under this current set-up

39 minutes ago, blue85gold said:

Ya 2022 is very comparable to what the Als did this year. 

2023 was just a disgrace dressing all those injured players. 

2024 should have pulled him but I think we were pretty screwed either way with who the back ups were and how TO's D was playing. 

I think with the Al's MBT wasn't really healthy either, so they went with the gimo who gave em the best chance

[bigg jay]

21 minutes ago, Booch said:

THEN ....why they even on the roster??...just incompetence if thats how they felt....but it is just a matter of Osh doin the Osh......guy for all his pluses...has some serious negatives/flaws...and it's cost us dearly moe than it's benefitted us

It was apparent early tho it severly afftected his ability to throw, as he couldn't plant and fure...and was a sitting duck....made it easy to defend us....We had a back-up for a reason...to be used when necessary...and we didnt

Sometimes in a Grey Cup the least likely guy, or a guy coming in due to injury is a huge contributor....will never happen here tho under this current set-up

I think with the Al's MBT wasn't really healthy either, so they went with the gimo who gave em the best chance

We have seen that scenario way too many times, especially in the last few years,

2022 - MBT is struggling and the Argos turn to Chad Kelly.  

2024 - Chad Kelly get hurt in the Eastern Final and Argos turn to Nick Arbuckle. 

[HardCoreBlue]

8 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

We have seen that scenario way too many times, especially in the last few years,

2022 - MBT is struggling and the Argos turn to Chad Kelly.  

2024 - Chad Kelly get hurt in the Eastern Final and Argos turn to Nick Arbuckle. 

What frustrates me (doesn’t take much) around these parts with some is the argument implying and/or saying we didn’t have the options like TO had here. Our options were actually not options so stop complaining there was nothing MOS could have done other than going with ZC.

?????

Edited 23 hours ago by HardCoreBlue

[HardCoreBlue]

53 minutes ago, Booch said:

THEN ....why they even on the roster??...just incompetence if thats how they felt....but it is just a matter of Osh doin the Osh......guy for all his pluses...has some serious negatives/flaws...and it's cost us dearly moe than it's benefitted us

It was apparent early tho it severly afftected his ability to throw, as he couldn't plant and fure...and was a sitting duck....made it easy to defend us....We had a back-up for a reason...to be used when necessary...and we didnt

Sometimes in a Grey Cup the least likely guy, or a guy coming in due to injury is a huge contributor....will never happen here tho under this current set-up

I think with the Al's MBT wasn't really healthy either, so they went with the gimo who gave em the best chance

Our BB coaches/management are smart people, I think it's more stubbornness, confirmation bias, blind spots and loyalty all working together here. We are all guilty of doing these things in our lives (some more than others) btw but still doesn't give them an out here.

[Booch]

58 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

We have seen that scenario way too many times, especially in the last few years,

2022 - MBT is struggling and the Argos turn to Chad Kelly.  

2024 - Chad Kelly get hurt in the Eastern Final and Argos turn to Nick Arbuckle. 

2024...ZC has finger basically reattached...sent out there with glove...and is throwing long passes...picked repeatedly...is utterly useless...

 

29 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Our BB coaches/management are smart people, I think it's more stubbornness, confirmation bias, blind spots and loyalty all working together here. We are all guilty of doing these things in our lives (some more than others) btw but still doesn't give them an out here.

The way things have panned out alot..repeatedly...fir yrs...seems to be the opposite of smart

[Tracker]

3 hours ago, HardCoreBlue said:

What frustrates me (doesn’t take much) around these parts with some is the argument implying and/or saying we didn’t have the options like TO had here. Our options were actually not options so stop complaining there was nothing MOS could have done other than going with ZC.

?????

No matter how you look at it, O'Shea screwed up due to his stubbornness and there is no reason to believe he will be any different in future.

[Pete]

2 hours ago, Tracker said:

No matter how you look at it, O'Shea screwed up due to his stubbornness and there is no reason to believe he will be any different in future.

Maybe I'm optimistic but there is reason to believe that it isn't business and usual for next season. This is the first time I've heard O'Shea talk about not having done a good enough job coaching especially the offense. Both O'Shea and Walters realize that last year was a step back and that's also something they have never admitted in previous seasons. (usually all we hear is how this team has great leadership and they will figure it out)

Walters stated that they needed to do a better job of surrounding Zac with talent, another indicator of change (he also talked about how it's easier to revamp your team with all the one year contracts being the norm for most teams)

Edited 17 hours ago by Pete

[Piggy 1]

4 minutes ago, Pete said:

Maybe I'm optimistic but there is reason to believe that it isn't business and usual for next season. This is the first time I've heard O'Shea talk about not having done a good enough job coaching especially the offense. Both O'Shea and Walters realize that last year was a step back and that's also something they have never admitted in previous seasons.

Walters stated that they needed to do a better job of surrounding Zac with talent, another indicator of change (he also talked about how it's easier to revamp your team with all the one year contracts being the norm for most teams)

When Osh played ,what side of the ball did he play? In what universe does that make him an "offensive" mind???

[Pete]

1 minute ago, Piggy 1 said:

When Osh played ,what side of the ball did he play? In what universe does that make him an "offensive" mind???

  13 years of coaching

[wbbfan]

52 minutes ago, Pete said:

  13 years of coaching

Hall has been coaching in the cfl for 30 years and isn’t an offensive mind. 

Ourstaff has more than enough experience with this game to know how dismal our play and game plan was last year. And yet it didn’t help us a tiny bit. No reason to think they will start effectively micro managing the O with success. 

3 hours ago, Tracker said:

No matter how you look at it, O'Shea screwed up due to his stubbornness and there is no reason to believe he will be any different in future.

We’ve seen the same mistakes from staff to office, repeated over years all with crushing season ends. 

We’ve heard all the talk of change, and how we know what we need to do. 
 

The only thing that will give reasonable hope that next year will be different, is action. 

Idc if mos/walters came out and said jake/kola/hogan etc cost us, or pointed at every single failing and said all the right things for plans to actually fix the issues.  Only actions matter now. 

[SpeedFlex27]

10 hours ago, Pete said:

  13 years of coaching

Sure, 

[GCn20]

On 2025-11-18 at 7:17 PM, Booch said:

healthy players sure...players making plays also has to do with preparedness and coaching and being put in a position to do so....any player will...and has said that.....we haven't of late coached our players very well

A QB who couldnt handle the ball....let alone throw it...admittingly wouldn't lead u toa win either..

Dolegala had played in the league...garnered wins on a poorer team than us...I'm sure he could have managed the game better than whatZC gave post finger re-attachment

I disagree wholeheartedly on what Dolegala might have done. He is a stand up, pocket passer with almost no mobility. He had extremely limited knowledge of our playbook, took almost no first team reps to build timing, and would have been facing a TO front 4 that was dominating our OL. I give him a near zero chance of winning that game if he comes in. We may all hate that Zac Collaros went back into that game, but he was the only QB on our roster that realistically gave us any shot of winning. Yes, in order to do so he would have had to be able to play through his injury but if I am the coach I would make the same call based on who was available. It's not like we didn't try Wilson, we did, and he promptly went out and laid a big fat egg. Dolegala? Not even a realistic option really IF we are truly trying to win. I get the gamble that ZC could play through didn't work, but at the time the decision was made it was the right decision imo. Anything else is laying down and gifting the win. 

The reality of the situation is that the second ZC got injured our chances of winning that game, no matter who we put out behind centre, pretty much dried up unless D and STs could pull out a miracle. Our offence was done. I don't think that's an unfair statement at all. ZC could have gone back into that game and we feed them a steady diet of BO and we had a chip and a chair. The problem wasn't leaving ZC in the game. The problem was the play calling once we had decided that.

Buck never adjusted to the reality of that moment. We had all kinds of run packages, screens, dumps, go to the flats that ZC could have executed even with a bad finger. Instead we have him going long on his first play back in the game. It made no sense.

Edited 4 hours ago by GCn20

[SpeedFlex27]

23 hours ago, Booch said:

2022 Cup loss...a nobody inexperienced QB....a rookie for that matter came into game...and beat us...the heavy favorite..and he came in cause Dinwiddie saw they needed to make a change....not even really injury as Looney Tunes coulda still played....you dont know until you know....and a reason we have failed....ZC hurt 2 Cups....One cup 3 receivers were pointless....Biggie playing in another for no reason at all.....But we have all these starter quality backups but wouldnt trust them in the game.....piss poor coaching and that cant be denied

At least Dolegala had league experience...got wins as a starter....all he needed to do was manage the game....get good coaching in the game....rely on our bread and butter...BO.....but nope....

Yet fans here think Osh is the one who can right the ship.... He's the reason the good ship Bombers are listing. 

[17to85]

31 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I disagree wholeheartedly on what Dolegala might have done. He is a stand up, pocket passer with almost no mobility. He had extremely limited knowledge of our playbook, took almost no first team reps to build timing, and would have been facing a TO front 4 that was dominating our OL. I give him a near zero chance of winning that game if he comes in. We may all hate that Zac Collaros went back into that game, but he was the only QB on our roster that realistically gave us any shot of winning. Yes, in order to do so he would have had to be able to play through his injury but if I am the coach I would make the same call based on who was available. It's not like we didn't try Wilson, we did, and he promptly went out and laid a big fat egg. Dolegala? Not even a realistic option really IF we are truly trying to win. I get the gamble that ZC could play through didn't work, but at the time the decision was made it was the right decision imo. Anything else is laying down and gifting the win. 

The reality of the situation is that the second ZC got injured our chances of winning that game, no matter who we put out behind centre, pretty much dried up unless D and STs could pull out a miracle. Our offence was done. I don't think that's an unfair statement at all. ZC could have gone back into that game and we feed them a steady diet of BO and we had a chip and a chair. The problem wasn't leaving ZC in the game. The problem was the play calling once we had decided that.

Buck never adjusted to the reality of that moment. We had all kinds of run packages, screens, dumps, go to the flats that ZC could have executed even with a bad finger. Instead we have him going long on his first play back in the game. It made no sense.

Zach collaros couldn't grip the ball! Oshea talked about giving players a chance to be great putting an injured guy back out, we'll how about giving a backup the chance to be great? Collaros wasn't hurt, he was injured and couldn't do his basic job. It's negligence to trot him out there. Yeah the backup might have sucked... but at least they could grip a ball. 

[SpeedFlex27]

37 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I disagree wholeheartedly on what Dolegala might have done. He is a stand up, pocket passer with almost no mobility. He had extremely limited knowledge of our playbook, took almost no first team reps to build timing, and would have been facing a TO front 4 that was dominating our OL. I give him a near zero chance of winning that game if he comes in. We may all hate that Zac Collaros went back into that game, but he was the only QB on our roster that realistically gave us any shot of winning. Yes, in order to do so he would have had to be able to play through his injury but if I am the coach I would make the same call based on who was available. It's not like we didn't try Wilson, we did, and he promptly went out and laid a big fat egg. Dolegala? Not even a realistic option really IF we are truly trying to win. I get the gamble that ZC could play through didn't work, but at the time the decision was made it was the right decision imo. Anything else is laying down and gifting the win. 

The reality of the situation is that the second ZC got injured our chances of winning that game, no matter who we put out behind centre, pretty much dried up unless D and STs could pull out a miracle. Our offence was done. I don't think that's an unfair statement at all. ZC could have gone back into that game and we feed them a steady diet of BO and we had a chip and a chair. The problem wasn't leaving ZC in the game. The problem was the play calling once we had decided that.

Buck never adjusted to the reality of that moment. We had all kinds of run packages, screens, dumps, go to the flats that ZC could have executed even with a bad finger. Instead we have him going long on his first play back in the game. It made no sense.

Are you serious? What you say makes no sense. With anyone there is always a chance. Who knows what might have happened had Dolegala played. Putting Zach back in was ridicu;ously stupid. He was unable to throw. Dolegala gave us a better chance to win over Collaros who couldn't grip the ball. How many pick sixes did Zach throw after he went back in? 

[Bigblue204]

I legitimately don't understand what people think they saw in Dolegala. He should not have been put in the GC game. They 100% should have stuck with Wilson. He looked far more poised in the pocket than even Collaros, was a threat to run and could make every throw. Like someone mentioned...MOS should have given HIM the chance to be great.