Elks at Bombers early chat

[Bigblue204]

There was a play where Willie dropped back pretty deep into coverage. I think it was later in the game. Thought that was pretty funny

[Tracker]

7 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

Are they playing in the GC this week? Or are they playing their 3rd game of the year. If we're going to compare the past and learn from history....the correct thing would be to compare where they are now compared to where they were relative to the same time last year. Last year they started 0-4 after a lazy TC. Would you say they admitted a mistake and learned from it? We can go on and on about the last 3 grey cups. But they aren't preparing for the GC this week.
 

Experience consists of only two things: events and patterns. Events are singular, but patterns reveal realties, and Collaros has been trending downwards for more than two years. So were four other starters, and I remain unconvinced that a couple of token changes will right the ship.

[Noeller]

17 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

There was a play where Willie dropped back pretty deep into coverage. I think it was later in the game. Thought that was pretty funny

He was WAY back there... Wife and I both noticed that right away like WTF is Willie doing in the second level... 

[17to85]

Just now, Noeller said:

 WTF is Willie doing in the second level... 

Hoping the qb is dumb and throws it right to him.

[HardCoreBlue]

21 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

There was a play where Willie dropped back pretty deep into coverage. I think it was later in the game. Thought that was pretty funny

WJ the freelancer. In my day, drove the coaches to rage. Sort of like cherry picking in hockey.  

[Fatty Liver]

2 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Oh I agree. Would love to see both Shay and Smith gets reps. If they could be rotational pieces by years end and in the position that one of them starts in 26 that would be ideal.

Those two could make the signing of Hagerty and Makonzo redundant and flip the ratio favourably by this time next season, Shay as a starting LB and Smith as a Safety or HB.

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Fatty Liver said:

Those two could make the signing of Hagerty and Makonzo redundant and flip the ratio favourably by this time next season, Shay as a starting LB and Smith as a Safety or HB.

Nah. Smith is NOT a hb. He has a fringe chance to be a S. Realistically, he is likely to end up a full time wil that doesn’t need to be subbed for a db in the dime pack playing the inside wall and hcf zones. 
 He doesn’t have any of the fluidity needed to be covering guys straight up, nor does he have any of the experience in how to man or match. 
 

Mackonzo, is a real db who can play some lber. He could be a Sam, half, S or wil / dime. 
 

Canadians who can actually cover import WRs are rare. Most Canadian dbs are safety’s who camp out between the hash marks at 15-20 yard depth and play scare crow. Or teams guys to small to back up at lber. 
 

Makonzo, haggerty, Kelly, smith and shay likely mean we flip the wil to ni in the future, and stop having to use a di on a db. Likely meaning we declare 3 Canadians on D. But also having the flexibility to flip more spots, and have really good depth at the same time. 
 

We could even flip wil and Mac to go with Kramdi at Sam for an all Canadian lber core. 

[SpeedFlex27]

8 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

yes. Like Anthony Calvillo did in MTL when things started going off the rails. He turned it around because he changed the way he played.

No, Calvillo learned the game under Tracy Ham. He learned how to read defenses. Calvillo didn't change the way he played. He changed the way he prepared. And he had real receiving talent around him like Ben Cahoon, Terry Vaughan, Chad Owens, Terrence Edawrds  SJ Greene, Pat Woodcock & Jermaine Copeland as well as Mike Pringle at running back. 

[Bigblue204]

7 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

No, Calvillo learned the game under Tracy Ham. He learned how to read defenses. Calvillo didn't change the way he played. He changed the way he prepared. And he had real receiving talent around him like Ben Cahoon, Terry Vaughan, Chad Owens, Terrence Edawrds  SJ Greene, Pat Woodcock & Jermaine Copeland as well as Mike Pringle at running back. 

Calvillo has talked about when Trestman came in, they changed things up. More emphasis was put on pass pro and getting the ball out of his hands quickly. 

[Colin Unger]

17 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Yeah, I think the only area the Elk stand to challenge us is Dl vs our OL. Even their OL is banged up and got a few changes. But that dl, they got some guys who get after it. 

Yeah, If he was in a flex tight grouping or even further out it's a nightmare for defences. Do you put a lil guy on him? He might pancake then still come in and seal another guy. do you take a good dl who can 1v1 away from the play? I'd love to see some Eli motion. Really screw with defences. 

 

 

Ive been really surprised at how bad the Elk's D has looked considering the talent . Hoping they don't gel this week. But I think Tre will be good for atleast one pick six vs our D. 

[GCn20]

18 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Not a huge fan of our receiving corps.  Got a QB who wants to go heavy vertical/intermediate stuff and two of 5 suited to that.  Demski is too but really only wins consistently on a couple routes and needs to be open open to have a chance to finish plays downfield.

Same **** as last year with receivers.  Replace Lawler with Wheatfall.  Sterns is Wilson.  Get some bigger yet versatile bodies, catch radius guys.  Hope Clercius develops some game on the inside breaking routes and not just being good at getting the YAC when D forgets about him.

I don't mind our receiving corps, but Hogan needs to play them to their strengths. We've got Sterns and Demski that should be in motion constantly giving defences fits and we pull out a jet sweep but give it to Wheatfall? Sometimes I think we try put square pegs in round holes. Let Demski be Demski and mix his usage, use Sterns for YAC, let Wheatfall and Schoen take the top off, and let Clercius settle into Woli's old role of outlet/possession receiver.

12 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

There was a play where Willie dropped back pretty deep into coverage. I think it was later in the game. Thought that was pretty funny

He's done that quite a bit over the past few years. They will blitz the SAM or S off the edge and drop Willie back into the secondary. It's been effective.

9 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Nah. Smith is NOT a hb. He has a fringe chance to be a S. Realistically, he is likely to end up a full time wil that doesn’t need to be subbed for a db in the dime pack playing the inside wall and hcf zones. 
 He doesn’t have any of the fluidity needed to be covering guys straight up, nor does he have any of the experience in how to man or match. 
 

Mackonzo, is a real db who can play some lber. He could be a Sam, half, S or wil / dime. 
 

Canadians who can actually cover import WRs are rare. Most Canadian dbs are safety’s who camp out between the hash marks at 15-20 yard depth and play scare crow. Or teams guys to small to back up at lber. 
 

Makonzo, haggerty, Kelly, smith and shay likely mean we flip the wil to ni in the future, and stop having to use a di on a db. Likely meaning we declare 3 Canadians on D. But also having the flexibility to flip more spots, and have really good depth at the same time. 
 

We could even flip wil and Mac to go with Kramdi at Sam for an all Canadian lber core. 

I really think that as the season goes on we will be seeing more and more of these young Canadians allowing us a 4 man IMP front on passing downs. Just can't rush them.

[Booch]

8 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I don't mind our receiving corps, but Hogan needs to play them to their strengths. We've got Sterns and Demski that should be in motion constantly giving defences fits and we pull out a jet sweep but give it to Wheatfall? Sometimes I think we try put square pegs in round holes. Let Demski be Demski and mix his usage, use Sterns for YAC, let Wheatfall and Schoen take the top off, and let Clercius settle into Woli's old role of outlet/possession receiver.

He's done that quite a bit over the past few years. They will blitz the SAM or S off the edge and drop Willie back into the secondary. It's been effective.

I really think that as the season goes on we will be seeing more and more of these young Canadians allowing us a 4 man IMP front on passing downs. Just can't rush them.

Definately...That would be the smart course of action

[17to85]

Funny how the play calls looked better in game one vs. Game 2 eh? Wonder what the change was....

 

I know he is a bit of a sacred cow to some but we really need to worry more about collaros than some people do. 

[3rdand1.5]

I am excited to see some of our "newer" Cdn talent. Kelly has shown some flashes, Makonzo has shown flashes, Shay and Smith are highly touted.

Lawson has looked good and looks healthy, Clercious, outside of the last game has looked good, Ike is showing flashes, Petterson as well, Wallace is looking very promising......

All together that is a lot of potential and promising CDN talent we are just scratching the surface with, I really want to see all of them get some rotations, get up to speed and get the chance to prove/show that they can turn into our next crop of CDN's. However we don't need any of them to be thrown to the wolves, we have the luxury of bringing them along patiently..... although it does sometimes feel like it's too patiently...I expect hope as teh season progresses more of them will see some increased loads....

 

Back to this game...Ayers seems quick and to be a reliable tackler...can one of the guys/gals who know more about him then I do, let me know if I he may be a fit at DE against a guy like Ford. He is smaller and younger than our true ends, but he may be able to hold contain better against an athlete who plays sandlot football like Ford.....or maybe I am thinking way too much into the contain game.....I just don't want to see Ford breaking contain and making an explosion play again....

[Booch]

2 minutes ago, 3rdand1.5 said:

I am excited to see some of our "newer" Cdn talent. Kelly has shown some flashes, Makonzo has shown flashes, Shay and Smith are highly touted.

Lawson has looked good and looks healthy, Clercious, outside of the last game has looked good, Ike is showing flashes, Petterson as well, Wallace is looking very promising......

All together that is a lot of potential and promising CDN talent we are just scratching the surface with, I really want to see all of them get some rotations, get up to speed and get the chance to prove/show that they can turn into our next crop of CDN's. However we don't need any of them to be thrown to the wolves, we have the luxury of bringing them along patiently..... although it does sometimes feel like it's too patiently...I expect hope as teh season progresses more of them will see some increased loads....

 

Back to this game...Ayers seems quick and to be a reliable tackler...can one of the guys/gals who know more about him then I do, let me know if I he may be a fit at DE against a guy like Ford. He is smaller and younger than our true ends, but he may be able to hold contain better against an athlete who plays sandlot football like Ford.....or maybe I am thinking way too much into the contain game.....I just don't want to see Ford breaking contain and making an explosion play again....

You just described what Person can do and is about...and he can also in a 3 man front play a quasi "4th" outside linebacker role as well....If there is one import we have that would benefit our roster the most on defense it's that guy right there

Ayers is a linebacker...and thats all he has done since college....to expect him, or try and get him to be an effective end in the pro game....a foreign pro game to him as well is plain stupid and just a reflection of how we have a less than optimal roster construct

[Bigblue204]

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

Funny how the play calls looked better in game one vs. Game 2 eh? Wonder what the change was....

 

I know he is a bit of a sacred cow to some but we really need to worry more about collaros than some people do. 

I've been ringing this bell since 2021. He's still QB1 here, but he should have a much shorter leash than he had last year. 

[Brandon]

11 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

I've been ringing this bell since 2021. He's still QB1 here, but he should have a much shorter leash than he had last year. 

They are not paying for him to be veteran insurance for Strev.   And just think... they extended him for another season so this means 2026 is the Zach show again.   

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, 3rdand1.5 said:

I am excited to see some of our "newer" Cdn talent. Kelly has shown some flashes, Makonzo has shown flashes, Shay and Smith are highly touted.

Lawson has looked good and looks healthy, Clercious, outside of the last game has looked good, Ike is showing flashes, Petterson as well, Wallace is looking very promising......

 

Vanterpool isn't getting his job back even when Brady returns, it would be seriously dumb to give up the ratio advantage Wallace provides.

[kelownabomberfan]

 

[Booch]

47 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

I've been ringing this bell since 2021. He's still QB1 here, but he should have a much shorter leash than he had last year. 

He definitely should be on one...and if things not clicking Strev should be coming in for valuable reps

Even when clicking he should be getting extended reps after short yardage as well as some specific packages 

36 minutes ago, Brandon said:

They are not paying for him to be veteran insurance for Strev.   And just think... they extended him for another season so this means 2026 is the Zach show again.   

Really the pay for all 3 is the same regardless of order on depth...if he not getting it done...but Strev is...you go with the guy who's dealing...not doing so is a coaching failure...

 

30 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Vanterpool isn't getting his job back even when Brady returns, it would be seriously dumb to give up the ratio advantage Wallace provides.

It was dumb to even do it in first place if the canadian was as good anyway..

[bigg jay]

44 minutes ago, Brandon said:

They are not paying for him to be veteran insurance for Strev.   And just think... they extended him for another season so this means 2026 is the Zach show again.   

Do we know what his deal looks like for next year?  I know he's getting big money this year with a large guarantee but I don't think I've seen details for 2026.  If there's no guaranteed money next year, we're not necessarily tied to him.  It's not exactly the MOS way but if ZC doesn't perform up to his pay level, they could walk away from him in the off-season.

[WinnipegGordo]

4 hours ago, Colin Unger said:

Ive been really surprised at how bad the Elk's D has looked considering the talent . Hoping they don't gel this week. But I think Tre will be good for atleast one pick six vs our D. 

They made a few changes to their defence.

From 3Down Nation:

Defensively, the Elks are undergoing a similar shuffle in the secondary. Following the release of offseason signee Emmanuel Rugamba, Kordell Jackson will move to boundary halfback after making consecutive starts at strong-side linebacker. Rookie Chelen Garnes will slide into that spot after making three defensive tackles in a backup role last week, while Kenneth Logan Jr. comes off the practice roster to provide insurance.

[Fatty Liver]

54 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Do we know what his deal looks like for next year?  I know he's getting big money this year with a large guarantee but I don't think I've seen details for 2026.  If there's no guaranteed money next year, we're not necessarily tied to him.  It's not exactly the MOS way but if ZC doesn't perform up to his pay level, they could walk away from him in the off-season.

Interesting that it was Zach that initiated the extension talks, I think he spent the winter ignoring his phone and thinking about his future and realized the only thing he knows is football, and he isn't well suited for media.  He's mentioned a few times in the last month that he wants to get into coaching, he has a lot of league connections so that doesn't necessarily mean Wpg, as he still lives in Ont.