Blue Bombers -- 2025/26 Offseason -- Discussion Thread

[Bigblue204]

21 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

Am i safe to assume that we didn't qualify this season for one of the bonus draft picks for being amount the top 2 teams in overall Canadian snaps?

They regularly started more Canadians then they needed to. If they aren't in the running I'd be shocked.

1 hour ago, TBURGESS said:

Tweaking isn't going to be enough to get back into the top teams conversation. Continuity, at this juncture, is just continuing the downward trend we've been on for the last 3 years. 

I suppose that depends on your definition of "tweaking". 

[wbbfan]

25 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

Am i safe to assume that we didn't qualify this season for one of the bonus draft picks for being amount the top 2 teams in overall Canadian snaps?

I'm pretty sure we did. Idk if we used the most Canadians, but we had several games of 9 starters. 

3 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

They regularly started more Canadians then they needed to. If they aren't in the running I'd be shocked.

Yep. Should be in a good position to get the extra pick atleast. 

 

 

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, TBURGESS said:

Tweaking isn't going to be enough to get back into the top teams conversation. Continuity, at this juncture, is just continuing the downward trend we've been on for the last 3 years. 

I suggest that O'Shea is promoting a "tweak" because if he conceded that a major rebuild is needed, that would reflect on his management of the team. 

[Booch]

1 hour ago, Tracker said:

I suggest that O'Shea is promoting a "tweak" because if he conceded that a major rebuild is needed, that would reflect on his management of the team. 

another part of the issue...his ego.....and admitting failure or mistakes...let alone correcting them mid-season...it's non-existent and hurts us too

 

 

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Or Shay/Smith would have been exposed and we do worse. Hard to say. Lot of it predicates on the belief that 2 rookie NAT LBers were ready to start. This is completely unknown at this time and therefore not a statement of fact but of opinion.

Yep,,,I agree. Most here will say Elgersma the rookie, if he signs,  and champion him to start all season despite rookie QBs rarely having success. We will ruin Elgersma if we rush him.

Exposed at Wil? I mean, in pass coverage, we had the most vulnerable Mlber in the league. Or more than a bunch of the DBs were early? Teams around the league started rookie NI lbers this year to great success. Cis kids too, not sort of kind of Canadians like Shay and Smith. 

Smith played a hybrid DB position,l ike how we use the Sam up here in college, too. 

Wil isn't some high-risk position; it's pretty much the DH of the D. You can hide an awful lot a Wil and Mac in the CFL. That's why it's become a low-risk risk high-reward position to flip the ratio at. 

Elgersma is basically our long-term hope at QB. But I do mean long term. He needs to be on the AR and getting some work in practice, but I don't see him jumping into starting. QBs do start sooner than ever, but it would be insane if he even kept pace with the line Rourke set. Where he showed promise as a starter in 21 after being drafted in 19, then was pretty bad in a fraction of a season 24, then really finally cemented him self this year as an elite starter. 

I will be very interested to see how Elgersma progresses, being a CIS kid who got a pre-season in the NFL, but didn't come up here for the end of year. If he had come here and gotten some grooming on the PR, maybe dressed late, that could've been a real career accelerator. But like Walters said, rookie TC is hard for a QB, and it is also the biggest opportunity for one. Unless he is our short yardage guy, I don't expect to see him take a regular season snap next year. 

 

[blue85gold]

5 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Elgersma is basically our long-term hope at QB. But I do mean long term. He needs to be on the AR and getting some work in practice, but I don't see him jumping into starting. QBs do start sooner than ever, but it would be insane if he even kept pace with the line Rourke set. Where he showed promise as a starter in 21 after being drafted in 19, then was pretty bad in a fraction of a season 24, then really finally cemented him self this year as an elite starter. 

I will be very interested to see how Elgersma progresses, being a CIS kid who got a pre-season in the NFL, but didn't come up here for the end of year. If he had come here and gotten some grooming on the PR, maybe dressed late, that could've been a real career accelerator. But like Walters said, rookie TC is hard for a QB, and it is also the biggest opportunity for one. Unless he is our short yardage guy, I don't expect to see him take a regular season snap next year. 

 

Like every team in the league the long-term hope at QB is the neg list. 

Not a lot of teams are grooming back-ups to take over. That's why we're still watching Bo, Zach, Faj, and Harris play. Only recent success there is Alexander and Rouke. I guess Kelly too for one and bit seasons.

[bigg jay]

6 minutes ago, blue85gold said:

Like every team in the league the long-term hope at QB is the neg list. 

Not a lot of teams are grooming back-ups to take over. That's why we're still watching Bo, Zach, Faj, and Harris play. Only recent success there is Alexander and Rouke. I guess Kelly too for one and bit seasons.

Alexander has 4 seasons under his belt now - he was definitely groomed to take over.

[wbbfan]

21 minutes ago, blue85gold said:

Like every team in the league the long-term hope at QB is the neg list. 

Not a lot of teams are grooming back-ups to take over. That's why we're still watching Bo, Zach, Faj, and Harris play. Only recent success there is Alexander and Rouke. I guess Kelly too for one and bit seasons.

It is not for lack of trying; the league is in a bad spot to attract QBs and is doing a poor job of developing them. 

The NFL is struggling to adapt Qbs to their game, and sitting on guys much longer, and they have the room to hold guys around now. Not to mention the increased pay. 

16 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Alexander has 4 seasons under his belt now - he was definitely groomed to take over.

Plus dru brown, and Rourke.  

[blue85gold]

55 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Alexander has 4 seasons under his belt now - he was definitely groomed to take over.

39 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Plus dru brown, and Rourke.  

You guys read that I said Alexander and Rourke?

I don't count Dru because the Redblack didn't groom him. 

[bigg jay]

3 minutes ago, blue85gold said:

You guys read that I said Alexander and Rourke?

I don't count Dru because the Redblack didn't groom him. 

Why wouldn't Dru count?  He may be with Ottawa but Winnipeg absolutely groomed him - they just chose to stick with ZC.   It's no different than how Arbuckle was touted as the next big Calgary QB for a couple seasons but he was behind a prime BLM so he was shipped off to (coincidentally) Ottawa.  Calgary had Maier after that and they eventually felt confident enough to move on from BLM.   Neither guy panned out as an elite starter but Calgary still spend a few seasons developing each of them.

[blue85gold]

16 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Why wouldn't Dru count?  He may be with Ottawa but Winnipeg absolutely groomed him - they just chose to stick with ZC.   It's no different than how Arbuckle was touted as the next big Calgary QB for a couple seasons but he was behind a prime BLM so he was shipped off to (coincidentally) Ottawa.  Calgary had Maier after that and they eventually felt confident enough to move on from BLM.   Neither guy panned out as an elite starter but Calgary still spend a few seasons developing each of them.

Because we were talking about team's long term hopes at QB. 

My point is that only a couple of teams right now have a QB that they groomed over the long-term. 

Everyone else acquired a QB

[Booch]

3 hours ago, blue85gold said:

Like every team in the league the long-term hope at QB is the neg list. 

Not a lot of teams are grooming back-ups to take over. That's why we're still watching Bo, Zach, Faj, and Harris play. Only recent success there is Alexander and Rouke. I guess Kelly too for one and bit seasons.

and hence why we let a guy we groomed for 3 yrs...got substantial work here along the way and showed great potential walk for basically nothing...Sure hindsight is 20/20....but also good teams...and great coaches see the future in the now...and make the tough...sometimes hard decisions...Loyalty shouldnt be a currency that keeps you employed, or starting in the same place forever

 

3 hours ago, bigg jay said:

Alexander has 4 seasons under his belt now - he was definitely groomed to take over.

he got less grooming than Brown got here tho....and did significantly less than Brown did...Yet MTL had the foresight to look forward and project their squad so to speak and would be the best option for them...We didnt...there were many signs ZC was in serious decline and we just kept referencing 2019-2021 and some reg season success....but poor playoff performances

1 hour ago, bigg jay said:

Why wouldn't Dru count?  He may be with Ottawa but Winnipeg absolutely groomed him - they just chose to stick with ZC.   It's no different than how Arbuckle was touted as the next big Calgary QB for a couple seasons but he was behind a prime BLM so he was shipped off to (coincidentally) Ottawa.  Calgary had Maier after that and they eventually felt confident enough to move on from BLM.   Neither guy panned out as an elite starter but Calgary still spend a few seasons developing each of them.

see above

If Huff was here..Bouno....even ol Cal....Brown woulda been kept..ZC traded