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

[GCn20]

15 hours ago, bearpants said:

you're right... signing Lawler would've added a few "wow" moments to our offense... having him may have led to more points and maybe an extra win... but his presence wouldn't have fixed our OL issues or DL issues or overall ineptitude of our offense... what's done is done... last year is a throw away (IMO) and let's look forward to getting back this year....

No doubt about it. Kenny wasn't going to save our season, but he would have been one step up the ladder from where we were and sure would look great in blue and gold this year as well.

[Booch]

so as it see it currently...not based on any further signings, or what happens in TC....Our defence could shake out  as such as a base set

Allen...Nichols...Kramdi...Holm....Moxey

Wilson...Jones...Griffen

WJ...Lawson..Ceresna..One of Jenkins/Romanowski and Bailey rotating

When we go 3 Dlinman front lots of variations with Woodbey and I can see Smith and Shay subbing in an when we do those other sets where Hallet came in as well chaing guys but not really doing much that could be Vaval's role if he doesnt take the other Corner spot

Thats a far cry from last yr and the making of a pretty stout defence

Offensively

Bryant...Vpool/Randolph...Eli...Neuf...Broxton and Wallace as the 6th

Gimme Banks outside...Demski..White...Pokey....Neild/Clercius....

And of course ZC and BO in backfield.....and the key...an O.C who has had success in the league

That looks light yrs ahead of where we were, and camp and the rest of FA hasnt even concluded yet

I'm just thinking good luck teams stopping is on second and short and Jumbo when you could have a side of the Oline with Eli..Broxton..Wallace...Bryant ..grading road

3 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

No doubt about it. Kenny wasn't going to save our season, but he would have been one step up the ladder from where we were and sure would look great in blue and gold this year as well.

yup....and dide scored 14 td's....pretty much double any other reciever...so obviously was money in red zone or just getting in for paydirt

Edited 2 hours ago by Booch

[GCn20]

15 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Withn Tim White, Nic Demski, Tommy Nield & Ontaria Wilson having Lawler now would have been the icing on the cake. Not only would we have spread the ball around but we also would have had the best deep ball receiver in the CFL. That's the missing piece on offense right now. 

Agreed. Kenny last year would have helped, and this year would be more impactful likely.

[GCn20]

7 minutes ago, Booch said:

so as it see it currently...not based on any further signings, or what happens in RC....Our defence could shale our as such as a base set

Allen...Nichols...Kramdi...Holm....Moxey

Wilson...Jones...Griffen

WJ...Lawson..Ceresna..One of Jenkins/Romanowski and Bailey rotating

When we go 3 Dlinman front lots of variations with Woodbey and I can see Smith and Shay subbing in an when we do those other sets where Hallet came in as well chaing guys but not really doing much that could be Vaval's role if he doesnt take the other Corner spot

Thats a far cry from last yr and the making of a pretty stout defence

Offensively

Bryant...Vpool/Randolph...Eli...Neuf...Broxton and Wallace as the 6th

Gimme Banks outside...Demski..White...Pokey....Neild/Clercius....

And of course ZC and BO in backfield.....and the key...an O.C who has had success in the league

That looks light yrs ahead of where we were, and camp and the rest of FA hasnt even concluded yet

I'm just thinking good luck teams stopping is on second and short and Jumbo when you could have a side of the Oline with Eli..Broxton..Wallace...Bryant ..grading road

yup....and dide scored 14 td's....pretty much double any other reciever...so obviously was money in red zone or just getting in for paydirt

 

I like our roster coming in this year as well. We addressed all 3 areas of major weakness with some PROVEN talent. Boxton, White, Ceresna are all premier players. Instead of losing 3 all star calibre players like we did last year we added 3. Those are huge move the needle signings.

[BBlink]

10 minutes ago, Booch said:

so as it see it currently...not based on any further signings, or what happens in RC....Our defence could shale our as such as a base set

Allen...Nichols...Kramdi...Holm....Moxey

Wilson...Jones...Griffen

WJ...Lawson..Ceresna..One of Jenkins/Romanowski and Bailey rotating

When we go 3 Dlinman front lots of variations with Woodbey and I can see Smith and Shay subbing in an when we do those other sets where Hallet came in as well chaing guys but not really doing much that could be Vaval's role if he doesnt take the other Corner spot

Thats a far cry from last yr and the making of a pretty stout defence

Offensively

Bryant...Vpool/Randolph...Eli...Neuf...Broxton and Wallace as the 6th

Gimme Banks outside...Demski..White...Pokey....Neild/Clercius....

And of course ZC and BO in backfield.....and the key...an O.C who has had success in the league

That looks light yrs ahead of where we were, and camp and the rest of FA hasnt even concluded yet

I'm just thinking good luck teams stopping is on second and short and Jumbo when you could have a side of the Oline with Eli..Broxton..Wallace...Bryant ..grading road

Combination of Big Stan and Broxton (I'm assuming) on the left side is going to be wild. Eli should have a tonne of confidence in the middle when he doesn't have to worry about anything to his left. Snap the ball and do your job.

[Booch]

1 minute ago, BBlink said:

Combination of Big Stan and Broxton (I'm assuming) on the left side is going to be wild. Eli should have a tonne of confidence in the middle when he doesn't have to worry about anything to his left. Snap the ball and do your job.

Moreso as well the 2 guards not having to worry or try and compensate to whats on their left...and right

[GCn20]

2 minutes ago, BBlink said:

Combination of Big Stan and Broxton (I'm assuming) on the left side is going to be wild. Eli should have a tonne of confidence in the middle when he doesn't have to worry about anything to his left. Snap the ball and do your job.

Still not convinced it will be Eli at C, but if it is then certainly having Stan/Boxton bookending is going to allow the OGs to do better, which takes pressure off Eli as well.

[Booch]

I can say with confidence...whoever takes the center spot...will be better than what we had the last several yrs....so that is a net positive as it will radiate right across both sides of the line

And if they come out of camp dominant, and gelling and ol ZC has a couple games early on where he could have a sandwich...some potatoe chips...lil kool aide on the side...and just disect defences....that would be the best thing too

[rebusrankin]

I like @Booch line up but think we may need an 8th Canadian or a fake Canadian.

[Booch]

1 minute ago, rebusrankin said:

I like @Booch line up but think we may need an 8th Canadian or a fake Canadian.

anyone of WJ...Bryant...Wilson,,,Jones...Nichols...Griffin...Holm...Broxton...White can be that "8th" who is the Nationalized one, so no worries there

Also Bailey can come in in lieu of a Canadian to make ratio requirements if we declare more than 1 on defence

[bearpants]

52 minutes ago, Booch said:

Offensively

Bryant...Vpool/Randolph...Eli...Neuf...Broxton and Wallace as the 6th

 

I genuinely wonder about where Big Stan fits in... if you consider a potential starting line up of Broxton-Vanderpool-Eli-Paddy-Randolph.... where does Stan play that makes this group better?... Could he dress as a DI and play TE on 6-man sets?.... that would be an easy way to count him as a DA

[wbbfan]

So what's left for us this offseason?

The biggest need is on the DL. We got about 13 guys, fairly evenly split between inside and out. We for sure need a few more pass rushers, an import nose or two, and some Canadian talent inside or out. I expect that to be filled by rookies and draft picks.

On OL, we got 18 guys already, which is crazy, especially when we already have more starters than spots. We have a ton of imp Ts who are actual tackles for once as well. Even though tackle is our deepest position now. We still need to draft some OL talent, as you basically always need to. And add Centre depth. 

At Back, another Canadian FB who is a natural blocking type would be good. Even better if they are an H back/te. Another Canadian RB would be good for camp, though it's a low priority and low chance to make the team. 

At WR, we have about 18 guys. We only have 3 guys, 6'2 or bigger, and one of them is 180lbs lol. I expect we will add around 5+ more. Need more young Canadians as always, and some big down field possesion guys. I expect that to be all rookies as well. Would love to see us get a big down field guy who kicked around the NFL a while and is further along. 

QB, I don't think what we need is going to be available for a backup. So just the best of a bad fa group.

Lber, we got 14 + guys, and both the starters and AR are going to be impossible to take spots from, unless we see a huge rash of injuries. 

DB, we have 21 guys and only 2 are 30+. It's pretty good, also with a deep core of starting options. A couple more bodies are likely for the rookie camp. I'd love to see a couple more modern Sams who are bigger db/lber tweeners and a bit more true cover-corner types. 

On teams, someone to push the punter and take reps off both him and Sergio in camp would be good. Doesn't hurt to audition kickers in this league either. No matter who you have. Vaval is pretty locked in if healthy, but we really need some KR depth. We need guys to eat up reps in TC, and an insurance policy for Vaval. Our kick cover team is in a great spot. More versatile guys with size who excel in blocking would be ideal. Maybe a project type to develop. (Canadian H-back would be clutch) 
 

All in all, the roster is in a pretty great spot for this time of year. Definitely in the top group competing to win the off-season. 

 

3 minutes ago, bearpants said:

I genuinely wonder about where Big Stan fits in... if you consider a potential starting line up of Broxton-Vanderpool-Eli-Paddy-Randolph.... where does Stan play that makes this group better?... Could he dress as a DI and play TE on 6-man sets?.... that would be an easy way to count him as a DA

Going into camp, that is the best move and line-up imo. Though the Ts have to win their spot, and so do Paddy and Eli. Vanterpool, I think, would be damn hard to beat at G. 

That or, like was discussed fully previously, you slide big stan inside. 

[Blue In BC]

56 minutes ago, Booch said:

so as it see it currently...not based on any further signings, or what happens in TC....Our defence could shake out  as such as a base set

Allen...Nichols...Kramdi...Holm....Moxey

Wilson...Jones...Griffen

WJ...Lawson..Ceresna..One of Jenkins/Romanowski and Bailey rotating

When we go 3 Dlinman front lots of variations with Woodbey and I can see Smith and Shay subbing in an when we do those other sets where Hallet came in as well chaing guys but not really doing much that could be Vaval's role if he doesnt take the other Corner spot

Thats a far cry from last yr and the making of a pretty stout defence

Offensively

Bryant...Vpool/Randolph...Eli...Neuf...Broxton and Wallace as the 6th

Gimme Banks outside...Demski..White...Pokey....Neild/Clercius....

And of course ZC and BO in backfield.....and the key...an O.C who has had success in the league

That looks light yrs ahead of where we were, and camp and the rest of FA hasnt even concluded yet

I'm just thinking good luck teams stopping is on second and short and Jumbo when you could have a side of the Oline with Eli..Broxton..Wallace...Bryant ..grading road

yup....and dide scored 14 td's....pretty much double any other reciever...so obviously was money in red zone or just getting in for paydirt

I don't think they move Kramdi to safety or Griffin to SAM. I don't think they'll have Vaval as a full time CB as well as our returner. Lots of " if's " in your thoughts. Not sure on the math whether 3 import OL is doable with some versions of the moves. While I don't like Vaval at CB in a dual role it does free up an import spot. So in that sense it makes the 3 import OL possible. The other versions I'm not as sure. None of these suggest having another DL as a DI. Going with raw talent outside I'd question and little DL depth inside scares me.

[Booch]

I think we knew we would be landing Broxton before we re-upped Big Stan and he gonna be a big part of the lineup regardless...Broxton will be his replacement next yr, and he has also played RT too, so Stan has earned to be in his spot, and compete for it....and if in camp the 2 Tackles show they deserve to be playing then Stan I bet becomes the super 6th and will be on the field a lot regardless....and what a backup to have if a tackle goes down

Yeah he is 40....but he really showed no real drop in play last yr, and times when it seemed he would at times get beat wide...was it an issue of him compensating a bit to his right with Wallace growing pains and Kolo...just being Kolo?...Me thinks so

[GCn20]

52 minutes ago, Booch said:

Moreso as well the 2 guards not having to worry or try and compensate to whats on their left...and right

Jury is out on our C until he proves himself, but our OGs need not worry much about OTs.

13 minutes ago, bearpants said:

I genuinely wonder about where Big Stan fits in... if you consider a potential starting line up of Broxton-Vanderpool-Eli-Paddy-Randolph.... where does Stan play that makes this group better?... Could he dress as a DI and play TE on 6-man sets?.... that would be an easy way to count him as a DA

I highly doubt Randolph displaces Stan/Broxton at OT. He probably plays inside over Vanderpool.

[Booch]

4 minutes ago, Blue In BC said:

I don't think they move Kramdi to safety or Griffin to SAM. I don't think they'll have Vaval as a full time CB as well as our returner. Lots of " if's " in your thoughts. Not sure on the math whether 3 import OL is doable with some versions of the moves. While I don't like Vaval at CB in a dual role it does free up an import spot. So in that sense it makes the 3 import OL possible. The other versions I'm not as sure. None of these suggest having another DL as a DI. Going with raw talent outside I'd question and little DL depth inside scares me.

well Kramdi was worked and used at safety already...And Griffin was used at SAM and was our best SAM in yrs since Darby before he got yanked for Kramdi

3 import oline is easy...especially if we go 3 canadian recievers, but we dont even have to....Have a C and Guard...BO...Demski and another Cdn reciever...thats 5...Lawson and Kramdi on defence..theres the 7...And you rotate in Shay/Smith....Bailey....easy peasy

[GCn20]

5 minutes ago, Booch said:

I think we knew we would be landing Broxton before we re-upped Big Stan and he gonna be a big part of the lineup regardless...Broxton will be his replacement next yr, and he has also played RT too, so Stan has earned to be in his spot, and compete for it....and if in camp the 2 Tackles show they deserve to be playing then Stan I bet becomes the super 6th and will be on the field a lot regardless....and what a backup to have if a tackle goes down

Yeah he is 40....but he really showed no real drop in play last yr, and times when it seemed he would at times get beat wide...was it an issue of him compensating a bit to his right with Wallace growing pains and Kolo...just being Kolo?...Me thinks so

Stan doesn't worry me much, and we are in a great spot if he suddenly hits the age wall.

3 minutes ago, Booch said:

well Kramdi was worked and used at safety already...And Griffin was used at SAM and was our best SAM in yrs since Darby before he got yanked for Kramdi

3 import oline is easy...especially if we go 3 canadian recievers, but we dont even have to....Have a C and Guard...BO...Demski and another Cdn reciever...thats 5...Lawson and Kramdi on defence..theres the 7...And you rotate in Shay/Smith....Bailey....easy peasy

Would be nice to pick through the FA's and get some NAT depth, but what we have is not too bad either.

[wbbfan]

5 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Jury is out on our C until he proves himself, but our OGs need not worry much about OTs.

I highly doubt Randolph displaces Stan/Broxton at OT. He probably plays inside over Vanderpool.

Vanterpool* is drastically better at guard than Randolph. Vanterpool is a G that we tried to shoehorn into T. Randolph is a T. At the point of rando at G you may as well just be going with 3 NIs. If we used a naturalized imp or di on the OL, we could use Randolph on the outside shoulder of big stan. Randolph's primary college use was as a 6th ol in heavy sets, both passing and running. You could na bryant and still have him play most of the reps with Rando in on heavy passing downs. Or you could DI rando. Unless Bryant has a resurgence like Hardrick did, though, Rando is the better pass blocker. He was all of last year. 

Imo, with Rando and Broxton, we have the 2 best pass blocking Ts in the league. With Rando a small margin over Yoshi, though Yoshi was the best run blocking ol in the whole league again last year. Broxton was one of the best run blockers, too. He's just a freakin beast. 

4 minutes ago, Booch said:

well Kramdi was worked and used at safety already...And Griffin was used at SAM and was our best SAM in yrs since Darby before he got yanked for Kramdi

3 import oline is easy...especially if we go 3 canadian recievers, but we dont even have to....Have a C and Guard...BO...Demski and another Cdn reciever...thats 5...Lawson and Kramdi on defence..theres the 7...And you rotate in Shay/Smith....Bailey....easy peasy

Does seem from last year that they want to move Kramdi to S. I could see it being a package /base for pass d. Griffin at Sam, Kramdi at S, maybe even in a 2 high we showed some last year with 1 Canadian, and Woodbey at Wil. 

[Booch]

Just now, wbbfan said:

Vanterpool* is drastically better at guard than Randolph. Vanterpool is a G that we tried to shoehorn into T. Randolph is a T. At the point of rando at G you may as well just be going with 3 NIs. If we used a naturalized imp or di on the OL, we could use Randolph on the outside shoulder of big stan. Randolph's primary college use was as a 6th ol in heavy sets, both passing and running. You could na bryant and still have him play most of the reps with Rando in on heavy passing downs. Or you could DI rando. Unless Bryant has a resurgence like Hardrick did, though, Rando is the better pass blocker. He was all of last year. 

Imo, with Rando and Broxton, we have the 2 best pass blocking Ts in the league. With Rando a small margin over Yoshi, though Yoshi was the best run blocking ol in the whole league again last year. Broxton was one of the best run blockers, too. He's just a freakin beast. 

Does seem from last year that they want to move Kramdi to S. I could see it being a package /base for pass d. Griffin at Sam, Kramdi at S, maybe even in a 2 high we showed some last year with 1 Canadian, and Woodbey at Wil. 

yeah we were already transitioning the safety thing last yr

And Griffin is just too goo to keep off the field, as how can you exclude one of your best tacklers, and a guy who can oplay great coverage at 220 pounds...you just cant

Him and Woodbey I can see Younger using the heck outta in many ways, 

And our oline situ which was looking kinda bleak last yr....is in good shape for yrs to come with youngester in Randolph and Vpool...Vibert...Wallace and Broxton who prob has at least 4 good yrs in him

[Mike]

I don’t see how Woodbey and Griffin both get on the roster this year unless we use the roster rules appropriately … or start Kramdi at safety, I guess.

We have 4 DA spots, two of them should be Castillo and Vaval and then you gotta HOPE one of them is on the DL …

[Pete]

12 minutes ago, Booch said:

yeah we were already transitioning the safety thing last yr

And Griffin is just too goo to keep off the field, as how can you exclude one of your best tacklers, and a guy who can oplay great coverage at 220 pounds...you just cant

Him and Woodbey I can see Younger using the heck outta in many ways, 

And our oline situ which was looking kinda bleak last yr....is in good shape for yrs to come with youngester in Randolph and Vpool...Vibert...Wallace and Broxton who prob has at least 4 good yrs in hime

Yeah but I really liked Allen at safety, Entering his second year hes gonna be even better. Playing Kramdl there unless we need to for ratio reasons makes us weaker

[GCn20]

23 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Vanterpool* is drastically better at guard than Randolph. Vanterpool is a G that we tried to shoehorn into T. Randolph is a T. At the point of rando at G you may as well just be going with 3 NIs. If we used a naturalized imp or di on the OL, we could use Randolph on the outside shoulder of big stan. Randolph's primary college use was as a 6th ol in heavy sets, both passing and running. You could na bryant and still have him play most of the reps with Rando in on heavy passing downs. Or you could DI rando. Unless Bryant has a resurgence like Hardrick did, though, Rando is the better pass blocker. He was all of last year. 

Imo, with Rando and Broxton, we have the 2 best pass blocking Ts in the league. With Rando a small margin over Yoshi, though Yoshi was the best run blocking ol in the whole league again last year. Broxton was one of the best run blockers, too. He's just a freakin beast. 

Does seem from last year that they want to move Kramdi to S. I could see it being a package /base for pass d. Griffin at Sam, Kramdi at S, maybe even in a 2 high we showed some last year with 1 Canadian, and Woodbey at Wil. 

I don't see one of Vanterpool, or Randolph starting. Stan is the GOAT and Stan will start, It's quite possible neither of the aforementioned start. Stan doesn't need a resurgence, He is no longer the best OT in the league, but he is still really good.

[Booch]

9 minutes ago, Mike said:

I don’t see how Woodbey and Griffin both get on the roster this year unless we use the roster rules appropriately … or start Kramdi at safety, I guess.

We have 4 DA spots, two of them should be Castillo and Vaval and then you gotta HOPE one of them is on the DL …

they were lots last yr....easily done

 

10 minutes ago, Pete said:

Yeah but I really liked Allen at safety, Entering his second year hes gonna be even better. Playing Kramdl there unless we need to for ratio reasons makes us weaker

playing him at SAM makes us even weaker than that

Allen played well in pre-season and in camp at Corner, but we have lots of options how we do it