Is this ever a guy we should take a run at? I really like Pokey as a receiver but not sure he's a 1A Superstar guy... Would you ever take a run at Hatcher as your #1 and then have Pokey and Demski as 2/3?

 

 

1 hour ago, Booch said:

O'd be shocked if of those picks we don't go 3 lineman in first 4 picks..be it 2 on D...or 2 on O...The easiest and most likely to make more immediate impacts on the roster via rotation or actually starting...And if we hit the jackpot and get Manu up here..Eli pans out...which I dont doubt he will...Wallace takes that next step and Vibert pushes to be in lineup...We may just find ourselves with a glut of Oline guys again and be in a real good position again like 2019 to 2022...with guys all in prime and relatively young as lineman...and depending on who we get via the draft....a 2027 line with Broxton...Wallace...Eli...Say either Vibert (or a 2026 draft class guy) and Manu would be a real good brawling line who would definitely control the l.o.s like our 2 cup days and be a bonus for the defense with that extra import being able to take unlimited reps on defense...

This is gonna be a key draft for us moving onto 2027 and if Smith and Shay also get the chance to step forward and show they belong...which also I doubt they will disappoint....we could really be in a nice spot ratiowise and able to do some interesting things

Yeah I mean I hope so. This is a great draft class to restock the lines on in the first 2-3 rounds.

Also, I'd love to see us draft a DB who has the potential to run and cover at half/corner etc. Not just a teams guy, but someone who can be a rotational piece.

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

I hope we address the lines early in this draft. One of the reasons I didn't like Ferguson's last mock was he had us going linebacker with the 4th pick. That makes no sense with other needs and having Shay and Smith needing rotational reps.

1 hour ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Yeah that was a dumbass take by Ferguson. Its not a team need by and stretch, and taking any LB at 4th overall would be a huge reach.

Snafu for the national cfl "media"

Think we need another receiver, OL and defensive player who can play out of this draft.

DB pool in this one is pretty deep. There's a couple high end guys for CFL who aren't getting much NFL attention.

There's some LB's too.

I think we're really prepared to play 3 import OL so OL in general is less of a need early. Like there's no point in drafting a guy who isn't a player early. Vaccaro is a slam dunk if there's an opportunity. I could see us taking Henning. Not sure Cline has ever been in Canada, not sure Taylor or Reese will ever play up here. So the OL pool gets shallow pretty quick into projects and guys coming off a couple years of severe injuries who maybe would have rated higher otherwise....including Henning although I think he's an interesting guy as a 7th OL potentially as he develops. Most of the rest of the good U Sports guys will be moving inside from tackle, which isn't always easy or immediate.

DL crew is kind of similar with NFL guys vs guys who went NCAA but barely played or finally got to play at a low level, low end athleticism, no explosiveness looking ahead to CFL. Charlie Parks is one guy out of Sask who is a major PITA. He will be a good pro, situational, maybe gains 15- 20 pounds and can take reps at 3 spots, special teams.

There's a lot of receivers who will be solid CFL players/prospects and in training camp. Would not be shocked if there's a run on them in the first 10-15 picks. Ojutalayo from Laurier is a guy to watch early. Football player, no Jade Etienne bullshit. DeMontagnac, Ulm, Boutin, Meiga will go first couple rounds too.

I would not be shocked if our first couple picks are receiver or DB/LB. Ethan Stuart is a guy I could see Walters/MOS loving early.

So @JuranBoldenRules , would you trade up for Vaccaro?

14 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

So @JuranBoldenRules , would you trade up for Vaccaro?

I would.

4 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

I would.

as would I....I could see him as a guy who could start immediately and if it allows us to go 3 Nationals on Oline with youth like Wallace and Vibert as the backups....both young...and still young Eli ...we are set up nicely....even nicer if Manu strolls into camp next yr too

40 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

I would.

36 minutes ago, Booch said:

as would I....I could see him as a guy who could start immediately and if it allows us to go 3 Nationals on Oline with youth like Wallace and Vibert as the backups....both young...and still young Eli ...we are set up nicely....even nicer if Manu strolls into camp next yr too

Yeah there's a lot of talk that Manu's on the outside looking in with the Lions, especially after they took an OT with their first rounder this weekend. If it doesn't pan out there, he might catch on with another team but he could find himself up here sooner than most people expected.

I know at one point this off season, the Bengals only had 3 OL on their entire roster. I'm assuming that's likely changed, but needless to say I think Manu will get looks for a bit yet.

15 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

So @JuranBoldenRules , would you trade up for Vaccaro?

Probably not. I'd assume Ottawa's pick would require our 1st and 2nd this year plus next years 1st. So that means you're not getting a good receiver out of this draft IMO. The way we are built right now, receiver is way more of a need IMO. And depth in general is a need. Our D will get ugly fast with a couple injuries, imagine if Demski goes down.

Vaccaro will be reliable but he's not like a Desjarlais or something.

13 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

I know at one point this off season, the Bengals only had 3 OL on their entire roster. I'm assuming that's likely changed, but needless to say I think Manu will get looks for a bit yet.

The Bengals have 10 OL on their roster at the moment and just drafted 2 more.

One of the things Manu had going for him was the NFL's International Player Pathway Program, where he didn't take up a roster spot during the off-season or when he was on the PR but he's now aged out of that. It'll be harder to justify keeping him around given his limited experience.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by bigg jay

I don’t mind this and playoffs will certainly be interesting

TSN

CFL adjusts scheduling, playoff structure set to begin in...

The Canadian Football League (CFL) has finalized updates to the season schedule and reached an agreement with the CFL Players’ Association (CFLPA) on a refreshed playoff format beginning in 2027.

12 minutes ago, Goalie said:

I don’t mind this and playoffs will certainly be interesting

TSN

CFL adjusts scheduling, playoff structure set to begin in...

The Canadian Football League (CFL) has finalized updates to the season schedule and reached an agreement with the CFL Players’ Association (CFLPA) on a refreshed playoff format beginning in 2027.

I like the season starting late May. Can't come soon enough after a long winter!

Hate that 8/9 teams will make the playoffs now. Like the attempt at eliminating the issues with divisions but not sure I like this wonky playoff format.

This site is really running slow today.

This new playoff format is a complete joke and just awful IMO.

The regular season means absolutely nothing anymore, teams will just coast and rest players near the end of the season because unless you are the bottom you are in. As a loyal fan this pushes me into caring much less on what happens during the regular season. Bad idea. This format would only work if they had at least 3 more teams.

The only good thing is starting the season earlier.

What's the point of playing 18 games to basically just give playoff rankings?

Not sure it solves the problem of teams basically being locked into their seeds by games 15-16.

2 minutes ago, Brandon said:

This site is really running slow today.

This new playoff format is a complete joke and just awful IMO.

The regular season means absolutely nothing anymore, teams will just coast and rest players near the end of the season because unless you are the bottom you are in. As a loyal fan this pushes me into caring much less on what happens during the regular season. Bad idea. This format would only work if they had at least 3 more teams.

The only good thing is starting the season earlier.

Same, I figure it's the foot traffic starting for draft day. Half the fans don't know what time or day the draft is lol. I've fielded a bunch of questions from randos the past couple of weeks, IRL, about the draft and QBs. The regular fans know the season is nearly here, and news/camp will follow.

What a sick joke of a playoff format. Stewart is speed running the worst CFL commissioner of all time. Which is no small feat, but he's on pace to accomplish it.

I hate so much of what they are going to be doing to the league.

The earlier season will be good. Time to stop forcing our schedule around the NFL draft. Kids don't come up here as fast out of NFL cuts anymore. The ones who hold out to the last minute or rookie camp cuts will be in a tough spot, though.

16 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

What's the point of playing 18 games to basically just give playoff rankings?

Not sure it solves the problem of teams basically being locked into their seeds by games 15-16.

Makes it worse, IMO. More teams will be resting guys earlier since it wont really matter if they finish 1st/2nd or 3rd/4th.

Gives teams another home game aka cash aka bottom line.

So we'll have a season of basically meaningless games... teams treading water leading us into an unnecessary convoluted playoff formula .....All of this to go along with moving the goal posts and whatever else this genius Johnson comes up with...Change for changes sake never goes well

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Stickem

30 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

What's the point of playing 18 games to basically just give playoff rankings?

Not sure it solves the problem of teams basically being locked into their seeds by games 15-16.

My worry is that if a team is the drizzling poops (i.e. Ottawa), that teams 3 - 8 will sit guys for long periods of time so that everyone is fresh for this new long play off format.

We might have late season games where the B squad is playing 2 - 3 games and the stars will be sitting on the sidelines.

Stewart is absolutely going to ruin the CFL. Tweaks to the schedule and dates are fine. Good idea to try and get more warm weather dates in. Making the regular season far less important will hurt over the long term. It may not be an issue right now, but eventually casual fans learn that they don't need to pay attention until closer to the end of the season. You can already see it with both the NHL and NBA seasons being so long.

6 hours ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

I would.

Imo, if you expect 1 of Vaccaro or Henning to drop to you, or if you fell in love with Gatkuoth/ 1 of the top 2-3 WRs, you stand pat. If you think the guy you really want is gonna go, this is a draft class to trade up. For me, you really want to get one of Vaccaro or Henning. But if you think Manu is gonna drop through the crack, I could see sitting. But those 2 are special in a special draft class at the most premium position.

I would trade up for someone with a rookie camp invite; I would not trade up for anyone with guaranteed cash like Konga.

I think the best value from this draft might actually be trading down into more picks in the 2nd and 3rd. We already have 4 in the top 24, but the gap between 4th and 13th is where you'd love to add. The 2nd round picks in this draft are going to make or break NI depth around the league for the next few years. Best case scenario, trade the 4th rounder or lower (or future pick) Plus neglist or roster depth for another first. We've got a ton of cfl talent at imp ol, maybe lber or db as well.