With Rookie Camp getting underway Wednesday morning, it's officially time to talk about the 2026 Winnipeg Blue Bombers!

My initial thoughts after seeing that they cut McGhee was positive. Not that he’s a bad player necessarily, but I don’t see him being that guy that’s going to be a difference maker at the position. We brought in a lot of talent in the secondary and I’d rather give the reps to the young talent on this roster. In years past we would have pencilled him in as a starter because he was a vet. it would be painfully obvious he was a weak spot and he would be cut by week 3-4 im glad, wouldn’t mind them moving on from a few more vets if im being honest with you.

9 hours ago, Brandon said:

I was under the impression the coaches want him to knock down passes and to contain rather then for him to go for the sack.

Also he played next to Jake Thomas who comically was knocked around on nearly every play.

From what I've watched Willie still can disrupt even at his older age.

mos certainly loves willy playing the lanes. I’ve never heard jy talk on it but he can’t be against it. but he didn’t get to play that under hall.

I mean, i love good pkds at the line too. when it comes with in the flow of pass rush it’s great. Even if the whole rush is stalemated dropping back is brilliant.

At the expense of disruption it’s not worth it. no one does that in any league or level for a reason. consistent disruption not just sacks but pressures, hits, hurries and pocket collapses are too valuable. having that half the snaps of the game vs 1 pass knock down a game or less is a horrible trade off.

Have the coaches ever said they want WJ to knock down passes and they aren't focused on sacks?

41 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

mos certainly loves willy playing the lanes. I’ve never heard jy talk on it but he can’t be against it. but he didn’t get to play that under hall.

I mean, i love good pkds at the line too. when it comes with in the flow of pass rush it’s great. Even if the whole rush is stalemated dropping back is brilliant.

At the expense of disruption it’s not worth it. no one does that in any league or level for a reason. consistent disruption not just sacks but pressures, hits, hurries and pocket collapses are too valuable. having that half the snaps of the game vs 1 pass knock down a game or less is a horrible trade off.

Yeah...I think the staff fell in love with the knock down...sure it's good, but if you let the end(s) loose and constant attack, they are gonna get knockdowns still being in the QB's face and or the possibility of a strip sack, or just sack....plus with real push now likely on every down up the middle with JT no linger being trotted out there play aftr play after play....you may get interior knockdowns or just plain old pocket collapse

Our INT production went down even with the excessive use of extra DB's which at times I just cant stand...too much rotation...guys not getting in a groove...cause of the passive rush...QB's rarely got hurried like our boy ZC and tossed the ball early into a bad spot...or a spot that didn't develop...I hope with a strong interior, and what looks to be likely some high motor rotational ends this yr likely rostered that we just cut WJ loose and let him attack...The PKD's will come regardless of how we scheme him

27 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Have the coaches ever said they want WJ to knock down passes and they aren't focused on sacks?

I not sure they said it...But its obvious if you watch...A quick jab step to see what the tackle/guard blocking responsibilities are and then a pop back into one of the lanes and float there lookung for the ball....Even talking to Gavin Walls when training we said it was a scheme they were wanting to do...and he would have hated it

10 hours ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

My initial thoughts after seeing that they cut McGhee was positive. Not that he’s a bad player necessarily, but I don’t see him being that guy that’s going to be a difference maker at the position. We brought in a lot of talent in the secondary and I’d rather give the reps to the young talent on this roster. In years past we would have pencilled him in as a starter because he was a vet. it would be painfully obvious he was a weak spot and he would be cut by week 3-4 im glad, wouldn’t mind them moving on from a few more vets if im being honest with you.

Steamy hot take on a guy who is 26 talking like he is 36. Should cut Cam Allen because he's played a CFL game before too.

Who the **** cares if a guy is a "vet" because he's played before or a rookie? Put the best team on the field to win the next game.

3 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Have the coaches ever said they want WJ to knock down passes and they aren't focused on sacks?

Jordan Younger's ideology is exactly that, so they don't really have to say it. Just watch his defensive schemes. It isn't really built for PKDs they are just a good result. He likes to drop WJ out of pass rush a lot.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by GCn20

25 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Steamy hot take on a guy who is 26 talking like he is 36. Should cut Cam Allen because he's played a CFL game before too.

Who the **** cares if a guy is a "vet" because he's played before or a rookie? Put the best team on the field to win the next game.

Agreed with the caveat that salary is also a consideration though. If two guys are near equal but one guy is making 100k a season more than the other, you might take a very slight downgrade to free up cash if it is close enough of a gap.

Is there practice on Friday?...anyone know....

That would be insane if they did it again in a stadium this size. I've got 1 game in June vs Edm, 2 back to back at the end of July, and Banjo Bowl... So far. Looking into using my remaining vacation days for the fiscal year on an August trip home for another game ... Better hustle on the tix i suppose.

On 2026-05-12 at 7:34 PM, Noeller said:

The only people wrong are the two taking a hard line on either side. There's plenty of blame to go around everyone from Walters on down to the coordinators...

still amazes me that some are convinced it's one or the other...

On 2026-05-13 at 9:13 AM, Bigblue204 said:

I know some people get ruffled feathers over this. But the vast majority of guys who come to the CFL, especially when they're young feel this way. The CFL isn't the goal.

unfortunately it's true... CFL is a stepping stone for almost everyone... and the CFL would be smart to position itself as the best stepping stone available to get the best talent... obviously some guys are self-aware enough to know it's the best they'll do and that's great too.... but I'd rather see one or two seasons out of guys like Dee Alford and Alex Singleton than none at all...

14 straight sellouts correct?

Plus I believe the Banjo Bowl is already sold out.

5 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Have the coaches ever said they want WJ to knock down passes and they aren't focused on sacks?

Mos talked about it in yesterday's presser a bit.

5 hours ago, Booch said:

Yeah...I think the staff fell in love with the knock down...sure it's good, but if you let the end(s) loose and constant attack, they are gonna get knockdowns still being in the QB's face and or the possibility of a strip sack, or just sack....plus with real push now likely on every down up the middle with JT no linger being trotted out there play aftr play after play....you may get interior knockdowns or just plain old pocket collapse

Our INT production went down even with the excessive use of extra DB's which at times I just cant stand...too much rotation...guys not getting in a groove...cause of the passive rush...QB's rarely got hurried like our boy ZC and tossed the ball early into a bad spot...or a spot that didn't develop...I hope with a strong interior, and what looks to be likely some high motor rotational ends this yr likely rostered that we just cut WJ loose and let him attack...The PKD's will come regardless of how we scheme him

I not sure they said it...But its obvious if you watch...A quick jab step to see what the tackle/guard blocking responsibilities are and then a pop back into one of the lanes and float there lookung for the ball....Even talking to Gavin Walls when training we said it was a scheme they were wanting to do...and he would have hated it

Yep, organic PKDs are great. When it comes entirely at the expense of everything else, it costs you a lot. But where a PKD on first down, when the other team converts is wasted, a qb hit/hurry/sack has a cumulative toll and you can easily get to the point where the qb is broken mentally if not physically. We saw us do that to the whole league for 2 years, and have seen zach and others here get to that point.

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Jordan Younger's ideology is exactly that, so they don't really have to say it. Just watch his defensive schemes. It isn't really built for PKDs they are just a good result. He likes to drop WJ out of pass rush a lot.

I don't see a lot of WJs drops being called. When it's a called drop from the edge, you see a couple of hard steps to the back field, then a back peddle and you gain depth. The goal is to get the dropper to just under the shallow routes, which creates massive issues for the QBs. This is how we saw WJ get picks and deflections into pick 6s in the past. I haven't seen WJ climb that far back in a long time, though.

With the player having the option to rover you see a lot less depth in the drop, and more screening action like on an inbounds pass in basketball. Which is what we do see WJ do a lot.

We have had such a strange defensive roster since JY took over, Im not sure how much is his design and how much is just him making the best out of what he gets. We got away from the Fangio 6 style drop cover almost entirely last year. JY does want to play some match zone stuff with a bubble where DBs mirror routes, stay in back pedal as long as possible, make reads and then come up to play on the ball. But I don't think we've seen him married to a front or pressure package. We've seen 30, 40, 4+1, heavy blitz packages, but not as much mixes. We see prolonged runs on schemes then overhauls.

He very well may view the front and pressure portion as utilitarian to what the secondary does and needs.

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Agreed with the caveat that salary is also a consideration though. If two guys are near equal but one guy is making 100k a season more than the other, you might take a very slight downgrade to free up cash if it is close enough of a gap.

Upside as well. if two guys are pretty close in calibre of play, but one is a rook and one is a 4 year guy its reasonable to expect that the rookie hasn't peaked and the vet has.

My initial thoughts after seeing that they cut McGhee was positive. Not that he’s a bad player necessarily, but I don’t see him being that guy that’s going to be a difference maker at the position. We brought in a lot of talent in the secondary and I’d rather give the reps to the young talent on this roster. In years past we would have pencilled him in as a starter because he was a vet. it would be painfully obvious he was a weak spot and he would be cut by week 3-4 im glad, wouldn’t mind them moving on from a few more vets if im being honest with you.

3 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Steamy hot take on a guy who is 26 talking like he is 36. Should cut Cam Allen because he's played a CFL game before too.

Who the **** cares if a guy is a "vet" because he's played before or a rookie? Put the best team on the field to win the next game.

Are you new here? There’s been countless examples of O’Shea sticking with a vet instead of giving a rookie a chance to compete for a position. I want the best players period, you use Allen as an example but he’s a prime example of a guy who has a great camp and it took countless injuries for him to get on the field when he should have been there much earlier. Do you really think Myron Mitchell was the best receiver we could have put on the field last year to start the season?

9 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

My initial thoughts after seeing that they cut McGhee was positive. Not that he’s a bad player necessarily, but I don’t see him being that guy that’s going to be a difference maker at the position. We brought in a lot of talent in the secondary and I’d rather give the reps to the young talent on this roster. In years past we would have pencilled him in as a starter because he was a vet. it would be painfully obvious he was a weak spot and he would be cut by week 3-4 im glad, wouldn’t mind them moving on from a few more vets if im being honest with you.

Are you new here? There’s been countless examples of O’Shea sticking with a vet instead of giving a rookie a chance to compete for a position. I want the best players period, you use Allen as an example but he’s a prime example of a guy who has a great camp and it took countless injuries for him to get on the field when he should have been there much earlier. Do you really think Myron Mitchell was the best receiver we could have put on the field last year to start the season?

Sometimes, as fans, we value backups more than starters until we see them play. Myron Mitchell was cut in camp? If you are asking if he should have been cut the answer is probably. Coaches always value vets, every coach ever, if all things are equal you go with the vet unless there is some serious cap savings, or the other players upside is so high that you just gotta let him take his rookie lumps. It is nonsense to say that MOS does not give young players a chance. There are a ton of guys that were year two starters on our team. There are even a few guys that were rookies with us and were starters first year. Just because we don't replace every player based on a TIMEX like they do with airplanes, does not mean we refuse to use young guys. To be the man you gotta beat the man. Sure OSH gives his vets a little more leash than most, but I think this board goes a little over the top sometimes when it suggests that MOS won't make changes if need be.

1 hour ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

My initial thoughts after seeing that they cut McGhee was positive. Not that he’s a bad player necessarily, but I don’t see him being that guy that’s going to be a difference maker at the position. We brought in a lot of talent in the secondary and I’d rather give the reps to the young talent on this roster. In years past we would have pencilled him in as a starter because he was a vet. it would be painfully obvious he was a weak spot and he would be cut by week 3-4 im glad, wouldn’t mind them moving on from a few more vets if im being honest with you.

Are you new here? There’s been countless examples of O’Shea sticking with a vet instead of giving a rookie a chance to compete for a position. I want the best players period, you use Allen as an example but he’s a prime example of a guy who has a great camp and it took countless injuries for him to get on the field when he should have been there much earlier. Do you really think Myron Mitchell was the best receiver we could have put on the field last year to start the season?

You want the best players but you're fixated on cutting a guy just because he's played in the CFL before and is 26?

Like I said....steaming.

14 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

You want the best players but you're fixated on cutting a guy just because he's played in the CFL before and is 26?

Like I said....steaming.

I’m not fixated about anything. All I said was my initial thoughts were I’m glad we’re not sticking to the status quo. I don’t know if he’s good or not good, but we have a history and tendency to play guys simply because they have a little bit of experience. Like you said yourself. You want the best players on the field. Maybe he is the best guy for the job (doubt it because he’s been cut multiple times) but you’re the one who is getting bent out of shape over this.

4 hours ago, Booch said:

Is there practice on Friday?...anyone know....

Friday, May 15

Practice: 9:05 a.m. - 12:10 p.m.

Saturday, May 16

Practice: 8:30 a.m. - 11:35 a.m.

Sunday, May 17

Practice: 8:30 a.m. - 11:35 a.m.

Monday, May 18

Practice: 9:35 a.m. -12:25 p.m.

Tuesday, May 19

Practice: 9:35 a.m. - 12:25 p.m.