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

Ahh, so I see its the time of year when we pretend pre-season games are the be all end all of evaluation.

11 hours ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

I find it interesting about the comments about fielding the same team lol our roster is built from returning players, free agent signings and the draft. Most teams aren’t looking to fill several starting spots in training camp and if they were they would be in a lot of trouble. I don’t see how we’re different than any other team in the league. Most of the opportunities come from injuries, I think we’ve done a decent job of bringing in young guys to replace veterans of the past two/three years. We were a very old team. Besides Zach Bryant/patty and Willie we have a relatively young core. None of the players I mentioned were going to be going anywhere this season. I think the team showed it can move on from players.

Who is our “young” core?

Demski, White, Brady, Neuf, Bryant, Eli, Broxton, Willie, Ceresna, Jones, Kyrie, Nichols, Moxey, Sergio … all of these guys are closer to the end than the beginning and creeping up in age. I know 30 isn’t what it used to be in sports, but we don’t have a ton of young guys at all. We’ve got a couple.

11 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Anything is better than Cobb. Roster management is certainly a mystery with Osh.

odd take... while not a superstar, Cobb has been serviceable to solid when he has played... he's certainly a candidate for an upgrade, but not the worst of our depth problems....

17 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Do we really though? To me this is a continuation of the problems this defense has had. Neglecting depth on the DL and dressing more linebackers than we really need.

Yes we absolutely need Gatkuoth's passport on the DL, like desperately. Munier Bailey and Gatkuoth are not every down DE's. Both fill the same role. There is no world where dressing both of them makes sense unless one is a starter. I agree with your point on DL roster numbers, but it is the interior of our line that needs more bodies to rotate, not DE.

18 minutes ago, Mike said:

Who is our “young” core?

Demski, White, Brady, Neuf, Bryant, Eli, Broxton, Willie, Ceresna, Jones, Kyrie, Nichols, Moxey, Sergio … all of these guys are closer to the end than the beginning and creeping up in age. I know 30 isn’t what it used to be in sports, but we don’t have a ton of young guys at all. We’ve got a couple.

Look around the league at the number of 30+ starters on any team. I agree that we are probably needing a roster refresh age wise, but we are not way out of bounds by league standards here.

17 hours ago, wbbfan said:

He’s a guy we traded up to draft second over all. Hes a guy that was going to be signed as an imp before qualifying as a G.

Lots of us were bullish on him, because even as he showed in pre season game 1, he’s got great strength and quickness.

He and player where two of the best of a bad bunch, but didn’t get much pt despite brutal play in front of them.

Meanwhile counting as a global on the thinnest dl in the league last year makes it pretty clear what would’ve been best.

No one said he was guaranteed all star or great league starter. He was better than guys ahead of him but didn’t play. Now he’s gone, and we’ve still got korny and paper thin depth at dl.

The young guy group at de are better then we’ve seen in a good while. but none of them are guaranteed to succeed. We have enough guys that 1 should flourish. But we haven’t exactly done a good job of front usage.

Other teams go through our dl cuts, which people brush off because no one is an instant all star. But are other teams sifting through our db/wr/rb cuts? even ol doesn’t get looks. Lbers and dl cuts here get second looks in the league. Which means teams look at our usage of talent and say, “we can do more with those guys”

Who has been picked up at of our cuts, releases, or guys that we didn't re-sign that suddenly started jumping off the page somewhere else. NOBODY. It is complete fallacy that we have some hidden trove of starters languishing behind our starters. Completely fictional narrative. As bad as our roster management is, some of it is because we haven't added the talent to push some of these veterans out. Munier-Bailey had a job for the taking and just didn't play good enough. Same goes with Randall and others we released that were hyped to no end on this forum. Like it or not, the talent evaluation at MBB is piss poor. It is huberus on our part to sit here and think the one practice session a year, some 4 minute highlight reels, and a couple of read scouting reports makes our opinions on new recruits and backups viable. Our professional scouts, GM, and coaches have a zillion percent more information to work from than we do. If Munier Bailey, or Randall, or whoever gets cut or PRed none of us should be butt hurt about it and start with the same old bitching and moaning about roster mismanagement. We haven't even seen a goddamn roster yet. I don't like going 3 NAT receivers, but if that is what coaching feels it needs to do so that we can have a 3 IMP OL...so be it. They would know better than anyone here. If they see more upside in Gatkuoth then in Munier Bailey, so be it. We can't roster everyone, and we can't convince everyone to spend time on our PR.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by GCn20

8 hours ago, 17to85 said:

I think he's solid for what he is and would be a great depth piece.... but as a starter I think he's a guy you strive to upgrade on, and I think we likely do have some better options on the team already.

Many holes in his game....He is a good depth/rotational piece but he is not a top full time MLB in the league

We really needed to keep only one of Jones and Wilson and have them as the DA and or Nationalized Canadian, and allow Woodbey/Ayers and a new import rookie the opportunity, along with give Smith and Shay as much work as possible if not one the actual starting spots

17 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Special teams is still every 6th play in this league. You can't be ignorant enough to just look at a roster and go "hurr durr, so many linebackers." Half of those guys are special teamers. Put fullback beside 3 of their names if it makes you feel better.

Having a guy with DL by his name on the roster who stands on the sideline and holds his helmet all game there just in case doesn't help us win anything.

We have Gatkuoth to rotate in on the edge. I think it's fair to assume Younger has a plan to use Woodbey at 3 levels of the D.

Our D is actually stacked.

If people want to worry, worry about receiver and running back. Peterson looked like a stunned junior player in camp in the pre-season games. We're relying a lot on a bunch of Canadians who haven't been consistent or healthy across their careers (Nield, Cobb, Clercius).

Couldn't agree more. I hope this 3 NAT receiving group works because it doesn't look great to me.

46 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

Ahh, so I see its the time of year when we pretend pre-season games are the be all end all of evaluation.

well...they kind of are. Nothing in "practice" can really separate anyone from one another. Game reps vs real bullets and schemes and tendencies you haven't seen for weeks over and over show a lot....Just look at Clintons pick six...realized what Sask was doing, from watching and Ipad and adjusted his drop to basically bait that int...Jones cant drop in the right area to save his life...and if he did and made that pick...he wouldnt have hit paydirt.

Rookies and scrubs playing against other teams similar players is irrelevant...If you are a ball and can...and do make plays...you will also surrounded by the returning vets when the real games come...especially on defense in the CFL....Offense is a bit different and the nuances...waggle...accounting for the extra defender take time...Defense for most part you can step right on, save for maybe halfback...This fallacy you need to have 1..2 yrs of seasoning is crap...if you can play...you can play

40 minutes ago, Mike said:

Who is our “young” core?

Demski, White, Brady, Neuf, Bryant, Eli, Broxton, Willie, Ceresna, Jones, Kyrie, Nichols, Moxey, Sergio … all of these guys are closer to the end than the beginning and creeping up in age. I know 30 isn’t what it used to be in sports, but we don’t have a ton of young guys at all. We’ve got a couple.

yeah...we have an aging core...we let a lot of young promise walk tho...and we need to change that. I not saying dump all yhour vets, but many canbe replaced by younger guys with upside and more skill, and not hurt you in the least

34 minutes ago, bearpants said:

odd take... while not a superstar, Cobb has been serviceable to solid when he has played... he's certainly a candidate for an upgrade, but not the worst of our depth problems....

outside of Clercius/Demski/Neild he is the best backup Canadian as he can play inside...outside...return...run jet sweep

4 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Couldn't agree more. I hope this 3 NAT receiving group works because it doesn't look great to me.

we go 3 national recievers...we have the worst group in league again...especially if one of Demski or Neild goes down...Clercius is already hurt, and there no guarantee Demski goes injury free...heck he didnt even make it outta camp with zero contact.

Add to that the fact we know damn well Osh will play a hampered/injured Demski who will offer minimal results as well...we\'ve seen it before so not a make believe story to trash Osh....

3 minutes ago, Booch said:

well...they kind of are. Nothing in "practice" can really separate anyone from one another. Game reps vs real bullets and schemes and tendencies you haven't seen for weeks over and over show a lot....Just look at Clintons pick six...realized what Sask was doing, from watching and Ipad and adjusted his drop to basically bait that int...Jones cant drop in the right area to save his life...and if he did and made that pick...he wouldnt have hit paydirt.

Rookies and scrubs playing against other teams similar players is irrelevant...If you are a ball and can...and do make plays...you will also surrounded by the returning vets when the real games come...especially on defense in the CFL....Offense is a bit different and the nuances...waggle...accounting for the extra defender take time...Defense for most part you can step right on, save for maybe halfback...This fallacy you need to have 1..2 yrs of seasoning is crap...if you can play...you can play

I mean I guess...unless you take what Clinton said about that play in the post game as truth. "I saw something brown in the air and jumped at it".
Rookies/scrubs playing against each other absolutely play in to it. You think that that wide open TD from the draft pick the Bombers obviously fumbled, wasn't a busted coverage? Rookies playing rookies can make average players look like world beaters.

We can say all we want about pre-season play...but if Clinton is constantly making the same mistakes in practice day in and day out should Younger ignore that because he picked off a back up QB in the preseason game? I'm just using Clinton as an example....practice reps absolutely mean something when it comes to understanding the scheme. And showing coaches you can be trusted to be where you're supposed to be. There were multiple plays last game where guys where obviously in the wrong area (because a WR was wide open, or there would just be 2 defenders doing the same thing about 3 yards apart).

This happens every year. People ***** and moan about pre-season cuts and how well they played against other teams 3rd stringers. And those cuts eventually join other teams and become absolute all-stars....except they don't....they're usually never heard from again. Sure other teams have guys they're invested in and want to bring in etc etc...but if these guys were such Pre-season masters and obvious heros, they should absolutely show up somewhere again right? Like Lawler....or Grant...But that just doesn't happen as much as some want to pretend it does.

3 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

I mean I guess...unless you take what Clinton said about that play in the post game as truth. "I saw something brown in the air and jumped at it".
Rookies/scrubs playing against each other absolutely play in to it. You think that that wide open TD from the draft pick the Bombers obviously fumbled, wasn't a busted coverage? Rookies playing rookies can make average players look like world beaters.

We can say all we want about pre-season play...but if Clinton is constantly making the same mistakes in practice day in and day out should Younger ignore that because he picked off a back up QB in the preseason game? I'm just using Clinton as an example....practice reps absolutely mean something when it comes to understanding the scheme. And showing coaches you can be trusted to be where you're supposed to be. There were multiple plays last game where guys where obviously in the wrong area (because a WR was wide open, or there would just be 2 defenders doing the same thing about 3 yards apart).

This happens every year. People ***** and moan about pre-season cuts and how well they played against other teams 3rd stringers. And those cuts eventually join other teams and become absolute all-stars....except they don't....they're usually never heard from again. Sure other teams have guys they're invested in and want to bring in etc etc...but if these guys were such Pre-season masters and obvious heros, they should absolutely show up somewhere again right? Like Lawler....or Grant...But that just doesn't happen as much as some want to pretend it does.

currently Ham has Augustine..Wheatfall...Fox...Hubert...Myron Mitchell of all people on their roster...all guys we cut adrift and rally have not adequately replaced another interior DT and WR...As one example also had Garbutt but he got hurt...still isnt 100 percent an I think out of football at moment. So teams find value and use in our cast offs....and ironically Ham had a better record than us, so the excuse some use that this team..or that team is garbage doesnt hold weight.

Not saying all are world beaters, but all were solid and its a collective effort in the end as well..

I like a lot of what we kept.. I said if you look back I think they will keep, or should keep Mazzccua as there something there..As well as Fletcher who is multi versatile and Reese who has best get off, and were smart keeps....Sure we have a log jam of LB's....but we also have 2 long in tooth and only really need one, so keeping another younger one to develop would been the smart choice. Singer was best of a bad group of WR recruits and serves multiple roles so again a smart choice but if this plan of starting 3 Canadians is real then keeping him...Womack...and Fredrickson around but seems redundant and a waste of PR space when there zero chance to get on roster, while we have really only 3 canadians worthy of being actual starters....keep one import and load your PR with defensive guys with serious upside with the other 2 spots

11 hours ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

I think he’s pretty good. The problem is we had prime Biggie who was one of the best linebackers of all time. Players like that don’t come around very often.

Hed be pretty good, if it was a different era where every team was running 15-20 times at minimum. He can't pass rush and can't handle any coverage assignment.

6 minutes ago, Booch said:

currently Ham has Augustine..Wheatfall...Fox...Hubert...Myron Mitchell of all people on their roster...all guys we cut adrift and rally have not adequately replaced another interior DT and WR...As one example also had Garbutt but he got hurt...still isnt 100 percent an I think out of football at moment. So teams find value and use in our cast offs....and ironically Ham had a better record than us, so the excuse some use that this team..or that team is garbage doesnt hold weight.

Not saying all are world beaters, but all were solid and its a collective effort in the end as well..

I like a lot of what we kept.. I said if you look back I think they will keep, or should keep Mazzccua as there something there..As well as Fletcher who is multi versatile and Reese who has best get off, and were smart keeps....Sure we have a log jam of LB's....but we also have 2 long in tooth and only really need one, so keeping another younger one to develop would been the smart choice. Singer was best of a bad group of WR recruits and serves multiple roles so again a smart choice but if this plan of starting 3 Canadians is real then keeping him...Womack...and Fredrickson around but seems redundant and a waste of PR space when there zero chance to get on roster, while we have really only 3 canadians worthy of being actual starters....keep one import and load your PR with defensive guys with serious upside with the other 2 spots

booch...ever single guy you listed outside of Augustine (And even him to a degree) have had little to no impact in this league. And even then, all of those guys were not TC cuts as rookies. They all got on to this Coaching staffs team, got opportunities to become something and they all did nothing with those opportunities. Hamilton had a better record sure...they also played Ott more and watched the GC right next the Bombers.

Likewise, I'm not saying I like all the cuts. But what we see in pre-season games doesn't = all stars even if all star plays were made during those games. I'm blown away by people talking about that rookie draft pick who scored as if he's some miracle worker...any one of us could have scored there. It was a busted coverage. His 2nd TD was solid, but again...against a Rookie in what looked like man coverage. Not exactly an amazing play in my books. And to have some on here declaring a 3rd place finish or worse because of what happened? Lol...it's pre-season. A ****** rifle caught 2 passes, should he be on the team too? lol. People need to chill out.

They went 1-4 in preseason games during the last 2 championship season.

1 hour ago, Bigblue204 said:

Ahh, so I see its the time of year when we pretend pre-season games are the be all end all of evaluation.

Up next is the classic, the first month of the season is an extended pre-season.

Seriously though, My expectations for the offence starting the year are looooooooooow. Zach threw what 4 attempts in preseason? I don't think we had any success running the ball till like the 4th quarter of the games with MCI in. Health of Eli, Wilson, and Demski up in the air. And we sure look to be starting 3 NI wrs.

Randall was a big cut that stood out to me... as a guy who looked like the best OL on our team and one of the better RTs in the league last year... and then we went on to add a top LT... it felt short-sighted to release Randall in favour of (essentially) a 40 year old past his prime...

@wbbfan broke it down pretty good, so I have a better appreciation of the move now now.... just felt odd to release a good player, while still relatively young...

My worry is that we're set up for another year where we win 9 games or so. Not truly bad but not good enough to win the Cup.

7 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Hed be pretty good, if it was a different era where every team was running 15-20 times at minimum. He can't pass rush and can't handle any coverage assignment.

he is prob one of the worst in the league at his position in coverage....bar none. He'd be good in a retro 3-4 front as one the interior LB's staying in the box....

8 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

booch...ever single guy you listed outside of Augustine (And even him to a degree) have had little to no impact in this league. And even then, all of those guys were not TC cuts as rookies. They all got on to this Coaching staffs team, got opportunities to become something and they all did nothing with those opportunities. Hamilton had a better record sure...they also played Ott more and watched the GC right next the Bombers.

Likewise, I'm not saying I like all the cuts. But what we see in pre-season games doesn't = all stars even if all star plays were made during those games. I'm blown away by people talking about that rookie draft pick who scored as if he's some miracle worker...any one of us could have scored there. It was a busted coverage. His 2nd TD was solid, but again...against a Rookie in what looked like man coverage. Not exactly an amazing play in my books. And to have some on here declaring a 3rd place finish or worse because of what happened? Lol...it's pre-season. A ****** rifle caught 2 passes, should he be on the team too? lol. People need to chill out.

They went 1-4 in preseason games during the last 2 championship season.

Like I said...it's collective....who do we have the last few yrs besides a few aging stars who are super impactful. Fox was more than solid inside actually...and doing nothing with an opportunity in one place, but solid and contributing in another maybe comes down to better coaching

I dont look for wins in pre-season as its irrelevant....look for skill/potential and ability, and versatility/athleticism...the other parts will fall into place if you are well coached

I bet outside of White/Pokey who are gonna see hella lot of volume and forced throws , that Wheatfall will put up better numbers than any other import we play....as he will likely be properly used

We have a history here of not giving anyone a legit chance/opportunity until literally forced to with no other choice...and even then we repeatedly played guys who should never have been on the field.

BC reciever sure...rookie...against rookies...still tho made the plays...a scrub would have dropped ball...or never even got to the right spot to make said play...maybe the wide open score he recognized something and went to the vacated area?...coulda...shoulda if he saw it....What did Daniels do to secure a spot? Better yet...what did we do for him to actually show something...nothing....and thats not his fault

Feel sorry for a guy like Rocker too....got no use...no involvement in anything...we know what peterson can do...we saw it last yr...why even waste a roster spot in TC on a guy like Rocker?...what a waste of his time.

8 minutes ago, bearpants said:

Randall was a big cut that stood out to me... as a guy who looked like the best OL on our team and one of the better RTs in the league last year... and then we went on to add a top LT... it felt short-sighted to release Randall in favour of (essentially) a 40 year old past his prime...

@wbbfan broke it down pretty good, so I have a better appreciation of the move now now.... just felt odd to release a good player, while still relatively young...

Thanks. Yeah, I wish we had hidden Randall on the IR. I think that didn't happen because we are hiding a lot of injuries. I don't think we will see a bunch of room on the IRs to hide a guy for the whole year.

4 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

My worry is that we're set up for another year where we win 9 games or so. Not truly bad but not good enough to win the Cup.

Middling teams are really tough on fan bases. And it is hard to jump from mediocre to exceptional.

I still see so much potential in the bones of what we have assembled. But slow starts and injuries are the biggest obstacles to succeeding with old teams.

We also are soo bought in on this year, looking at what we'd have next year in scary.

9 minutes ago, Booch said:

I bet outside of White/Pokey who are gonna see hella lot of volume and forced throws , that Wheatfall will put up better numbers than any other import we play....as he will likely be properly used

We have a history here of not giving anyone a legit chance/opportunity until literally forced to with no other choice...and even then we repeatedly played guys who should never have been on the field.

BC reciever sure...rookie...against rookies...still tho made the plays...a scrub would have dropped ball...or never even got to the right spot to make said play...maybe the wide open score he recognized something and went to the vacated area?...coulda...shoulda if he saw it....What did Daniels do to secure a spot? Better yet...what did we do for him to actually show something...nothing....and thats not his fault

Feel sorry for a guy like Rocker too....got no use...no involvement in anything...we know what peterson can do...we saw it last yr...why even waste a roster spot in TC on a guy like Rocker?...what a waste of his time.

Wheatfall was given every opportunity be the guy last year. He completely vanished after the first few games, when the team needed someone to step up. Wheatfall beating out the #3 import is something I'd be completely fine with.

Daniels did what he was asked to do. Remember when Walters wanted to draft him because of his exceptional catching and route running? Isn't that what his quote about Daniels is? The guy isn't going to be catching 5 passes a game. He's here to block.

Agreed about Rocker...though I don't know why they'd even bring him in to TC to begin with.

And I don't take anything away from Pre-seasons game either win or lose. But in 2019 in one game they scored 3 points. The Offense blew people TF up to start that year. I was pointing out that shitty preseason games don't point to anything other than shitty preseason games.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by Bigblue204

Every time you guys say Randall....... Are you trying to say Randolph?

5 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Every time you guys say Randall....... Are you trying to say Randolph?

Randell Kendolph?

53 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Every time you guys say Randall....... Are you trying to say Randolph?

Someone quick make the ideal depth chart and then make the one Osh be Oshin with the remaining players We have left here which still appears over the allowed limit.

Also we weren’t really that bad last year. The O was amateur hour all year with the Hulkster calling plays brother but we managed a respectable record with an O that did not exist most games. If the O improves even slightly, I dunno, logically we should win more games.

Now do I think Zach finds the fountain of youth? Nope. Impossible i tells you but I think there’s a better chance he stays healthy this year than last. And hopefully gets hit less cuz once he starts getting hit, he starts sucking. In the end CFL appears to be which QB can stay healthy the longest or all season even. Healthy Starter = good chance of winning more.

RE: Daniels. Perhaps we all start coming around when he makes the block that doesn’t get Zach carted off the field. Cuz he’s Dante Daniels the Canadian Marine, lead blocker extraordinaire. Or maybe cuz didn’t do **** preseason.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by Goalie

2 hours ago, bearpants said:

odd take... while not a superstar, Cobb has been serviceable to solid when he has played... he's certainly a candidate for an upgrade, but not the worst of our depth problems....

How can you call Gavin Cobb serviceable? He only suited up for 4 games last season while just starting 2 & catching just 6 passes for 51 yards.

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

Every time you guys say Randall....... Are you trying to say Randolph?

yes... thank you for reading my mind! 😄