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

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

He was very very good to start this season... With a proper OL, some receivers to throw to, and a RB like Brady, Zach can still be one of the best QBs in the league.

I'm not saying we shouldn't trade him if someone offers us a crazy deal, but it's a weird take from some people that he's bad, when he's played so well to start the year.

At some point, you need to move on... give brown those same things for example and he can be a top qb for a long time too. Longer than collaros. I get you're a fan of the guy... but collaros has been part of the issues on this team too.

3 hours ago, wbbfan said:

I mean, I would consider that if Hamilton was indeed willing to trade starters/AR. Not draft capital. It would have to be extremely expensive on Hamilton's end. I would do the same for any player on the roster; if we got a lopsided value back, no one is untradeable. If we can fix the 2nd DE, defensive backfield, and WR while getting Canadian depth? Sure. Hamilton isn't likely to do that, but if they are, go for it. Talking something like howsare, Stubbelfield, Stavros, Gittens etc. Not for some pack of 1 player and picks or less.

Otherwise, I'm very happy to be sitting on the QBs we have. Having Brown + Elgersma for the post-Zach era is going to be key.

QBs are gold. I'm not trading anyone. Don't care who they offer. Like you have stated our QB room is crowded THIS year but quite likely thins out after. Having Brown and Elgersma is going to be important going forward. I would trade Collaros before either of them but at this time I'm not trading him. Love Dru but he has not shown the ability to stay on the field and Elgersma is too green to be our number 2 at this point.

For this week's game I'm starting TE on a very short leash with plans to transition DB to starter should Collaros be out any significant amount of time.

Edited July 8Jul 8 by GCn20

Genuinely no idea why you'd even trade for Dru if you're not going to start him in a situation like this (if Collaros can't go)

He knows the team, he knows the offense, he's a proven starter in this league and you're going to opt for the guy who has ... zero pro starts to his name? Because he's been on the team a month longer?

No thanks

33 minutes ago, Mike said:

Genuinely no idea why you'd even trade for Dru if you're not going to start him in a situation like this (if Collaros can't go)

He knows the team, he knows the offense, he's a proven starter in this league and you're going to opt for the guy who has ... zero pro starts to his name? Because he's been on the team a month longer?

No thanks

The team is not even remotely the same as when he left, and we have zero clue as to where he is at with the playbook. Granted he did play in Condell's offence last year, but it would be foolish to think that the system Condell built for this team is the same as the one he ran in Ottawa. Similarities and philosophy...sure...but terminology and actual play design and progressions are definitely going to be different. By all accounts, Dru is a quick study and if he is comfortable and Condell is comfortable with his grasp of everything and the chemistry and timing are ready then start Dru. If not, then start TE on a short leash. I don't think that is unreasonable at all.

delete

Edited July 8Jul 8 by Bigblue204

I tend to agree with Mike.... IF Collaros can't go.... Dru should start. You have to go with the experienced hand. As Mike says "why did you trade for him, if not for this exact scenario?"

57 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

QBs are gold. I'm not trading anyone. Don't care who they offer. Like you have stated our QB room is crowded THIS year but quite likely thins out after. Having Brown and Elgersma is going to be important going forward. I would trade Collaros before either of them but at this time I'm not trading him. Love Dru but he has not shown the ability to stay on the field and Elgersma is too green to be our number 2 at this point.

For this week's game I'm starting TE on a very short leash with plans to transition DB to starter should Collaros be out any significant amount of time.

You're right, they are. The thing is, we have maybe a 2-year window with this core, including this year. We can keep both QBs, but a 30/31 year old Brown isn't a rebuilding QB.

The Question is do you sit on both and hope to turn things around fast when the old guard is gone in a year or two, or do you move one now and try to win a GC this year or next? For me, if you can become a legit GC contender, I pull the trigger.

Extreme QB depth (3 guys) is a tremendous luxury, but not one worth being a bottom-half team for.

13 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

The team is not even remotely the same as when he left, and we have zero clue as to where he is at with the playbook. Granted he did play in Condell's offence last year, but it would be foolish to think that the system Condell built for this team is the same as the one he ran in Ottawa. Similarities and philosophy...sure...but terminology and actual play design and progressions are definitely going to be different. By all accounts, Dru is a quick study and if he is comfortable and Condell is comfortable with his grasp of everything and the chemistry and timing are ready then start Dru. If not, then start TE on a short leash. I don't think that is unreasonable at all.

The thing about Browns familiarity is its double layered. We are doing a lot of Condell stuff, but we also have brought back various Zach favorites from Buck and Lapo.

After TC, when you should get run out of every play several times, the week-to-week prep is about the current install. A vet like Brown who is dually familiar with what we do and many of our pieces will do a better job of picking that up than a true rookie.

I think the biggest obstacle for Brown will be comfort with the Wrs. This equally applies to TE, and Zach struggled with that as well, honestly. None of the 4 QBs had enough live-fire reps with the first-team WRs.

It's a great position to be in, though. Choosing between brown and TE for an injury replacement. Brown is clearly the pick imo, but either way you have a guy who can, at worst, not lose you the game. We didn't consistently have that from Zach the previous 2 years.

3 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I tend to agree with Mike.... IF Collaros can't go.... Dru should start. You have to go with the experienced hand. As Mike says "why did you trade for him, if not for this exact scenario?"

I agree that Brown should be the default pick.

I don't think we actually traded for him for this situation. I think this is the last year for Zach, and Dru was brought in for next year. This is purely gut and speculation on my part, but I think Zach has decided not to play next year and told to club as such.

23 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

The team is not even remotely the same as when he left, and we have zero clue as to where he is at with the playbook. Granted he did play in Condell's offence last year, but it would be foolish to think that the system Condell built for this team is the same as the one he ran in Ottawa. Similarities and philosophy...sure...but terminology and actual play design and progressions are definitely going to be different. By all accounts, Dru is a quick study and if he is comfortable and Condell is comfortable with his grasp of everything and the chemistry and timing are ready then start Dru. If not, then start TE on a short leash. I don't think that is unreasonable at all.

I meant the staff, as in there's a comfort of knowing the expectations, etc. Where he's at with the playbook? I mean, I'd argue he's gotta be further ahead than Elgersma given his years as a pro working with the exact same staff. I don't know why we'd be acting like Elgersma being here for a month or two as a raw rookie gives him a leg up over a guy who has played for years in this league and spent the last two with the exact same coordinator he's working with now.

2 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

You're right, they are. The thing is, we have maybe a 2-year window with this core, including this year. We can keep both QBs, but a 30/31 year old Brown isn't a rebuilding QB.

The Question is do you sit on both and hope to turn things around fast when the old guard is gone in a year or two, or do you move one now and try to win a GC this year or next? For me, if you can become a legit GC contender, I pull the trigger.

Extreme QB depth (3 guys) is a tremendous luxury, but not one worth being a bottom-half team for.

The thing about Browns familiarity is its double layered. We are doing a lot of Condell stuff, but we also have brought back various Zach favorites from Buck and Lapo.

After TC, when you should get run out of every play several times, the week-to-week prep is about the current install. A vet like Brown who is dually familiar with what we do and many of our pieces will do a better job of picking that up than a true rookie.

I think the biggest obstacle for Brown will be comfort with the Wrs. This equally applies to TE, and Zach struggled with that as well, honestly. None of the 4 QBs had enough live-fire reps with the first-team WRs.

It's a great position to be in, though. Choosing between brown and TE for an injury replacement. Brown is clearly the pick imo, but either way you have a guy who can, at worst, not lose you the game. We didn't consistently have that from Zach the previous 2 years.

Im not suggesting we don't start Brown, I am simply illustrating why the coaches might lean the other way on a short week. Not saying they will, but if they do it will be because of the reasons I illustrated not incompetence or favoritism. I think it would be fully ridiculous, if Elgersma gets the start, that anyone with half a noodle in their head, thinks it is due to favoritism, or incompetence. We are speculating as to Brown's readiness, the coaches are not. Like i stated, if Brown shows that he's not fully settled in yet, then to start TE on a short leash is not the worst idea. We traded for Brown to be our number 2. There is zero doubt about that from Walters down to the coaching staff, it's been clearly stated. However, timelines on where he is at are 100% speculation and I trust Condell to make the right decision.

2 minutes ago, Mike said:

I meant the staff, as in there's a comfort of knowing the expectations, etc. Where he's at with the playbook? I mean, I'd argue he's gotta be further ahead than Elgersma given his years as a pro working with the exact same staff. I don't know why we'd be acting like Elgersma being here for a month or two as a raw rookie gives him a leg up over a guy who has played for years in this league and spent the last two with the exact same coordinator he's working with now.

I'm not disagreeing with you. If Dru is ready that is definitely who should start. If he's not starting it's because the comfort level isn't there yet. I fully believe that the QB that the coaches believe will best lead our offence will start in this case. When ZC comes back....that's a different ball of wax because of our coaches attachment to him. I don't believe we will favor TE over DB right now. Hell we traded for DB because there was obviously some discomfort with TE as number 2.

Edited July 8Jul 8 by GCn20

If Brown isn't at least on par with TE in terms of ability to lead the O. Then he's not a QB I'd want...period...end of story. I don't think this is the case at all. I think he could have come in last week and done what TE did plus some. Brown should 100% be ready to go for this weeks game and I'd be worried if he wasn't.

1 minute ago, Bigblue204 said:

If Brown isn't at least on par with TE in terms of ability to lead the O. Then he's not a QB I'd want...period...end of story. I don't think this is the case at all. I think he could have come in last week and done what TE did plus some. Brown should 100% be ready to go for this weeks game and I'd be worried if he wasn't.

There were some rumblings that DB may not have entered this year 100% healthy either. I can understand going with TE on a short week, but if ZC is out multiple weeks and we have not seen DB then I have to wonder if these rumors have legs.

1 hour ago, Mike said:

Genuinely no idea why you'd even trade for Dru if you're not going to start him in a situation like this (if Collaros can't go)

He knows the team, he knows the offense, he's a proven starter in this league and you're going to opt for the guy who has ... zero pro starts to his name? Because he's been on the team a month longer?

No thanks

FIFO. First in, first out.

Just now, Super Duper Negatron said:

FIFO. First in, first out.

We are probably not privy to a lot of the reasons such a decision might be made. In this case our opinions are uneducated. On the surface it should be a no-brainer that Brown starts. However, there could very well be reason we are unaware of why he might not. MOS will never divulge those reasons if there are any. That being said, I think Brown will start all things being equal.

Imagine if they traded for Brown without figuring out if him and TC saw eye to eye? Not saying that is the case, but there were some interesting comments from Dru about how he grew as a quarterback and he mentioned "dropping straight back" way more than he ever did as a Bombers. I couldn't tell if he saw that as a good thing.

21 hours ago, Blueandgold said:

I still think we win another grey cup or two if we do this.

Would love to see us trade Collaros to Hamilton.

If our coach wasn't a brain dead stubborn ol fool...,,,we likely win 4 of the 5 trips at minimum...ZC or no ZC....Sadly

19 hours ago, Brandon said:

Injury prone QB with a huge contract... right now I can't imagine. Later in the year with a desperate team losing their starting QB in the play off mix... he will have value.

yeah If BLM could have wanted til after labour day to have his career ender, and they were battling for first, and ZC was even just serviceable, I bet we coulda dealt himto the Hammer for a nice cache

And if Smuggsy was opposed and pouting about it...Walter's could toss him in as part of the package too...we'd be better off all around moving forward...Toss in Korn too as a pot sweetener seeing as Osh thinks he's pro calibre

15 hours ago, bigg jay said:

Not forgetting that at all. A good chunk of ZC's contract has already been paid (he got 200k in bonuses in January alone) so his remaining contract isn't that bad (base salary is 300k). Plus with BLM out long term, his pay won't go against the cap so now Hamilton will have room.

Yeah by mid season he be very economical to close out a yr...plus its an expiring deal this yr too is it not?...so if he wants to keep playing it will be on the teams who want him terms....he wont be commanding anything near 600k again

14 hours ago, Tracker said:

I would think that Collaros' injury may well be providential. Should he sit out Friday and the Brown/Elgersma/Perkins combo work well, I can see Walters being tempted to listen to offers from Ottawa, Montreal and/or Hamilton. The fly in this ointment is O'Shea. Given O'Shea's track record, i can see him getting very obstinate about opposing such a trade.

then be his Boss and just take away his safety blanket..and if he squawks too much...send him packing too...We wont wither and die....prob rise up and see some guys finally get to emerge if we being honest

ZC has played better than last yr...thats not saying much tho but a plus...But he has also showed a lot of his regression too...and thats not going away, plus he isnt what he was to drag a team to the finish line game in and game out either, and with the **** WR crew we do have they aren't gonna consistently be amazing every game to assist in making him seem vintage...plus as we seen...he one good shot from being taken out and seeing as he not the future here next yr regardless of what N'Oshea says/thinks, of some team offers us a a good deal...we should jump at it...Roll with Brown as he will give us at minimum what ZC will...likely way more, and all along the way have some packages for TE to groom him and get him some confidence during this season and if next yr as the backup shows more considerable development...then there's your 2028 starter

Maybe he really gets it this yr and wins the 2027 QB job..even better and then you have a more than capable Brown on the bench

13 hours ago, HardCoreBlue said:

I don’t want to trade ZC either. I’m greedy I want both of them.

IMHO being the armchair QB that I am MOS and TC need to utilize a 2qb system to utilize both their skills to give the D different looks to keep them off balance.

I’ll add, what’s the harm in trying?

worked well in winning a cup

Hammy made their choice, and it wasn't a trade for Collaros.

2 minutes ago, Booch said:

If our coach wasn't a brain dead stubborn ol fool...,,,we likely win 4 of the 5 trips at minimum...ZC or no ZC....Sadly

yeah If BLM could have wanted til after labour day to have his career ender, and they were battling for first, and ZC was even just serviceable, I bet we coulda dealt himto the Hammer for a nice cache

And if Smuggsy was opposed and pouting about it...Walter's could toss him in as part of the package too...we'd be better off all around moving forward...Toss in Korn too as a pot sweetener seeing as Osh thinks he's pro calibre

Yeah by mid season he be very economical to close out a yr...plus its an expiring deal this yr too is it not?...so if he wants to keep playing it will be on the teams who want him terms....he wont be commanding anything near 600k again

then be his Boss and just take away his safety blanket..and if he squawks too much...send him packing too...We wont wither and die....prob rise up and see some guys finally get to emerge if we being honest

ZC has played better than last yr...thats not saying much tho but a plus...But he has also showed a lot of his regression too...and thats not going away, plus he isnt what he was to drag a team to the finish line game in and game out either, and with the **** WR crew we do have they aren't gonna consistently be amazing every game to assist in making him seem vintage...plus as we seen...he one good shot from being taken out and seeing as he not the future here next yr regardless of what N'Oshea says/thinks, of some team offers us a a good deal...we should jump at it...Roll with Brown as he will give us at minimum what ZC will...likely way more, and all along the way have some packages for TE to groom him and get him some confidence during this season and if next yr as the backup shows more considerable development...then there's your 2028 starter

Maybe he really gets it this yr and wins the 2027 QB job..even better and then you have a more than capable Brown on the bench

worked well in winning a cup

Dressing corpses instead of players with, you know, actual functioning legs....definitely cost us at least one Grey Cup.

3 minutes ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

Dressing corpses instead of players with, you know, actual functioning legs....definitely cost us at least one Grey Cup.

2...

then the dangly finger brain wave

5 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Hammy made their choice, and it wasn't a trade for Collaros.

I'm not sure anyone thought a trade would be happening...certainly not this week. Hamilton won't make any trades for players until they are desperate. They aren't there....yet.

On the other side of the coin, there is exactly 0% chance the Bombers would agree to trade Collaros at this point of the season. Not only would that go against everything that MOS has preached in his time here, but it would be incredibly stupid from a depth perspective...outside of getting a whole lot of exceptional talent in return (and again Hamilton has no reason to do that just yet).

1 minute ago, Bigblue204 said:

I'm not sure anyone thought a trade would be happening...certainly not this week. Hamilton won't make any trades for players until they are desperate. They aren't there....yet.

On the other side of the coin, there is exactly 0% chance the Bombers would agree to trade Collaros at this point of the season. Not only would that go against everything that MOS has preached in his time here, but it would be incredibly stupid from a depth perspective...outside of getting a whole lot of exceptional talent in return (and again Hamilton has no reason to do that just yet).

Agreed - the trade talk was all fan speculation, not actual belief a deal was coming or even discussed by Hamilton. Nobody (outside the Bombers) even knows what ZC's current status is so he's not going anywhere at the current time.

You have to believe Brown would get the start. It's clear the play calling didn't trust Elgersma with that 3 depth yards per attempt... I'm not even sure it got that high because the only deep pass I can see in the PxP he attempted was the pass interference to White which I don't think would count. 6/11 of his completions were at or behind the line of scrimmage and the rest were about 5 yards down field

7 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

I'm not sure anyone thought a trade would be happening...certainly not this week. Hamilton won't make any trades for players until they are desperate. They aren't there....yet.

On the other side of the coin, there is exactly 0% chance the Bombers would agree to trade Collaros at this point of the season. Not only would that go against everything that MOS has preached in his time here, but it would be incredibly stupid from a depth perspective...outside of getting a whole lot of exceptional talent in return (and again Hamilton has no reason to do that just yet).

Not arguing...but what has he preached....stick with what you know and how you broke camp...and dont get better if the chance is there??

Good teams make moves to get better if its there...Thats how/why we won the 19 cup

Plus...It's Walter's job and say in the matter if they see the opportunity to make a deal thats good for the club in the now...and moving forward...Not the HC

25 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Hammy made their choice, and it wasn't a trade for Collaros.

I think they made a temporary stopgap based on bad options. A few weeks of tre ford may change their minds. Though I don't think we'd really trade Zach. I would, but I don't think Walters has it in him.

13 minutes ago, ShyGuy said:

You have to believe Brown would get the start. It's clear the play calling didn't trust Elgersma with that 3 depth yards per attempt... I'm not even sure it got that high because the only deep pass I can see in the PxP he attempted was the pass interference to White which I don't think would count. 6/11 of his completions were at or behind the line of scrimmage and the rest were about 5 yards down field

I think it'd be Brown. Zach was throwing the same depth; TE had 2 shots; it wasn't the QB; that was the game plan.

I was impressed by TE's poise in that position as well. He was clearly mentally ready to go in and run the install from the week, which isn't at all easy for a true rookie in the very limited backup reps. He's further along as a fresh rookie than Rourke was as a rookie. He has a hell of a long way to go to get close to Rourke now, but he's on track.

43 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Hammy made their choice, and it wasn't a trade for Collaros.

Collaros was not available. Sometimes the choice you make isn't the one you wanted.

27 minutes ago, Booch said:

Not arguing...but what has he preached....stick with what you know and how you broke camp...and dont get better if the chance is there??

Good teams make moves to get better if its there...Thats how/why we won the 19 cup

Plus...It's Walter's job and say in the matter if they see the opportunity to make a deal thats good for the club in the now...and moving forward...Not the HC

It would be monumentally stupid to trade Zac this year. The whole reason we went out and got Brown is that TE is not ready for prime time yet. I loved his gutsy performance last week but TE needs seasoning. Holding onto Zac is in our best interests this year. PERIOD. I agree that any decision to trade/sign/release players is 100% the GM's job. MOS's job is to use the talent he is provided to produce wins. That being said, there is no GM in the world that is going to trade his starting QB unless the HC is comfortable with him doing so.

37 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Agreed - the trade talk was all fan speculation, not actual belief a deal was coming or even discussed by Hamilton. Nobody (outside the Bombers) even knows what ZC's current status is so he's not going anywhere at the current time.

It would be monumentally stupid to trade ZC at any point this season unless TE suddenly shows that his game is ready to compete as a starter because Brown has been very injury prone the past few years.