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

2 hours ago, Booch said:

I agree...not like we brought in nobodies...non college players...dudes new to the sport....most if not all have had NFL stints of some type...were on other CFL squads...came from legit schools with better coaching than a lot of CFL teams employ....the issue here with this coaching crew...mainly the lead of the HC is ability to assess...recognize and then utilize talent...or coach them up...we see it on a game to game basis how we are literally out coached...unprepared...unable to adjust until its too late and have guys in wrong positions natural to them....wasnt an issue when we had studs...CFL experienced in their prime...before that we had retreads and guys past their prime...and last several seasons again guys past their prime...others well on their way to being at that point...and quite a few with no business being on a roster let alone starting...and only so due to being here a while...all the while nobody in the wings being coached up and developed...

Aside from roster management, one of the biggest disappointments with talent is that we are really getting the least out of a whole lot of guys.

52 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I hate to say this, but bailing on season tickets at this point is a very Rider "fans" thing to do.

No, but that accusation is very RF board-esque. We all know every stadium that sees high attendance has a good chunk of fair-weather fans. While the dynasty has for sure cemented many new hardcore fans, it has brought in 100x more casual bandwagon jumpers. I mean, how many of the Rum Hut guys are there for the Rum Hut and GD experience, not the game itself?

34 minutes ago, M.Silverback said:

Wilson is meh. WR3 on a championship team. No defensive coordinator in the CFL is game planning to stop Pokey Wilson. And that's the best our GM and scouting staff have come up with.

We got 3 good/solid 3s, 1 guy who could become a 3, and 1 guy with a pulse in the WR core. Not too many sets of hands top to bottom, and most wouldn't have been able to ride the Dragon at Fun Mountain with out some one turning a blind eye.

Here is what I want out of this team;

Set a high tone for physicality on the first kick of the game, and at least match the other team's level of physicality for the whole game. They don't have to win the physical battles, but they have to make each battle physical, and make the other team pay a toll to win the ones they take.

Run it out, from the back side of plays, busted contain/coverage, big plays, long plays, every play. No jogging it out once you lose the angle, no quiting on plays.

Care as much, if not more, about the snaps you lose as the snaps you win. Lots of celebrating small victories, but the care for getting beat seems gone very quickly if it ever sets in at all.

Don't take any thing laying down. If the other team punches us in the mouth, we gotta get up and swing back. I don't mean literally fighting; I mean answering spikes in intensity/physicality/momentum, etc.

Competent, professional football fundamentals. Taking a bad angle, overpursuing, driving for a hit with no immediate backup, throwing a limp-arm tackle when the guy doesn't have an angle on you, catching most of the catchable footballs, etc.

If we did that, and won 6 games and missed the playoffs this year, we would be a good bad team. With a future brighter than our present. That would be a team anyone could be proud of. Without doing those things, no matter what our record, our future is dimmer than the present. That is the corner all teams must round before starting to become an actual good team. Not an underachieving team that is old and soft, hoping each week that the other team will out-underperform them.

1 hour ago, GCn20 said:

Baloney, that is a myth you have created and are trying to perpetuate. We have had several players over the past few years latch onto other teams across the league after being cut here and then they have also released them. I guess everybody's wrong about them.

Whatever...if a true blue chipper is dumped sure...the rest..all basically of same ilk..u just can't admit osh is a horrible evaluation guy

1 hour ago, M.Silverback said:

Wilson is meh. WR3 on a championship team. No defensive coordinator in the CFL is game planning to stop Pokey Wilson. And that's the best our GM and scouting staff have come up with.

If pokey is your 3 you're in a great spot. He is at worst a solid #2. But you can't have all of the same type as him. We just don't have a lot of. Variety in our top guys.

3 hours ago, Noeller said:

We've seen WAY WORSE than we're currently seeing... But people have forgotten what that's like. It's been too much winning for too long. It's been taken for granted.

I've sat through Reinbold, Daley, Burke and this just stinks. Losing and being inept and not entertaining at all is no fun. When the team and players act like they don't care and management and coaching is arrogant and dismissive of concerns, its a huge turnoff.

55 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

If pokey is your 3 you're in a great spot. He is at worst a solid #2. But you can't have all of the same type as him. We just don't have a lot of. Variety in our top guys.

I'd add that if he's your No. 3, you are in a great spot, at No. 3. Overall, it's possible (and the reality currently) that it's not a good spot to be in.

It certainly does hurt him that Demski and White are very similar in terms of weaknesses and what they provide, which isn't on him.

I've not been too bullish on Pokey; he kind of overachieves and got really far based on 3 big games as a rookie. He's been far more consistent this year in terms of production, though that has come at the cost of efficiency. He was at 9.77 yards per target as a rookie, 10.6 when he came back last year, and is down to 8.5 yards per target this year. He's put up outings of 7.42 YPA and 4.26 YPA. But he is also close to matching his rookie totals for YAC this year already.

The question is, can he do more with fewer attempts? Because he is getting almost 8 targets a game.

Philpot and Snead are putting up 12 YPA on 10 and 8.5 attempts per game, respectively. Wheatfall is pulling down 10.37YPA with a 67% catch rate on 4.11 attempts per game. The 60.3% completion rate to Wilson is really killing him.

35 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I'd add that if he's your No. 3, you are in a great spot, at No. 3. Overall, it's possible (and the reality currently) that it's not a good spot to be in.

It certainly does hurt him that Demski and White are very similar in terms of weaknesses and what they provide, which isn't on him.

I've not been too bullish on Pokey; he kind of overachieves and got really far based on 3 big games as a rookie. He's been far more consistent this year in terms of production, though that has come at the cost of efficiency. He was at 9.77 yards per target as a rookie, 10.6 when he came back last year, and is down to 8.5 yards per target this year. He's put up outings of 7.42 YPA and 4.26 YPA. But he is also close to matching his rookie totals for YAC this year already.

The question is, can he do more with fewer attempts? Because he is getting almost 8 targets a game.

Philpot and Snead are putting up 12 YPA on 10 and 8.5 attempts per game, respectively. Wheatfall is pulling down 10.37YPA with a 67% catch rate on 4.11 attempts per game. The 60.3% completion rate to Wilson is really killing him.

Wilson is definitely being used ALOT differently this year. Similar yards per game in his games last year to this year but his average depth of target is 5 yards less despite being targeted >20 yards downfield almost the same amount of times (granted in 2 less games in 2025) and a higher percentage of his yards are after the catch this year (46 vs 33).

3DownNation

Tommy Condell struggles to explain Winnipeg Blue Bombers...

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have struggled offensively at times this season, but it felt like things came to a head against the B.C. Lions in Week 9. The club managed only 19 points and 304 net yards in

5 hours ago, Noeller said:

It's getting used to winning every single home game and then NOT winning... People are like "WTF??? WE'RE SUPPOSED TO WIN EVERY GAME!!"

Now don't get me wrong... Things have been **** this year. That last game vs BC was embarrassing. But... The fan base is absolutely spoiled rotten... Only Child levels of spoiled.

No, the fanbase isn't spoiled rogtten. They pay their hard earned money. It's the front office & coaching. How many coaches & GMs last nearly 15 years together? They got new contracts for crissakes. And 3 years to boot. That's insane especially when we all could see favouritism taking place as well as the decline in performance & lack of Osh's accountability. Jordan Younger's explanation giving up 377 yards rushing? "It kind of snowballed." No kidding. Thanks, Captain Obvious.

Edited August 11Aug 11 by SpeedFlex27

On 2026-05-05 at 1:08 PM, Noeller said:

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

15 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

No, the fanbase isn't spoiled rogtten. They pay their hard earned money. It's the front office & coaching. How many coaches & GMs last nearly 15 years together? They got new contracts for crissakes. And 3 years to boot. That's insane especially when we all could see favouritism taking place as well as the decline in performance & lack of Osh's accountability. Jordan Younger's explanation giving up 377 yards rushing? "It kind of snowballed." No kidding. Thanks, Captain Obvious.

Entitlement: means having a legal right or claim to something, or a psychological belief that you deserve special privileges and rewards without needing to earn them

Spoiled rotten" means being excessively pampered, overindulged, or given everything one wants. It describes someone—often a child—whose character or behavior has been ruined by a lack of discipline and an abundance of gifts or privileges, leading to an entitled or selfish attitude.

Fans by definition appear to be spoiled rotten. Bombers management (trinity) appear to be entitled

So we got a spoiled rotten fanbase and entitled management. We ******.

There are years we'd kill to be 4-4 after 8 games... And years we've had a management team that were publicly embarrassing the franchise. We definitely don't have that. Are we lacking in some areas? Absolutely. But this is not Tim Burke, Mike Kelly, Jeff Reinebold...

Is management publicly embarrassing the club? No, they are leaving that to the players to do, with their on-field performance.

Can anyone even say what our management is actively doing though? Some heads (be it players or staff) should have rolled after that last debacle but instead they stood pat. Definition of insanity...

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

There are years we'd kill to be 4-4 after 8 games... And years we've had a management team that were publicly embarrassing the franchise. We definitely don't have that. Are we lacking in some areas? Absolutely. But this is not Tim Burke, Mike Kelly, Jeff Reinebold...

Hot take.... Mike Kelly might have gotten better results from a worse roster than we're getting this season....

That's the issue dude... This team is underachieving

4-4 but do we beat Hamilton if BLM finishes the game? Calgary was a close win and we needed extended OT to beat Ottawa. We could easily be 2-6 or 1-7. Club is not playing well.

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

Hot take.... Mike Kelly might have gotten better results from a worse roster than we're getting this season....

That's the issue dude... This team is underachieving

I don't think we're underachieving. I think we're coming back down to earth after a couple years of over achieving. Barely scrapping out wins we maybe shouldn't have. Covering up obvious concerns because we won, so it can't be that bad... jmo

I can’t believe out of all of our issues we’re talking about Pokey Wilson. Honestly without his emergence our scouting looks even more bleak. He’s not ever going to be that alpha number one receiver because quite frankly I don’t think he has the hands to consistently come down with the big catch. But he’s on pace for over 1200 yards and 8 touch downs. Definitely a solid 2 guy or a luxury as a 3rd. Not his fault we gambled on Schoen and let go of Lawler.

(deleted)

Edited August 12Aug 12 by johnzo

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

4-4 but do we beat Hamilton if BLM finishes the game? Calgary was a close win and we needed extended OT to beat Ottawa. We could easily be 2-6 or 1-7. Club is not playing well.

IF (when) we lose to Ottawa... at that point I think I'd rather be a fighting 2 - 7 rather then a 4-5 getting embarrassed.....

3 hours ago, Noeller said:

There are years we'd kill to be 4-4 after 8 games... And years we've had a management team that were publicly embarrassing the franchise. We definitely don't have that. Are we lacking in some areas? Absolutely. But this is not Tim Burke, Mike Kelly, Jeff Reinebold...

Non issue, handled internally

12 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

Not his fault we gambled on Schoen and let go of Lawler.

this is the correct take. Plus, the dude is making his yards even though we don't have a gamebreaking WR1 for the enemy D to focus on and our WR5 is not a credible threat.

Pokey's fine, it's almost literally everything else that's the problem. Can't recruit talent, can't keep the QB safe from a pass rush, and I ain't a fan of Condell's playcalling.

7 hours ago, Noeller said:

There are years we'd kill to be 4-4 after 8 games... And years we've had a management team that were publicly embarrassing the franchise. We definitely don't have that. Are we lacking in some areas? Absolutely. But this is not Tim Burke, Mike Kelly, Jeff Reinebold...

And there are years when a 4-4 record is earned earned & celebrated on either a young team working hard or rising out of a bad one. Fans get excited for the future. Or a good team underachieving & fans get bent. Or bad team overachieving for a short period of time. Over time, things even out. so fans get bent at what they see. A bad team will ultimately remain one until necessary changes are made usually at the top.

The Bombers are an old team on the decline with Osh coaching them like it's 2022 all over again. We have two starters on the OL who are waaay past their best before date, for example. Bryant at 40 & pushing 41 & Neufeld at 37 going on 38. Kyrie Wilson 33 nearly 34, Nick Hallett 31, Demski 33, Collaros 38. Jefferson (who I admit is playing well). 35. This team is on the decline. We all can see it except fans like you who hold on to the past. The Trinity's time is past. It should have been done & gone last off season after the season ended.

9 hours ago, ShyGuy said:

3DownNation

Tommy Condell struggles to explain Winnipeg Blue Bombers...

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have struggled offensively at times this season, but it felt like things came to a head against the B.C. Lions in Week 9. The club managed only 19 points and 304 net yards in

“I feel like we’re very inconsistently consistent, and we’ve got to be able to finish those things, but in order to do that kind of thing, you’re not just gonna look at the outcome, so to speak. You’ve gotta chop wood and carry water, that kind of thing, and then you have to be able to do those things and not look just at the outcome. You’ve gotta look at the full what goes into the play and not just the stat or the ending of it,” said Condell.

“Every play has its own paragraph or own chapter, and the ending of the chapter is just the stat. We’ve gotta be worried about what’s happening within that whole play and not worry about the outcome, so to speak. The outcome will take care of itself, and I’ve got to be able to coach that, and be able to coach that way in order for them to think that way.”

2 minutes ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

“I feel like we’re very inconsistently consistent, and we’ve got to be able to finish those things, but in order to do that kind of thing, you’re not just gonna look at the outcome, so to speak. You’ve gotta chop wood and carry water, that kind of thing, and then you have to be able to do those things and not look just at the outcome. You’ve gotta look at the full what goes into the play and not just the stat or the ending of it,” said Condell.

“Every play has its own paragraph or own chapter, and the ending of the chapter is just the stat. We’ve gotta be worried about what’s happening within that whole play and not worry about the outcome, so to speak. The outcome will take care of itself, and I’ve got to be able to coach that, and be able to coach that way in order for them to think that way.”

I think Condell's saying they have to be better.

3 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I think Condell's saying they have to be better.

His interviews come across to me as a human version of ChatGPT.

12 hours ago, bigg jay said:

Is management publicly embarrassing the club? No, they are leaving that to the players to do, with their on-field performance.

Can anyone even say what our management is actively doing though? Some heads (be it players or staff) should have rolled after that last debacle but instead they stood pat. Definition of insanity...

yeh the fact that after that joke of a game and then a bye week...that no significant changes of any type were made...or issues even brought out shows we are totaly lacking any leadership coaching wise...and to me in my experience...they have no clue how to fix...and even more disturbing can't even see the issues...they think they doing great and it will all just work out....Rudderless ship and not the fault of the players...even if some are just not good enough...they have zero hope

The articles with Younger and Condell as well...just ooze "i have no effin clue"....pathetic....and anytime Osh is in front of the mic its more the same....for many yrs....Guy is just out to lunch

10 hours ago, Goldkobra said:

I don't think we're underachieving. I think we're coming back down to earth after a couple years of over achieving. Barely scrapping out wins we maybe shouldn't have. Covering up obvious concerns because we won, so it can't be that bad... jmo

we were putting lipstick on a pif for 2 yrs now....and every lucky/b.s win we got just internally justified Osh and what he was doing and that all was good...when it wasnt...I said then..and been saying ever since we gonna be in huge trouble...we were in huge trouble...and right now we are hanging on tothe edge of a cliff we trying not to totally fall off...But it's coming...and the lack of anything being done during bye week says so....A couple guys coming back from injury isn't a saving the season thing...we had the issues when they were playing...it's the coaching

I wish we were playing a legit team this friday because if we squeak out a win vs Ott...just gonna be more of the same and make Osh think he on right path, and delay the inevitable.

Dimwitty is throwing out guys like garbage and there gonna be new blood playing there....Hungry young guys with a point to prove...and a team thats been sent the message to shape up or you will be promptly shipped out...regardless of who you are and how long you been around...Thats a scary team to go up against when you yourself are a listing mess

People been mocking Ol Blue eyes a bit....but he aint sitting pat and just being complacent...Maybe Osh should do a fraction of that

If we lose..at home again...coming off a bye...vs a team with probably 3..4 new faces in lineup...man on man...I'd cut the HC lose right after the game...cause we hooped

We already got embarrased by a 3rd string QB playing on a team missing a whole whack of regulars...having that happen again vs a winless squad...something needs to be done

Condell's interview is another example of the lack of accountability. I don't remember, it was 11 days ago. Yeah, try doing that at your job.