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

I thought Bryant had one of his better games last weekend. Still not good, but fewer whiffs. The interior seemed to give up a lot of pressure.

Broxton has been our best ol, but he hasn’t been dominating. I wonder if he’d be better back in the left side?

19 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

I thought Bryant had one of his better games last weekend. Still not good, but fewer whiffs. The interior seemed to give up a lot of pressure.

Broxton has been our best ol, but he hasn’t been dominating. I wonder if he’d be better back in the left side?

yeah Stan wasnt as bad...still not better than adequate tho..can he up his game more...Guess we shall see as we know Osh wont sit him...I think flip flopping him and Broxton makes sense tho...If anything to see

Our interior tho needs a tweak....Elsbury just isnt pushing the needle and as an import he needs to be.

35 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

IMO best case scenario is four more wins. Banjo Bowl if Riders are still banged up, TO, Calgary & BC. Certainly no gimmes in there.

The Riders have a bunch of guys due to come off the 6 game just in time for either Labor Day (Ouellette & Milligan) or Banjo Bowl (Campbell, Emilus, KSB) so we need to hope some of those guys will get extended because I do not like our chances if they are healthy. Milligan could be done for the season, iirc, but I'm not sure about the other guys.

21 hours ago, Booch said:

Well its narrowed down a bit then..and was stupid decision wherever it came from

Yes it was. The funny thing is that the majority of this forum wanted him gone at the end of last season. Be careful what you wish for i guess.

16 hours ago, wbbfan said:

even hodge made light of this. we need to get off the 3rd canadian and give singer a chance.

this. especially when the draft had solid developmental guys available in the mid rounds. the guys we did pick were tcf at best. but we really needed the two more lbers we picked in front of that

tim white is a good addition, but he’s not the guy to build a wr core around. same with demski. We need the wr you build around.

Wr core is one of the most important position groups in the cfl. And we don’t have the bedrock guy.

Kenny Lawler was that guy. Can't 100% blame Walters as it was a choice between him and Schoen and Schoen was lost to injury. However, this offseason White was the only impact guy and we needed more..still need more. Paging KW.

14 hours ago, Booch said:

Wheatfall costs peanuts in the whole scheme of things..it wasnt a this or that situation..just piss poor planning and forward thinking

You dont go 3 canadians when you hardly have depth for 2..thats just stupid...even more stupid when you dont have to in order to meet ratio

Demski disappears for stretches..Nield hasn't even appeared yet..other recievers on teams dissappear...its just how games go at times

We made a dumb decision to go 3 canadians knowing we didnt have depth to..then didnt draft any..and only went after 1 in FA...wheres the logic there?

He's better than several of our current guys tho..and garners attention..he didn't need to be the number 1...but he would make us better

The fact tho that the best reciever in camp..and in 2 preseason games is rotting on the PR as our group basically sucks..tells us all we need to know about the intelligence of the coaching staff

Best in preseason? That doesnt mean much. My old coach, a former Bomber, attends practice regularly, and we chat often, he says that both Singer and Frederickson (before his release) were not practicing well and struggling when given reps. This was about a month ago, but his thoughts were neither guy should be kept around.

Keric Wheatfall would have helped us this year. That should tell us all we need to know about KW and the scouts ability to find receiver talent.

Keric is a pretty replaceable guy and the fact we haven't is pretty telling.

9 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Keric Wheatfall would have helped us this year. That should tell us all we need to know about KW and the scouts ability to find receiver talent.

Keric is a pretty replaceable guy and the fact we haven't is pretty telling.

They didn't try because they opted for 3 non-imports.... You think guys like Cobb or Corcoran are better than any random American off the street pet alone what may or may not have been available in free agency?

Seriously the depth chart is written in pen when training camp opens for this team.

How do people know that it's the receivers that are the problem.... Vs the coordinator.... Vs the QBs.... Vs the OL.... Vs "the entire offense as a whole is a problem"....

?

4 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

They didn't try because they opted for 3 non-imports.... You think guys like Cobb or Corcoran are better than any random American off the street pet alone what may or may not have been available in free agency?

Seriously the depth chart is written in pen when training camp opens for this team.

I think 3 IMP receivers would be much better, I also think we need a 3 NAT OL. I just dont see a way forward with either of those atm. Clercius, if he ever decides to leave the tub might help us but I am starting to highly question his attitude rn. Its a mess and it is born from poor talent retention and poor scouting imo. Singer has been invisible and showing poor hands..how do we get there? Need talent.

I've been around football playing then coaching for 40 years and I can tell you when statements like " we should try player X because he couldn't be worse" or " we should try this guy because the guy ahead of him sucks" start getting thrown around, your team lacks talent and depth. PERIOD.

Edited August 17Aug 17 by GCn20

11 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I think 3 IMP receivers would be much better, I also think we need a 3 NAT OL. I just dont see a way forward with either of those atm. Clercius, if he ever decides to leave the tub might help us but I am starting to highly question his attitude rn. Its a mess and it is born from poor talent retention and poor scouting imo. Singer has been invisible and showing poor hands..how do we get there? Need talent.

Clercius has been healthy, active and playing the last 3 games. He's only been targeted twice in those games (both completions) but sure it's his fault that he's barely being used.

28 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I think 3 IMP receivers would be much better, I also think we need a 3 NAT OL. I just dont see a way forward with either of those atm. Clercius, if he ever decides to leave the tub might help us but I am starting to highly question his attitude rn. Its a mess and it is born from poor talent retention and poor scouting imo. Singer has been invisible and showing poor hands..how do we get there? Need talent.

I've been around football playing then coaching for 40 years and I can tell you when statements like " we should try player X because he couldn't be worse" or " we should try this guy because the guy ahead of him sucks" start getting thrown around, your team lacks talent and depth. PERIOD.

Clercius has been dressed last 2 games but rarely gets to see field behind uselesd cobb and nield

14 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Clercius has been healthy, active and playing the last 3 games. He's only been targeted twice in those games (both completions) but sure it's his fault that he's barely being used.

Yes..can't fault a guy who's coach chooses to play 2 slugs in front of him

Any updates in practice today..or yesterday...or we even practicing?

Random fact of the day: Our TE Daniels almost has as many career receiving yards as Corcoran in significantly less games.

30 minutes ago, Booch said:

Any updates in practice today..or yesterday...or we even practicing?

As usual very little reporting but the club at least let us know who practiced (or more accurately who did not).

10 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Random fact of the day: Our TE Daniels almost has as many career receiving yards as Corcoran in significantly less games.

Random fact...for a team believing they can successfully be a 3 Canadian wr team..their #2 Canadian is averaging 2.5 catches a game for 34 yards and no tds..and their #3 is averaging 1.4 catches for 13 yards..0 tds

The other exceptional talent we kept in 6 games..Corcoran average 0.5 catches a game for 4.2 yards..0 tds

So essentially our 4th and 5th recievers are combined give us an average of 2 catches for 23.5 yards a game and no scores.

Let that soak in as to why our offense is so uninspiring and how brain dead our coaching is.

The fact we have done nothing to adress that..or let Clercius take over one spot...at minimum tells you all you need to know about Osh

2 hours ago, Noeller said:

How do people know that it's the receivers that are the problem.... Vs the coordinator.... Vs the QBs.... Vs the OL.... Vs "the entire offense as a whole is a problem"....

?

I mean the ******* drops are a big clue...

2 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

I mean the ******* drops are a big clue...

and minimal fight for contested balls....we have guys who will sit back and wait on a ball...as it gets broken up as opposed to guys who instinctively attack the ball...that's a huge issue...especially with Wilson not as bad for White...but he is guilty of that often

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

I've been around football playing then coaching for 40 years and I can tell you when statements like " we should try player X because he couldn't be worse" or " we should try this guy because the guy ahead of him sucks" start getting thrown around, your team lacks talent and depth. PERIOD.

I'd have a lot more time for this argument if we hadn't seen O'Shea make sub-optimal roster moves for his entire time here.

I mean he had to be told to make a move at QB way back and hey, it helped.

I like O'Shea but he's shown he can't make the hard choices and tell vets to sit down.

1 minute ago, 17to85 said:

I'd have a lot more time for this argument if we hadn't seen O'Shea make sub-optimal roster moves for his entire time here.

I mean he had to be told to make a move at QB way back and hey, it helped.

I like O'Shea but he's shown he can't make the hard choices and tell vets to sit down.

same....13 yrs is a lot of yrs to confirm the obvious we have seen...it's not an isolated thing...its gone on the whole time...we skirted thru it a few yrs as we had top notch talent across the board in their prime...the key point...in their prime. We dont have a HC with the sensibility to know when to move on...or even recognize he needs to

Case in point as one example..He still says ZC is the best QB in the league...just delusional statement

34 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

I'd have a lot more time for this argument if we hadn't seen O'Shea make sub-optimal roster moves for his entire time here.

I mean he had to be told to make a move at QB way back and hey, it helped.

I like O'Shea but he's shown he can't make the hard choices and tell vets to sit down.

I don't like O'Shea (his coaching, not personally) and have come to the same conclusion.

I got into a bit of a discussion with a poster on another forum about the Bombers’ defensive play. I suggested (might have been stronger) that Ball and Kelly, while good ST players, should not be on the field taking regular snaps with the defence. He disagreed, saying that I was too quick in my judgement of Ball given that he had just returned from injury (and was reinjured) and that Kelly was looking pretty good at safety.

So, it dawned on me that the Bombers seem have a lot of ST players on this team, perhaps too many. I had a look at the official CFL stats, last year’s and this year’s only. Through week 11 last year, the Bombers were 5-4 and the CFL stats package had their defense ranked at #5, while their STs were ranked at #2. By the end of the 2025 regular season the D had moved up to #3 and the STs took over the top spot. (I didn’t bother with the O.) This season through week 11, we’re (guess what?) at 5-4 with our D is ranked #6 and our STs ranked #1. It will be interesting to see where both are at the end of the season but I’m hoping though not overly optimistic,  that the D can move up a tad and the way the STs are playing, I’d guess that they’ll still be at or near the top.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that the Bombers seem to be really good at drafting or finding ST players but maybe are not so good at drafting or finding really good players for the other 2/3 of this team sport.

So, IMO, Ball and Kelly are fine on STs but please keep them off the field for defensive purposes.

Anyone with thoughts on the matter?

6 hours ago, Booch said:

Random fact...for a team believing they can successfully be a 3 Canadian wr team..their #2 Canadian is averaging 2.5 catches a game for 34 yards and no tds..and their #3 is averaging 1.4 catches for 13 yards..0 tds

The other exceptional talent we kept in 6 games..Corcoran average 0.5 catches a game for 4.2 yards..0 tds

So essentially our 4th and 5th recievers are combined give us an average of 2 catches for 23.5 yards a game and no scores.

Let that soak in as to why our offense is so uninspiring and how brain dead our coaching is.

The fact we have done nothing to adress that..or let Clercius take over one spot...at minimum tells you all you need to know about Osh

Clercius has an attitude problem imo. We've all heard about his conflicts with team mates and half arising his routes in game. Would he be an improvement? Not unless he realizes that he's got to play like he wants it. He cant be sitting out reps in practice and hiding in the tub until the end of his contract.

Edited August 18Aug 18 by GCn20

Special Teams are important and the Bombers play it very disciplined and have a game breaker of a returner. But even with that going into Week 11 they were 7th in the league in average start position behind only Hamilton and BC and were dead last in opponents start position. It seems to me being able to move the ball on offense and stop the ball on defense should be a higher priority than filling the special teams.

Obviously the analytics in the CFL are sparse compared to the NFL but a yard of field position is worth about 0.05 points in the NFL. The difference in opponents average punt return for the Bombers and the last place team in that space is roughly 5 yards per return... napkin math bombers had punted 44 times, so that is 220 extra yards, Bombers opponents have had 106 possessions, so lets move the ball up for them an average of 2 yards a possession because our special teams stink now. 106 drives with an extra 2 yards per drive means they would be expected to give up about... 11 extra points over those 9 games.

I'm sure if you were to focus scouting and drafting on impact skill players you could find one or two that would give you a better return of just over a point per game than a potpourri of teams players who will never (or should never) play on offense or defense.

The aggregate defensive ranking for the Bombers in the stat package is what it is... they are pretty high because they have a bunch of sacks and knockdowns and are good on 2nd down... but it gets balanced out a bit because they much more horrendous against the run than they are good against the pass.

EDIT

As a counter point to why special teams are important... The Chargers in 2010 finished first in total offense and first in total defense and still missed the playoffs because their special teams were historically trash.

So as with everything... it depends

Edited August 18Aug 18 by ShyGuy

20 hours ago, Booch said:

well then as the second leading receiver on team...should he have been kept and all other below him not...based on that logic? 2024 he was a bit player...not a consistent starter...and also saying a big game here and there for any player is skewwing anything is kinda lame...obviously in that game...and all the in game circumstances that occured that player stepped up...no?...and what did other guys average after a biug game...u need to add context to your evidence..what was game plan?..who was the focal point...what did teams do to take away certain players...who may have been knicked up..so was more a decoy?...a lot to add to how stats panned out

And for a team to go 3 canadians when not equiped to go 2 when an import by your logic "fell off" is the stupidest theory...ever

While stats don't tell the whole story, especially when you cherry pick games...or blocks of games...stats over the course of several yrs do...show a trend and also what a guy can do/should do for you

based on full season last year..the culmative info shows he was 2nd on team, one the higher averages per catch

Culmative this yr..Has a better per yards than anyone on our team...Is close in terms of yards to our top 3...Has a better catch percentage than Wilson..and basically on par with White

Compare that now with the whole picture for Nield...Cobb...Corcorran(tho we wised up and cut him)

Who has better "culmative" stats...and yes that matters?...And who based on that would offer us more?

Again...He was not suggested to be "the guy" but a piece of the picture...and Again White was not signed off scrap heap to replace Wheatfall...he was signed to replace whoever or whatever was our number 1 last yr...I guess Schoen...the guy who's career we wrecked cause again we had zero depth

Likely a 4th place one at best...

I never suggested Wheatfall is a Number 1 receiver so get that notion outta your head, Jesse. I never said that. he would have been a #2 or 3 on our roster. We'd have been a better team with him then without him. He's outplaying Lawler, the Ti Cats unabashed #1.

On 2026-08-16 at 7:58 PM, wbbfan said:

wheatfall is playing well, but he’s not the answer here and not a premium guy. Hes a slightly different skill set than wilson but he’s the same role guy.

As compared to Cobb? Nield?? Au contraire, mon ami. I think he'd have made us better.

42 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I never suggested Wheatfall is a Number 1 receiver so get that notion outta your head, Jesse. I never said that. he would have been a #2 or 3 on our roster. We'd have been a better team with him then without him. He's outplaying Lawler, the Ti Cats unabashed #1.

As compared to Cobb? Nield?? Au contraire, mon ami. I think he'd have made us better.

Nah, we’d a made him worse. Doesn’t matter how many no3 wrs you have that aren’t consistent, it won’t make you better. he didn’t make us better last year either.

He needed a change of scenery and usage that’d fit his skill set.