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

I think our roster composition and player deployment is going to get stupid and cost us a win or two (as it always does) but overall, the talent at the top is there. The scary part is it’s old.

Brady, Demski, White, Pokey is definitely enough to compete on O, the D is going to be flying around, ST should be solid. I’m not worried that we’re going to lose 12 games, I’m worried we’re going to lose the last one because we’re old, beat up and not putting our best roster on the field.

Does anyone believe that if the decision needs to be made in the playoffs, Kyrie Wilson with a torn hammy isn’t coming off the field? That’s still my concern.

13 minutes ago, Mike said:

I think our roster composition and player deployment is going to get stupid and cost us a win or two (as it always does) but overall, the talent at the top is there. The scary part is it’s old.

Brady, Demski, White, Pokey is definitely enough to compete on O, the D is going to be flying around, ST should be solid. I’m not worried that we’re going to lose 12 games, I’m worried we’re going to lose the last one because we’re old, beat up and not putting our best roster on the field.

Does anyone believe that if the decision needs to be made in the playoffs, Kyrie Wilson with a torn hammy isn’t coming off the field? That’s still my concern.

I will wait and see. I think that the riot act was read from above and we will see some different deployment this year.

9 hours ago, BBlink said:

Team looks much better on paper across the board from last year. I think there's a lot of roster nitpicking going on, which is completely fair, but preemptive. The sky is not falling.

Agreed. We haven't even played a game yet and have no idea what our roster even looks like yet. I get that we have nerves around here about what our roster/deployment might look like, but let's wait to see it before we go all doom and gloom. We have a lot more talent than we did last year.

11 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Most teams are in a similar situation at QB. Davis, Harris, Adams, Rourke - injuries to any of them could sink that team's season. And some them are known for getting hurt

Nah. Oh wait Pittsburgh just signed a 42 year old to be their QB again. It’s not just a CFL problem.

I stopped by the stadium yesterday for about half an hour and decided to watch a bit of practice. Zach really puts his whole body into the long throws, Elgersma barely puts an effort at all. From my extremely limited viewing if I didn’t know who was starting, 13 looks better than 8 by far. I’d say if Zach got hurt we probably wouldn’t miss a beat and might actually be better. Limited viewing but just the motion difference in the long throws is night and day. All body Zach vs all arm Elgersma. I spoke to a dude who said he’s been a few times and he seems to think Elgersma has been the “best QB”. Just seems to be able to make all the throws with very little effort it seems. I’m cutting Terry right now as he truly can’t throw a ball 10 yards.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Goalie

50 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Thats a good point too. The OL is gonna be really really good. Wallace looks to have taken a big stepforward so far too. It is really deep too.

100%. Unless someone hits on QBs in this league soon, the league is going to be raiding old folkes homes for QBs.

Knew going into the off season no one was gonna fix QBing problems from with in the league. Next years FA qb crop probably wont be better either.

Can confirm, sky not falling. Also, the ground is not trying to escape through by way of the air any more. All clear on the western front.

We have a lot of solid upgrades from last year, and an addition by subtraction. Last years 10 wins was a bit of smoke n mirrors, but on the field I expect us to be one of the most improved teams in the league. We will be dumspter diving for Wrs, and probably for DL both ni and imp this year, which is frustrating. But its still overall an A- off season.

We appear to be a very well rounded roster thus far. I am not willing to write off our receivers yet as it is pretty early, but we are likely looking for NAT DL. All in all though I would say that our biggest two problems from last year have been pretty solidly improved. Our OL, and our OC, should be a lot better and that is 2-3 wins right there. I think our receivers are also better overall as well, but I will have to see them in game action to know for sure. I really think putting Zac in a system he knows, understands, and loves is going to be huge for us at QB.

lol. Tanner Schmekel goes down and DL depth is now a problem. lol honestly. If it’s a problem we prob shouldn’t be starting Canadians on the DL then. Cuz we don’t really need 2.

10 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Nah. Oh wait Pittsburgh just signed a 42 year old to be their QB again. It’s not just a CFL problem.

I stopped by the stadium yesterday for about half an hour and decided to watch a bit of practice. Zach really puts his whole body into the long throws, Elgersma barely puts an effort at all. From my extremely limited viewing if I didn’t know who was starting, 13 looks better than 8 by far. I’d say if Zach got hurt we probably wouldn’t miss a beat and might actually be better. Limited viewing but just the motion difference in the long throws is night and day. All body Zach vs all arm Elgersma. I spoke to a dude who said he’s been a few times and he seems to think Elgersma has been the “best QB”. Just seems to be able to make all the throws with very little effort it seems. I’m cutting Terry right now as he truly can’t throw a ball 10 yards.

Throwing a nice ball is only about 25% of what makes a good QB. If throwing a nice ball in practice was the end all be all then Dominique Davis would be a hall of famer. I am hopeful that TE can reach the other 75% of what makes for successful QBing but we honestly have no idea what we have at this point, and it is completely unrealistic to think that Elgersma would outperform Zac at this point. Don't get hung up on arm strength, it really is a red herring with the caveat that it is difficult to overcome a weak arm. Would I like Zac to be able to zip a ball like Elgersma? Sure....but that isn't his strength as a QB.

If Elgersma can learn to read a defence, make clutch throws under pressure, extend plays and not get happy feet, inspire and motivate his O unit, then he will be someone that has a real good chance at attaining the level of career that Zac is having. Let's not put the cart before the horse tho. The difference between wearing a yellow shirt in practice playing glorified catch, and doing it with bullets flying around you cannot be understated. Game action is not the same as practice.

Edited 50 minutes ago50 min by GCn20

12 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

As of today, in my known expert opinion, the oline is better with the addition of Broxton and Kolo's departure. The defence should be really good. Brady is excellent. Wilson+White+Demski is a nice trio and I like Nield. The questions are how does Zach play? Can we stay healthy? How do we manage the ratio? Do we keep loading the roster with STers who can't/don't get reps on offense or defense?

Best case, we win the Cup. Worst case we miss the playoffs. Likely case, we're somewhere around 10 wins and don't win the Cup.

We just lost JSK for the season. This is only the second week of TC. No team stays healthy after 2 pre season, 18 regular games, playoffs & GC. It's all about attrition. Injuries seems to have a lot to do with luck, it seems. Some teams just go on a run of bad luck. If a team gets lucky & stays relatively healthy then they have a shot to win a championship.

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

100%. Unless someone hits on QBs in this league soon, the league is going to be raiding old folkes homes for QBs.

Harris, collaros and BLM are starting qbs, we sure it's not already a thing?

12 hours ago, Noeller said:

It was honestly a sincere question from me... Trying to figure out if we're already cooked for the year and shouldn't bother watching the games.

Maybe the defense can win them all?

But it sounds like, at best, we're a 7-8 win team struggling to not be the one team who doesn't make playoffs.

That's less than heartening...

That doesnt start until next year. They can still be one of the 3 teams that dont make the playoffs

Not that I think they will be near that. I am really optimistic about the defense particularly.

12 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

As of today, in my known expert opinion, the oline is better with the addition of Broxton and Kolo's departure. The defence should be really good. Brady is excellent. Wilson+White+Demski is a nice trio and I like Nield. The questions are how does Zach play? Can we stay healthy? How do we manage the ratio? Do we keep loading the roster with STers who can't/don't get reps on offense or defense?

Best case, we win the Cup. Worst case we miss the playoffs. Likely case, we're somewhere around 10 wins and don't win the Cup.

Our Oline is gonna be one the leagues best, so we improved there...Our defence as well is gonna be way better with the additions, plus the likely use of several big upside Canadians making our rotations much more effective. Or offence and scheme is gonna be night and day better with a real OC...The aforementioned oline upgrade....and a solid top 4 receiver crew this yr.

But I think we dropped the ball at the draft, and we are razor thin in depth on offence with skilled position players...one or 2 serious injuries to key guys...we gonna be scuffling

10 hours ago, M.O.A.B. said:

As if we have an option for a backup QB in the recent free-agency 🤣

McLeod Bethel-Thompson
Caleb Evans
Shea Patterson
Tyrie Adams
Dustin Crums (MTL)
Matt Shiltz (Retired)
Jake Dolegala
Harrison Frost
Chris Streveller (Retired)
Jack Coan (SSK)
Jake Maier (OTT)
Logan Bonner
Chase Brice
Jeremiah Masoli

yeah, but the lack of forward thinking starting 2 yrs ago already has us in this spot....didnt say there was a plethora of talent there for the taking....but we really have done nothing to have any real succession plan

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

Thats a good point too. The OL is gonna be really really good. Wallace looks to have taken a big stepforward so far too. It is really deep too.

100%. Unless someone hits on QBs in this league soon, the league is going to be raiding old folkes homes for QBs.

Knew going into the off season no one was gonna fix QBing problems from with in the league. Next years FA qb crop probably wont be better either.

Can confirm, sky not falling. Also, the ground is not trying to escape through by way of the air any more. All clear on the western front.

We have a lot of solid upgrades from last year, and an addition by subtraction. Last years 10 wins was a bit of smoke n mirrors, but on the field I expect us to be one of the most improved teams in the league. We will be dumspter diving for Wrs, and probably for DL both ni and imp this year, which is frustrating. But its still overall an A- off season.

yeah watching Wallace...he looks like a total different player from last year...and thats not just his frame

And across the board with top 30 guys yeah we better than last yr and more than solid....but we are thin in depth again in a few areas and our draft was another slug grab event with 75% guys who have no upside.

Our lines this yr I think are gonna get us back to possibly 2019-2021 land and be our key to grabbing first again. I love what we have cooking on defence and the versatilty and athleticism of our guys..especially the lb's and backend

8 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

That doesnt start until next year. They can still be one of the 3 teams that dont make the playoffs

Not that I think they will be near that. I am really optimistic about the defense particularly.

we gonna be a double digit win team this yr...no doubt in my mind...I am worried tho about our depth on offence outside the oline and rb.

Excited about the defence...and how it's gonna evolve

And if we have significant injuries to Demski and Neild....or have a National olineman...or 2 go down where we need to play 3 or more Imports (we have nice depth top do so so not worried there) then we are gonna have to go 3 national receivers, and we dont have the ponies for that...and Lord help ZC then as teams will basically take away White/Wilson and make him start pressing and forcing throws into bad spots...and we know he will as history shows....or lean on a middling group of Canadian receivers who will basically offer nothing much

59 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Nah. Oh wait Pittsburgh just signed a 42 year old to be their QB again. It’s not just a CFL problem.

I stopped by the stadium yesterday for about half an hour and decided to watch a bit of practice. Zach really puts his whole body into the long throws, Elgersma barely puts an effort at all. From my extremely limited viewing if I didn’t know who was starting, 13 looks better than 8 by far. I’d say if Zach got hurt we probably wouldn’t miss a beat and might actually be better. Limited viewing but just the motion difference in the long throws is night and day. All body Zach vs all arm Elgersma. I spoke to a dude who said he’s been a few times and he seems to think Elgersma has been the “best QB”. Just seems to be able to make all the throws with very little effort it seems. I’m cutting Terry right now as he truly can’t throw a ball 10 yards.

Qbing is a football wide issue. Its worse here, because of the reality of canadian football, but it is an issue every where for sure.

1 hour ago, Mike said:

I think our roster composition and player deployment is going to get stupid and cost us a win or two (as it always does) but overall, the talent at the top is there. The scary part is it’s old.

Brady, Demski, White, Pokey is definitely enough to compete on O, the D is going to be flying around, ST should be solid. I’m not worried that we’re going to lose 12 games, I’m worried we’re going to lose the last one because we’re old, beat up and not putting our best roster on the field.

Does anyone believe that if the decision needs to be made in the playoffs, Kyrie Wilson with a torn hammy isn’t coming off the field? That’s still my concern.

Nailed it.

We've said and done many right things this offseason, but until I see sustained change Im not betting on it.

53 minutes ago, Goalie said:

lol. Tanner Schmekel goes down and DL depth is now a problem. lol honestly. If it’s a problem we prob shouldn’t be starting Canadians on the DL then. Cuz we don’t really need 2.

Canadians are the back bone of every DL. You just can't carry 7 imp dl and have them take all the reps.

Its sad, but schmekel was our depth. If we flipped wil, then we could rotate lawson with an imp db at wil.

27 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Harris, collaros and BLM are starting qbs, we sure it's not already a thing?

Not wrong lol, but we could see those guys play till some even crazier ages at this rate.

26 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

That doesnt start until next year. They can still be one of the 3 teams that dont make the playoffs

Not that I think they will be near that. I am really optimistic about the defense particularly.

I refuse to even think about next years cfl while there is football going on.