With Rookie Camps getting underway Wednesday, it's time to talk about the 2026 CFL season!

Were they all catchable balls tho..were they off target..uncatchable..were they blatant drops..were they a matter of him and Maier not being on same page?..a lot can be factored into it.

1 hour ago, TBURGESS said:

He's catching just over half of the balls thrown to him this year. Does that tell the whole story? Nope, but it does tell part of it for sure. The part where he was cut IMO. He's been pretty much invisible this year. That's from me, who watches all the games; it's not stat-related.

I get it. You like the guy, so you're willing to ignore his play this year and the stats don't matter.

Could also tell you his QB is struggling. If you bothered to look you would see that 15 of 17 missed catches were 20+ yards where Maier is throwing less than a 20% completion rate amongst all of his receivers.

But if you'd rather assume and make up conclusions based on stat lines you are free to do so. Fans dont get paid to make decisions based on all the facts.

Fact is that Lewis is a deep ball specialist that was playing with a QB that is a terrible deep ball passer.

Edited August 4Aug 4 by GCn20

57 minutes ago, Booch said:

Were they all catchable balls tho..were they off target..uncatchable..were they blatant drops..were they a matter of him and Maier not being on same page?..a lot can be factored into it.

Another very real possibility is that Geno was one of the guys in Brown's corner before the trade. Wouldn't be the first veteran quietly ushered out the door for not supporting a questionable coaching move.

We may see more in Ottawa yet.

1 hour ago, Booch said:

Were they all catchable balls tho..were they off target..uncatchable..were they blatant drops..were they a matter of him and Maier not being on same page?..a lot can be factored into it.

Nope only the stats line counts. We must assume these were all on target passes to a wide open Geno.

BTW, just the game vs Winnipeg alone there were 4 errant passes thrown his way...and that was Maiers best game of the season.

Edited August 4Aug 4 by GCn20

This interview is the likely reason he was cut. Threw Dinwiddies O to the wolves.

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/ottawa-1200/article/lewis-we-have-to-be-more-disciplined/

Edited August 4Aug 4 by GCn20

4 hours ago, TBURGESS said:

He's catching just over half of the balls thrown to him this year. Does that tell the whole story? Nope, but it does tell part of it for sure. The part where he was cut IMO. He's been pretty much invisible this year. That's from me, who watches all the games; it's not stat-related.

I get it. You like the guy, so you're willing to ignore his play this year and the stats don't matter.

If Lewis wants to come here to play for 50% of his current contract then sure bring in. If he won't sign a new deal & still wants $300 grand to play here thgen no. Don't bring him in.

On 2026-05-07 at 11:03 AM, Noeller said:

No surprise there. methinks he finally found a home where he's appreciated. He still is a streaky qb but they won't find anyone better in free agency.

8 hours ago, GCn20 said:

This interview is the likely reason he was cut. Threw Dinwiddies O to the wolves.

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/ottawa-1200/article/lewis-we-have-to-be-more-disciplined/

If Dinwiddie cut Lewis because of that interview then he is a bigger arsehole than I thought. Lewis was speaking the truth. There are guys on that Ottawa squad that don't want it badly enough & he made that pretty clear. Dinwiddie wears the GM, Scouting, HC, OC & QB Coach hats all at the same time. One man doing everything never works. He needs to be relieved of some of his duties. This is the problem with the Coach/Admin cap. Teams hire one guy & the more jobs he does means the more money they save much to the detriment of that team & its fans. The cap has to go.

Just now, SpeedFlex27 said:

If Dinwiddie cut Lewis because of that interview then he is a bigger arsehole than I thought. Lewis was speaking the truth. There are guys on that Ottawa squad that don't want it badly enough & he made that pretty clear. Dinwiddie wears the GM, Scouting, HC, OC & QB Coach hats all at the same time. One man doing everything never works. He needs to be relieved of some of his duties. This is the problem with the Coach/Admin cap. Teams hire one guy & the more jobs he does means the more money they save much to the detriment of that team & its fans. The cap has to go.

Lewis criticized the offensive scheme and playcalling in the red zone. Wouldn't surprise me at all if Dinwiddie's super sized ego got bruised. Likely some of his team mates weren't happy with his words either. The truth hurts sometimes. I would wager that with Lewis's best before date behind him, Ottawa clearly playing for next year, and Lewis calling out his team mates that Dinwiddie just figured it's best to remove him from the equation now before other team mates start thinking they can put the truth to words. Same reason he got rid of Brown, Lewis was becoming a "distraction".

Lewis can still play the game at a high level. He's not at his peak anymore but if his salary demands for the remainder of the season aren't outrageous he would be a nice stop gap for us.

Edited August 4Aug 4 by GCn20

4 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Lewis criticized the offensive scheme and playcalling in the red zone. Wouldn't surprise me at all if Dinwiddie's super sized ego got bruised. Likely some of his team mates weren't happy with his words either. The truth hurts sometimes.

Red zone O doesn't get much worse than the RBs last game.

1 minute ago, Mark H. said:

Red zone O doesn't get much worse than the RBs last game.

They are running under 20% efficiency in the red zone. It's not just last game, the entire season has been an abomination. Main reason we beat them imo. Lewis said the plays are too complex and need to be simplified. Not an egregious statement but Dinwiddie has shown that any questioning of his decisions will be viewed as a "distraction".

Edited August 4Aug 4 by GCn20

7 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Lewis criticized the offensive scheme and playcalling in the red zone. Wouldn't surprise me at all if Dinwiddie's super sized ego got bruised. Likely some of his team mates weren't happy with his words either. The truth hurts sometimes. I would wager that with Lewis's best before date behind him, Ottawa clearly playing for next year, and Lewis calling out his team mates that Dinwiddie just figured it's best to remove him from the equation now before other team mates start thinking they can put the truth to words. Same reason he got rid of Brown, Lewis was becoming a "distraction".

Lewis can still play the game at a high level. He's not at his peak anymore but if his salary demands for the remainder of the season aren't outrageous he would be a nice stop gap for us.

I agree. if he plays for 50% less than he's making now then bring Lewis in. He has to know the days of the big payday are over. He's year to year now. Kenny Lawler is getting into that category as well. He does nothing on the field to help his qb.Lawler's the veteran & has to help the kids that are trying to be a success at qb in Hamilton. I just see a receiver who goes deep, isn't making the contested catches like he used to & sits on the ground sulking while shaking his head looking pissed off.

Not like anyone is suggesting bring in Geno Lewis as a #1 option, just as a veteran guy who brings a type of receiver we lack and might be able to make some plays and help the offense from the standpoint of he could be a supplemental guy in an offense that realistically needs to spread the ball around to be successful. Not like you'll find anyone better at this point in the season.

Plus signing a veteran with a reputation of being a top guy (even if he's well past it) might give some other guys a bit of a kick in the ass to step it up.

5 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I agree. if he plays for 50% less than he's making now then bring Lewis in. He has to know the days of the big payday are over. He's year to year now. Kenny Lawler is getting into that category as well. He does nothing on the field to help his qb.Lawler's the veteran & has to help the kids that are trying to be a success at qb in Hamilton. I just see a receiver who goes deep, isn't making the contested catches like he used to & sits on the ground sulking while shaking his head looking pissed off.

Whether or not we sign Lewis, I would like to know that Walters is at least making a pitch to him. Hate to say it, but now is the time we have to go scrap heaping and start looking for useful pieces. No offense to any of our rookies or young guys but there is very little chance that many of them are ready to take on starter roles right now. We may have Smith, who could use more reps on D but on O we are devoid of depth, and our secondary as well. It's thin...it really is. Some guys may make major contributions in the future but I don't see too many that can take on starting roles and offer an upgrade. There are guys out there that can help us in the short term and we should be looking at a Dejon Allen, and Eugene Lewis for instance. The scrap heap will get larger as the season rolls on and Walters needs to be adding in guys at positions we need upgrade as they come available. Could they turn into busts? Sure....but we need to try something different because we have big holes on our roster.

5 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Not like anyone is suggesting bring in Geno Lewis as a #1 option, just as a veteran guy who brings a type of receiver we lack and might be able to make some plays and help the offense from the standpoint of he could be a supplemental guy in an offense that realistically needs to spread the ball around to be successful. Not like you'll find anyone better at this point in the season.

Plus signing a veteran with a reputation of being a top guy (even if he's well past it) might give some other guys a bit of a kick in the ass to step it up.

Thing is that whether he represents an upgrade or not, sometimes you just gotta shake things up and let your players know the roster isn't set in stone. Play badly your replacement might be the next guy we sign. Right now there isn't much nipping at the heels of many of our guys in house. So you gotta show everyone that your replacement may come from within, and if players don't feel threatened by the guy behind them, then it might come in a midseason signing. We don't have much depth at many positions and some guys are way too comfortable. Shake it up Walters. Right now the only position group with adequate depth is LBer. We are filthy rich with depth there...but everywhere else is devoid of depth.

Edited August 4Aug 4 by GCn20

10 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Could also tell you his QB is struggling. If you bothered to look you would see that 15 of 17 missed catches were 20+ yards where Maier is throwing less than a 20% completion rate amongst all of his receivers.

But if you'd rather assume and make up conclusions based on stat lines you are free to do so. Fans dont get paid to make decisions based on all the facts.

Fact is that Lewis is a deep ball specialist that was playing with a QB that is a terrible deep ball passer.

The fact is that some of them are Maier's fault and some of them are Geno's, but you'd rather make up conclusions based on stat lines and call them facts. Deep ball 50/50 specialists catch way more than 50% of the balls thrown their way. That's what makes them specialists. That was Lewis. It's not this year.

It’s a fact that Lewis has a lower catch percentage and a much shorter depth of target than the other receivers in Ottawa at the moment. He was not a focal point there.

It’s also a fact our offense is struggling and Lewis did much better when paired with Dru last season.

5 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

The fact is that some of them are Maier's fault and some of them are Geno's, but you'd rather make up conclusions based on stat lines and call them facts. Deep ball 50/50 specialists catch way more than 50% of the balls thrown their way. That's what makes them specialists. That was Lewis. It's not this year.

Qbs have to provide a catchable ball even on a 50/50. That's on Maier not on Lewis. Go back and look at the 4 tosses to him that count as targets in the game against us. 2 were underthrown badly, one was caught by him 6 yards out of bounds in the end zone, and the other was a throw away in which he was the closest receiver. That's four of 17 missed targets. 6 others came in the first game of the season against Edmonton where Maier was quite literally just spraying balls all over the field to no particular receivers at all. Every receiver for Ottawa had a bad day. But you keep on being you and letting stat lines dictate what's happening instead of actually watching and gaining proper context.

40 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Deep ball 50/50 specialists catch way more than 50% of the balls thrown their way. That's what makes them specialists. That was Lewis. It's not this year.

For targets more then 20 yards down field here are Lewis's numbers the past few years.

2021: 13/34

2022: 22/35

2023: 9/19

2024: 9/23

2025: 10/28

2026: 3/11

So outside of that one year in 2022 he doesn't really seem to be pulling in anywhere close to 50% of those deep balls.

14 minutes ago, ShyGuy said:

For targets more then 20 yards down field here are Lewis's numbers the past few years.

2021: 13/34

2022: 22/35

2023: 9/19

2024: 9/23

2025: 10/28

2026: 3/11

So outside of that one year in 2022 he doesn't really seem to be pulling in anywhere close to 50% of those deep balls.

Where are you guys getting your numbers from? I'd like to look too.
Why is your 2026 3/11, when GC has "15 of 17 missed catches were 20+ yards"?
Your numbers show that Geno isn't the deep 50/50 ball guy that we all think he is.

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

They are running under 20% efficiency in the red zone. It's not just last game, the entire season has been an abomination. Main reason we beat them imo. Lewis said the plays are too complex and need to be simplified. Not an egregious statement but Dinwiddie has shown that any questioning of his decisions will be viewed as a "distraction".

Not that different than what Oliviera said recently, and just as true.

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Whether or not we sign Lewis, I would like to know that Walters is at least making a pitch to him. Hate to say it, but now is the time we have to go scrap heaping and start looking for useful pieces. No offense to any of our rookies or young guys but there is very little chance that many of them are ready to take on starter roles right now. We may have Smith, who could use more reps on D but on O we are devoid of depth, and our secondary as well. It's thin...it really is. Some guys may make major contributions in the future but I don't see too many that can take on starting roles and offer an upgrade. There are guys out there that can help us in the short term and we should be looking at a Dejon Allen, and Eugene Lewis for instance. The scrap heap will get larger as the season rolls on and Walters needs to be adding in guys at positions we need upgrade as they come available. Could they turn into busts? Sure....but we need to try something different because we have big holes on our roster.

Thing is that whether he represents an upgrade or not, sometimes you just gotta shake things up and let your players know the roster isn't set in stone. Play badly your replacement might be the next guy we sign. Right now there isn't much nipping at the heels of many of our guys in house. So you gotta show everyone that your replacement may come from within, and if players don't feel threatened by the guy behind them, then it might come in a midseason signing. We don't have much depth at many positions and some guys are way too comfortable. Shake it up Walters. Right now the only position group with adequate depth is LBer. We are filthy rich with depth there...but everywhere else is devoid of depth.

Agreed. The culture of the dressing room appears to have changed from Swaggerville to Staggerville and Lewis may be able to change it for the better- if he decides to come here. With our current leadership, the Bombers have degraded to a bottom feeder team. I doubt that adding Lewis to the team will salvage the season, but we have to start somewhere.

If anyone can give this offense a "push", it's Lewis!

Sign him, its not like it will hurt. Is signing him going to make us lose 4 out of 5 at home?

Let's face it the whole situation in Ottawa is ripe for losing....It's a lost year....doesn't matter what the reason is that Lewis is leaving...Attitude, money, bad coach, could be a myriad of things...the fact is he has been cut....we need help and he still has game...Sign the guy and let him play his top game for us....lord knows we need a receiver of his caliber...IF we don't give this a shot then it'll be obvious we have written the season off as well...I'm sure Brown knows all the negatives about Geno...ask him if he'd be a good fit and at least talk to Lewis and show we still want to be in the running in the west....

Edited August 4Aug 4 by Stickem

47 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Where are you guys getting your numbers from? I'd like to look too.
Why is your 2026 3/11, when GC has "15 of 17 missed catches were 20+ yards"?
Your numbers show that Geno isn't the deep 50/50 ball guy that we all think he is.

The CFL publishes a stats package weekly and one of the stats is 20+ yards depth targets.

CFL.ca

2026 League Wide Statistics - CFL.ca

CFL.ca has a collection of the CFL's League Wide Statistical Report for every week of the 2026 season.

The game notes for each game embeds the previous week's stats package as well.

It ends up being pretty annoying to find these stats for previous years. You can find them by googling "2025 CFL pdf game stats" and it should show up for 2025 and 2024. For other years if you find the game notes for the Grey Cup (they are usually listed in the references on Wikipedia) that seasons can be found

It's not even about whether Lewis is washed up or not, it's about we need help at receiver and who the **** else is out there at this point?