A few random thoughts after last nights game:

1. Trading for Patrick Neufeld was a great move by Walters. I've paid close attention to Neufeld the first 2 games, and in practice and he is a legit CFL NI o-lineman. He can play tackle and guard, and even center in a pinch.

2. Goossen is going to be a very good center for the Bombers. I suspect he will be starting by game 6-9, which may then allow us to start 4 NI's on the OL.

3. I suspect Kyle Walters will be keeping a close eye on other teams cuts, looking at Canadian d-linemen. I think they are comfortable with Jake Thomas starting, but if that's going to be a designated NI roster spot, we need more depth there. Evan Gill would sure look good in a Bomber uniform right now.

4. What's the injury status of Jesse Briggs? With Newman going down, likely for the season, I wonder if he could start on a rotational/part-time basis at one of the linebacker spots? When he's in we have 4 import DL's and when Jake Thomas is in, we have all import LBs.

5. I really want to find a way to get Maher on the roster. Having a weapon like him who can hit 47 yard FGs with ease, and his extra 15 yards on kickoffs is huge. I also like his intangibles; his obvious commitment to the team with his wife giving birth yesterday, and his willingness to tackle on special teams. My gut feeling is that we end up going with Hajrullahu and Renaud.

6. Drew Willy is a legit CFL starting QB. I'm also thinking we will be happy with Bellefeuille as OC this season.

7. I think Brian Brohm wins the backup QB job and Hall is sent packing.

8. Terrible losing Newman last night. I hope he can make a full recovery. Best case scenario is its a clean broken leg and he can return mid-season.

9. Really curious how the RB situation plays out. I suspect Cotton starts the season, with Ford on the injured list.

10. I suspect we will only keep 2 of Jarvis Jones, Dan Knapp and Cordaro Howard. I think Knapp is a lock so it'll come down to Jones and Howard.

11. Today's cuts will include Jesse Peterson, Max Hall, Donavon Kemp, Michael Ray Garvin, CJ Tarver.

What is the situation with Jesse Briggs? There's been no discussion about it?

What is the situation with Jesse Briggs? There's been no discussion about it?

It's his shoulder but I've heard nothing on how serious it is. Heard a rumors it might be separated but nothing confirmed.

A few random thoughts after last nights game:

1. Trading for Patrick Neufeld was a great move by Walters. I've paid close attention to Neufeld the first 2 games, and in practice and he is a legit CFL NI o-lineman. He can play tackle and guard, and even center in a pinch.

2. Goossen is going to be a very good center for the Bombers. I suspect he will be starting by game 6-9, which may then allow us to start 4 NI's on the OL.

3. I suspect Kyle Walters will be keeping a close eye on other teams cuts, looking at Canadian d-linemen. I think they are comfortable with Jake Thomas starting, but if that's going to be a designated NI roster spot, we need more depth there. Evan Gill would sure look good in a Bomber uniform right now.

4. What's the injury status of Jesse Briggs? With Newman going down, likely for the season, I wonder if he could start on a rotational/part-time basis at one of the linebacker spots? When he's in we have 4 import DL's and when Jake Thomas is in, we have all import LBs.

5. I really want to find a way to get Maher on the roster. Having a weapon like him who can hit 47 yard FGs with ease, and his extra 15 yards on kickoffs is huge. I also like his intangibles; his obvious commitment to the team with his wife giving birth yesterday, and his willingness to tackle on special teams. My gut feeling is that we end up going with Hajrullahu and Renaud.

6. Drew Willy is a legit CFL starting QB. I'm also thinking we will be happy with Bellefeuille as OC this season.

7. I think Brian Brohm wins the backup QB job and Hall is sent packing.

8. Terrible losing Newman last night. I hope he can make a full recovery. Best case scenario is its a clean broken leg and he can return mid-season.

9. Really curious how the RB situation plays out. I suspect Cotton starts the season, with Ford on the injured list.

10. I suspect we will only keep 2 of Jarvis Jones, Dan Knapp and Cordaro Howard. I think Knapp is a lock so it'll come down to Jones and Howard.

11. Today's cuts will include Jesse Peterson, Max Hall, Donavon Kemp, Michael Ray Garvin, CJ Tarver.

Re #7 - I don't think they make that decision today with the first round of cuts (mostly slugs & hobos) but Slappy Maxxy is definitely not in a good position.

Re #8 - Huge loss in Newman but really bad for ratio

Re #5 - Maher is so much better than the other two guys. He definitely should be on the roster. But I agree the Bomber form chart is to avoid import kickers even if the guy(s) they select have less accuracy, distance, etc. Also Maher seems to be able to hoist kickoffs to the 5. Cutting Renaud frees up some big salary cap space. But Mike is a favourite of this management group so he should be safe!

Willy is a gamer.

The line-backing is not good enough and Kuale has a long way to go to be useful.

The O-line looks like it will be good enough if we can get rid of whoever is throwing lookout blocks (Howard? January? Jones?)

The receivers as a group show promise but have to learn their routes and hang onto the damned ball

The D-line is still concerning-no pressure

Hard to tell the defensive team from the Keystone Kops

We have to find a way to keep Maher and Lirim.

Our punt/kick return team coverage sucks

Etcheverry is starting to scare me. Greg Marshall is starting to look good.

Brohm is gaining ground. Hall is not, and he ought to be way better. Marve did not wow us this time, but he gets a Mulligan.

Cotton has the edge but we wouldn't suffer too much with Grigsby.

Walters is going to earn his money in the next week or so.

I think the addition of the extra DI spot allows Maher to make the team. He looks really good too. So does Liram H too. Both are an improvement over Palardy and Deangelis.

Willy is a gamer.

The line-backing is not good enough and Kuale has a long way to go to be useful.

The O-line looks like it will be good enough if we can get rid of whoever is throwing lookout blocks (Howard? January? Jones?)

The receivers as a group show promise but have to learn their routes and hang onto the damned ball

The D-line is still concerning-no pressure

Hard to tell the defensive team from the Keystone Kops

We have to find a way to keep Maher and Lirim.

Our punt/kick return team coverage sucks

Etcheverry is starting to scare me. Greg Marshall is starting to look good.

Brohm is gaining ground. Hall is not, and he ought to be way better. Marve did not wow us this time, but he gets a Mulligan.

Cotton has the edge but we wouldn't suffer too much with Grigsby.

Walters is going to earn his money in the next week or so.

I think Cotton has made the team. My best combo would be Cotton and Ford rotating with one on the reserve roster to back up the other. Grigsby tries to do too much with too little. I suspect Sask. might be interested in whichever of the 3 we release!

Pretty hard to come up with a depth chart where we have the luxury of starting Maher...

 

Not as high on Neufeld as  you are...  if we were testing him at RT, yes... at RG, giving up a 2nd round pick was too much - and Neufeld is just an average RG, would rather see Goossen get reps there and learn to read Ds

 

REALLY like the way Goossen was active and taking charge in that last game.  Great pick.

 

Do we have any receivers from the mini-camp on speed dial?  Greg Carr?

 

Kuale reminds me of a Brandon Isaac that has lost a step...

 

Korey Banks reminds me of a Korey Banks that has lost a step.

 

Would be nice to see Briggs... but rushing a shoulder injury would be a terrible mistake.

Pretty hard to come up with a depth chart where we have the luxury of starting Maher...

 

It's not that hard.  Basically he'd get a DI spot that would otherwise go to an extra IMP DB/LB.  Just a matter of whether there are enough healthy Canadians to backup on D, if Briggs, Sherman, Alexander, Bucknor and Jones are good to go it shouldn't be an issue.

 

I'm assuming we'll use 1 DI on offense/returner, 2 on D, 1 on Maher, or 1 on offense/returner and 3 on D.

 

Pretty hard to come up with a depth chart where we have the luxury of starting Maher...

 

It's not that hard.  Basically he'd get a DI spot that would otherwise go to an extra IMP DB/LB.  Just a matter of whether there are enough healthy Canadians to backup on D, if Briggs, Sherman, Alexander, Bucknor and Jones are good to go it shouldn't be an issue.

 

I'm assuming we'll use 1 DI on offense/returner, 2 on D, 1 on Maher, or 1 on offense/returner and 3 on D.

 

 

If Briggs is healthy, yeah I would replace Renaud with Maher.  Otherwise, all those guys are already on my roster... 

 

If you play Maher, you have to pencil in Dan West or Rene Stephan somewhere...

I agree with just about everything you said aside from I'm not sure that they'll outright cut Max Hall yet and that cutting Howard should be a no brainer over Jarvis Jones.

 

Even if Will Ford gets healthy I don't believe he overtakes Cotton for the starting job who was significantly better than Grisgby in both games.

The only way they cut Max Hall and his buggy whip arm is if they've identified Jacory Harris or Calvin Klein (Als cut) as better.

I agree with just about everything you said aside from I'm not sure that they'll outright cut Max Hall yet and that cutting Howard should be a no brainer over Jarvis Jones.

 

Even if Will Ford gets healthy I don't believe he overtakes Cotton for the starting job who was significantly better than Grisgby in both games.

I think RB is the only area we can help Sask'n at. Whoever we release amongst Cotton, Grigsby and Ford is probably headed to Regina. And it won't be Cotton. 100%....

Maybe we can trade Ford to Sask for something of value...

The line-backing is not good enough 

I think it's more a case of the system they've used is one that makes life hard on linebackers. 

I would trade Ford to Regina for a quality developmental OL or Taman's 2nd rd pick next year. Its a hard one to pull off cuz running back is the easiest position to find ex-NFL hobos or other CFL cuts. 

 Isn't that Tosten guy a RB?   He looked like a real powerful runner yesterday.  Very difficult to bring down.   

I think they find a way to keep Kemp around. He's a guy I'd like to see stick around so he could learn the Cdn game. 

 

If it was my decision, I'd have to give the edge to Maher over Highroolaju.   I think part of our ST's problems yesterday is they were both out kicking the coverage guys.  I counted a good 2 - 3 seconds before the closest WBB got close to the returner after he fielded the kick.   

I really like Maher, he's been making it looks easy. I'd hate to lose him because of a lack of CDN depth now.

Hijarhulu basically shanked one of his makes. He didn't call bank like Deangelis did against the bombers at the 2012 LDC.

A great kicker is gold. If they sacrifice because of the ratio then we deserve to lose games. Maybe they bring in a kid like kicker Tyler Crapigna from here in Calgary & develop him. He won't be beating out Paredes or Maver. I think the Stamps would be looking to trade for him if they somehow put him on the roster. 

Until we get better players overall I think you go with Maher to do both jobs and let Mike Renaud take a job in the front office and be on-call if injuries occur.

 

Crapigna would be a good hire, too! Young kid (Cdn.) with long term potential....

I think this team will be hard pressed to keep enough NIP to fill the roster in a few games. I hope they keep as many around as possible. With the expanded active rosters and shortened 6 game injured list other teams aren't going to put many of their NIPs on the street.

Scanning the other teams' rosters as of today and not factoring in injuries to Newman and Lucas Winnipeg and BC have the fewest NIPs. That is sheer numbers never mind quality. I would suggest they camp someone out in Sask to scout their NIPs as they are tops with 42 and may have to part with the most.

Why do some on here consider Crapinga better than Hajrullahu?

Liam has looked mighty good.

And crappy doesn't punt does he?