How much headway did the Blue Bombers make this year compared to 2013? While management is busy this week evaluating personnel let's do our own analysis, at least a little. Let's look at it by component after component:
Defensive Secondary – probably the biggest improvement of all, on the whole team except for QB: Pass
Linebackers – Wild got more playing time, Sears when he finally got was an improvement; but we did not come close to replacing Muamba: no progress so Fail.
Defensive Line – inside tackles (when not having to use a Canadian) was about the same as last year; meanwhile we deteriorated at defensive end: Failed to progress
Canadian Defensive Players - Bucknor, Matt, Sherman, Teague Thomas, Jake for starters were a significant improvement over what we had last year except for Muamba: so Pass I think.
Receivers – as a group we didn't have open receivers often enough compared to last year; we didn't change receiver personnel all that much; Moore was hurt too much to make a difference really. : Fail, if anything we regressed
Running Backs – Volny, CarlFitzgerald, CarlPontbriand, Michel- are very much the same as last year.Cotton, ParisMcGuffie, Sam are very much unproven although Cotton appears to have great potential. No eastern All-Star this year nor is this group likely to be rated in the top half of running backs for the league as a whole. Progress while promising is suspect so Fail.
Quarterbacks - We have found a legitimate starter in Willy and have three potential other starters signed up at the moment. Marve looks exciting. Quarterback is the most important position on the field and although Willie was shell-shocked by season's end, our most important progress of the year was at QB: a resounding PASS!
Offensive Line – Goossen has better potential than the rest of our backup lineman
combined, and besides we cut most of them. Morley is a decent centre instead of an indecent guard. Greaves may have improved a little. However January was less than impressive and will not be an All-Star this year. The other two international line positions was a revolving door; there is nothing in particular to look forward to next year. Our biggest weakness last year still looks like the biggest weakness on the team this year. No real progress so FAIL!
Canadian Offensive Players – Watson, CoryFeoli-Gudino, JulianKohlert, Rory along with Greaves, Morley & Goosen as a group were more reliable than last year so progress was made: Pass
Special Teams Returning – Stoudermire , Troy is the returner we have been looking for for years: a definite Pass
Special-Teams Coverage - I personally thought this is where we lost many games due to field position. No progress and if anything worse… so Fail.
Special-Teams Kicking - Hajrullahu, Lirim could be the league All-Star. Progress = Big Pass.
Special Team Canadians – I am not sure about this at all but at least there seems to be better attitudes than last year so in terms of progress a small Pass.
General Manager & Scouting – full-time enthusiasm replaced reluctance and twilight; Canadian recruiting got a lot better while American recruiting suffered: definite progress and hope … so PASS. Have to find a larger role for Danny McManus maybe as offensive coordinator.
Head Coach – shell-shocked incompetence was replaced by overconfidence and rookie mistakes; the difference was night and day so progress was exceedingly obvious: PASS because we have found a genuine leader.
Coordinators – I can't help thinking that Marcel Bellefeuille kept everybody from doing their jobs properly and that's why Bob Wylie didn't help much in terms of getting results; Gary Etcheverry in my opinion was the number one reason we had a very bad season this year,.. When you play pressure defence you have to come up with a lot of big plays and we didn't do that , Pat Tracey seemed to be a rookie at these responsibilities and overall it seems like we lost special-teams battles game in and game out. In terms of progress I can only rate these three as a combined MAJOR FAILURE!
I must admit that my evaluation was largely emotional and less logical than the usual analysis, but a failed season and general lack of progress doesn't sit with me very well. I'm very interested in what the more astute amongst us can offer in terms of their analysis and evaluation.
Progress: Pass or Fail
How much headway did the Blue Bombers make this year compared to 2013? While management is busy this week evaluating personnel let's do our own analysis, at least a little. Let's look at it by component after component:
Defensive Secondary – probably the biggest improvement of all, on the whole team except for QB: Pass
Linebackers – Wild got more playing time, Sears when he finally got was an improvement; but we did not come close to replacing Muamba: no progress so Fail.
Defensive Line – inside tackles (when not having to use a Canadian) was about the same as last year; meanwhile we deteriorated at defensive end: Failed to progress
Canadian Defensive Players - Bucknor, Matt, Sherman, Teague Thomas, Jake for starters were a significant improvement over what we had last year except for Muamba: so Pass I think.
Receivers – as a group we didn't have open receivers often enough compared to last year; we didn't change receiver personnel all that much; Moore was hurt too much to make a difference really. : Fail, if anything we regressed
Running Backs – Volny, Carl Fitzgerald, Carl Pontbriand, Michel- are very much the same as last year.Cotton, Paris McGuffie, Sam are very much unproven although Cotton appears to have great potential. No eastern All-Star this year nor is this group likely to be rated in the top half of running backs for the league as a whole. Progress while promising is suspect so Fail.
Quarterbacks - We have found a legitimate starter in Willy and have three potential other starters signed up at the moment. Marve looks exciting. Quarterback is the most important position on the field and although Willie was shell-shocked by season's end, our most important progress of the year was at QB: a resounding PASS!
Offensive Line – Goossen has better potential than the rest of our backup lineman
combined, and besides we cut most of them. Morley is a decent centre instead of an indecent guard. Greaves may have improved a little. However January was less than impressive and will not be an All-Star this year. The other two international line positions was a revolving door; there is nothing in particular to look forward to next year. Our biggest weakness last year still looks like the biggest weakness on the team this year. No real progress so FAIL!
Canadian Offensive Players – Watson, Cory Feoli-Gudino, Julian Kohlert, Rory along with Greaves, Morley & Goosen as a group were more reliable than last year so progress was made: Pass
Special Teams Returning – Stoudermire , Troy is the returner we have been looking for for years: a definite Pass
Special-Teams Coverage - I personally thought this is where we lost many games due to field position. No progress and if anything worse… so Fail.
Special-Teams Kicking - Hajrullahu, Lirim could be the league All-Star. Progress = Big Pass.
Special Team Canadians – I am not sure about this at all but at least there seems to be better attitudes than last year so in terms of progress a small Pass.
General Manager & Scouting – full-time enthusiasm replaced reluctance and twilight; Canadian recruiting got a lot better while American recruiting suffered: definite progress and hope … so PASS. Have to find a larger role for Danny McManus maybe as offensive coordinator.
Head Coach – shell-shocked incompetence was replaced by overconfidence and rookie mistakes; the difference was night and day so progress was exceedingly obvious: PASS because we have found a genuine leader.
Position Coaches – Bob Wylie Offensive Line Paul Charbonneau Assistant Offensive Line Coach Markus Howell Wide Receivers Coach Gene Dahlquist Quarterbacks Coach Buck Pierce Running Backs Coach Nelson Martin Defensive Backs Coach Mike Scheper Defensive Line Coach Cory McDiarmid Linebackers Coach Dave Jackson Defensive Assistant ... I really don't know but at least there are more of them and that's definite progress, so Pass.
Coordinators – I can't help thinking that Marcel Bellefeuille kept everybody from doing their jobs properly and that's why Bob Wylie didn't help much in terms of getting results; Gary Etcheverry in my opinion was the number one reason we had a very bad season this year,.. When you play pressure defence you have to come up with a lot of big plays and we didn't do that , Pat Tracey seemed to be a rookie at these responsibilities and overall it seems like we lost special-teams battles game in and game out. In terms of progress I can only rate these three as a combined MAJOR FAILURE!
I must admit that my evaluation was largely emotional and less logical than the usual analysis, but a failed season and general lack of progress doesn't sit with me very well. I'm very interested in what the more astute amongst us can offer in terms of their analysis and evaluation.