Kyle Walters has set up the Bombers to have some nice non-import (National) depth in 2015, to the point where we'll be in a position to possibly start 8 Canadians, where the requirement is only 7. At the least coach Oshea will be in a position to have some solid options. Here's how I see the options breaking down:

On offense, Bombers will likely start 5 Canadians:

WR (2) - Kohlert, Feoli-Gudino, Bastien, Carter, Goodrich
OL (3) - Greaves, Picard, Neufeld, Goossen, Everett

My take is that after Kohlert and JFG, the depth at WR is a little thin, but as long as one of Bastien, Carter or Goodrich can step in and be an adequate replacement in case of injury, we'll be fine. Each of these three guys has nice upside, and could be legitimate starters, but it'll likely take a year or two for them to develop. I'm making the assumption here that Morley will retire. The depth at OL is solid, and with the likely addition of another Canadian OL from this years draft, we're in a good situation here.

On defense is where it gets interesting. I like what Walters has done in giving the coaching staff 3 solid options as defensive starters, although we will likely only start 2 here:

DB (1) - Bucknor, Jones
LB (1) - Hurl, Newman, Briggs, Sherman (heard Sherman might transition to safety this year)
DL (1) - Thomas, Brown, Richardson

The extra Canadian depth on defense gives the coaching staff options, and additional flexibility in case there's an injury at Canadian WR. It's quite impressive what Walters has done with increasing the quality and depth of our Canadians over such a short period of time.

In addition, if you add up all the names listed above, that's 19 Canadians and there's a requirement to have 20 on a game day roster. I didn't even list guys like Pondbriant, Liram, Cronk and Fitzgerald. Some really nice National depth.  No longer a need to have guys like Stephan or West on the roster.

 

 

 

No offence intended but is this maybe not a bit of a pointless thread until after the draft considering how deep it is and our three picks in the first two rounds?

Can't see any draft picks stepping in this season and starting right away and making a difference.

Could easily see a top ranked receiver or defensive lineman stepping in and playing right away.

 

 

Any players good enough to step in and play right away are the same players that will attract NFL interest.  And I doubt any receiver will be good enough that we're switching our ratio and only playing two imports.  If he's that good, that just means JFG is back on the sidelines.

 

 

OK well you're the expert I guess.

 

 

 

 

No offence intended but is this maybe not a bit of a pointless thread until after the draft considering how deep it is and our three picks in the first two rounds?

Can't see any draft picks stepping in this season and starting right away and making a difference.

Could easily see a top ranked receiver or defensive lineman stepping in and playing right away.

 

 

Any players good enough to step in and play right away are the same players that will attract NFL interest.  And I doubt any receiver will be good enough that we're switching our ratio and only playing two imports.  If he's that good, that just means JFG is back on the sidelines.

 

 

OK well you're the expert I guess.

 

 

Thank you.  But I'd hardly consider myself an expert.  I just took your idea to the next logical step and made 3 points that seem reasonable.

 

Darryl Waud good enough to start right away?  Sure, it's possible.  And that's why there has already been reports of NFL interest in him.

 

Demski/Durant so good that they start right away?  Sure, it's possible.  Would that mean the Bombers change their ratio on the offensive side, starting Demski/Kohlert/KFG and two imports?  Or would they instead just promote the new guy ahead of JFG and still start three imports?  I'd say the latter is much more likely than the former.  So the ratio remains unchanged.

 

Hurl has ideal size and quickness for a MLB.... We've also assembled quite the defensive coaching staff.... I'm cautiously optimistic about Hurl doing decent his first year and growing from there. I'd rather Muamba get cut and come back though!

Hurl's speed may make him better suited to be an outside linebacker, and if Muamba returns, we're all set for years.

 

Hurl is not fast enough to be OLB in my mind, nor is he good enough in coverage... I think a guy like Briggs is much better suited to WLB in the future

 

 

Hurl has ideal size and quickness for a MLB.... We've also assembled quite the defensive coaching staff.... I'm cautiously optimistic about Hurl doing decent his first year and growing from there. I'd rather Muamba get cut and come back though!

Hurl's speed may make him better suited to be an outside linebacker, and if Muamba returns, we're all set for years.

 

 

Sorry to burst you bubble. No guarantee that we will get Henoc on the fold when he returns to the CFL (If ever that happens). We dont hold his rights anymore, he will be a free agent.

 

ya, but he loves it here, He'll come back... Besides, Walters as adamant that he would at least match the highest offer, no matter the cost

 

 

 

 

 

No offence intended but is this maybe not a bit of a pointless thread until after the draft considering how deep it is and our three picks in the first two rounds?

Can't see any draft picks stepping in this season and starting right away and making a difference.

Could easily see a top ranked receiver or defensive lineman stepping in and playing right away.

 

 

Any players good enough to step in and play right away are the same players that will attract NFL interest.  And I doubt any receiver will be good enough that we're switching our ratio and only playing two imports.  If he's that good, that just means JFG is back on the sidelines.

 

 

OK well you're the expert I guess.

 

 

Thank you.  But I'd hardly consider myself an expert.  I just took your idea to the next logical step and made 3 points that seem reasonable.

 

Darryl Waud good enough to start right away?  Sure, it's possible.  And that's why there has already been reports of NFL interest in him.

 

Demski/Durant so good that they start right away?  Sure, it's possible.  Would that mean the Bombers change their ratio on the offensive side, starting Demski/Kohlert/KFG and two imports?  Or would they instead just promote the new guy ahead of JFG and still start three imports?  I'd say the latter is much more likely than the former.  So the ratio remains unchanged.

 

I could see us going 3 NI's at receiver if we draft Durant/Demski provided they are quick and fast enough to stretch the field. Our current 3rd import receiver certainly isn't going to be a household name that we NEED to keep on the field.... 

Neither is Feoli-Gudino and we don't have the depth to accommodate 3 Canadian starting receivers

Neither is Feoli-Gudino and we don't have the depth to accommodate 3 Canadian starting receivers

I disagree we lack the depth if we draft one of those guys. We could easily just plug an NI elsewhere and back the third ni rec. up with an american.

 

I do agree about JFG

Three NI receivers would be setting Willy up to fail...  Kohlert, JFG and a prospect are enough to fill one receiver position

 

Its interesting that there just seems to be no talk about Neufeld at RT at all.

Three NI receivers would be setting Willy up to fail... Kohlert, JFG and a prospect are enough to fill one receiver position

Its interesting that there just seems to be no talk about Neufeld at RT at all.

I projected him to start at RG, but he'll have to battle Goossen for that spot.

 

Three NI receivers would be setting Willy up to fail... Kohlert, JFG and a prospect are enough to fill one receiver position

Its interesting that there just seems to be no talk about Neufeld at RT at all.

I projected him to start at RG, but he'll have to battle Goossen for that spot.

 

 

What I mean is that he's actually played RT in Sask and when he came in, it seemed like he was a 'ratio changer' we had been looking for...

Three NI receivers would be setting Willy up to fail... Kohlert, JFG and a prospect are enough to fill one receiver position

Its interesting that there just seems to be no talk about Neufeld at RT at all.

I projected him to start at RG, but he'll have to battle Goossen for that spot.

What I mean is that he's actually played RT in Sask and when he came in, it seemed like he was a 'ratio changer' we had been looking for...

It doesn't appear that the Bombers see him as a tackle yet. He was very effective last year at guard.

 

 

Three NI receivers would be setting Willy up to fail... Kohlert, JFG and a prospect are enough to fill one receiver position

Its interesting that there just seems to be no talk about Neufeld at RT at all.

I projected him to start at RG, but he'll have to battle Goossen for that spot.

 

 

What I mean is that he's actually played RT in Sask and when he came in, it seemed like he was a 'ratio changer' we had been looking for...

 

I agree that he looked a lot better at Tackle when he was with the Riders... definitely more of a finesse Technique guy rather than a brawler at OG. Wasn't impressed with his push against the DT's and found him lacking

 

 

Three NI receivers would be setting Willy up to fail... Kohlert, JFG and a prospect are enough to fill one receiver position

Its interesting that there just seems to be no talk about Neufeld at RT at all.

I projected him to start at RG, but he'll have to battle Goossen for that spot.

 

 

What I mean is that he's actually played RT in Sask and when he came in, it seemed like he was a 'ratio changer' we had been looking for...

 

I would suspect that with him being a bit of an injury concern you don't want to play him at tackle without having another Canadian who can slide into that position if he gets hurt. He plays guard then in the event of injury you're only making one move on the OL and you don't have to change the ratio at all. 

 

 

 

Three NI receivers would be setting Willy up to fail... Kohlert, JFG and a prospect are enough to fill one receiver position

Its interesting that there just seems to be no talk about Neufeld at RT at all.

I projected him to start at RG, but he'll have to battle Goossen for that spot.

 

 

What I mean is that he's actually played RT in Sask and when he came in, it seemed like he was a 'ratio changer' we had been looking for...

 

I would suspect that with him being a bit of an injury concern you don't want to play him at tackle without having another Canadian who can slide into that position if he gets hurt. He plays guard then in the event of injury you're only making one move on the OL and you don't have to change the ratio at all. 

 

 

That makes very little sense. 

 

First if he was playing RT and he got hurt. It would only be one move on the OL, replacing the RT with an American and changing the ratio. 

 

Secondly, I doubt that they play the ratio a way they don't want to all year because if they play it in a more advantageous way, an oft injured player might get hurt and force them to play the ratio in the same way they don't want to but are going to anyways to supposedly solve the problem. That's like saying "I like steak but if I buy it, it might go bad and that will force me to eat top ramen. So I'll avoid the problem by eating  ramen anyways.

 

If he isn't playing RT it's cause he isn't good enough. You can't have a capable backup for every starting CDN.

Kind of a moot point considering we've played with a 3 import line quite a bit in the last two years

 

Anyway, Walters pumped his tires as a proven offensive tackle and then we never really tried him there

We tried him there, during camp, neufeld was taking reps at tackle and what's his face, Knapp is it? He was taking reps at guard, Neufled looked ok at tackle too, just ok tho. Not a world beater or anything, but looked ok. I'm gonna go there and say that if Bob Wylie see's Neufeld as more of a guard than a tackle, then who the hell am i or anyone really to suggest otherwise. Let's be honest here, we can talk about LB's, we can talk about DB's, we can talk about Receivers, QB's, RB's, DL, DE, name it really and kind of have an idea of what we are talking about but when it comes to the OLINE, i think we are kidding ourselves if we think we actually understand all the aspects that go in to creating a solid oline. The best Olines aren't always the ones with the biggest names, they are the ones who play together the longest, one guy makes a mistake, they all kind of do it seems.. If Wylie thinks Neufeld is better suited to be a guard, then i think Neufeld should be a guard really. 

People should be more concerned about Neufeld getting his butt on the field and keeping it there. Potential has yet to win at anything.