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Hmmm.... 2013 Round 3 Fitzgerald, Carl WR Saint Mary's 4 DiCroce, Michael WR McMaster 6 Alli, Stephen WR Florida 2012 Round 3 Aprile, Johnny WR Q
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I like the Montreal formula of o line o line o line....it continues to allow them to start 5 national o linemen and playing longevity favours o linemen. The end result is both depth and longevity.
Interesting article from today's free press:
The image on the big screen in Kyle Walters' office is paused momentarily, frozen on one of the receiving prospects the Winnipeg Blue Bombers general manager is evaluating for this spring's Canadian Draft.
And the brown uniforms and gold helmets eliminate any doubt as to who is under the microscope at the moment: University of Manitoba Bisons slotback Nic Demski.
"He's a stud," said Walters. "A stud, stud, stud. There's three receivers from the draft -- Demski, Lemar Durant from Simon Fraser and Addison Richards from Regina -- who could come in here and wouldn't be out of place competing for a starting spot, in my opinion."
It's here the debate is unfolding in the Bomber football offices, a discussion that will only be further fuelled when assistant GM/director of player personnel Ted Goveia, assistant GM/director of U.S. scouting Danny McManus and national scout Drew Morris arrive in Winnipeg on Monday to begin fine-tuning the team's preparations for the draft, in advance of the three regional player combines and the main evaluation camp later this month.
The draft is scheduled for May 12.
And the meat of the discussion goes something like this:
Should the Bombers grab an offensive lineman with the second overall pick they own, or go against the grain and nab a receiver, then hope that a draft deep in O-linemen will still serve up a solid prospect when they pick again at Nos. 11 and 15? Or even move down in the first round via trade and hope to land another later pick in a deep draft?
"The conventional wisdom is always O-line, O-line, O-line," said Walters. "The guard we would draft at No. 2 would be picked just because this is what you do: draft and develop offensive linemen. So you draft the O-lineman at No. 2... he's going to be good and you let him compete this year and you add some depth. Maybe in a year or two he's playing.
"But then because it's such a good draft, you could also bite the bullet this year and say, 'We got (Dominic) Picard in free agency. We feel comfortable with Picard, (Chris) Greaves, (Patrick) Neufeld and Matthias (Goossen). Three of them are going to be playing.
"So what if we went with the best football player with our first pick?"
Now, as much as the tried-and-true blueprint is to always draft O-linemen early, there could be some merit for the Bombers to go against the grain with the second pick. They plan to start two Canadians in their receiving corps -- Rory Kohlert and Julian Feoli-Gudino -- and traded Cory Watson and the 26th pick to Saskatchewan for homegrown prospect Kris Bastien, the rights to a neg-list player and the 15th selection. Kurt Goodrich and Ezra Millington, two other Canadian receivers, will also be in camp.
Granted, there isn't a Gerald Wilcox among that crew -- he was the last Canadian Bomber receiver to finish with more than 1,000 yards, way back in 1995 -- but landing another Canadian who could possibly start much more quickly than an offensive lineman would give the Bombers considerably more roster flexibility.
As it stands, the club's seven Canadian starters would come along the O-line (3), at receiver (2), linebacker (1) and cornerback (1).
"It's such a great draft and we're going to get a good one at No. 2 if we pick an O-lineman," said Walters.
"But none of them are going to come in and have you saying, 'Slam dunk, this kid is going to be better than Greaves, Picard, or Neufeld or Matthias.' There are a bunch of them that are going to be like Matthias -- good solid prospects that will be good pros. But they need some development.
"(Receiver) is a position where we could keep loading up. Since Cory (selected ninth in 2010), we really haven't spent any draft picks on receivers. All of this has sparked a ton of debate."
BLUE 'TO-DO' LIST
The Bombers still have some big-time holes on their depth chart and hope to find some plugs at next month's free-agent camp in Florida. Some of the numbers:
14 receivers are coming to the mini-c six would likely be invited to main camp.
Eight linebackers will be in Florida; five will advance to main camp.
12 defensive backs, seven to main camp.
The Bombers are also looking for a specific type of receiver.
"Big guys," said Walters. "We're looking for that 'X' receiver (wideout), that guy who is big, physical and a precise route-runner. That's one of the issues we had last year: Denny (Clarence Denmark) and Nick (Moore) are more or less the same type of guy, a slotback who handles the underneath stuff. But we need that big-play explosive receiver that can win one-on-one battles. That's what we need to find and we're trying to find as many as possible. They either have to be big Chris Matthews types who can just win with their size, or precise route runners."