Lawless freaking out.

 

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/Bomber-must-get-off-wallet-and-sign-Willy-301602061.html?cx_navSource=d-tiles-2

 

Sign Willy because Lulay and Ray will be free agents at the end of this season?  Why not sign Ray or Lulay then?  No one saw Willy in the second half of the season because of injuries?  Makes no sense.

 

If he has an awesome season, throw all of the remaining capspace at him for a signing bonus... no other team will have that opportunity.

 

 

 

 

You can't teach someone to be a good decision maker under pressure. 

complete and utter horseshit. Experience teaches people how to react better under pressure

 

 

I agree. 

 

But you can't teach smart.

You can't teach someone to be a good decision maker under pressure.

complete and utter horseshit. Experience teaches people how to react better under pressure

Experience in the same situations lets you process things easier in the future. Not sure you can teach experience.

Confidence in yourself plays a bigger role in making better decisions on the fly. If you are unsure of what you are doing then it's too late. That my experience though and I'm not sure if that applies to football.

You get smart by studying tho so really you kind of can teach smart. I don't even get it tho. Willy isn't a dumb quarterback that's for sure. If anyone thinks he is, I dunno what you base that on.

You can't teach someone to be a good decision maker under pressure.

complete and utter horseshit. Experience teaches people how to react better under pressure

LOL I was going to comment on Resurrection's post.... But this pretty much sums it up.

Experience doesn't come in 5-10 games. Do the Bombers wait it out and continue to pay willy 400k next season if he is progressing slowly this year? My worry has been that over paying willy before he is a proven commodity may force us to cut him due to Salary concerns vs letting him grow more at a lower wage.

Regardless I'm not upset we signed him long term, I'm just hoping his wage doesn't force him to be cut if he plays at a Kevin Glenn + level year year or next. Which, to me, is still a large win since we haven't had a consistent (maybe) since Glenn

400K for a QB seems high but ppl need to remember that the cap increase is going to qbs and Canadians. 400K might be a bargain for a starting QB soon. Wonder what a guy like ray would get. Collaros now. Reilly when his deal is up.

I don't have a huge issue with this deal, even not liking Willy that much. It's not guaranteed in the next 2 years, so if Willy continues to be mediocre we can let him go. If he plays again like he did first 5 games of last season, then great we have our franchise QB.

 

It's low risk and high rewards. Good deal.

 

As far as Willy goes himself... I'm not sold on him. You can't teach someone to be a good decision maker under pressure. That's a natural gift like speed and size. We have a small sample size on him, though, so hopefully he will turn it around and be a lot better next year.

I like Willy and I think it's a great signing. Only issue I ever had with him, and well the Bomber in general for continuing to leave him in there when he was obviously struggling with reads and his confidence. They (coaching staff) basically pissed away any chance we had at the playoffs by being so stubborn. 

 

I think the Willy of the first 1/3 of last year is closer to the real Willy than the last two thirds. IF he can build on that first part of the year, and learn from the disaster that was the last two thirds, and take us to the Grey Cup, than last year was worth it. If he struggles again.........

 

I don't have a huge issue with this deal, even not liking Willy that much. It's not guaranteed in the next 2 years, so if Willy continues to be mediocre we can let him go. If he plays again like he did first 5 games of last season, then great we have our franchise QB.

 

It's low risk and high rewards. Good deal.

 

As far as Willy goes himself... I'm not sold on him. You can't teach someone to be a good decision maker under pressure. That's a natural gift like speed and size. We have a small sample size on him, though, so hopefully he will turn it around and be a lot better next year.

I like Willy and I think it's a great signing. Only issue I ever had with him, and well the Bomber in general for continuing to leave him in there when he was obviously struggling with reads and his confidence. They (coaching staff) basically pissed away any chance we had at the playoffs by being so stubborn. 

 

I think the Willy of the first 1/3 of last year is closer to the real Willy than the last two thirds. IF he can build on that first part of the year, and learn from the disaster that was the last two thirds, and take us to the Grey Cup, than last year was worth it. If he struggles again.........

 

....there's always the blindfold and cigarette option.

A first year starter who struggled a couple of games with no oline or run game? That's just unheard of

A first year starter who struggled a couple of games with no oline or run game? That's just unheard of

I would suggest after week 5 or 6 he looked very mediocre. Saying he only struggled in a couple of games is a wildly generous statement.

I think that he struggled at times last season. No doubt about it. No more so than any other rookie starting QB would though. I think his development was right on pace for where we wanted and needed it to be. For the first time since after the 2007 season, I see the QB position as a low concern for the team. Willy will need to be better than last year, I think he will be. I think a lot of what went wrong for him last year was growing pains and having inferior talent around him. I, also, have faith that Brohm or Marve can step up if Willy regresses badly. Other fish to fry this offseason. Hopefully, it can get done now that the focus is removed from QB by our scouts.

We can give Willy the benefit of a doubt for last season. It was a time of transition for him and the team, the O-line was porous, the running game was mostly theoretical and the receiving corps was very quesionable. Plus, Willy took some vicious hits.

This year, everyone starts with a clean slate but nobody should have guarantees, including Willy. Produce or be demoted or gone.

I find it hilarious that people cannot understand the reasons for his struggles last season.. But here, let's review.. Again.

-horrible o-line made worse from lack of depth and injury

-zero run game that allowed to take pressure off the pass rushes

-getting hit every game over and over again

-lack of defence at times keeping the offence off the field

-Willy and Marcel's first season together and one (marcel) not switching up the plays or offence when it was realized it was flawed.

-lack of a legit #1 threat for much of the season due to injuries or poor performance

Pretty much any combo of these is going to make a rookie starting QB struggle. The fact he put up decent numbers while dealing with the problems we had is really a reason to believe the kid can play.. Also, when everything was clicking and working properly.. The offence did very well and Willy was winning games.

 

A first year starter who struggled a couple of games with no oline or run game? That's just unheard of

I would suggest after week 5 or 6 he looked very mediocre. Saying he only struggled in a couple of games is a wildly generous statement.

 

 

The list of QBs who have come into the modern era CFL and experienced both immediate and consistent success is very short.  Ricky Ray.  Perhaps Bo Levi Mitchell could be added.

 

Your expectations of what a first year starter should be doing does not fall in line with what history has shown to be common.

Willy was really ******* good before he smacked his hand on a helmet, after that his accuracy left him. Is it really such a stretch to say that playing through all the injuries he piled up affected him more than anything? The insistence that they stick with Grigsby for so long did him no favours at all either. 

I hate that there's no urgency to his game. You give him 20 beats between plays he takes them all. You give him 5 seconds post-snap he takes it all, and more. With the rule changes and emphasis by the league on moving things along more smartly, we'll hopefully see more hurry-up mode from a Drew Willy led offence. Otherwise I'd be more than happy to see Brohm in there. He does make quicker reads and decisions and seems to bring some pace to the O.

Willy was really ******* good before he smacked his hand on a helmet, after that his accuracy left him. Is it really such a stretch to say that playing through all the injuries he piled up affected him more than anything? The insistence that they stick with Grigsby for so long did him no favours at all either. 

Im sure injuries played a big part of Willys ineffectiveness in the last 60~% of the season. How he rebounds will really dictate how competitive this team can be in the next couple of years.