Blue Bombers Forum

Does anyone have any idea what Mafia is thinking for the other DE after letting Vaughters walk?  We tried a lot of guys in '25, especially the last few games.

Do we have any SMS left to make one last splash acquisition?  Or maybe wait to see who is on the heap after the dust settles and pick up a value play?

Or maybe there's some hen's teeth monster DE waiting to be first-rounded in the draft?

I'm not sure we've ever scouted a week-1 starter DE before, but anything is possible.

You gotta pick one, so make a wild guess!

There are a few DL left as potential free agents. I don't know if we are looking at any of them going into day 3.

I think we may see 1 of 2 late additions to the PR last year or Munier-Bailey pencilled at the top of the depth chart. We will sign more rookies that will compete and you never know when the next great player is found.

So it's really just something the team will look to resolve. Here is a list of DL remaining, not all of them are DE's and some have aged out.

COX, Bryan   A
LANIER II, Anthony   A
LAWSON, Dexter   A
LEMON, Shawn   A
MAULDIN IV, Lorenzo   A
RAY, Shane   A
WOODS, Jamal   A
DABIRE, Charbel   N
PELLEY, J-Min   N
PICKETT, Riley   N
ROMICK, Nigel   N

I think the guy listed on the depth chart will be Jaws or Jenkins.

And that they'll rotate off a lot with Ceresna on the end.

I think it's going to be a rookie. Probably one we've already picked up. Michael Dixon, Jenkins, Jaworski, Peeples... I think one or 2 of these guys will make the AR. Jenkins and Jaworski both played well in the one game last season. Dixon and Peeples stuck around on NFL practice rosters and now came up North. Peeples has the least impressive background, but he did get 2 sacks in 3 NFL preseason games, and that's enough to peak some interest!

Letting Vaughters go was smart in my opinion. Since we snagged Ceresna, we don't have money to pay Vaughters. Let's try our luck on the rookies at DE. Vaughters didn't really elevate our DL last season. We can do better! Bet on the upside!

Quote from: Tecno on Today at 07:29:22 AMI'm not sure we've ever scouted a week-1 starter DE before, but anything is possible.

How soon Anthony Bennett is forgotten. Not sure if he was ever meant to be week one starter material but he was picked by us in the first round and they tried to work him to be a starter.

Nothing wrong with healthy competition, keep the best 2 or 3 hanging around rotating between the PR and the roster and see who rises to the top.  The key is giving them all multiple shots early and not stashed away until meaningless late season games. 

If they would have managed this situation better last year they would be further ahead coming into this season.  The same goes for the LB group, O'Shea has to loosen his iron grip on playing time and give the young players game reps to show what they can do.

Fairly confident it won't be Shawn Lemon.

Quote from: Stretch on Today at 05:46:13 PMFairly confident it won't be Shawn Lemon.

I'll throw a party if nobody signs that loser in 2026.

Love it techno keep the polls coming fun and gets the convo started

Quote from: Blue In BC on Today at 01:07:00 PMThere are a few DL left as potential free agents. I don't know if we are looking at any of them going into day 3.

COX, Bryan    A
LANIER II, Anthony    A
LAWSON, Dexter    A
LEMON, Shawn    A
MAULDIN IV, Lorenzo    A
RAY, Shane    A
WOODS, Jamal    A
DABIRE, Charbel    N
PELLEY, J-Min    N
PICKETT, Riley    N
ROMICK, Nigel    N

But which are natural DEs... obviously some of the well-known names are just DTs.  Is anyone familiar enough with everyone on this list to strike off the DTs so we can narrow it just to the DEs?

I find it interesting Jaworski is leading the poll right now.  I guess he's as good as anyone else on the roster at the moment.

Is Ayers not a FA?  Or was he a PR drop to end the season?  He's showing on the roster still.  Why no love for Ayers?  One would think as the multi-year dev guy that he would finally get a shot?

And if you voted "rookie IMP", is that really feasible given that I don't think we've ever started a rookie IMP DE before (have we?)?  The dev path for these guys seems pretty clear -- and long.

Quote from: Tecno on Today at 09:32:13 PMBut which are natural DEs... obviously some of the well-known names are just DTs.  Is anyone familiar enough with everyone on this list to strike off the DTs so we can narrow it just to the DEs?

I find it interesting Jaworski is leading the poll right now.  I guess he's as good as anyone else on the roster at the moment.

Is Ayers not a FA?  Or was he a PR drop to end the season?  He's showing on the roster still.  Why no love for Ayers?  One would think as the multi-year dev guy that he would finally get a shot?

And if you voted "rookie IMP", is that really feasible given that I don't think we've ever started a rookie IMP DE before (have we?)?  The dev path for these guys seems pretty clear -- and long.

Ayers is not a potential free agent. He's seen few reps on defence and when he did it was as a LB in more of a 34 defence. In 2024 he may have had to sub in at WIL.

If he was going to get more reps on defence we thought he might replace K. Wilson at WIL but even that has fallen off the depth chart. He's very good on ST's but it doesn't appear he's in the plans on defence very often. Griffin and Woodbey are the ones we'll see at LB.

At DE it's the ones on the poll or a rookie signing at the moment. We don't have a veteran to use as a choice yet.

We used Haba and Garbutt as rookies on the DL in 2024 so rookies are not that unusual.

Quote from: Blue In BC on Today at 09:42:43 PMAyers is not a potential free agent. He's seen few reps on defence and when he did it was as a LB in more of a 34 defence.

I was looking through the depth charts from '25 and Ayers was a backup DE a couple of times.  Of course, that may not mean he was used as DE, but I'm assuming he was at least a bit.

Maybe he's a bad example.  Argh, stupid WPG depth charts that mean nothing!

Quote from: Blue In BC on Today at 09:42:43 PMWe used Haba and Garbutt as rookies on the DL in 2024 so rookies are not that unusual.

IIRC those guys were slotted in to start DE more as "tryouts" than legit starters.  We didn't seem to ever settle on a good option -- as seen in how fast we released them in FA.

By "rookie IMP" choice I mean more that we find a legit future-star one that can start fairly early in the year and keep the spot all season, and remain for the next, too.  That is something I'm not sure we've seen -- not like DB where we can strike gold with rookies.

It seems weird, but maybe DL is a position that just takes longer to develop.  You'd think it would apply more to DB, where they have to learn our insane schemes, whereas DL just needs to run straight forward and play red rover (well, kinda, simplified).

Quote from: Tecno on Today at 09:50:47 PMIIRC those guys were slotted in to start DE more as "tryouts" than legit starters.  We didn't seem to ever settle on a good option -- as seen in how fast we released them in FA.

By "rookie IMP" choice I mean more that we find a legit future-star one that can start fairly early in the year and keep the spot all season, and remain for the next, too.  That is something I'm not sure we've seen -- not like DB where we can strike gold with rookies.

Willy, Haba and Garbutt were all they had left when they didn't bring Jeffcoat back for 2024.

Currently we show 11 DL and only 3 that weren't here in 2025. 3 that played the last game of the season. Not sure whether the rookies are DE's or DT's but that the current roster.

Quote from: Tecno on Today at 09:50:47 PMI was looking through the depth charts from '25 and Ayers was a backup DE a couple of times.  Of course, that may not mean he was used as DE, but I'm assuming he was at least a bit.

Ayers is 100% a LB. His listing as a DE was probably because they literally couldn't fit another name under the LBs in the depth chart. And a major problem some of us had with the roster deployment last year.