BLUE BOMBERS RE-SIGN SHAYNE GUATHIER

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Half would be a little high. We have 5 on our roster that were drafted in 2023. Many spent most of the year on the PR, but they are still around.

IDK how good / bad the 2024 draft crop is or what direction we choose to draft.

Referring more to the later round picks, some of which decide not to pursue football.

[blue_gold_84]

I didn't. That's two players from one draft class. It's too soon to say anything about this past class, and I have hope for Dobson but we had no servicable canadians to step in when Gauthier and Briggs missed time, not to mention when we lost Miller for the year too.

I mean, what's the timeframe in which to determine if a drafted player is a bust or not?

I think the team has drafted dependent primarily on necessity, so I'm not sure I understand how drafting has been rough recently.

[theaardvark]

Getting one player a draft that will eventually start is awesome.  Getting another one or two that can help out on teams is a good year as well.

You will rarely get more than that, and when you do, that means someone did some great scouting, and then some great coaching.

With 10 picks this year, I hope we do better than that average.

[Jesse]

Since 2020, the team has selected Hallett, O'Leary-Orange, Cadwallader, Dobson, Kramdi, Ford, Bennett.

What's been rough about the drafting?

One starter in 4 years of drafts? Seems a little rough. And that's if Kramdi keeps his spot.

[blue_gold_84]

One starter in 4 years of drafts? Seems a little rough. And that's if Kramdi keeps his spot.

Is "starter material" the only metric by which to measure the quality of a selection?

Rosters need depth. Proper drafting addresses more than one need.

[Jesse]

Is "starter material" the only metric by which to measure the quality of a selection?

Rosters need depth. Proper drafting addresses more than one need.

It's certainly a big one.

The last few drafts have been disappointing (since 2019 - which was a great one). We're one of the worst teams in the league in terms of our drafted players as a percentage of our active roster.

We've obviously been successfully anyway, but it is an area we could improve in.

[blue_gold_84]

It's certainly a big one.

The last few drafts have been disappointing (since 2019 - which was a great one). We're one of the worst teams in the league in terms of our drafted players as a percentage of our active roster.

We've obviously been successfully anyway, but it is an area we could improve in.

I don't have those stats, so please share them if you do.

I just can't agree with the claim the team's drafting has been rough. Rough has a very negative connotation, IMO.

[Pigskin]

I would really like to know what Ford is doing? He has been in limbo for awhile now.

[CrazyCanuck89]

Is "starter material" the only metric by which to measure the quality of a selection?

Rosters need depth. Proper drafting addresses more than one need.

It is for rounds 1-3.  If 4-7, turn into depth/special teams players, than you did good.

[theaardvark]

2019 Kyle hit it out of the park, drafting:

Pick #, player

4 Desjarlais
5 Kongbo
14 Oliviera
34 Eli
61 Nick Hallett
70 Exhume

He missed on Connor Griffiths and Malik Richards...  but still... that's half a decades worth of good draft picks in one draft...

In 2020:

18 Noah Hallett
37 Oleary-Orange
39 Liegghio
64 Cadwallader

2021:
3 Dobson
18 Kramdi

2022:
13 Ty Ford

2023
8 Bennett
26 Murphy
35 Scmekel

So, yeah, since 2019, Walters has been barely keeping up, but we've used DP's in trades to get players rather than draft with them when fielding championship teams.

2020 Picks for Collaros
2022 Picks for Lawson, Castillo

I think the Bombers have a pretty solid use of the draft...

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I would really like to know what Ford is doing? He has been in limbo for awhile now.

He's under contract, so if he wants to play football this year, he'll show up at TC.  I guess if he doesn't show, he's no longer interested in playing football.

Edit: Confirmed Ford is coming back.

[TecnoGenius]

I mean, what's the timeframe in which to determine if a drafted player is a bust or not?

If they are dressing regularly for games after 2 seasons, and still dressing in their 4th season, I'd call that success.  Doesn't matter if they are "just a STer", or whether they are starting.

If they are still PR after 3 seasons then that's a bust.  OL might be the only exception.

If you find a legit NAT starter once in 3 seasons, then you are winning the lotto.  Maybe less so for the "placeholders" (like some FS) if the team is super desperate on the ratio (Hurl).

Recent super-successes of CFL draft are: MTL's Philpot, SSK's KSB, MTL's Uguyak (sp?), etc.  I'm not sure if he's a superstar, but Kramdi would also qualify as a legit full-time starter.  Desjar and Gray also.

[Pigskin]

We actually traded our first round pick (9) in 2022 to Montreal for one of there second round picks (13). They took Philpot and we took Ford. Philpot score the winning TD in the GC. Ouch.

[Jesse]

In the 4 years before winning the Grey Cup in 2019, we drafted:
Couture, Loffler, Gauthier (2016), Gray (2017), Desjarlais, Kongbo, Oliveira, Eli, Hallett, and Exume (2019).

That's 5 staters so far and Eli may become one this year (if not this year, probably next). Not to mention the significant depth/ST contributions Gauthier, Hallet, and Exume.

[theaardvark]

We actually traded our first round pick (9) in 2022 to Montreal for one of there second round picks (13). They took Philpot and we took Ford. Philpot score the winning TD in the GC. Ouch.

We also got Lawson in that deal, we didn't give the pick up for nothing. 

It ended up Philpot and Rodeem Brown for Cam Lawson and Ty Ford.  We will see this year whether we win this trade long term.