Medium term changes

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I get there is some shock and frustration with a crashing to earth season after 3 or 4 seasons of pretty dominant football.

The core that propelled us to four straight Grey Cups has aged and regressed or moved on.

I don't fault Walters or O'Shea for sticking with the guys who went on the run but it is pretty apparent we'll be buyers this off season and a more prominent changing of the guard is in order.

The good news is unlike the long drought we've got a winning culture, great place to play and an engaged fan base.

Here are some things that should help:

Bighill is two years past his best before and a switch at middle linebacker next year will end up being a massive upgrade even if it's simply to younger, more athletic and less experienced.

With the emergence of Pokey we can jettison one of Schoen or Lawler. Backfill with another American for a significant sms savings.

With a significant reduction in statistics and the eye test, Collaros is going to be making $100,000 less. They can use some cap room at the end of this season to make it more palatable, give him a small bonus against 2024 sms and restructure 2025.

Alexander is no longer an elite safety primarily because he can't cover the ground he used to. We'll save a bit of cash by playing a Canadian there in 2025 and be able to reallocate the ratio elsewhere if necessary.

Jake Thomas is far from the worst of the old guard at the moment (which is kind of surprising) but he'll got caught in the sweep and he deserves a hero's send off.

We'll see how the rest of the season plays out for Willie. Still a good player but no longer taking over games and it's not just because he gets lots of attention. Probably has another year in him but not at the current price tag.

Along the offensive line Chris Kolenkowski needs to go back to the 6 lineman for sure. We got good value out of him but it's an easy and realistic upgrade.

With the extra sms we can shop for offensive and defensive line upgrades in free agency.

My advice? Enjoy the old guys. We're not a Grey Cup team this year but we've still got some of that core of guys that accomplished something very special in Winnipeg. They won't be here next year and it's going to take a rework to get us back to the top of the mountain.

We have found some answers: Garbutt and Pokey are both the real deal. Clercius is getting some good experience and could project to something like a Wolitarsky. Dobson has established himself as legitimate guard. Bonds is a good value corner and Ford is talented especially for a Canadian playing corner.

[dd]

Wilson isn't the end all be all at reciever, and I wouldn't be getting rid of either schoen or Lawler.

Bighill on the other hand, gone. He's served us well, was key in turning the franchise around but what was once our biggest defensive asset has become our biggest defensive e liability. Missed tackles and in the trail position way too much. Don't make the big plays like he used to and hasn't for over a year.

[ModAdmin]

Keep in mind we have already made 11 changes in starting positions on offence, defence and ST (perhaps even more!) this year.

And now it is suggested we replace Schoen or Lawler as well!

Changes will be made but we need to seriously consider that we are only roughly a third of the way through the season and many of the aforementioned players are still working to fit in on this team.

We are seeing the hiccups of such a major change in personnel. This season needs to play out to see who stays and who needs to go.

[ichabod_crane]

I Am not sure many of the old "timers"  will be jettisoned until AFTER next season unless they truly want to retire or are so injured they can't play anymore. The HOME GREY CUP in 2025 is what I said they were truly gearing up for this season in the PRE-SEASON already. Not to write this year off that early, but next year is the golden nugget if you ask me. That is when the Bombers can pocket a nice stability fund hopefully. This season's first priority was setting up for next season I think in the bowels of PAS!

If you are playing 10 Canadian starters and you can't find at least ONE BIG BULL DL guy, something seems off with that. There is little pressure up the middle on QB's and the run stopping game is not the best either. There was that 6'9" monster that Toronto let go....he would have fit the bill probably beyond a Stove even! They have flexibility, WHY NOT USE IT? Loyalty is nice, but it does not bring wins always and pro sports is ALL about winning in the end mostly. Having a long run is great for the players I am sure being together for this 4-5+ year run, but that is not the norm. 

[DM83]

Schoen will be tooooslow if he steps onto a field again.
Lawler, also too old, and for me as a tax payer too expensive for four games a year.
These guys have little of no tread on their tires.

An era of change has started

[TecnoGenius]

With the emergence of Pokey we can jettison one of Schoen or Lawler. Backfill with another American for a significant sms savings.

Lawler makes 2 of the catches Pokey whiffed on tonight, bank it.  Might have been the difference.  Pokey shows promise, but so far he's had 1 good game and a bunch of nothingburgers.  He may take years to get consistently good, who knows.

Not saying we keep Lawler, but it is something to consider when making comparisons.

[TecnoGenius]

I actually think our D played pretty good.  We got robbed on quite a few penalties: Just made up stuff out of nowhere.  The D still kept us in it.  If the O could have done much of anything all night besides get 20-30Y drives for FGs, we would have had a shot.  If the refs hadn't rigged the game, we would have had a great shot at a W.

Yes, the O was stinky much of the night and the reckless INT and dumb fumble also were the difference between winning and losing.  But keep in mind this is an extremely good SSK D: like league top-3 D.  Our O will fare better against weaker Ds like they did last week.

I think, in terms of actual Bomber performance, this L looks worse than it really is.  Even Biggie, the favorite punching bag here, was racking up the DT stats and making plays.  There was only one bad arm-tackle whiff I saw, and others were making the same mistake too.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

The defense has played pretty well for most of the year. They were good in Regina. The reality is though, we were playing a guy with three CFL starts. Also worth mentioning that the Riders defense was better than ours on basically every statistical category and particularly along the defensive line was the play most noticeable. We need to find a way to get more pressure and to do that we're going to need to reallocate towards the line next year.

We had more success as a team with Lawler, Adams, Bailey, Wolitarsky, Demski at receiver which is probably a less top heavy way to allocate our dollars. It's really hard to spend top dollar on a QB and TWO import receivers.

[Lincoln Locomotive]

BC and Sask are teams trending upwards whereas we are a team of aging veterans trending in the opposite direction.  We are not a GC contender and will be fortunate ju#t to make the playoffs either in the West or via crossover to the East.  Complacency from our management corps this season has brought us to where we are now and clearly other teams have gotten better whereas we have not.  Yet, despite our poor play so far this season, there are two other teams worse than us, namely Edmonton and Hamilton and I really feel sorry for their fans.

We have a team with players that have carried us to four consecutive Cup appearances however some of these players are now past their best before date.  We know who they are and there will be major changes come next season.  We may win a few more games this season but will be lucky if we end up 9-9.

It was good while it lasted, but the gig is up and we now must face the reality that other teams have improved where we have regressed.    Losing our top two receivers didn't help matters either and Zach clearly isn't the elite QB we've known and grown to love.  He's also the highest paid QB in the league.

Yet, despite all of this we need to continue supporting this team as most loyal Winnipeg fans have done over the years of good and bad Bomber teams.  We're not a bad team but we're just not the elite team we once were.

Bombers forever!

[GOLDMEMBER]

Bighill, though is the D QB but physical attributes are letting him down. Wilson is actually hiding Adam's let down a bit. Wilson is a beast!

Patterson sure made our secondary look like Swiss cheese. The blitz failed us mostly. Good run D for the most part.

Bombers got 100% robbed on the Nichols interception late in the 1st half.

Alexander is a NON factor. He is invisible.

Changes need to happen in these areas.

Zach has been scary inconsistent. Never mind his recent game physical attributes but is metal mistakes are puzzling and alarming. Don't have a capable replacement on the roster. Brown gone hurts big time.

[BomberFan73]

Bighill, though is the D QB but physical attributes are letting him down. Wilson is actually hiding Adam's let down a bit. Wilson is a beast!

Patterson sure made our secondary look like Swiss cheese. The blitz failed us mostly. Good run D for the most part.

Bombers got 100% robbed on the Nichols interception late in the 1st half.

Alexander is a NON factor. He is invisible.

Changes need to happen in these areas.

Zach has been scary inconsistent. Never mind his recent game physical attributes but is metal mistakes are puzzling and alarming. Don't have a capable replacement on the roster. Brown gone hurts big time.

Yes, and its been going on for over a year. 
It's obvious he's no longer a top QB, but his experience & leadership get him close. I think we can still win with him, but we have to be firing on all cylinders and not shoot ourselves in the foot.

[BomberFan73]

We have to dance with the one we brought, so we're committed to Zach this year.  But I do think serious talks need to happen nextyear with him taking a step back in role, and big paycut.
I still think his leadership & preparation would be very valuable, but I also don't want to go with Strev as #1.
I think Zach would be a great coach, Bighill too.

[TBURGESS]

We have Streveler so no... we don't have to commit to Zach this year. 

Maybe we can find an NFL cut later in the season to replace Biggie or Alexander, setting us up for next year.

[BomberFan73]

We have Streveler so no... we don't have to commit to Zach this year.

Maybe we can find an NFL cut later in the season to replace Biggie or Alexander, setting us up for next year.

Strev has shown over & over he's a one trick pony.  At best we could run them both 50-50.

[TBURGESS]

Strev has shown over & over he's a one trick pony.  At best we could run them both 50-50.

The question is... Is Stev better than Collaros right now? I'd say yes. 

Is Streveler a top QB? Nope. Does he have some upside? Yup. Would giving him 8 games this season make him more ready to take over the team next year? Maybe. Would giving Collaros those 8 games make him any better? Not likely.