Winnipeg Blue Bombers add two to roster - April 4, 2025

[ModAdmin]

Winnipeg Blue Bombers add two to roster - April 4, 2025


WINNIPEG, MB., April 4, 2025 – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers today announce the club has signed two Americans – receiver Geordon Porter and offensive lineman Aidan Hemphill.

Porter (6-1, 195; Connecticut; born: May 3, 2000, in Rancho Cucamonga, CA) joins the Blue Bombers after attending rookie camps with both the New York Giants and New York Jets in 2024.

Porter spent his college days at Arizona State (2018-21), New Mexico State (2022) and the University of Connecticut (2023) and over 42 games at those three programs pulled in 58 receptions for 775 yards and four touchdowns.

Hemphill (6-5, 290; Texas Southern; born: December 9, 1999  in Houston, TX) comes to the Blue Bombers after attending rookie minicamp with the Indianapolis Colts last spring. A tackle, Hemphill played six seasons at Texas Southern, including 11 games in 2023 when the Tigers averaged 26 points and 189 yards rushing per game. He played in the 2024 HBCU Legacy Bowl.

[Blueforlife]

Good size for OL!

[Blue In BC]

Good size for OL!

He's 30 lbs lighter than Bryant but the same weight / size as Lofton. I wouldn't rule him out seeing work at LT as well during TC but I'm guessing he'll see more work at RT and even more inside at G. Imports seem to take longer to understand the CFL game with a yard off the ball.

We have a few OL returning from 2024 that will probably be closer to play OT sooner? You can never tell though.

[Pigskin]

He's 30 lbs lighter than Bryant but the same weight / size as Lofton. I wouldn't rule him out seeing work at LT as well during TC but I'm guessing he'll see more work at RT and even more inside at G. Imports seem to take longer to understand the CFL game with a yard off the ball.

We have a few OL returning from 2024 that will probably be closer to play OT sooner? You can never tell though.

Yes, I would say he needs to put on a few pounds.

[TecnoGenius]

Definitely need to start seeking out that OT replacement.  It won't be long before we'll need to fill the biggest shoes ever.

If we can't do it with scouts, we'll have to buy one in FA like we did Stan & Yoshi & Lofton.  And KW doesn't like to spend huge money on new FAs like that.

[Blue In BC]

Definitely need to start seeking out that OT replacement.  It won't be long before we'll need to fill the biggest shoes ever.

If we can't do it with scouts, we'll have to buy one in FA like we did Stan & Yoshi & Lofton.  And KW doesn't like to spend huge money on new FAs like that.

We'll have 3 import OL returning that were not the normal starters. A couple may take another step forward with more PR and practice time. In addition to 3 or 4 that might be at TC.

The catch is always whether they choose to remain on the PR for another season.

[Jesse]

Definitely need to start seeking out that OT replacement.  It won't be long before we'll need to fill the biggest shoes ever.

If we can't do it with scouts, we'll have to buy one in FA like we did Stan & Yoshi & Lofton.  And KW doesn't like to spend huge money on new FAs like that.

Most of our core was bought that way. We just haven't had to in a while because we've been focused on keeping them around.

But Stan, Harris, Demski, Willie, Bighill, etc were all bought for big money in FA by KW. I guess you can't technically count Collaros because we traded for him, but he played for 4(?) games and we had to take a pretty big risk at the time when we gave him his money at that point.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

We'll have 3 import OL returning that were not the normal starters. A couple may take another step forward with more PR and practice time. In addition to 3 or 4 that might be at TC.

The catch is always whether they choose to remain on the PR for another season.

Randolph has a head start on the other two, they'll have to find a way to keep him on the active roster as it would be silly for him to accept a PR position when he's good enough to be a starter on most teams across the league. 

[Blue In BC]

Randolph has a head start on the other two, they'll have to find a way to keep him on the active roster as it would be silly for him to accept a PR position when he's good enough to be a starter on most teams across the league. 

I don't disagree exactly. If he's not starting then I doubt he's on the AR because of the ratio. He could be added to the 1 game IR but that's an added cost. One miscalculation and you end up going over the SMS as we did in 2023.

If we don't draft an OL and / or he returns to college for his final year, then we're thin for Canadian OL if Wallace is starting.

So it comes down to best player, ratio and deployment of DI's.  Every other team has the same issue. Every other team has a couple of import OL on their PR's as well.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I don't disagree exactly. If he's not starting then I doubt he's on the AR because of the ratio. He could be added to the 1 game IR but that's an added cost. One miscalculation and you end up going over the SMS as we did in 2023.

If we don't draft an OL and / or he returns to college for his final year, then we're thin for Canadian OL if Wallace is starting.

So it comes down to best player, ratio and deployment of DI's.  Every other team has the same issue. Every other team has a couple of import OL on their PR's as well.

That's a problem with letting Bryant string out his career, it's difficult to placate his replacement if he never gets to play, they've lost 2 of them to retirement. For that reason alone I think this should be Stan's last season, move on, save money, get on with it.

[Blue In BC]

That's a problem with letting Bryant string out his career, it's difficult to placate his replacement if he never gets to play, they've lost 2 of them to retirement. For that reason alone I think this should be Stan's last season, move on, save money, get on with it.

He may the best LT that has ever played in the CFL, at least in the last decade or so. Performance and then his reliability for staying healthy.

I agree this should be and will probably be his last season one way or the other. Randolph is in his 2nd and last year on his current contract.  If Bryant does decide to retire, then there is a good chance of re-signing Randolph. If we don't and he doesn't play much in 2025, then we risk losing him as well.

OTOH, it wouldn't surprise me to see Bryant continue to play another couple of years. Whether we need to reshuffle how we spend our SMS is just another question. At some point a team decides to move forward and it's not always just a reflection of performance.

I have no idea how this will work out aside from guesstimates across the board.

[dd]

Stanely had a pretty good health scare last season, I hope he's good to go this year.

On our OL this year, I have Bryant, Wallace, KO, Neufeld and Randolph

[TecnoGenius]

We'll have 3 import OL returning that were not the normal starters. A couple may take another step forward with more PR and practice time. In addition to 3 or 4 that might be at TC.

But none were better than Randolph to start those couple of games at LT.  And we think one will magically be able to fill Big Stan's shoes next season?  That's long odds indeed because I don't even think Randolph is good enough.

That means it's up to the scouts to find the next real deal.  Or FA.  But hey, you never know.

[TecnoGenius]

But Stan, Harris, Demski, Willie, Bighill, etc were all bought for big money in FA by KW. I guess you can't technically count Collaros because we traded for him, but he played for 4(?) games and we had to take a pretty big risk at the time when we gave him his money at that point.

Ya, but that's basically one big FA splash on a non-previous-Bomber every 2 seasons (during Mafia rule).  KW is really the least FA-big-$ GM out there.  He will spend big on re-signing and also getting a guy back (like Kenny)... but brand new guys, not so much.

And IIRC Yoshi & Demski weren't big money.  They were not highly valued at the time.  It's us who made the stars.  That's more KW's M.O., find the value pick you think will turn into a star.

[TecnoGenius]

Randolph has a head start on the other two, they'll have to find a way to keep him on the active roster as it would be silly for him to accept a PR position when he's good enough to be a starter on most teams across the league.

100% disagree.  Randolph is only good enough to start at OG right now, and no team wants an IMP OG.  How quickly people forget how bad Randolph and our whole OL was when Randolph came in at LT!  Ya, it's not all on him, because the whole line stunk at the time, but he definitely didn't make it better at OT.

Where he shone was RG, which means LG should be similar.