Ottawa @ Winnipeg

[Pigskin]

Bombers have given up 18 plays over 35 yards?? That's far to many.

Right now I am seeing 28, good AQ, but a good chance of rain to start the game.

[bunker]

Bombers have given up 18 plays over 35 yards?? That's far to many.

Right now I am seeing 28, good AQ, but a good chance of rain to start the game.

I'm from the Jack Well's school of weather forecasting and assuming its going to turn out nice again...it better because I'm cycling to and from the game.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

DBs still listed as FAs on cfl.ca (maybe not updated recently?):

Lindley NAT
Cranston NAT
Harry NAT
Leonard IMP
Alexander IMP
Hallett NAT
Taylor IMP
Roberson IMP
Statz NAT
Thompson NAT
Dominique NAT
Hutter NAT
Purifoy IMP
Lee IMP

Most are NAT nobodies, probably ELC DP guys who weren't good enough for the CFL.

However, assuming the list is still accurate, there's some interesting names there:
Leonard, Roberson, Purifoy, Lee.  Older guys, but certainly CFL-ready if they're still in shape.  If we took a flyer on Nick Taylor, why not one of the other guys?

Thompson was here I think vying for FS a couple of years back.

The key is get someone who is a natural CB.  Or a great FS so Parker can roll to CB when he returns.

Also out there somehwere ex-Bomber Donald Rutledge recently cut by the Argos, wasn't here long but he had good size for a DB. 

[Blueforlife]

We're 4-4 and approaching the halfway mark. We've lost 4 games and 3 of them to the league's best team by a mile, the last one on their turf by a single point. Geez Louise.

We have always looked at the regular season as a process of getting ready for the playoffs. As long as we squeak into a playoff spot we can run the table by winning 3 in a row like we did in 2019. What could be more fun than that in a Grey Cup hosting year?

What would you rather do, win now, maybe go on a heater like we did last year by winning 10 straight, and lose the Grey Cup at home, or win 3 in a row and win the Grey Cup at home?

I am certain this management group has every intention of hoisting that cup in front of our fans and will do everything possible to make that happen. After 5 straight Grey Cup appearances I have every confidence in them. No one is asleep at the wheel.

Love it my friend, everyone keep your head up, ok maybe the Bomber receivers and returners too LOL

[gobombersgo]

[gobombersgo]

[J5V]

Very cool interview and a lot of the things he says here are the reasons I believe this team can win it all. 

[TecnoGenius]

Also out there somehwere ex-Bomber Donald Rutledge recently cut by the Argos, wasn't here long but he had good size for a DB.

He was always just a SAM.  Tough to turn him into a legit speed cover DB.  And we don't need another IMP SAM because we have Griffin, who is just as good.

We need some legit fast corners.

[TecnoGenius]

Is Bridges on speed dial?

Pretty sure we burnt that bridge(s).      

[TecnoGenius]

Not an encouraging list. I'd consider one of our cuts in TC before any of these players.  We brought Nick Taylor back but he had been with the team previously and had solid experience.

The Taylor thing was an admission we failed in '24 FA and roster/trade management.

If you're going to drop in a vet-FA-cut like Taylor, you need to do it waaaay sooner so the unit has time to gel.  Taylor didn't have the gel with the newest guys, get the comms down, etc, and didn't help at all in the GC.

So whatever we do, do it sooner rather than later.  Make some moves NOW!  Don't panic in 6 more weeks when we find out Vaval or whoever is no better than Bridges.  (Not saying that's true, but it certainly is possible.)

[Blue In BC]

The Taylor thing was an admission we failed in '24 FA and roster/trade management.

If you're going to drop in a vet-FA-cut like Taylor, you need to do it waaaay sooner so the unit has time to gel.  Taylor didn't have the gel with the newest guys, get the comms down, etc, and didn't help at all in the GC.

So whatever we do, do it sooner rather than later.  Make some moves NOW!  Don't panic in 6 more weeks when we find out Vaval or whoever is no better than Bridges.  (Not saying that's true, but it certainly is possible.)

We failed again with recruitment and depth on the PR at DB, DL and receiver. Essentially we went with the holdovers from 2024.

I think many of us thought / saw that when final cuts were announced. It was like " really "??

[TecnoGenius]

I think many of us thought / saw that when final cuts were announced. It was like " really "??

Tru dat.  Cuts: "really".  Scouting: "really".  And 2 years of FA: "really".  The only "big name" in FA in the last 2 seasons was Kenny.  (Not that we didn't pick up a couple/few quality middling guys in FA, not to diminish their success.)

The problem is all the new powerhouse teams went nuts in FA, and they're reaping the rewards.

[J5V]

Do you assemble a talented group of players through scouting and free agency and then attempt to implement a process that brings that group of players together to be the team capable of winning a championship at the end? Teams like Toronto and Calgary come to mind.

Or do you take a core of proven champion-calibre teammates and attempt to implement a process that builds on that core to become the best team capable of winning a championship at the end? The Bombers come to mind. I suspect both methods can work but I also suspect that one method will produce more consistent results.

[TecnoGenius]

Or do you take a core of proven champion-calibre teammates and attempt to implement a process that builds on that core to become the best team capable of winning a championship at the end? The Bombers come to mind. I suspect both methods can work but I also suspect that one method will produce more consistent results.

There's a lot of luck involved.  Did your promising scout ELC finds pan out?  MTL 2023 they sure did, and so they were powerhouse in '23 and '24 while still all on ELC.

Did your splash vet FA guy get season-ended in week 3?  Luck.

I think the main job of the GM is to try to anticipate how the scouts did, and judge how the draft went, and then to fill any holes and have a "plan B" via FA.  KW & co failed badly at this this season, even at REC where we clearly made moves to try to avoid getting burned like in '24.

For far too long we've treated high-end FA with disdain (exempting Kenny, who is special as an ex-Bomber).  And we could because our scout+DP guys always turned up 1-2 superstar gems.  But scouting has been iffy since Rigmaiden left, and horrible since Ted left.  Yet we don't detect this and up our FA game??  That's on the GM.

I'm not sure many people care right now about "consistent results".  Sure, we may be in an ok position in '26 (especially if we have $400k of '25 SMS to pre-spend in Dec)... but everyone and their dog wants us in the home cup.  Even WFC (WM), because an empty stadium for CGY vs HAM will cost us $1M+ in lost revenue.  And the fan ire & blowback will be epic.

[Big Daddy]

There's a lot of luck involved.  Did your promising scout ELC finds pan out?  MTL 2023 they sure did, and so they were powerhouse in '23 and '24 while still all on ELC.

Did your splash vet FA guy get season-ended in week 3?  Luck.

I think the main job of the GM is to try to anticipate how the scouts did, and judge how the draft went, and then to fill any holes and have a "plan B" via FA.  KW & co failed badly at this this season, even at REC where we clearly made moves to try to avoid getting burned like in '24.

For far too long we've treated high-end FA with disdain (exempting Kenny, who is special as an ex-Bomber).  And we could because our scout+DP guys always turned up 1-2 superstar gems.  But scouting has been iffy since Rigmaiden left, and horrible since Ted left.  Yet we don't detect this and up our FA game??  That's on the GM.

I'm not sure many people care right now about "consistent results".  Sure, we may be in an ok position in '26 (especially if we have $400k of '25 SMS to pre-spend in Dec)... but everyone and their dog wants us in the home cup.  Even WFC (WM), because an empty stadium for CGY vs HAM will cost us $1M+ in lost revenue.  And the fan ire & blowback will be epic.

Great points Tecno, well stated.  I don't think we are at risk of an empty stadium even if it is CGY and HAM (that hurt to type that - it won't happen).  Too many tickets are sold already - I don't know what the count is, but we have a lot of STH (myself included) that have already committed for them and took the $100 per seat discount by re-upping for another 3 years (I think that was the deal? Same as last GC here?).

So I can't see us losing any money on hosting the GC no matter who gets in. 

For sure everyone here (including WFC) wants us in that game though, and I am sure they are focusing on everything they can do to make that happen. This isn't a group that rests on it's past accomplishments and takes fans for granted - they are engaged, and committed to putting a winning team on the field.