Official Game Day Thread - Winnipeg at Saskatchewan, August 31, 2025

[Pigskin]

Why would we add Woodbey (whoever that is) over Houston?

Do we really need a 10th LB before we need a single back-up in the secondary?

Why would we add Woodbey instead of Adams or Woods. Houston should be in for Lawson. Loosing Kramdi is going to hurt.

Bombers:  9 LBs, 7 DL.

Riders:  7 LBs, 9 DL.   

[bunker]

Why would we add Woodbey instead of Adams or Woods. Houston should be in for Lawson. Loosing Kramdi is going to hurt.

Bombers:  9 LBs, 7 DL.

Riders:  7 LBs, 9 DL.   

Look at the positions their Head coaches played...
Actually I don't think that's it, we seem to roster less true D-lineman than any team in the league.

[Jesse]

Why would we add Woodbey instead of Adams or Woods. Houston should be in for Lawson. Loosing Kramdi is going to hurt.

Bombers:  9 LBs, 7 DL.

Riders:  7 LBs, 9 DL. 

You're counting Ayers as a DL.

It's really 10 and 6.

And no one to back up at CB.

[RebusRankin]

Woodby is likely taking that 7th db role that Griffen and then Allen were filling previously.

Better question, why keep Ayers on just to play teams which is all he really does?

[bunker]

The truth is only 4 of them spend much time at linebacker. The other 6 spend almost all their time on specials. ? Influence of Miller and O'Shea as a previous ST coach?

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

The truth is only 4 of them spend much time at linebacker. The other 6 spend almost all their time on specials. ? Influence of Miller and O'Shea as a previous ST coach?

I don't know if they have a ST chart, but I'd like to see how they use these players to get a better understanding of Miller's roster decisions. It'd be great if LaPo could do a podcast breakdown on ST's.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Andrew Harris interview about the LDC.

https://www.riderville.com/2025/08/29/andrew-harris-excited-to-experience-labour-day-classic-tradition-from-new-perspective/

[The Zipp]

lawson is likely good for two torchings and vaval one.  just gotta keep pace with our offence and keep our defence off the field as much as possible. 

couple turnovers by sask and maybe a special teams TD and we can squeak one out on the road even with giving up some big yardage plays

[Pete]

How is it that our scouting team hasn't been able to find one defensive lineman in 4 years that we can effectively start?
And the other thing is we bring in like 25 rookie dbs, to training camp and maybe 3 dlinemen.
We use our top 2 draft picks on linebackers, and when we have an injury we take out a import dlineman
Our gm has reached an expiry date

[DM83]

The bombers have a very unstable roster, in that the efficiency level, hasn't been there on a consistent basis. The Riders, seem to have better ,more consistent simply better players. So far.

It seems that in the last while, these past early season games, are like exhibition games.  This second half of the season, again seeks to provide an opportunity to gain a better record.  It seems,s in the past few years, in the East, teams have not played well. But in the second, Montreal, Toronto, have turned awful starts, into grey Cup wins.

People, mainly QBs have been out with injuries, but then they regain their health, and the teams

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Woodby is likely taking that 7th db role that Griffen and then Allen were filling previously.

Better question, why keep Ayers on just to play teams which is all he really does?

I have no idea either. He's a legitimately good kick cover guy but I'm not sure what else he does for us.

You'd think at minimum, a guy like that could slot in and be a blitzing linebacker sometimes. With his speed and physicality he'd probably be good for a few QB hits a game.

Not sure why he's not and we don't.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I have no idea either. He's a legitimately good kick cover guy but I'm not sure what else he does for us.

You'd think at minimum, a guy like that could slot in and be a blitzing linebacker sometimes. With his speed and physicality he'd probably be good for a few QB hits a game.

Not sure why he's not and we don't.

When he does play on the D-line, that's his job.  He seems to have taken over the role Cole used to perform.  Thought he would eventually replace Kyrie at WIL, but now they have multiple choices, so nothing is clear.

[bunker]

I don't know if they have a ST chart, but I'd like to see how they use these players to get a better understanding of Miller's roster decisions. It'd be great if LaPo could do a podcast breakdown on ST's.

I was curious about this also, so rewatched the last game against Montreal.

There are 7 players that play on pretty much all kickoffs, kickoff returns, punts and punt returns: 39,34,49,16,29,47,44.
50 plays on kickoffs and kickoff returns, but no punts or punt returns.
81 plays on kickoffs and kickoff returns, and also punt returns, but not on punts.
25 is on for punts returns, some punts, kickoff returns, but not kickoffs.
0 is on for kickoffs, but not for kickoff returns. He is on for punt returns, but not on punts.
31 was on for one kickoff that I saw, but no punts or kickoff returns.
33 was on for some punts, but no punt returns and no kickoffs.
32 is on for punts, and is a gunner, along with 39 and 16.
94 was on for at least 3 out of 4 punt returns, and 2 kickoff returns but no kickoffs or punts
For field goals it gets more complicated. When we kick field goals, we bring in beef (96,65,95,61,69,94), with 3 each on either side of 42, long snapper. Plus we have 47,44,49, holder and kicker. When we are "receiving" field goals, we have 94,93,95,96, plus a lot of the regular D (32,23,27,33,1,19) plus 47 and 49. WJ5 was out for one field goal received that I saw also.
Converts are hard to see the numbers on. When we kick them, we have 96,94,69,95 47,44, plus long snapper, holder, and kicker plus? I think when we received converts, the numbers may be similar to field goals but tough to see.
 
Overall, things may vary a bit from game to game (for example with Woods out), and I may have gotten the odd number wrong, but hopefully it gives you a sense of where people are lining up. The why of it is sometimes a bit hard to figure. Allen is on the kickoff coverage team, but not the kickoff return team, which makes sense, since his speed and tackling are an asset, but he's probably not much of a blocker. Yet he's on the punt return team for every punt I saw, but never came on for punt coverage.

[RebusRankin]

When he does play on the D-line, that's his job.  He seems to have taken over the role Cole used to perform.  Thought he would eventually replace Kyrie at WIL, but now they have multiple choices, so nothing is clear.

Thing is Derek Taylor has mentioned that Ayers has only played an average of 2-3 snaps per game all year on D, believe its low 20s for the entire season and its always in short yardage. Poor use of a DI.

[TecnoGenius]

Starting 8 Nats, so no real reason Adams couldn't start. Maybe he's sick.

Or we are admitting we won't get to the qb, and instead are going pure lane block and batdowns. Not a bad idea because their ol probably far outmatches our dl, and Trevor will get rid of the ball fast 95 percent of the time.

Not surprised Houston not starting. It's the mos way.

I think our DBs will do fine.

OL being consistent for several weeks is a good thing.

Shoen being in will scare them a bit. As long as his knee holds up.

We should try cheetah a few times early to try to knock definitely not concussed Trevor to the turf, maybe he can show us the leg cramp zombie dance again.

Sask is only stronger with their roster changes. Not looking good. They are loading up everything to make sure they win at home. We'll probably do similar next week.

We could win with this roster, but not easy or likely. Unless Trevor goes out...