Remaining Blue Bomber Free Agents as of January 9, 2023

[Blue In BC]

I think it is an open question whether Ricky Walker can replace Sayles without a drop off.  So that is a potential downgrade.  I don't think Adams was a significant contributor last year, so you can only really call that a change rather than a weakening.  As far as Taylor and Maston, they weren't factors at all last year, so it doesn't make any sense to use them as a yardstick to measure whether we are stronger or weaker than last year.  I suppose you can make an argument that our secondary might have been stronger in 2021, or 2019, but our secondary is just as strong as last year.

I think on offence, that it is fair to say Lawler is a significant upgrade over Ellingson (even though he was good when he played).  I think Bailey'r replacement is the big question mark.  I share your concern over Agudosi's small sample size.   I think he is going to break our hearts.  (he kind of reminds me of Titus Ryan from 2009 in that way).  I don't think McCrae is a full-time starter in that spot, although he does have value as a Swiss Army knife.  So that is the big question mark on offence.  I think the drop off from Couture to Kolankowski was so small as to be insignificant.  As they say, I would sure hate to have to live on the difference. 

So I see only 2 question marks, with the added proviso that Leigghio is going to have to defend his placekicking job.

A large part of my comment was that we've lost talented depth. Whether the 2nd year DB's are currently better than Taylor is somewhat of a question. Taylor was very good when he was healthy. He may have been more expensive a SMS hit but I'd say he was a very strong player in the secondary.

Same thing with Couture. Glad to have Eli back but Couture is still better than Kolankowski. So that's a downgrade made for SMS reasons.

I'm fine with the decisions made which were made for a combination of factors, largely financial.

[TecnoGenius]

A large part of my comment was that we've lost talented depth. Whether the 2nd year DB's are currently better than Taylor is somewhat of a question. Taylor was very good when he was healthy. He may have been more expensive a SMS hit but I'd say he was a very strong player in the secondary.

Same thing with Couture. Glad to have Eli back but Couture is still better than Kolankowski. So that's a downgrade made for SMS reasons.

We are in a very strong position DB-wise compared to previous years where we always starting 1-2 rookies (read: crap-shoots).  We'll have Holm and Parker going into year 2 and both looking decent (Parker could be full legit), and Houston will be back from injury (will be year 3 and was looking very fine).  Add BA, Rose, Nichols, and even Darby and we don't have a single weak spot and have at least 1 non-rookie as depth.

Add in a probable new scout find wunderkind and we're sitting pretty.

P.S. You're bang-on about Taylor's capability, and I want him back, but the newer guys will do a good job and get better over the season.  The only concern I would have is if it's Holm at Taylor's spot.  I'm not sold on Holm, but he's not bad per se.  I think we roll with Parker and Houston, with Holm as depth.

Couture better than Ko-man?  I thought so too, but when Ko-man stepped in and played all those games I didn't notice any drop off at C.... except maybe that left A-gap with Gray.  If that's more a C problem then that would make good proof.  In any event, they patched that up by late season.  My point is, I doubt we'll miss a beat with Ko-man at C and Couture gone, just like we all said "Chungh who" after much off-season panic and then 3 games without him.

[ModAdmin]

Here are the remaining Blue Bomber Free Agency as of February 18, 2023.

Bomber free agents:

Defensive line
Keion Adams (A)

Defensive back
Mercy Maston (A)
Nick Taylor (A)

[Blue In BC]

We are in a very strong position DB-wise compared to previous years where we always starting 1-2 rookies (read: crap-shoots).  We'll have Holm and Parker going into year 2 and both looking decent (Parker could be full legit), and Houston will be back from injury (will be year 3 and was looking very fine).  Add BA, Rose, Nichols, and even Darby and we don't have a single weak spot and have at least 1 non-rookie as depth.

Add in a probable new scout find wunderkind and we're sitting pretty.

P.S. You're bang-on about Taylor's capability, and I want him back, but the newer guys will do a good job and get better over the season.  The only concern I would have is if it's Holm at Taylor's spot.  I'm not sold on Holm, but he's not bad per se.  I think we roll with Parker and Houston, with Holm as depth.

Couture better than Ko-man?  I thought so too, but when Ko-man stepped in and played all those games I didn't notice any drop off at C.... except maybe that left A-gap with Gray.  If that's more a C problem then that would make good proof.  In any event, they patched that up by late season.  My point is, I doubt we'll miss a beat with Ko-man at C and Couture gone, just like we all said "Chungh who" after much off-season panic and then 3 games without him.

I also think Parker will replace Taylor. While I'm expecting Houston at CB, I'm not quite sure where Lawrence fits in. He's a good player but Holm is very fast and probably better on ST's and can return kicks.

It's a long season and someone is always nicked a little so we'll see multiple combinations. As you suggested we might find a rookie that ends up as a star.

IIRC Couture started in the playoffs. IMO that makes him the better player but Kolankowski is not bad and will improve as well.
 

[TecnoGenius]

IIRC Couture started in the playoffs. IMO that makes him the better player but Kolankowski is not bad and will improve as well.

Pretty sure Ko-man got banged up in one of the last 3 games?  Looked pretty bad?  Going by memory here.  It made putting Couture in there easier, as otherwise you need to weigh recent game "hot hand" experience vs (rusty, still healing) vet presence.  I'm not sure you pull the trigger on Couture in that case... probably, but it's not a sure thing.

Ko-man really did look good most of the season... UNLESS he's to blame for Gray's A-gap problem.

It's just like when The Goose left suddenly: Couture stepped in and it was basically a drop-in replacement with no drop-off.  Ko-man felt like basically the same scenario.  Couture has the edge, but it's so slight by week 5 we won't notice any difference or loss.  We're winning bigly by saving the dough on Couture and slotting in Ko-man.  (Not to diminish Couture's work, I was a big fan.)