Blue Bombers re-sign linebacker Shayne Gauthier

[the paw]

He was 6'1" 220 lbs and he did in fact play MLB at times for the Bombers. In fact was almost the identical size as Wilson who is same height but 1 lb heavier.

I wonder if the Bombers have any interest in one or both of the Herman-Reed brothers as local kids. Seem to have some upside.

I don't know how accurate Wilson's listed weight is, but I don't believe for a minute Ian Wild ever played at 220 pounds.  His listings are all over he was 195 in college, and I saw listings at 205 and 208.  The 220 sounds like roster PR.  Wilds time at MLB was a case study in undersized linebackers.

As far as the Herdman-Reeds, the local connection is nice, but I don't think either one of them adds value over Gauthier and Briggs.  They have had opportunities to start and they seem stuck in the Sam Hurl zone - exactly between starter and back up status.

[Blue In BC]

I don't know how accurate Wilson's listed weight is, but I don't believe for a minute Ian Wild ever played at 220 pounds.  His listings are all over he was 195 in college, and I saw listings at 205 and 208.  The 220 sounds like roster PR.  Wilds time at MLB was a case study in undersized linebackers.

As far as the Herdman-Reeds, the local connection is nice, but I don't think either one of them adds value over Gauthier and Briggs.  They have had opportunities to start and they seem stuck in the Sam Hurl zone - exactly between starter and back up status.

Justin Herman is a few years younger and played well on ST's. His ST's were more in 2022 than Briggs in total over the last 3 years. Nobody is expecting Briggs or the Reed's to be starters.

Justin has 3 more DT's than Briggs in 48 less games played. Just as an FYI.

[CrazyCanuck89]

I don't know how accurate Wilson's listed weight is, but I don't believe for a minute Ian Wild ever played at 220 pounds.  His listings are all over he was 195 in college, and I saw listings at 205 and 208.  The 220 sounds like roster PR.  Wilds time at MLB was a case study in undersized linebackers.

As far as the Herdman-Reeds, the local connection is nice, but I don't think either one of them adds value over Gauthier and Briggs.  They have had opportunities to start and they seem stuck in the Sam Hurl zone - exactly between starter and back up status.

Sherrit was also an undersized MLB in Edmonton.  I like my WLB and MLB to be at least 220lbs.

[Pigskin]

Sherrit was also an undersized MLB in Edmonton.  I like my WLB and MLB to be at least 220lbs.

JC Sherritt was a pretty good LB. Only 5'9"  218lbs.

109 games, 507 DT, 45 ST, 15 sacks, 14 Int, 1TD, 17 FF.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

So at the end of the day, Mr. Wilson has played MLB in the past, and in fact is big enough to play there. My concern with Mr. Wilson is him staying healthy. He just hasn't play that much in the past to seasons.

I still believe the presence of Wilson on a much cheaper contract was the reason Bighill took such a massive paycut to stay with the team in 2021, I think Walters was prepared to let him go considering the $260K he was scheduled to earn that season.  Luckily they agreed to a renegotiated deal at 115K, which was bargain basement for an all-star caliber MLB.  So yes, I too believe Wilson could play MLB or almost any other position they slotted him including Safety, he has unbelievable athletic talent.

[Blue In BC]

I still believe the presence of Wilson on a much cheaper contract was the reason Bighill took such a massive paycut to stay with the team in 2021, I think Walters was prepared to let him go considering the $260K he was scheduled to earn that season.  Luckily they agreed to a renegotiated deal at 115K, which was bargain basement for an all-star caliber MLB.  So yes, I too believe Wilson could play MLB or almost any other position they slotted him including Safety, he has unbelievable athletic talent.

I wonder if Wilson will get any consideration at SAM if we don't re-sign Darby. With the change to the hash marks in 2022, the WIL and SAM became a little more similar. Wilson is very quick and has great football IQ.

Of course I'm still hoping we can re-sign Darby but we might have more options to fill our WIL already on the roster ( Clements ) for example.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I wonder if Wilson will get any consideration at SAM if we don't re-sign Darby. With the change to the hash marks in 2022, the WIL and SAM became a little more similar. Wilson is very quick and has great football IQ.

Of course I'm still hoping we can re-sign Darby but we might have more options to fill our WIL already on the roster ( Clements ) for example.

Too valuable at WIL, many can fit in at SAM, not terribly impressed with Clements play last season, he was persistent but rarely made the big plays when needed.

[Blue In BC]

Too valuable at WIL, many can fit in at SAM, not terribly impressed with Clements play last season, he was persistent but rarely made the big plays when needed.

Harder to fill and find a player at SAM than at WIL. Clements is not as good but wasn't taking 1st string reps in practice. He may improve in his 2nd Bomber season. In any case it's a trade off in where to put the best players.

[CrazyCanuck89]

JC Sherritt was a pretty good LB. Only 5'9"  218lbs.

109 games, 507 DT, 45 ST, 15 sacks, 14 Int, 1TD, 17 FF.

My bad I thought he was smaller.  It also depends where he made those tackles on the field.  You want a stud in the middle, like a Muamba.

[the paw]

My bad I thought he was smaller.  It also depends where he made those tackles on the field.  You want a stud in the middle, like a Muamba.

I just scrolled through the player list at cfl.ca and the WIL and MLB guys are almost universally around 220 (plus or minus).  There are a handful of guys in 230-245 range.  Muamba is listed at 230 but I seem to remember him playing over 240 when he first came back from the NFL. 

There are some lighter WILs in the 210 range, although a lot of those are Canadians who play a lot of ST.

[TecnoGenius]

Harder to fill and find a player at SAM than at WIL. Clements is not as good but wasn't taking 1st string reps in practice. He may improve in his 2nd Bomber season. In any case it's a trade off in where to put the best players.

But we've been so good at finding good SAMs in the past decade!!  It's our WILL that usually isn't too hot.  Wilson is our first "great" WILL in a decade for sure.  I loved Wild, but he was never "great".

I would think the opposite of what you say is true.  How many great WILLs are there league-wide?  Simoni?  Who else.  Judge when he plays WILL?

We just finished talking about how big/heavy Wilson is.  That would make him an even worse SAM.  WILL is still mostly about the run stop, even with the field changes.  We suffered those 3 devastating runs (2 TD + Kelly) often on the weak side partly because Wilson was not in the game.

SAM still has to be able to keep up with the best SBs at times.

If/when Wilson is good to go again, no way he's not at WILL.  And if Darby doesn't pan out at SAM, worst case is we find a way to get Maston or Rutledge playing again.

Now... if you're talking Canadian depth that can play SAM in a pinch... there you might have something.  We are usually ok with DI/NATs to pinch hit at WILL, but we almost never have a NAT SAM on the depth chart.

[Blue In BC]

But we've been so good at finding good SAMs in the past decade!!  It's our WILL that usually isn't too hot.  Wilson is our first "great" WILL in a decade for sure.  I loved Wild, but he was never "great".

I would think the opposite of what you say is true.  How many great WILLs are there league-wide?  Simoni?  Who else.  Judge when he plays WILL?

We just finished talking about how big/heavy Wilson is.  That would make him an even worse SAM.  WILL is still mostly about the run stop, even with the field changes.  We suffered those 3 devastating runs (2 TD + Kelly) often on the weak side partly because Wilson was not in the game.

SAM still has to be able to keep up with the best SBs at times.

If/when Wilson is good to go again, no way he's not at WILL.  And if Darby doesn't pan out at SAM, worst case is we find a way to get Maston or Rutledge playing again.

Now... if you're talking Canadian depth that can play SAM in a pinch... there you might have something.  We are usually ok with DI/NATs to pinch hit at WILL, but we almost never have a NAT SAM on the depth chart.

Who are all these great SAM's that the Bombers found?  Edmonton found Maston, we traded to get Darby. Rutledge signed in the XFL after getting released.

OTOH Bombers found Santos -Knox and he continues to be a dominant LB. Currently he's moved to MLB but was primarily a WIL in Winnipeg.  Wild was better than you give credit.

BTW, Kramdi is our Canadian back up at SAM.

Have you been watching the same team as me?

[theaardvark]

Who are all these great SAM's that the Bombers found?  Edmonton found Maston, we traded to get Darby. Rutledge signed in the XFL after getting released.

OTOH Bombers found Santos -Knox and he continues to be a dominant LB. Currently he's moved to MLB but was primarily a WIL in Winnipeg.  Wild was better than you give credit.

BTW, Kramdi is our Canadian back up at SAM.

Have you been watching the same team as me?

"Finding" players includes scouting other rosters and trading for players.  What we see and what others see is often different.  I have no issue with picking up players other teams originally scouted and recruited, and consider them "found". 

Our scouts and player development always seem to find the players we need, or coach up players into what we need.   Which is why whe you lose a Chungh, Dejarlais, Santos-Knox, its next man up, and we don't seem to miss a beat...

[Blue In BC]

"Finding" players includes scouting other rosters and trading for players.  What we see and what others see is often different.  I have no issue with picking up players other teams originally scouted and recruited, and consider them "found". 

Our scouts and player development always seem to find the players we need, or coach up players into what we need.   Which is why whe you lose a Chungh, Dejarlais, Santos-Knox, its next man up, and we don't seem to miss a beat...

Revisionist history. We've found good  rookies at WIL more readily than at SAM which is the opposite of what you said. You can't say we find players we need to replace and then suggest we couldn't find a new player at WIL to support your argument.

We found Bowman, Wild, Knox, Santos-Knox and Wilson to fill the position of WIL.

My point being it's easier to find a player at WIL than at SAM and that SAM is a more critical position on defence. In the past 2 seasons we've used Briggs, Gauthier and Clements to fill in while Wilson was injured.

Now whether Wilson is suited to play SAM is an entirely different question. Because he has very good speed and excellent football IQ, I think he might have that skill set. However the immediate solution is to re-sign Darby rather than make a switch.

[Pete]

I think we're likely to look at free agency for Sam lb or look to bring in someone new
For some reason Darby hasn't been a priority and little has been said about him