Tampering window week

[Sir Blue and Gold]

The reason the two Jeff's were not as effective last season is because they lacked support in rotation, it wasn't due to reduced effort on their part.  Kongbo and Hansen were absent, they tried to replace their contributions with Sayles and a host of ineffective DE's.

Probably a contributing factor for sure (although I don't think Sayles was ever a a 1:1 rotation with either). However, CFL rosters are small and Jefferson and Jeffcoat are substantial SMS hits. Jeffcoat needs to be heathy and they both need to be great or they need to be cheaper to allow for the dollars necessary to provide a better rotational DE.

[theaardvark]

Getting a stud interior Dlineman has never been a real problem in the CFL.  Sure, there are guys that have made a long and lucrative career at the position, but there seems to be a much easier time to find one and get him up to CFL spped on an ELC.

I'm not worried about recruiting the next Stove/Sayles.. there will be a guy in camp this year that will make us happy we saved $140k to pay Lawler with.

[Blue In BC]

Getting a stud interior Dlineman has never been a real problem in the CFL.  Sure, there are guys that have made a long and lucrative career at the position, but there seems to be a much easier time to find one and get him up to CFL spped on an ELC.

I'm not worried about recruiting the next Stove/Sayles.. there will be a guy in camp this year that will make us happy we saved $140k to pay Lawler with.

Then why did the Lions sign Richardson for $200K and this year we see Sayles sign for $200K?

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Then why did the Lions sign Richardson for $200K and this year we see Sayles sign for $200K?

Because neither of those teams are paying their QB $600,000? We could have ol' Bo or Adams and Sayles if you want?

[Blue In BC]

Because neither of those teams are paying their QB $600,000? We could have ol' Bo or Adams and Sayles if you want?

That's irrelevant and out of context. The comment was about DT's being easy to find or replace. You can spend money on other positions that are more difficult to replace. OL or receivers for example.

I only partially agree that good DT's are easy to find as rookies. Bombers previously used free agency to acquire players like Nevis to fill what scouting didn't find.

[theaardvark]

Then why did the Lions sign Richardson for $200K and this year we see Sayles sign for $200K?

The question is how did we find Stove when we lost Nevis to more money, and Sayles when we lost Stove to more money...

[TecnoGenius]

The question is how did we find Stove when we lost Nevis to more money, and Sayles when we lost Stove to more money...

By having the padawan 1 year behind the master every time... It was a perfect, steady replacement algorithm.

If this is our 4th year of doing that then Walker slides in as that guy.  Lawson backs Fatboi.

It would be out of character for us to bring in a raw IMP ELC or make a FA spash to fill the IMP DT spot.  But, it would make perfect sense for us to ELC-fill the lady-in-waiting role who will be promoted next year.   

Maybe more important to all of this is we need the cheetah set back as an option.  Healthy Hansen gets us mostly there, but we're missing a 4th to replace Kongbo.  We can make it a DI by putting Gauthier or Briggs or Hallett on for that set.  That said, cheetah wouldn't have helped win us that GC....

[Sir Blue and Gold]

That's irrelevant and out of context. The comment was about DT's being easy to find or replace. You can spend money on other positions that are more difficult to replace. OL or receivers for example.

I only partially agree that good DT's are easy to find as rookies. Bombers previously used free agency to acquire players like Nevis to fill what scouting didn't find.

Gotcha. In that case I agree. It's not easy to find starters at any position. You pay a free agency premium for already developed CFL ready starters who you can plug and paly. Sayles is that. We have had a lot of success with the position though so it could be a good thing if we hit another home run. My guess is the Bombers plan to run that position on an ELC so focus on scouting that position perhaps more intently than some others.

[Blue In BC]

By having the padawan 1 year behind the master every time... It was a perfect, steady replacement algorithm.

If this is our 4th year of doing that then Walker slides in as that guy.  Lawson backs Fatboi.

It would be out of character for us to bring in a raw IMP ELC or make a FA spash to fill the IMP DT spot.  But, it would make perfect sense for us to ELC-fill the lady-in-waiting role who will be promoted next year.   

Maybe more important to all of this is we need the cheetah set back as an option.  Healthy Hansen gets us mostly there, but we're missing a 4th to replace Kongbo.  We can make it a DI by putting Gauthier or Briggs or Hallett on for that set.  That said, cheetah wouldn't have helped win us that GC....

The question is how well would Walker do versus Sayles if he becomes the starter. Keeping in mind that in previous years we had hold overs that were DI's the previous season. That is not what we have this year. We do have more Canadian depth with Lawson but we also had lost Kongbo.

Getting Hansen back will be good in rotation. Walker may rise to the task and we may see more rotation with the Canadians with Adamson and Lawson?

The remaining potential DL are being scooped up so I don't know that the Bombers will land one in free agency. The scouts will have work to do in recruitment. On a positive note, they don't have a bunch of positions that in serious need for starters.

Team has retained the core of the team.

[theaardvark]

Development at each position varies... Oline need time to gel, Rec/DB need time to adapt to the waggle, etc..

Dline, especially DT's probably have the least to adapt to.  Their textbook is chaos.  One yard off the line is all they need to adapt to, and that might actually be in their favour.  Finding a DT with a motor and hands is not a huge ask.  They don't even have to be huge, remember the Brown/Heywood combo.  Never a funnier DT tandem.  So, finding enough American DT's to come in and fight for an ELC job starting on our team shouldn't be hard. 

Add in the fact that last 3 starters here signed big contracts after their stint on the Bombers, well, the sell job to come here just got even easier.

[Blue In BC]

Development at each position varies... Oline need time to gel, Rec/DB need time to adapt to the waggle, etc..

Dline, especially DT's probably have the least to adapt to.  Their textbook is chaos.  One yard off the line is all they need to adapt to, and that might actually be in their favour.  Finding a DT with a motor and hands is not a huge ask.  They don't even have to be huge, remember the Brown/Heywood combo.  Never a funnier DT tandem.  So, finding enough American DT's to come in and fight for an ELC job starting on our team shouldn't be hard. 

Add in the fact that last 3 starters here signed big contracts after their stint on the Bombers, well, the sell job to come here just got even easier.

If you're counting Nevis, he was not brought to the CFL by the Bombers. He played 26 games over 5 seasons in the NFL then joined Hamilton 1 year before joining the Bombers.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

If you're counting Nevis, he was not brought to the CFL by the Bombers. He played 26 games over 5 seasons in the NFL then joined Hamilton 1 year before joining the Bombers.

He was a wrecking ball in Hamilton, I was totally amazed when Walters acquired him.

[theaardvark]

If you're counting Nevis, he was not brought to the CFL by the Bombers. He played 26 games over 5 seasons in the NFL then joined Hamilton 1 year before joining the Bombers.

Again, developing vs. discovering.  Sure, Nevis was a an NFL player and a Ticat for 2 years, played one year in Hamilton after he missed his first year to injury, and we scooped him up for 2 years as a FA, and extended him another.  We didn't "discover" him, but we identified him and signed him.  Walters identified a need, and filled it, at what I assume was a price that fit his budget.  He had one good year in Hamilton, but Walters took him away.

And when he got too expensive, we found someone to replace him, just as he replaced Euclid Cummings before him...

DT has been a position we have not struggled to fill.  I'm not worried about our scouts finding bodies to stuff the run game.  Whether it is current CFL rostered players, NFL PR guys, green NCAA recruits or even NAT Draft choices, we will find the players we need.  I have no issues with going 2 Nats at DT, just like filling the Oline with NATs in the middle.  If the right guy is there for our first pick, added to the NAT beef we already have in the middle, it could be a quite the boon for our ratio...  5 NAT linemen (3 O, 2 D), with BO20, ND10, DW82... that's a great ratio...