2023 Free Agency Transactions - Blue Bombers

[theaardvark]

He must have been a teammate of Schoen at some point as he played at KSU from 2016-2019.

Yes:

Robert Dalton@RougeDalts

#Bombers have signed P Devin  Anctil.  From Kansas State.  Teammate of Dalton Schoen.


Weird, when I searched for that tweet, another one came up from 2019...

Greg Woods@GregWWoods

Oct 5, 2019
Baylor 31, K-State 12. Final.

? Offense was bad, save for Dalton Schoen
? Devin Anctil was excellent
? Defense gave up big plays

Lot more to unpack from this one. Story coming.

[Tiger]

The interesting thing about Devin  Anctil is he also an experienced holder. I could not think of why we did not sign a PK instead of. P until I thought of this.  Then again he was also a PK in Community College.  I guess we will see.

[theaardvark]

The interesting thing about Devin  Anctil is he also an experienced holder. I could not think of why we did not sign a PK instead of. P until I thought of this.  Then again he was also a PK in Community College.  I guess we will see.

Prukop was holding last year... always makes sense to have a dedicated holder, and who better than a dedicated punter.  A guy who is already working with the LS, and would just be standing on the sidelines otherwise.

I guess Leggs could hold for himself... there is the whole rule for dropkicking...

[Blue In BC]

Prukop was holding last year... always makes sense to have a dedicated holder, and who better than a dedicated punter.  A guy who is already working with the LS, and would just be standing on the sidelines otherwise.

I guess Leggs could hold for himself... there is the whole rule for dropkicking...

Again, IMO we'd be hard pressed to use a DI spot for a punter. All the complaints about Liegghio were about PK both in accuracy and depth. While I think we need to continue to let him develop, adding a punter is neither a +/- to that issue.

Last year we retained Mourtada on the PR. Barring injury that's currently where I'd expect this new punter to be at the end of TC.

The preference would still be to add a global kicker of some sort to reside on our PR. It would be easier to activate him within the ratio if an injury happened.

Also the preference would be for a # 3 QB to be the holder in the event we need to do some sort of fake.

[theaardvark]

Again, IMO we'd be hard pressed to use a DI spot for a punter. All the complaints about Liegghio were about PK both in accuracy and depth. While I think we need to continue to let him develop, adding a punter is neither a +/- to that issue.

Last year we retained Mourtada on the PR. Barring injury that's currently where I'd expect this new punter to be at the end of TC.

The preference would still be to add a global kicker of some sort to reside on our PR. It would be easier to activate him within the ratio if an injury happened.

Also the preference would be for a # 3 QB to be the holder in the event we need to do some sort of fake.

With a K that is a NAT, and Globals for what would usually be 2 DI positions (DE and LB), I have no issue with using a DI on a P/holder, especially is Prukop does not return. 

[TecnoGenius]

Again, IMO we'd be hard pressed to use a DI spot for a punter. All the complaints about Liegghio were about PK both in accuracy and depth. While I think we need to continue to let him develop, adding a punter is neither a +/- to that issue.

Ya, I have no idea what people are smoking.  We were hard pressed to waste a DI spot on the league's best K/P with Meddie!  No way we waste a DI on just a P!  (And also being a H doesn't change that.)

Maybe the goal is to have him coach up Leggs with some P tips?  Or maybe just to keep Leggs from getting complacent (read: realizing we have nobody we could possibly replace him with).

An IMP P-only is virtually useless in the CFL.

Next

[theaardvark]

Ya, I have no idea what people are smoking.  We were hard pressed to waste a DI spot on the league's best K/P with Meddie!  No way we waste a DI on just a P!  (And also being a H doesn't change that.)

Maybe the goal is to have him coach up Leggs with some P tips?  Or maybe just to keep Leggs from getting complacent (read: realizing we have nobody we could possibly replace him with).

An IMP P-only is virtually useless in the CFL.

Next

You do understand a roster needs to be managed as a whole, right?

We have one of the better DI DE's in the league in Hansen.  Except, he isn't a DI, he's a GLB. 

Many teams use their GLB spot for a P.

Our roster with a DE and  P taking up a DI and a GLB is nothing unusual.  The fact they are reversed as compared to what other teams do makes no never mind.

Having actual feildable skill players in GLB spots give you the roster flexibility to have a DI P. 

And, having a dedicated P tqakes a huge load off Leggs, letting him get his K role nailed down.  He's a more than capable P, and should he need to do both in the future, great.  But in the meantime...

[Blue In BC]

With a K that is a NAT, and Globals for what would usually be 2 DI positions (DE and LB), I have no issue with using a DI on a P/holder, especially is Prukop does not return. 

I don't know that Maruo is better than Clements ( or another import LB ) to not use a DI spot for a LB.  Maruo did well in 2022 so that's something to watch in TC. However at this point, I don't see him just filling that role.

Great to have Hansen back but again, we used a DI spot for a DE ( Wilcots ) and a DT throughout the season.

I expect a bunch of rookie DE's and DT's in TC, so it's all TBD. Noting that a DE is going to see a lot more reps than a punter if the offence is clicking.

Expectation is that we use DI spots for a Returner, a DT, a DB and one player to be determined. I'd almost bet money it isn't for an import punter.

[LXTSN]

Ya, I have no idea what people are smoking.  We were hard pressed to waste a DI spot on the league's best K/P with Meddie!  No way we waste a DI on just a P!  (And also being a H doesn't change that.)

Maybe the goal is to have him coach up Leggs with some P tips?  Or maybe just to keep Leggs from getting complacent (read: realizing we have nobody we could possibly replace him with).

An IMP P-only is virtually useless in the CFL.

Next

That depends on if it would help Leggs kick field goals and converts at a high percentage.
There's not a lot of guys that take on both roles so if we can go from 80% to 90% that would be a huge thing for us. Plus it would improve our punting at the same time.

It's not ideal but it would probably make more of an impact over having one more LB or DE on the active roster.

[Blue In BC]

That depends on if it would help Leggs kick field goals and converts at a high percentage.
There's not a lot of guys that take on both roles so if we can go from 80% to 90% that would be a huge thing for us. Plus it would improve our punting at the same time.

It's not ideal but it would probably make more of an impact over having one more LB or DE on the active roster.

I'd disagree. We had Mourtada on the PR all of 2022. He had a stronger leg for kick offs and punting. His directional kicking was not as good but we choose to not activate him even once.

There seems to be a rush for Liegghio to be flawless in only his 2nd season as the full time kicker. In any case having him not punt is no guarantee that his other kicking improves. That should tell you something. We didn't add other import kickers to our PR in 2022 that I recall. That also tells us something.

I'm also not convinced that our shorter K/O's were not by design at times for our coverage team. It didn't always work out but that's a conversation with the ST coach.

[TecnoGenius]

That depends on if it would help Leggs kick field goals and converts at a high percentage.

It's not ideal but it would probably make more of an impact over having one more LB or DE on the active roster.

Why would it, though?

I thought Leggs was pretty good at P.  He was very good directionally, and good at not outkicking the coverage.  At worst you could say his P distance was a tiny bit under what we would have liked.

So we take away the duty he's good at (P) so he can play the stuff he's weaker-ish at (PAT,FG)?  Is "he can concentrate more" really a thing?  Or is this just hope.

I'm with BinBC... except I would bet actual big money we don't DI a pure-P.

As for "more impact", our DEs (and DTs) are always getting tired and/or dinged up and we need the rotation if we get behind on ToP.  Fresh DL totally beats out a maybe-5-punts-a-game IMP P.

[LXTSN]

Why would it, though?

I thought Leggs was pretty good at P.  He was very good directionally, and good at not outkicking the coverage.  At worst you could say his P distance was a tiny bit under what we would have liked.

So we take away the duty he's good at (P) so he can play the stuff he's weaker-ish at (PAT,FG)?  Is "he can concentrate more" really a thing?  Or is this just hope.

I'm with BinBC... except I would bet actual big money we don't DI a pure-P.

As for "more impact", our DEs (and DTs) are always getting tired and/or dinged up and we need the rotation if we get behind on ToP.  Fresh DL totally beats out a maybe-5-punts-a-game IMP P.

It's completely just hope. But this time of year we do a lot of "hoping" on this board!

My point would be that IF this helps Leggs kick field goals at a top 3 percentage in the league, I would rather sacrifice one DI spot for a punter.
Ultimately neither of us know if it will help him, but it does seem like every other team in the league has a seperate punter and kicker. If that's our weak point and this might help, let's give it a shot right?

[Blue In BC]

Bombers were very impressive in being able to retain most of their roster before free agency. Might have been one of the best years in recent memory. There only about 50 potential free agents left. I'd guess 10-15 will retire one way or another. Slim pickens. A few decent players but those are becoming SMS casualties.

[ModAdmin]

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Bombers' GM Kyle Walters promises 'legit competition' for kicker Marc Liegghio in training camp: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers plan to have plenty of kickers in training camp following the inconsistent performance of Marc Liegghio during? https://3downnation.com/2023/02/28/bombers-gm-kyle-walters-promises-legit-competition-for-kicker-marc-liegghio-in-training-camp/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
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[Blue In BC]

CFL Headlines
@CFL_Headlines
1h
Bombers' GM Kyle Walters promises 'legit competition' for kicker Marc Liegghio in training camp: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers plan to have plenty of kickers in training camp following the inconsistent performance of Marc Liegghio during? https://3downnation.com/2023/02/28/bombers-gm-kyle-walters-promises-legit-competition-for-kicker-marc-liegghio-in-training-camp/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
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Sure, good idea if we can find someone better than Crapigna and Mourtada that we had in 2021 and 2022. Obviously either a Canadian or Global kicker of some sort would be best option.