Blue Bombers add three to roster - May 3, 2023

[pjrocksmb]

Prediction.

Leggs beats them at camp but struggles at times early.  We dabble with plan B but in the end Leggs outcompetes for both jobs and is our guy.  Just the gut feeling and also what I hopes happens.  Having continuity and a Canadian with a decent leg checks all kinds boxes. 

Don't feed the trolls after midnight, god knows I have feasted in the past lol.

[Waffler]

https://winnipegsun.com/sports/blue-notes-as-many-as-seven-kickers-will-be-in-the-mix-for-jobs-at-bombers-training-camp

BLUE NOTES: As many as seven kickers will be in the mix for jobs at Bombers training camp

If you?re Marc Liegghio, the message has to be coming through loud and clear.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are bringing in a bunch of players to compete with him in training camp and his hold on the place-kicking and punting jobs is tenuous at best.

[Pigskin]

I think there was only one kicker drafted yesterday.

[Blue In BC]

this brings the total of players signed today as 5. 10 players drafted will be signed shortly from the drafts. IMO another 12 or so will be added before the rookie camp. We'll find that a couple already signed choose to not report. That seems to happen every year with most teams. After rookie camp, we'll see some immediate releases. A main TC with over 100 players is not a good idea and there is a limit to TC imposed.

2023-05-03   WPG   TAYLOR, Jadrian   WR   A   Texas El Paso   Add To   Active Roster
2023-05-03   WPG   DIXON, Christian   LB   A   Middle Tennessee State   Add To   Active Roster

[NewBlue]

Sheer number? Fact check time:

They have 3 place kickers, including Legghio.
They have 5 punters, including Legghio (and including the currently unsigned Globals) .
They also have 14 offensive lineman on the roster despite zero jobs being very open.
They have 15 receivers despite having the one of the best projected receiving cores in the league.
20 DBs, etc.

He's not wrong though.  How many kickers are on the field at once?  How many OL/WR/DB's?  Ofcourse you bring more of those.
We all knew Leggs was going to have compettion this year, and as others have said I hope they just cut it down to like the 3 best to win the job for the real camp.

[M.O.A.B.]

He's not wrong though.  How many kickers are on the field at once?  How many OL/WR/DB's?  Ofcourse you bring more of those.
We all knew Leggs was going to have compettion this year, and as others have said I hope they just cut it down to like the 3 best to win the job for the real camp.

I would think the global punters are at the bottom of the depth chart. Bombers already have 2 global players projected to be on the AR with Hansen and Maruo. I dont think they need to roster another global unless they beat Leggs and the American 3-way kickers.

[theaardvark]

Not only does having multiple kickers spark competition, but every player learns something from his competition.  Who knows, maybe Leggs sees a special hitch in someone else's routine that he adopts.  I can't remember who the punters were, but there was a camp where there was an interchange of styles, learning the nose down punt, etc... which carried over into the season.

Much as we think it is cut-throat and kill or be killed for jobs, in the end, these guys are human, and most that get invited to this team's camp should be players with good moral standards, who would more likely help than hinder their competition...

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Not only does having multiple kickers spark competition, but every player learns something from his competition.  Who knows, maybe Leggs sees a special hitch in someone else's routine that he adopts.  I can't remember who the punters were, but there was a camp where there was an interchange of styles, learning the nose down punt, etc... which carried over into the season.

Much as we think it is cut-throat and kill or be killed for jobs, in the end, these guys are human, and most that get invited to this team's camp should be players with good moral standards, who would more likely help than hinder their competition...

If Legghio decides to change his kicking approach after watching someone in training camp for a day we are doomed.

[Blue In BC]

If Legghio decides to change his kicking approach after watching someone in training camp for a day we are doomed.

It's not difficult to believe he couldn't learn something from a new player. While that may not happen on the 1st day, he's just beginning his 2nd year as the potential starter.

The coaches must know where any of his techniques are in need of adjustment.

It may change but this would be the 2nd year with the same holder. Continuity is part of the key.

I don't expect him to not start the season on the roster. Certainty whether we add a 2nd kicker on game day rosters is not out of the question. Obviously change can have both pro and cons to consider.

[theaardvark]

It's not difficult to believe he couldn't learn something from a new player. While that may not happen on the 1st day, he's just beginning his 2nd year as the potential starter.

The coaches must know where any of his techniques are in need of adjustment.

It may change but this would be the 2nd year with the same holder. Continuity is part of the key.

I don't expect him to not start the season on the roster. Certainty whether we add a 2nd kicker on game day rosters is not out of the question. Obviously change can have both pro and cons to consider.

Wasn't Prukop the holder last year?  Or was it Brown?

If Legghio decides to change his kicking approach after watching someone in training camp for a day we are doomed.

If a player never learns from other players, we are doomed.  Aussie rules kickers and soccer kickers have brought a lot of technique nuances to gridiron football.  No reason to believe that exposure to other styles can't help a player improve. 

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

It's not difficult to believe he couldn't learn something from a new player. While that may not happen on the 1st day, he's just beginning his 2nd year as the potential starter.

The coaches must know where any of his techniques are in need of adjustment.

It may change but this would be the 2nd year with the same holder. Continuity is part of the key.

I don't expect him to not start the season on the roster. Certainty whether we add a 2nd kicker on game day rosters is not out of the question. Obviously change can have both pro and cons to consider.

Prukop was the holder last season, this will be Leggs 3rd year punting, Medlock left after 2019.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

?
If a player never learns from other players, we are doomed.  Aussie rules kickers and soccer kickers have brought a lot of technique nuances to gridiron football.  No reason to believe that exposure to other styles can't help a player improve. 

It's not difficult to believe he couldn't learn something from a new player. While that may not happen on the 1st day, he's just beginning his 2nd year as the potential starter.

The coaches must know where any of his techniques are in need of adjustment.

He's a professional kicker. The techniques to choose from aren't mysteries to be decoded. He's obviously experimented but the strength of kicking comes from doing the exact same thing over and over again. He's basically got a choice of a two or three step approach (if it's three, he does what they usually call a jab step) followed by a long stride and then a plant step and follow through. It ain't rocket science, the hard part is doing it optimally every time.

[DM83]

Can we start numbering the reasons why Leggio is good!

1.)  He has experience kicking, .......
2.)  ..............

[Stats Junkie]

Marc Liegghio has had 3 different holders so far with the Blue Bombers
87.5% Joe Mancuso
78.3% Dakota Prukop
62.5% Sean McGuire

Justin Medlock had 7 different holders
92.3% Bryan Bennett
90.9% Chris Streveler
87.2% Weston Dressler
84.6% Matt Nichols
80.0% Matt Coates
70.0% Sean McGuire
* Alex Ross (botched hold on only FG attempt & injured on fire drill)

Sergio Castillo
80.0% Marc Liegghio
76.9% Brian Brohm
75.0% Sean McGuire

Lirim Hajrullhau
80.9% Biran Brohm
70.0% Kyle Jones

Justin Palardy
85.0% Mike Renaud
70.0% Jamie Boreham
55.6% Jovon Johnson

Alexis Serna
86.4% Stefan LeFors
72.2% Aaron Hargreaves
69.6% Mike Renaud
66.7% Jamie Stoddard

1.   A holder can make a difference.
2.   Everybody did bad with Sean McGuire as the holder

* Kickers were a combined 61.9% with McGuire as the holder. Only Corey Jenkins (60.0%) and Jovon Johnson (55.6%) were worse (since 1980).


There was an interview that Justin Medlock did while he was with the Tiger-Cats (ca. 2015). He talked about the challenges he faced as a left footed kicker. Every time he attended an NFL camp, he was matched up with a random holder (usually a training camp QB) while other kickers, including rookies, got matched up with the incumbent holder. The couple of times that Medlock did make an NFL roster, he was forced to break in a new holder in the regular season because the training camp holder had been released.

Perhaps the key to Medlock's early success in the CFL was that he was matched up with Kevin Eiben in 2009 with Toronto. Eiben was one year removed from holding for another left footed kicker, Noel Prefontaine.

[Blue In BC]

Wasn't Prukop the holder last year?  Or was it Brown?

If a player never learns from other players, we are doomed.  Aussie rules kickers and soccer kickers have brought a lot of technique nuances to gridiron football.  No reason to believe that exposure to other styles can't help a player improve. 

Ok. I thought Brown was the holder but appears I was incorrect. Back to square one as a few new holders are explored.

Elks released Castillo today. He may retire but if he's affordable he could be a good option if we go to 2 kickers on the roster. He could be both a mentor and take some of the kicking roles.

I'm not all in bringing him back but it might be worth a call to his agent. Noting that Castillo missed 3 of 25 converts which was worse than Liegghio missing 5 of 56 percentage wise.

Elks also released DE Avery Ellis. He'd qualify as a Nationalized American and could fill a role as a DI. 73 CFL games under his belt. His options might be limited and he could be an affordable option to consider. We don't exactly have many import rookies for that role yet.