Blue Bombers sign kicker Sergio Castillo

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Then why does he never stick on a team?  Like ever?  Dude has bounced from:

WPG
OTT
HAM
BC
WPG
EDM
WPG

Why would any of these teams let a "top kicker" go?  He has never stuck on a team even 2 years in a row!  And you can't say because he's "too expensive".  He's never earned anything close to Medlock money.

Justin Medlock moves for the last decade of his career:
Toronto Argonauts (2010)
Edmonton Eskimos (2010)
Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2011)
Carolina Panthers (2012)
Oakland Raiders (2013)*
Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2014?2015)
Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2016?2019)

You will note that no team, other than Winnipeg, kept Medlock around for more than two years (an NFL stint had something to do with it perhaps, but Castillo has been on two NFL rosters too). Now what?

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Then why does he never stick on a team?  Like ever?  Dude has bounced from:

WPG
OTT
HAM
BC
WPG
EDM
WPG

Why would any of these teams let a "top kicker" go?  He has never stuck on a team even 2 years in a row!  And you can't say because he's "too expensive".  He's never earned anything close to Medlock money.

Castillo is a football nomad, including his 3 spins with the Bombers he's played on 13 teams and in 4 different leagues since his kicking odyssey began in 2014.  Some of these moves were opportunistically driven attempts to latch on with NFL teams (he opted out of his contract with BC in 2020 to sign with the NY Jets), but most have been beyond his control were he has been released or not offered a contract due to $$ or ratio. 

I imagine he's single and enjoys the nomadic life football can provide, otherwise he would put down roots, attempt to sign a long term deal, or get out of football entirely.  Interestingly the only post-season success he's had in his career is with the Bombers in 2021, going 5/5 in the Grey Cup should have been enough to earn him the MVP.....but he's "just the kicker".

[DM83]

Livin the dream.  Ideal for a single guy, or who has an understanding significant other.

C'mon, he's better than wide left Leggio.

Does Leggio survive the first cut?

[Waffler]

Then why does he never stick on a team?  Like ever?  Dude has bounced from:

His passport is one reason. He also had NFL training camps that left him without a CFL home.

Ed Tait was on CJOB yesterday talking about camp saying "he does look like the missing piece".

Audio vault , May 08, 12:37.  And yes, I put the leading zero in on purpose.

[TecnoGenius]

Justin Medlock moves for the last decade of his career:
Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2014?2015)
Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2016?2019)

You will note that no team, other than Winnipeg, kept Medlock around for more than two years (an NFL stint had something to do with it perhaps, but Castillo has been on two NFL rosters too). Now what?

Well, at least Meddie was on two CFL teams for multiple years in a row.  Castillo can't say that.  But yes, it's a bit silly I guess.  Especially because I'm not pro or anti Castillo.  I like the signing and he has a chance of being better than Leggs.  That is good enough.

I agree with Tee that Leggs will likely find a home in the CFL, and thus we would be smart to hang onto him.  If Leggs is within 5% of Castillo then his dual-threat aspect and passport mean you ditch Castillo and just roll with Leggs.  I said before last season that we needed to adjust our game to suit Leggs more (i.e. more run plays on 2nd down, more sneaks, more gambles, a lot more 2pt PATs).  We didn't really do that, and it might have cost us the GC.

Castillo is going to have to be 95% on PATs and 88%+ on FGs to stay on our AR, methinks.

[TecnoGenius]

Ed Tait was on CJOB yesterday talking about camp saying "he does look like the missing piece".

Thanks for the heads up.  I'll check it out.

Audio vault , May 08, 12:37.  And yes, I put the leading zero in on purpose.

That's why I love it here.  Thanks for the lolz at 04am.

[Pigskin]

There was a number of Bomber fans suggesting that the Bombers replace Leggs before the playoffs last season. Then after the GC a lot Bombers fans wanted him replaced before TC. Management said they would bring in competition. That what they have done.

[Blue In BC]

There was a number of Bomber fans suggesting that the Bombers replace Leggs before the playoffs last season. Then after the GC a lot Bombers fans wanted him replaced before TC. Management said they would bring in competition. That what they have done.

Some Bomber fans are lemmings. If Collaros completes that short 2nd down pass we may have moved closer or even scored a TD on that series. If the defence tackles Kelly on his runs, we win.

Football is a game of what ifs. Toronto out played the Bombers and were full credit for their win.

[blue_gold_84]

Some Bomber fans are lemmings. If Collaros completes that short 2nd down pass we may have moved closer or even scored a TD on that series. If the defence tackles Kelly on his runs, we win.

Football is a game of what ifs. Toronto out played the Bombers and were full credit for their win.

Well said. The Bombers were up by nine points to start the fourth quarter and collectively crapped the bed.

Win as a team, lose as a team.

[GCn19]

Well, at least Meddie was on two CFL teams for multiple years in a row.  Castillo can't say that.  But yes, it's a bit silly I guess.  Especially because I'm not pro or anti Castillo.  I like the signing and he has a chance of being better than Leggs.  That is good enough.

I agree with Tee that Leggs will likely find a home in the CFL, and thus we would be smart to hang onto him.  If Leggs is within 5% of Castillo then his dual-threat aspect and passport mean you ditch Castillo and just roll with Leggs.  I said before last season that we needed to adjust our game to suit Leggs more (i.e. more run plays on 2nd down, more sneaks, more gambles, a lot more 2pt PATs).  We didn't really do that, and it might have cost us the GC.

Castillo is going to have to be 95% on PATs and 88%+ on FGs to stay on our AR, methinks.

Couldn't give a crap about %. I care about performance in the clutch. That's what seperates good FG kickers from bad ones. Castillo performed very well for us in 2021, and adding him is definitely an improvement. I like Leggs and actually though he had a good year last year but to try and crap on a very good kicker in Castillo in order to try build up Leggs seems kind of off base.

[pjrocksmb]

Couldn't give a crap about %. I care about performance in the clutch. That's what seperates good FG kickers from bad ones. Castillo performed very well for us in 2021, and adding him is definitely an improvement. I like Leggs and actually though he had a good year last year but to try and crap on a very good kicker in Castillo in order to try build up Leggs seems kind of off base.

Problem solved keep em both.

[TecnoGenius]

Couldn't give a crap about %. I care about performance in the clutch. That's what seperates good FG kickers from bad ones.

Yes, and I already said that.  It must be the main point KW/MOS is thinking about.  If we focus solely on the playoffs, Castillo appears to be the moderately better choice: an apparent upgrade.  He certainly seemed much looser in the playoffs than Leggs.  You could read it in his body language before kicks, etc.  But he is much older/"wiser" also, so it slightly stands to reason.

KW always looks at the reason for failure and tries to find the puzzle piece.  The fact that we're focussing on this relatively small tweak is a testament to the fact that our team is so strong, it's really hard to improve.  Once upon a time we were doing puzzle-piece upgrades like Hurl to Bighill!!  Haha.

No matter what you think about anything else, it is truth that if Leggs was 100% on the GC PATs we would have likely gone into overtime.

Well, no matter what, we'll have some intrigue regarding kickers in TC and pre-season.  And I see that possibly continuing all the way through labor day.  It will certainly give us lots to talk about!

[DM83]

PJ, I think that is what will happen, plus maybe even a couple of the imports also.
This year we seem to have a plethora of exceptional players, at a number of players.

[BLUEBOMBER]

Should have sacked Legghio long time ago... or get ourselves a real special teams coordinator that can help him.

[blue_gold_84]

Should have sacked Legghio long time ago... or get ourselves a real special teams coordinator that can help him.

Quite the absurd comment.