Official Game Day Thread - Saskatchewan at Winnipeg - June 2, 2023

[ModAdmin]

Game Recap | SSK 28 WPG 16

There will be many tough decisions for Winnipeg Blue Bombers coaches and management in the next few hours - with some of them no doubt absolutely gut-wrenching - but let's go out on a fairly sturdy limb here with this declaration after two preseason games: Tyrrell Pigrome can unpack his suitcase and start apartment hunting ASAP.

Yes, on a Blue Bombers team stacked with veterans - and subsequently, fewer openings than most clubs across the Canadian Football League - the young quarterback did everything possible and then some to earn a roster spot on the eve of cut-down day.

Pigrome served up his second solid performance in as many games in Friday night's pre-season finale, as a Blue Bombers lineup missing a ton of regulars fell 28-16 Blue Bombers loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in front of 24,654 at IG Field.

The 25-year-old Birmingham, Al. product engineered two scoring drives in his two appearances behind centre, energizing a crowd enjoying a scorching evening by throwing for one score to Amare Jones and handing off to Jordan Salima for another while completing 5-of-6 passes for 65 yards and rushing five times for 43 yards.

Couple that with what he did last week by rushing for 71 yards and two touchdowns and going 2-of-4 for 43 in the passing department and he did exactly what every CFL rookie is supposed to do with his opportunity: he wrapped his hands around the chance and squeezed hard.

"I feel good, I feel blessed and I just thankful for the opportunity, like I keep saying," began Pigrome post-game, with a nearby teammate humming the ESPN Sports Center theme as the cameras and media swarmed around him. "I had a lot of help from these guys - from the receivers, the running backs, to the line, from Zach (Collaros) and Dru (Brown) just helping me out and being around vets and talking to them, it really helped me a lot.

"I just had to show what they teach me, take everything they teach me and put in on the field."

Mission accomplished, in that regard.

"He's electric," said Blue Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea. "He's extremely tough to bring down and he just makes plays, which is pretty neat to watch."

Asked about Pigrome's ability to run the short-yardage package - he's generously listed at 5-10, which makes him shorter than Dakota Prukop, Sean McGuire and Chris Streveler, the men who held that role before him - but is a solid 200 pounds and lightning fast.

"Definitely that's a spot we have - a short-yardage quarterback," said O'Shea. "We'll see. It's not the body-type we've had, but that doesn't mean he can't get down. I think he's hard to see back there, too. You see him just shrink down, bend the knees and he kinda disappears for a second and then comes flying out somewhere and is very elusive and greasy."

Here are some other post-game observations from our perch in the press box...

5 THOUGHTS

1. What's next?

The Blue Bombers have until 10 p.m. tomorrow night to make their roster decisions for the final round of cuts of camp. And while this is a lineup that looks set in so many places, it will be a night of a ton of discussion about the roster from top to bottom.

"We don't go in saying it's set," said O'Shea. "I mean, we want to be surprised. You want to have those tough decisions. Obviously, we are a veteran-laden team, but that doesn't mean guys can't make their mark with us."

That means a nervous night for so many, including a second-year vet like linebacker Brian Cole, who had a solid night.

"When it's preseason there's a lot of cuts, a lot of movement," said Cole. "It's nerve wracking, but you see guys' best efforts - some guys who don't know the playbook and they're giving it their all, too. That's all we can ask for, for people just give it their all.

"You never know. I've been on a lot of teams. I've been cut from a lot of teams, as well," added Cole, who had looks from Saskatchewan and Edmonton before landing here last year. At the end of the day nobody's safe. That's why when you put in the work and put it on tape you know you're doing it for other teams, too."

2. The Lawler news

The Blue Bombers announced late Thursday that star receiver Kenny Lawler had been transferred to the suspended list ?pending resolution of matters related to his 2021 off field incident.

"We will provide a further update once the situation resolves, which we expect to occur in 3-4 weeks."

As for the impact of the Lawler news, O'Shea offered this post-game:

?The biggest impact is on the personal side. You've got a lot of guys that are good friends with Kenny, and they are concerned about how things are going to shake down with him. They're more concerned about the person Kenny Lawler than they are about the Blue Bombers and what we do with Week 1."

3. The 'Other' QBs

Zach Collaros did not dress, meaning Dru Brown got the start. He went 8-of-15 for 69 yards with no TDs or interceptions while rushing once for 11 yards. Josh Jones had the tough act of following Pigrome, and he went 3-of-4 for 23 yards in late mop-up work.

4. The Specialists

Marc Liegghio led all punters with a 49-yard average on three punts, although he had his first attempt sail out of bounds for a penalty. Jamieson Sheahan rushed one, getting it off quickly to avoid being blocked and had a 36.5-yard average while Karl Schmitz had a 48-yard average on two punts.

Matt Cole stood out in the return game with Janarion Grant not dressed, averaging 13.7 yards on three kickoff returns and almost taking a missed field goal to the house before being tripped up by Riders kicker Brett Lauther at midfield.

5. A push up the middle

Defensive tackle Caleb Thomas had one defensive tackle, a tackle for a loss and one sack - all this after registering a sack and blocking a field goal in last week's win over Edmonton.

"I felt like I put my best foot forward and left it all out there," said Thomas. "A big play came out of it (the sack) and I can hang my hat on that. This would be the most sacks I've had in a while. That's one thing I wanted to improve on in the offseason. I knew I had the explosiveness, but to improve as a pass rusher I had to work on the little things. I think it's paying off.

"I'll be one of those guys sweating tonight, too. You just can't take anything for granted. I put my best effort out there and whatever happens I know I did my best."

NEXT: The Blue Bombers open their 2023 regular season next Friday at IG Field with Bo Levi Mitchell and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats visiting with a 7:30 p.m. start.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/06/02/game-recap-ssk-16-wpg-28/

[TecnoGenius]

NEXT: The Blue Bombers open their 2023 regular season next Friday at IG Field with Bo Levi Mitchell and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats visiting with a 7:30 p.m. start.

Boy I am so hoping for a massive beatdown of BLM.  Like sack city and major disruption on Bo.  I want his first game for HAM to be a disaster.  Show him what kind of a team he has, haha!

I'm always ABC, but half of that was AB-BLM!  HAM gets half that ire now.

[Pigskin]

Brown really does have to watch his back.  Piggy was looking hot.  I don't really care about the runs, I'm more impressed by the downfield work.  He has a great feather touch on the ball, and makes good reads.  For a rookie it's astounding how unflustered he seemed.  And with a garbage OL to boot!

Not so fast.  I saw no indication Piggy can do SY work.  Did he even sneak once?  I don't recall even one.  His body type should be good at it, but we need evidence.

Brown is not a good SY guy.  If we move Piggy to #2 then Brown will be out of a job.

That's because you missed the Bomber/Elks game.

[TecnoGenius]

That's because you missed the Bomber/Elks game.

That I did.  Good to hear he's proven at SY then, too.  No question Piggy is #2 or #3 for sure, especially after the MOS comments.

[TecnoGenius]

What's up with the new head ref?  I don't think we've ever seen that guy before 2023?  Usually these guys rise through the ranks.  Is this an NFL steal or some nepotism or what?  That ref crew botched a couple of calls (like the illegal punt OOB).  Ya, PS for the refs too...

And now that I'm home and watching the TSN PVR, I must say I'm overjoyed to see a timeouts-left indicator on the on-screen chyron/scoreboard!!  Man, that's been a long time coming.

[TecnoGenius]

I also thought Augustine performed exceptionally poorly.  Like enough to finally be let go.  Ya, we're committed to the NAT RB, so he kind of wins a backup role by default, and probably won't get a job elsewhere (kind of like BOO on the R corps)... BUT, Salami looked so good that maybe we find a way to make the ratio work should BO20 ever get injured?

How did Augustine look in PS game 1?  Maybe I missed something there too.

The only saving grace for his PS game 2 performance might be how completely awful the OL(s) were.  They were so bad at pass pro I'd have to believe they were worse at run blocking.  Then again, Salami was making plays...

(And I'm a Johnny fan.)

[TecnoGenius]

Lauther starting to look like Milo out there.  SSK might need a new PK if he keeps that up.  Too bad, really, as Lauther is a cool story and seems a nice Canadian kid.

[GOLDMEMBER]

What's up with the new head ref?  I don't think we've ever seen that guy before 2023?  Usually these guys rise through the ranks.  Is this an NFL steal or some nepotism or what?  That ref crew botched a couple of calls (like the illegal punt OOB).  Ya, PS for the refs too...

And now that I'm home and watching the TSN PVR, I must say I'm overjoyed to see a timeouts-left indicator on the on-screen chyron/scoreboard!!  Man, that's been a long time coming.

who? Wades brother? 

[Blue In BC]

Parker was injured by friendly fire and it did appear to be a knee injury. Very unfortunate.

[kkc60]

The run defence is what I found very discouraging. DT and DE were glaring needs, hopefully the Bombers stubbornness in trusting their rookies over proven vets doesn?t bite them in the butt.

[CrazyCanuck89]

I also thought Augustine performed exceptionally poorly.  Like enough to finally be let go.  Ya, we're committed to the NAT RB, so he kind of wins a backup role by default, and probably won't get a job elsewhere (kind of like BOO on the R corps)... BUT, Salami looked so good that maybe we find a way to make the ratio work should BO20 ever get injured?

How did Augustine look in PS game 1?  Maybe I missed something there too.

The only saving grace for his PS game 2 performance might be how completely awful the OL(s) were.  They were so bad at pass pro I'd have to believe they were worse at run blocking.  Then again, Salami was making plays...

(And I'm a Johnny fan.)

You're committed, but younger Canadian halbacks will be released.  You guys can go younger and cheaper.

[3rdand1.5]

The back-up O-line struggled, mightily. But it was mostly back-ups and guys out of natural positions.

The D-line short of few plays looked very concerning. Edm. ran at will, and Sask. ran at will but gave up on it probably to evaluate, but almost every time they decided to run it was non contested till up the field for the most part. Thomas the American has shown enough to probably at least be considered for the PR. But I have concern here.

Our LB's weren't great either, but correct me if I am wrong but we started with three Canadians against Sasks. starters. As good as Wilson is, how long to we let him rehab, before we truly look to replace him? Let's hope Biggie isn't hurt to stat the year.

Our DB's were a good mix and hard to tell judge with all the movement. Some young guys including the new Canadian kid #16 showed some good. Housten did not have his best game and Parker looked like an unfortunate injury more than a minor nick.

Rb's I agree with Techy Augustine had a tough preseason. If Brady is out game one we may look at rostering an American.

WR, I am not sure what some are seeing with BOO, I thought he showed OK, certainly not very good overall. I don't see anyway barring injury that he supplants Woli. IMO Woli is a far superior overall player. Tough for all the American rooks as they didn't get to show much, the one guy did make a nice adjustment and catch on Piggy T's TD throw. Agadosi looks OK, but he is no Lawler, that is a downgrade any day of teh week Lawler is a superstar, and having miss potentially 20% of the season is big hit on the offence.

Special teams were a good battle, to bad Staton missed one, it's such a close battle.

My breakdown of concerns would be, No Lawler for possibly 20% of the season, Our entire D-line especially if Jeffcoat isn't 100% week one. LB's with Darby, Biggie possibly hurt and Wilson stating on the 6 game....again...I also don't have a ton of confidence in Augustine, if Brady isn't ready to go week one.

[Blue In BC]

I also thought Augustine performed exceptionally poorly.  Like enough to finally be let go.  Ya, we're committed to the NAT RB, so he kind of wins a backup role by default, and probably won't get a job elsewhere (kind of like BOO on the R corps)... BUT, Salami looked so good that maybe we find a way to make the ratio work should BO20 ever get injured?

How did Augustine look in PS game 1?  Maybe I missed something there too.

The only saving grace for his PS game 2 performance might be how completely awful the OL(s) were.  They were so bad at pass pro I'd have to believe they were worse at run blocking.  Then again, Salami was making plays...

(And I'm a Johnny fan.)

The only place I think we could modify the ratio for Salima would be Gauthier starting at WIL and Clements off the roster in the short term. If Oliveria can't dress this might be our option. I suppose Clements could be a DI in this situation but then we lose any chance of a DE back up as a DI. With Jefferson not 100% even if he dresses, that's a huge risk.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

The only place I think we could modify the ratio for Salima would be Gauthier starting at WIL and Clements off the roster in the short term. If Oliveria can't dress this might be our option. I suppose Clements could be a DI in this situation but then we lose any chance of a DE back up as a DI. With Jefferson not 100% even if he dresses, that's a huge risk.

The ratio is not some set in stone thing that never changes. There are lots of options if/when injury hits. Ultimately, the defense needs to be able to carry a bit of Canadian weight. Especially if it's not going to dominate anymore. Canadian safety is an option. Canadian linebacker, sucks, but is an option. I suppose we could start two Canadian interior defensive lineman.

[Blue In BC]

The ratio is not some set in stone thing that never changes. There are lots of options if/when injury hits. Ultimately, the defense needs to be able to carry a bit of Canadian weight. Especially if it's not going to dominate anymore. Canadian safety is an option. Canadian linebacker, sucks, but is an option. I suppose we could start two Canadian interior defensive lineman.

No but you have to consider which is the best option. The most veteran back ups we have are at LB. So Gauthier at WIL or Kramdi at SAM if Darby can't dress. Yes we could start Hallett at safety but only if there is a need in the secondary to move Alexander to DHB ( not going to be the 1st choice ). Teams ran up the middle on us in 2 games. I would think starting 2 Canadian DT's backed up by another Canadian would be the last option.

We have to figure out who will not be able to dress for game 1 and it's a big list potentially.

All that said if Oliveria can dress and we start Salima, I'd almost bet money that Gauthier is the starter at WIL. He did that in 2022 when it was necessary.

Just because you could take Castillo or Grant off the roster for a Canadian to create another spot for an import, doesn't mean those choices will be close to the top.

I never said the ratio was set in stone but there are reasonable expectations and bad expectations on what to do.