Calgary @ Winnipeg

[Blue In BC]

Jake Thomas is not a "warm body".  He has been a stalwart competitor for years with this team, and plays the function of a rotational DT quite well.

The fact he has been pressed into starting duties and is handling those duties admirably is testament to his work ethic, drive and talent.  Is he a 100% of snaps starter in this league?  I don't think anyone thinks he is (Jake might, but he's biased).

But don't belittle his contribution to the team.  Or his commitment.  And do not dismiss him as easily replaceable.  While we may not *need* his passport for our ratio, he serves a very big role on the team.

The argument is whether he should be a starter. That answer is no. We all understand how the injury situation has prompted the need for him to see more reps.

However as many have pointed out, we knew we had DL issues going into TC and should have been looking at more bodies at DT. It didn't need to be a Canadian choice although there were some available in free agency. Logic would suggest an import on an ELC would have made the most sense from an SMS point of view.

We could have had Oakman as a short term player added at DT. He had 27 DT's and 6 sacks last year. That is more than any season Thomas has had.

I think we felt we'd prefer a rookie on an ELC that was younger, had more upside and would be on a 2 year deal.

At 6'7" he'd create more problems in finding passing lanes at the very least.

Thomas isn't the sole reason our DL is not playing well but the rookies have possible upside and have been improving.

Our DL as a group is the weak link on our defence.

Past 5 game cumulative stats: 640 yards rushing given up and we've only achieved 6 sacks. I'm not sure if that is the worst in the CFL at this point but it's certainly not good.

By no means has anybody including me has belittled his cumulative contribution or his commitment during his career.

It also doesn't mean he's not past his best before date or couldn't have easily been replaced with an import in TC if we'd have brought in more than Fox and Woods. At this point he is just a warm body, essentially last man standing, next man up.

That means he could be ok in limited, situational reps as the rotation player.

[RebusRankin]

It's pretty clear the Bomber coaching staff doesn't agree with your opinion on the matter. Sorry, you don't get to vote Jake off the field.

Never said I had that option but thanks for creating a strawman. Pretty sure I'm allowed to voice my opinion and others can disagree like you do. But to tackle your point, doesn't mean the coaching staff is always right. 7 sacks in 6 games and the worst rush defense in the CFL would indicate there are issues with the defense right now.

[Blueforlife]

There you go again. The majority have said he is not good enough to start. That has been the comment all of 2023.

You define those of us that say about any player that as " haters".  You can call it your opinion but it is contrary to the majority of posters. That is why I continue to say what you say is not a truth but a misguided loyalty.

Never called anyone a hater from what I can remember.  Let's focus on the facts and the team please.  There is no misguided loyalty to Thomas, I like some others on here think Thomas can still contribute.  It's not about the truth but a debate on opinions.  Truth is management trusts Thomas to continue to get reps.  They know more than us.  I have always liked Thomas over the years.  I defend him when they brought him back and others said he wasn't good enough.  The two cups tells me he was a good depth piece and he continues to be just that.  He makes plays when you need him.  We can agree to disagree here.

Jake Thomas is not a "warm body".  He has been a stalwart competitor for years with this team, and plays the function of a rotational DT quite well.

The fact he has been pressed into starting duties and is handling those duties admirably is testament to his work ethic, drive and talent.  Is he a 100% of snaps starter in this league?  I don't think anyone thinks he is (Jake might, but he's biased).

But don't belittle his contribution to the team.  Or his commitment.  And do not dismiss him as easily replaceable.  While we may not *need* his passport for our ratio, he serves a very big role on the team.

Agree all

[dd]

Never called anyone a hater from what I can remember.  Let's focus on the facts and the team please.  There is no misguided loyalty to Thomas, I like some others on here think Thomas can still contribute.  It's not about the truth but a debate on opinions.  Truth is management trusts Thomas to continue to get reps.  They know more than us.  I have always liked Thomas over the years.  I defend him when they brought him back and others said he wasn't good enough.  The two cups tells me he was a good depth piece and he continues to be just that.  He makes plays when you need him.facts are presented above

Re-read your previous post when you said the haters doubled down. Are you that delusional?? And just because others don't have the same rosy red poly Anna outlook and disagree with your opinion doesn't make them a hater. Nobody on here hates the bombers, but we are free to voice whatever opinion we have without the passive-aggressive attacks by yourself.

[Blueforlife]

Re-read your previous post when you said the haters doubled down. Are you that delusional?? And just because others don't have the same rosy red poly Anna outlook and disagree with your opinion doesn't make them a hater. Nobody on here hates the bombers, but we are free to voice whatever opinion we have without the passive-aggressive attacks by yourself.

Bad memory that does ring a bell, my bad.   We were talking about Thomas here.  I like him and happy with the reps he is getting, others don't agree with that.  Two sides to every story.  Let's focus on the debate about the club not me.  No need for the name calling or the personal shots. 
I won't use the term haters going forward.

Let's judge Thomas based on his stats at the end of the year.

[Go_Big_D]

lol...zach has had one good half in 4 games this season and every1 thinks he is back to being the messiah...last season he was hot and cold and the d got him out of a few loses to wins....lets wait and see if he has returned to former self of 2 years ago before seeing if he is for real....

[Blueforlife]

lol...zach has had one good half in 4 games this season and every1 thinks he is back to being the messiah...last season he was hot and cold and the d got him out of a few loses to wins....lets wait and see if he has returned to former self of 2 years ago before seeing if he is for real....

He is playing better and has been nothing but exceptional for us with limited bad games.  Yes he will go cold once and awhile but few QBs are able to avoid that.

[J5V]

Count me on the side that likes him. Thomas has a motor and as someone else said, he never takes a play off. I often see him double teamed. If he is tying up two OL that has to create opportunity for someone else. He's one of those rare breed that will wear down an OL by the third and fourth quarters -- the guy just doesn't stop.

He sets a great example and will be successful in any endeavour he takes on in life because he gets it. He could play for me any time and I'd be happy to have him.

[J5V]

All teams are a work in progress. No team has all aspects of the game accounted for with the best personnel. You have to determine where best to spend the money you have available. Mistakes will be made and circumstances beyond control will happen to derail the best laid plans of mice and men. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't, but a 50% win rate in the last four Grey Cups indicates whatever process is being used to make decisions is a good one.

[Pete]

one of the things we did different this game was throwing more quick outs and letting recievers make plays. It also took off some of the pressure on Zac and opened up run game

[J5V]

one of the things we did different this game was throwing more quick outs and letting recievers make plays. It also took off some of the pressure on Zac and opened up run game

Agree. I think Buck deserves some love here as he has made adjustments that needed to be made to take advantage of the players he has to work with and their skill sets. It has been a tall order with so much change but I think he's got a good handle on it now. I expect he'll be better able to make adjustments on the fly now too.

Zach also deserves credit for executing those changes at a high level. We are figuring out what we've got and how to use it on all sides of the ball and the players are buying in. Once this team fully gels it's going to be interesting to see what they can do

[TecnoGenius]

Thomas is not the most skilled, fastest or strongest player out there, and at tackle, draws his share of double teams. The big thing with Thomas, slow as he is, is he never takes a play off, and always, always fights to get through every play. And admire his effort and heart

This 100%.  Watch a game watching just Fatboi.  He just goes and goes and goes until the whistle, every time.  Watch other DTs on other teams, they do their first 3s of effort and then often back off, because they know the sack window has passed.

Someone complained Fatboi was "running in circles" sometimes: ya, that's because he doesn't stop running until the whistle!  If the play is going in circles around him, he's running those same circles to get to the ball.  It's not an insult, it's a compliment!

[TecnoGenius]

The argument is whether he should be a starter. That answer is no. We all understand how the injury situation has prompted the need for him to see more reps.

Think back to the off-season.  I'm pretty sure most of us had Fatboi slotted in as starting.  At worst we had him slotted in like 2023 with Fatboi/Lawson sharing a spot, with an IMP taking the other one.  Many wanted to see a progression where Lawson gets more snaps as Fatboi is slowly phased out this (or next) season.

Was anyone surprised when the week 1 chart came out and Fatboi was the starter?  Definitely not.  You find me a post by someone who said boo at the time.  Saying Fatboi is starting just because of injury is retconning.

Past 5 game cumulative stats: 640 yards rushing given up and we've only achieved 6 sacks. I'm not sure if that is the worst in the CFL at this point but it's certainly not good.

You think that's all or even mostly on the DL?  Have you seen how our D leaves the flat completely wide open with 30Y windows in all directions?  Have you seen how our LBers are having trouble against the run?  The FS isn't doing his run-stop job either, and the DBs are all whiffing in space.  Only Holm seems capable of catching lowly big not-super-fast RBs once they get going.

Ya, the entire D is to blame for the run explosions of the last couple of weeks (and the ugly tone-setter by Stanback in the GC).  For some reason teams will always limit Brady to 5 to 15, and he never gets a 40 lately, but we leave wide open swathes of field for opponent runners to go crazy.  I really don't get why this is.

[TecnoGenius]

Fatboi has started all but 0-2 games per season in every single year except his first.  That's 10 full seasons of basically never missing a game and never being injured.

For a DT.

That's absolutely incredible and I'm not sure that has ever been matched in the CFL.  Think back to all our IMP DTs, ya, they get hurt all the time.  Look at Nevis and Stove after they left: nothing but tub.

A solid, never-injured guy with a good motor who knows the playbook better than anyone and seems to do what they ask of him to perfection?  And he has a NAT passport?  And he doesn't break the bank?  Holy smokes, sign me up!!  He's like manna from heaven.  Literally the last player on the D we should be harping on right now.

If you want to replace Fatboi, find the next Stove.  Then I'll get onboard.  Until then...

[TecnoGenius]

one of the things we did different this game was throwing more quick outs and letting recievers make plays. It also took off some of the pressure on Zac and opened up run game

The fact that Wilson (and Woli) caught almost every catchable ball throw their way was huge for Zach.  Zach started a bit iffy, but even that throw-behind to Demski was catchable.  And Zach FINALLY dialed things in, unlike the other games where he couldn't.