Rasheed Bailey released?

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Our receiving core would be great if it wasn't for injury.

We were supposed to be starting one rookie receiver with Clercius being a back-up.

Instead we've have 4 rookies taking turns starting. A guy like Johnson should have spent this year on the PR, became a depth player next year, and then maybe push for starting time. Instead we're nitpicking him for a position he should never have been in.

However, I definitely would have got Bailey if we could have and put him right in Johnson's spot. Let him actually practice while Bailey filled the gap while we still had TWO other rookie starters in Wilson and Clercius. I think things would have been (and continue to be) much more successful.

I was all for bringing Bailey back until Lucky showed up and played well, couple weeks difference in timing and Bailey might have happened.  Now I accept the Bombers have moved on and are investing time in a bunch of new receivers which will pay dividends in the future. With Woli coming back Clercius probably gets shuffled out of the lineup to maintain the ratio balance. Don't know if Johnson will stick long-term, but eventually I'd like to see them make use of one bigger target receiver in the mold of Justin MacInnis or Nik Lewis.

[Jesse]

I was all for bringing Bailey back until Lucky showed up and played well, couple weeks difference in timing and Bailey might have happened.  Now I accept the Bombers have moved on and are investing time in a bunch of new receivers which will pay dividends in the future. With Woli coming back Clercius probably gets shuffled out of the lineup to maintain the ratio balance. Don't know if Johnson will stick long-term, but eventually I'd like to see them make use of one bigger target receiver in the mold of Justin MacInnis or Nik Lewis.

It's fine, but even Lucky is taking a backseat to Johnson and it took and injury to get him in.

I would still have Johnson on the PR. I honestly think it's more fair to him and puts us in a better place to win games.

We are hearing over and over from player, coaches, and media that the issue with our offence (specifically the red zone) is due to missed assignments. Wrong routes, reads, depths. There have been simple solutions all year long but we've made it harder on ourselves than it needs to be and it has shown in our record.

[J5V]

There have been simple solutions all year long but we've made it harder on ourselves than it needs to be and it has shown in our record.

Short term pain for long term gain?

[markf]

We are hearing over and over from player, coaches, and media that the issue with our offence (specifically the red zone) is due to missed assignments. Wrong routes, reads, depths. There have been simple solutions all year long but we've made it harder on ourselves than it needs to be and it has shown in our record.

And when Lucky got a chance to play he produced.  As far as I could tell he seemed to fit in well, got open, caught the ball, and scored one of our rare this season touchdown passes.

[Jesse]

And when Lucky got a chance to play he produced.  As far as I could tell he seemed to fit in well, got open, caught the ball, and scored one of our rare this season touchdown passes.

And Zach immediately pointed out that the TD was a result of Lucky responding to the defensive coverage outside of the play call. IE. A veteran savvy move that we've been missing.

[TecnoGenius]

The guy has played in 60 CFL games and has two games with more than 100 receiving yards and none since 2022 despite playing on a historically good offense for most of his career.

Ya, so now do Woli... The #4 and #5 reads aren't supposed to produce 100Y games regularly.  That's not the stat by which we measure their value.

Besides, even the top stars we had weren't having many 100Y games in '22 and '23 (compared to other teams) because we tended to spread the ball around and focus on the run.

[TecnoGenius]

We are hearing over and over from player, coaches, and media that the issue with our offence (specifically the red zone) is due to missed assignments. Wrong routes, reads, depths. There have been simple solutions all year long but we've made it harder on ourselves than it needs to be and it has shown in our record.

Watching our O live and on TV the problem with redzone production seems to be that every team is in our playbook.  The Ds are blanketing our Rs and running their routes.  They are usually in a better position than we are, and the target is double or triple covered.

And besides the odd token Brady run on 1st, we basically never try to run it in.  No misdirection runs, no sweeps, no "passing down" runs, no draws.  Nope, it's always corner fade or crossing jump ball.  It's actually sad and pathetic and I'm getting worked up just sitting here thinking about it.

Think back to when AH33 was here, and when Lapo was here.  We'd be running on at least 25% of downs in the redzone.  Teams had no idea what we were going to do and we scored effortlessly.  Heck, even Matt Nichols was getting us bigly redzone production.

Come to think of it, it's a small miracle Kenny got that TD for us last game, and that might be only because it was worst-in-league HAM.

Sad.  I'm gonna go alternate between crying and punching walls...

[TecnoGenius]

Short term pain for long term gain?

You don't roll into the post-season with short term pain... you put maximum effectiveness on the field, not "developing the next LDW".

[Sir Blue and Gold]

You don't roll into the post-season with short term pain... you put maximum effectiveness on the field, not "developing the next LDW".

Really bizarre that you just pull out L'Damian Washington as a comparable.

No one is developing "the next" L'Damian Washington. That doesn't even make sense.

There are plenty of guys who have tools but don't work out. There are some that do. You don't know until you try - that's the entire point.

[TecnoGenius]

Really bizarre that you just pull out L'Damian Washington as a comparable.

Why not?  He's one of the few recent rookies we've brought in and gave extensive game time to that didn't work out.  It seems pretty clear to me that Johnson is not the next Schoen (who was a superstar out of the gate).  So ya, LDW seems apt.

There are plenty of guys who have tools but don't work out. There are some that do. You don't know until you try - that's the entire point.

And my entire point is we're running out of runway for him to "don't work out".  You want to roll into the WSF with Johnson playing like he is now?  Or do you bench him and put known-quantity Lucky (or even a late vet pickup) in?

Are you really comfortable, as of right now, with starting Johnson in the '24 GC??  I'm not sure we're speaking to the same question.

I'm fine with dev'ing him, like others have said he should have been on the PR.  So as we hit the home stretch of the season, and especially the post season, I want to put him back on the dev shelf and start a real producer.  I'd love to be wrong and Johnson gets 125Y in the WSF, but I ain't putting money on that!!

[theaardvark]

If Bailey would have taken a min contract,I think Walters, MOS and Buck would have felt like we were ripping him off.  Now that he's on a PR, it does change everything from that aspect.

Pretty sure he helps us on the field and in the room.  Does it put Johnson back a bit?  Sure, but he's on a 2 year ELC, no?  And yes, Lucky was a happy surprise, but not the same role as Sheed.  And Clecius/Wolitarski are good Sheed type players, but can it hurt to have too many good players?

Glad that he caught on somewhere, and I'm sure Dru and Condell are chuffed to have another weapon.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

If Bailey would have taken a min contract,I think Walters, MOS and Buck would have felt like we were ripping him off.  Now that he's on a PR, it does change everything from that aspect.

Pretty sure he helps us on the field and in the room.  Does it put Johnson back a bit?  Sure, but he's on a 2 year ELC, no?  And yes, Lucky was a happy surprise, but not the same role as Sheed.  And Clecius/Wolitarski are good Sheed type players, but can it hurt to have too many good players?

Glad that he caught on somewhere, and I'm sure Dru and Condell are chuffed to have another weapon.

The mental gymnastics are willlldddddd.

Yes, that's toooootally why we didn't sign him. No one wanted to get "too good a deal".

[theaardvark]

The mental gymnastics are willlldddddd.

Yes, that's toooootally why we didn't sign him. No one wanted to get "too good a deal".

You know what I meant. And its been expressed before.  Having a guy in the dressing room that you drastically underpaid because he wants to play for your team, but is not independently wealthy and could use a paycheck commensurate for his value is a possible point of contention. 

Yes, we want to get players on "team friendly deals", and getting a culture/team discount is something that is a benefit of having a good team/culture. 

Bailey signed here last year at a discount, and we got full value from him.  Our cap situation would have meant offering him an insulting contract this year, as we had so many other options and had so much more invested above him, and the position he would fill here was far below his potential and ability.

Its one thing to sign a guy like Mack at an ELC and get far more out of him when he does great, and get "too good a deal".  Its another to sign a proven vet for far less than than he's worth.  And Bailey couldn't be signed for anywhere near his value, there just wasn't the cap space for the spot he'd take.

[Blue In BC]

Really bizarre that you just pull out L'Damian Washington as a comparable.

No one is developing "the next" L'Damian Washington. That doesn't even make sense.

There are plenty of guys who have tools but don't work out. There are some that do. You don't know until you try - that's the entire point.

Like Agudosi more recently. I hope Johnson is more productive than it appears. He may still be a keeper but I would like to see him targeted a couple more times a game.

Getting Woli back will open up space for some other options but it may also take away looks towards Johnson or Lucky?

I do like that we are throwing outside to Oliveria more. That pulls in the LB's and takes them out of rushing the QB as often.

[dd]

Bailey was never coming back here, he chose to sign elsewhere in the off season and the bombers moved on. Simple as that. No sense sitting the guys who chose to be here for one who chose not to and things didn't work out for him but now 'wants' to play here. Not buying that for a second. Good luck in Ottawa