IT'S OFFICIAL, WE ARE HEADING TO MTL

[M.O.A.B.]

Bombers should pickup Cameron Duke

[Tecno]

Bombers should pickup Cameron Duke

Vomit.  Is he officially unsigned/cut?  Remember, no trades, even for a IR guy.

Besides, might be impossible to get him in any sort of playbook shape to actually see the field.  We'd probably play down to Chase with a broken leg before letting a brand noob on the field in the post-season.

However, if anyone remembers what date we got Dolegala (or was it Patterson?  Green guys all seem the same to me) late last season... it's not outside the realm of possibility.

I would think that:
Zach - Wilson - Greek
would be a good enough trio to complete the playoffs.  We ain't winning squat if Zach goes down anyhow, so it's all kinda moot except for optics or a "next year" look.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

And Lawler could have been stuck in the USA for 9 week, or gotten another DUI, or been injured in his first game... with Schoen being healthy all season.  We gambled on Schoen vs Kenny and lost.  Could have just as easily gone the other way.

Not to mention we got Schoen for like half of what Kenny cost...

The thing about hindsight is you know the right answer.

[peg_city]

Montreal favoured by 4.5-5.5

As is BC

[Blue In BC]

I'd be shocked if Hallett comes off for one of the new kids.  Hallett is the next Gauthier -- a long-termer.  I think he's earned his spot as a ST staple.

He's good on ST's. It's just a matter of math regarding roster size and choices of keeping newbies or long time veterans.

[Blue In BC]

Completely useless comparison.  One IMP, one NAT.  Especially at the DT position, where there are virtually no good NATs and the difference between the NATs and IMPs is like the grand canyon.

Compare Fatboi to Laurent.  Where's Ted??  Oh ya, at home somewhere.

And that means the system is working precisely as intended.  The super-vets stay to train the next gen, then retire gracefully when they have clearly lost it.  MOS/KW have spelled this out before (the training part, not the retire part, though that's implied).

Fatboi is pencilled in to get his big shot at winning it all at home in the GC.  After that I think Mafia will feel he's (finally) owed nothing.

Picture it & imagine the storyline of Fatboi hoisting the home cup after a zillion years on the same team and retiring in glory.  Players everywhere will see how we treat our supervets (and undo some of that "they never called me" damage...).

The rest of y'all can be satisfied with having to watch only 1 to 3 more games with him.

Our ratio would allow using an import and not a Canadian as a DT. So it's a completely valid statement. Should also point out that we have Vaughters and Jefferson that are not exactly rookies. Lawson has been here since 2021. Woods and Adams are 2nd year players.

So who are these next generation players you mention that he's mentoring? If the idea is that he retires when he loses it, that was a couple of years ago. We've seen players like Jeffcoat and Sayles come and go. Coaches are the ones to bring on the next generation talent and teach.

[Pete]

And Lawler could have been stuck in the USA for 9 week, or gotten another DUI, or been injured in his first game... with Schoen being healthy all season.  We gambled on Schoen vs Kenny and lost.  Could have just as easily gone the other way.

Not to mention we got Schoen for like half of what Kenny cost...

i would suggest Schoen coming off an acl injury was by far a bigger gamble, Add to that the gamble that Mitchell would return to form and its like betting against the house
 How good would this team have been if we kept the stars we didnt sign ie Lawler Ford and Dobson? At least wed be having a home playoff game as was suggested

 The previous offseason was full of gambles and unfortunately we lost most of them. Walters/OShea should stay away from Vegas

[Tecno]

So who are these next generation players you mention that he's mentoring?

Next gen doesn't mean rookies -- it easily includes 2nd & 3rd year players.  Guaranteed they are having Fatboi teach up every DT in house the last few seasons.

Coaches are the ones to bring on the next generation talent and teach.

Not according to Mafia.  They explicitly have said, on many occasions, that the system has the more-vet guys teaching up the newer guys.  And they purposely stagger the retirements/releases so that there are always vets present.  In other words, they will never just fire the whole DL and sign all-new or all-rookie guys in one season -- even if they are all Willie and Micah Johnson-level talent already.  The system demands that there is at least one super vet, preferably in each unit, that does the knowledge-of-system transfer.

And generally it has worked perfectly for 5 (6?) seasons, so who are we to complain?  Look at Junkie's newest stats.  Our D has actually been quite amazing this season!

[Tecno]

i would suggest Schoen coming off an acl injury was by far a bigger gamble, Add to that the gamble that Mitchell would return to form and its like betting against the house

The previous offseason was full of gambles and unfortunately we lost most of them. Walters/OShea should stay away from Vegas

In theory a young guy with an ACL should recover form most of the time.  I'm not sure what the odds are on another ACL right after, but guaranteed it's below 50%, probably below 25% or 10%.  It just seems like a "done deal" to us now because of the Schoen & Strev bad luck.

As for Vegas, yes our injury luck in the last 2-3 seasons has been pretty darn bad and hampered our season/GC every time.  But maybe that means we've used up all our bad luck and we'll finally start catching some breaks (this post-season, and next season...).

[Horseman]

Now that his knee didn't hold up (who's not shocked, he ran like a rhino)we're a hit away from a guy who hasn't played a snap in a meaningful game since last Grey Cup. Stupid.

This happened to us when we were in the East final in 2007. Eiben broke Kevin Glenn's arm and we had to go with Justin Goltz as our QB in the GC or maybe it was Dinwiddie can't remember.

[The Zipp]

This happened to us when we were in the East final in 2007. Eiben broke Kevin Glenn's arm and we had to go with Justin Goltz as our QB in the GC or maybe it was Dinwiddie can't remember.

Dinwiddie - team kept it close but his inexperience showed.

[Horseman]

Montreal favoured by 4.5-5.5

As is BC

We've got them right where we want them! LOL

[Blue In BC]

Next gen doesn't mean rookies -- it easily includes 2nd & 3rd year players.  Guaranteed they are having Fatboi teach up every DT in house the last few seasons.

Not according to Mafia.  They explicitly have said, on many occasions, that the system has the more-vet guys teaching up the newer guys.  And they purposely stagger the retirements/releases so that there are always vets present.  In other words, they will never just fire the whole DL and sign all-new or all-rookie guys in one season -- even if they are all Willie and Micah Johnson-level talent already.  The system demands that there is at least one super vet, preferably in each unit, that does the knowledge-of-system transfer.

And generally it has worked perfectly for 5 (6?) seasons, so who are we to complain?  Look at Junkie's newest stats.  Our D has actually been quite amazing this season!

We're in the era of 1 year contracts after ELC's. Last year we had Fox, Garbutt, Haba, Woods and Adams. Three of those are gone, the other two may not be here in 2026. Adams is already on the PR and didn't get moved to 1 game IR. That suggests he's as good as gone.

Woods has been on and off the AR. 17 games in 2024 and only 4 in 2025. He's a potential free agent and could just as easily be gone as re-signed.

Our DL is a revolving door and not been the strength of our defence.

Regardless of what O'Shea says, they are responsible for draft selections and recruitment of every play on the roster. Whether that's done by trade, neg list signings or free agent acquisitions, roster decisions before, during and at final roster declarations after TC are on them.

[dd]

This game comes down to one thing-are we going to see the 40 point offense that throttled Hamilton or the hopeless unit we saw last week.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I'd be shocked if Hallett comes off for one of the new kids.  Hallett is the next Gauthier -- a long-termer.  I think he's earned his spot as a ST staple.

Nice to see Shayne Gauthier get plenty of reps yesterday, the guy is still a physical beast and is great in running situations.  Wonder if that is the last we will see of him? 

Surprising Jaylen Smith got a lot of reps at LB but did not see fellow rookie Connor Shay at all, looks like Smith has surpassed Shay in potential but could be  stuck behind Tony Jones and doesn't fit anywhere else but MLB.