Official Game Day Thread - Winnipeg @ Calgary, June 5, 2026

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

[Tecno]

I am very surprised they moved Tony Jones from MLB.  I thought he did a good job from last year, but Kyrie Wilson will be interesting playing MLB.  Hopefully Kramdi can succeed as the safety.  I agree alot of confusion in our new lineup.

It's not so much Jones was bad at MLB, as Kyrie was weaker at WILL.  Yes, Jones was great at MLB, and I think he'll be great at WILL.  Jones is also way faster than Kyrie, so this gives us flexibility where it may count more.

I think our system allows for a weaker/slower MLB, especially if he's the "smarter" one.  Shades of Hurl... but not quite, because Kyrie has talent and just came off one of his best years, and without being hurt.

I think the move at SAM is more important.  More beef and more speed, and a sound brain, should help rid us of those run explosions we gave teams for free in '25.  Most of the explosions were farther-outside gaps, and most of those were strong side.  Everyone attacked Kramdi.

I think we did a good job in planning this off-season to solve the shortcomings of '25.

[Tecno]

ESF last season had Kyrie in the middle trying to get his hands on Stevie Scott and Tony Jones at WIL standing off by himself in space looking for someone to hit, it could be a continuation of that strategy.

I'll take your word for it, I was there without binocs and not able to pay as much attention to player scheme as I normally do.  A bit bummed if that scheme was a bust in ESF.  Maybe they've shored it up in camp.  The rest of what you said is 100%.

[Tecno]

I think you're all still putting way too much focus on a depth chart that doesn't show how our players line up.

That line applies to D.  Not to O.  There's none of the wild special sets on O as there is on D.  The only toying with sets you'll get on O is how many jumbo/FB/TE are in.

As such, Eli being charted at jumbo DOES signify something.  Exactly what, remains to be seen.

[Tecno]

I want to see WPG come out with the intensity and energy the HAM D (and later MTL O) did in the game last night.  I think part of the problem in the couple of seasons is we lack fire.  Too much insouciance.

I want to see that energy we had in '18, '19 and '21.  While it didn't work for HAM last night, the higher energy team usually has the edge.

[Blueforlife]

it's game day, we all play, let's go bombers

[blue_gold_84]

Go Blue!!

[Pete]

It's not so much Jones was bad at MLB, as Kyrie was weaker at WILL.  Yes, Jones was great at MLB, and I think he'll be great at WILL.  Jones is also way faster than Kyrie, so this gives us flexibility where it may count more.

I think our system allows for a weaker/slower MLB, especially if he's the "smarter" one.  Shades of Hurl... but not quite, because Kyrie has talent and just came off one of his best years, and without being hurt.

I think the move at SAM is more important.  More beef and more speed, and a sound brain, should help rid us of those run explosions we gave teams for free in '25.  Most of the explosions were farther-outside gaps, and most of those were strong side.  Everyone attacked Kramdi.

I think we did a good job in planning this off-season to solve the shortcomings of '25.

Thought Wilson was our best run stopper at point of attack, Jones made a lot of tackles about 5yds deep . Our dline was partly at fault too
Am hoping to see a good dose of Woodbey/Ayers

[bomberjunkie]

Just going over the depth chart and trying to understand how all the ratios work. We've got 20 Americans, 21 Canadians, a Global and 3 QB (nationality doesn't matter) for 45 players.

The rules say we can only have up to 19 Americans. Am I missing something here?

[Blueforlife]

Thought Wilson was our best run stopper at point of attack, Jones made a lot of tackles about 5yds deep . Our dline was partly at fault too
Am hoping to see a good dose of Woodbey/Ayers

Woodbey will be boss, Ayers is killer on teams, there are few that rag on him and don't think he should be on the AR, he is there for a good reason and he will stay, I love the props!
Agree all!

[Blueforlife]

Just going over the depth chart and trying to understand how all the ratios work. We've got 20 Americans, 21 Canadians, a Global and 3 QB (nationality doesn't matter) for 45 players.

The rules say we can only have up to 19 Americans. Am I missing something here?

one of our more senior / detailed members will be with your shortly, sorry for the delay LOL

I should get a denny jersey LOL

[markf]

I need some heat on Vernon.

[Blue In BC]

Thought Wilson was our best run stopper at point of attack, Jones made a lot of tackles about 5yds deep . Our dline was partly at fault too
Am hoping to see a good dose of Woodbey/Ayers

You need a MLB that can cover receivers coming across the field ( Bighill for example ). I don't know that having a slower MLB is what you want but perhaps Wilson is still better than Jones. That was a weakness Jones seemed to have in his tool box.

I guess we'll see how the shift of all 3 of our starting LB's works out. TBD.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

You need a MLB that can cover receivers coming across the field ( Bighill for example ). I don't know that having a slower MLB is what you want but perhaps Wilson is still better than Jones. That was a weakness Jones seemed to have in his tool box.

I guess we'll see how the shift of all 3 of our starting LB's works out. TBD.

Too paraphrase Jordan Younger a few days a go, "The depth chart don't mean nothing, it's just to show who's playing."

[Blue In BC]

Too paraphrase Jordan Younger a few days a go, "The depth chart don't mean nothing, it's just to show who's playing."

Sure. But we have 2 new veteran starters on defence: Moxey and Ceresna.

Three rookies: Williams and Jenkins ( he's essentially a rookie ) and Dixon

Three veteran LB's whose roles have changed to some degree.

Losses of experienced defensive depth from the PR and / or the AR

Early injuries to some players from 2025 that might have had a role in 2026: Ball, Novak, Munier-Bailey to name a few.

I'm not sure what to expect or how long it will take to gel on defence. The 1st game will be an interesting test.