Bombers acquire QB Dru Brown

[theaardvark]

Honestly not a good look on Dru's part telling Dinwiddie he wanted to be released, how many vet QB's have been demoted, traded or cut and taken their lumps as part of the job?  Nearly every one except Rourke and Alexander.  Don't think Dinwiddie saw that response coming as he had no intention of cutting Brown after paying him a pre-season bonus. As GM he dodged a bullet when Walters offered him draft picks to take him off his hands.

Wanting to be released when you are clearly the better QB, especially in the department Dinwiddie calls you out on, is not a bad sign in my book.  It shows he doesn't stand for being disrespected, which Dinwiddie did.

This was not a case of being demoted over his quality of play, or acquiring a much better QB, and "taking his lumps" is in no way what taking the demotion would be.

He is a fighter, and no doubt he thought he'd have a chance to fight for his spot in OTT.  But it quickly became apparent that he had no chance of winning the spot, regardless his or Maier's play.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Wanting to be released when you are clearly the better QB, especially in the department Dinwiddie calls you out on, is not a bad sign in my book.  It shows he doesn't stand for being disrespected, which Dinwiddie did.

This was not a case of being demoted over his quality of play, or acquiring a much better QB, and "taking his lumps" is in no way what taking the demotion would be.

He is a fighter, and no doubt he thought he'd have a chance to fight for his spot in OTT.  But it quickly became apparent that he had no chance of winning the spot, regardless his or Maier's play.

Dinwiddie's words came after the fact, he was just filling the air with plausible reasons to explain what transpired, none of them are necessarily true as it was Brown's decision to quit the club, not his.  As the GM and HC Dinwiddie's neck is on the line,  he is free to invest in whoever he likes, he had all winter to watch film of Brown and decided he didn't like what he saw for whatever reason.

[Blueforlife]

Honestly not a good look on Dru's part telling Dinwiddie he wanted to be released, how many vet QB's have been demoted, traded or cut and taken their lumps as part of the job?  Nearly every one except Rourke and Alexander.  Don't think Dinwiddie saw that response coming as he had no intention of cutting Brown after paying him a pre-season bonus. As GM he dodged a bullet when Walters offered him draft picks to take him off his hands.

Dinwiddie telling lies to save his job.  Saying Maiers arm is > Dru on deep ball was laughable.  CJOB had the stats are Dru was near the top, Maier near the bottom.  Agree with nothing said here.

Agree. MOS said in his interview that Brown had a high emotional intelligence...really?? He pouted like a punk when he got demoted, something someone with a low emotional intelligence would do. VAJ didn't do that when they brought in Rourke, Fajardo didn't do that when he was demoted first in Sask and then Montreal. This was not a good look for Dru Brown. The way he played in 2025 he deserved to be benched, but anyone with an ounce of brains knows Maier is going to crap out in Ottawa, so wait your turn--your opportunity to start was better in Ottawa than it is in Winnipeg, but somehow he's happy he's here. We're a marginally better team than Ottawa, still the bottom half of the league and unless there's an injury, you ain't seeing the field. We'll see how long Maier last in Ottawa, MBT will be in after the next 2 or 3 more losses. You can't go 0-7 and still stay with the same guy at Qb

Dru doesn't have low emotional intelligence.  He didn't pout like a punk, way overstated there.  Dru was in a bad situation with Dinwiddie as he wasn't he guy.  He did well to get out of that tire fire.  Brown played well in Ott.  Their team sucked, he didn't.  He has an injury problem.  An average QB.  Agree with almost nothing posted here other then the fact that Maier will sizzle out hard but so will MBT. 

[dd]

Brown turned the ball over way too much last year and dinwiddie decided to go in another direction. It's not a good look when a player quits on a team, shows no integrity

[Pete]

Im glad to see Dru here. The negativity is all based on only one guys narrative.. Dinwiddie.
The same guy whose inventing things to justify his decisions.
Pretty classless to put down the guy you traded when all he had to say was Dru wasn't a good fit for the schemes he wants to run

[Tecno]

Dinwiddie telling lies to save his job.  Saying Maiers arm is > Dru on deep ball was laughable.

He specifically said arm strength.  I won't argue that Maier can put a lot of heat on short balls -- he probably does have more zip.  But Dru has a far prettier deep ball, kind of lack Zach.  Real beautiful passes & touch.  If it's up to pure distance, I bet Dru out-throws Maier.

That said, this season is being won (so far) by the QBs that can zip in heaters on short passes in tight zone windows.  Maier might be better suited to that.

[Tecno]

Dinwiddie's words came after the fact, he was just filling the air with plausible reasons to explain what transpired, none of them are necessarily true

Dru mentioned twice about things behind closed doors being private, but on the second mention he definitely hinted that he had some heated arguments in that room, presumably with Dinwiddie.  Interesting.

[Tecno]

Agree. MOS said in his interview that Brown had a high emotional intelligence...really?? He pouted like a punk when he got demoted, something someone with a low emotional intelligence would do.

No, he took the demotion perfectly well, and tried to befriend and help out Maier.  The "pouting" only happened when it was garbage time and Dinwiddie put in Mr. No-name rookie instead of his expensive #2 -- Dru.

That might be the worst sign of disrespect for a backup QB, especially who used to start.  That's Dinwiddie saying "we don't want you here, you have no role".

It was probably on purpose.  a) Force Dru to ask for his release to more easily get him out of there, b) to clear up the SMS, c) for the QB you really want (MBT), and... a big one maybe no one thought of...

What if he put Dru in for a couple of series in garbage time and Dru lights it up.  That would be disaster for Dinwiddie!  That would have fans/press/pundits clamoring for Dru to be starting.  "Why isn't Dru who is clearly better not starting", "Dinwiddie is destroying this team, making the wrong decisions".  Dinwiddie cares about his rep and his choices and his future control of and direction for the team more than winning right now.

so wait your turn--your opportunity to start was better in Ottawa than it is in Winnipeg

Nope.  Zach goes down for multiple quarters and 1-5 games every season -- especially lately.  Dru is basically guaranteed to start this season.  Not be "the starter", but still start.

Maier is a mule that never misses a game, never gets hurt, because he never runs (maybe 2 runs in 3 years, including the one in the last game?), and he never waits to pass when a hit is coming in.  So Dru is not starting due to Maier injury.  And Dinwiddie was never going to switch from Maier to Dru, because once he made that inane choice, he was stuck with Maier -- to save face.  The team wouldn't respect him if he said in 5 games "I was wrong, Dru is our starter".  And Dinwiddie is all about team respect and control.

Nope, pretty clear Dinwiddie decided in the off-season Dru wasn't going to play and planned the best way to get rid of him.  And he pulled it off masterfully, stealing 1-2 1RDPs from us to get what he wanted all along: MBT.  Now he'll work on getting Kelly.

[Tecno]

MOS mentioned that last week they had a "day off" yet everyone was in the film room... 

If true, that's a good sign.  If they're not practicing, lifting, or eating dinner, they should be in that room every other waking moment.  That's what I want to see.

[Tecno]

Honestly not a good look on Dru's part telling Dinwiddie he wanted to be released

I think Dru saw the Arbuckle, Jennings, Franklin effect and knows his window to prove he's a starter is short.  He's right on the cusp of being a perpetual backup.  He's probably watching what Cody is doing/has done as the template to follow.  That perennial backup / bubble-quality player always seems to find ways to start, even if he has to go to the worst teams or sit as backup briefly in a city whose starter won't last (like Ford).

I bet there were whispers in the locker room, and guffaws, etc, and maybe players who were never fond of him were getting vocal -- after everyone saw the clear dis/snub when Dinwiddie brought in the no-name QB in garbage time.  Like any room, some will pick his side, some will pick against him.

This could be the "distraction" that Dinwiddie was talking about.  The BC Rourke/VAJ situation shows you cannot have 2 #1's.  (Same in F1, you are in for a lot of pain if you hire 2 #1's.)

[Tecno]

Techno... I don't think you know what the word "proof" means. You use it when you mean "example" and when you mean a point in favour of your conjecture.

True, thanks.  I like hyperbole!

[Tecno]

I don't think it does and neither does a comparison between Lemon and Sankey who were top performers.

How do you know he's telling suitors the price is steep and who are the suitors if no one is desperate?

Because many teams are starting IMPs who are way less experienced and talented than Teuhema.  Why would you do that when you can have a solid middling guy available like Teuhema?  Cost.  So if Teuhema was ELC (say), he'd be hired.  He's not hired, so he's asking "too much".

Most teams have other DL on their PR. Bombers seemed to drop the ball for TC after signing Ceresna without finding depth behind him. Same problem at DE.

If they say tomorrow Ceresna is season-ended with ACL or something... what are the odds we sign a couch vet, maybe Teuhema?  Basically 99%.  Other teams, depth or not, may be in that boat if their superstar gets season-ended.  And there's also the window Lemon got signed in -- the "stacking your team for playoff run" time of year.

[markf]

My impression of Dinwiddie is that he can be pretty crusty.

With the Argos, he publicly said things about his active players, that were just insulting. Whether or not the comments were accurate, why do that in public? What's gained? *** covering maybe.

Successful so far, but He seems pretty unpleasant... the interview I saw in which he attempted to justify trading Dru,was quite awkward.

I'm going with Dru on whatever differences there may be.

[Blueforlife]

My impression of Dinwiddie is that he can be pretty crusty.

With the Argos, he publicly said things about his active players, that were just insulting. Whether or not the comments were accurate, why do that in public? What's gained? *** covering maybe.

Successful so far, but He seems pretty unpleasant... the interview I saw in which he attempted to justify trading Dru,was quite awkward.

I'm going with Dru on whatever differences there may be.

agree all

He specifically said arm strength.  I won't argue that Maier can put a lot of heat on short balls -- he probably does have more zip.  But Dru has a far prettier deep ball, kind of lack Zach.  Real beautiful passes & touch.  If it's up to pure distance, I bet Dru out-throws Maier.

That said, this season is being won (so far) by the QBs that can zip in heaters on short passes in tight zone windows.  Maier might be better suited to that.

He slammed Dru's arm strength and told lies about Maiers.  Yes he can zip a short route.  That's it.

Disagree, the deep ball is one of the reasons for the high powered offenses and high score.  Sask does love ball control through.

Im glad to see Dru here. The negativity is all based on only one guys narrative.. Dinwiddie.
The same guy whose inventing things to justify his decisions.
Pretty classless to put down the guy you traded when all he had to say was Dru wasn't a good fit for the schemes he wants to run

exactly how I feel, well wait, agree all

Brown turned the ball over way too much last year and dinwiddie decided to go in another direction. It's not a good look when a player quits on a team, shows no integrity

Don't agree with any of this, Dru didn't quit on them, they quit on him.  Dru was on a bad team.  Yes throws a few ducks but his TDs make up for that.  He has plenty of integrity.  Dinwiddie lacks that imo.

[Blue In BC]

Because many teams are starting IMPs who are way less experienced and talented than Teuhema.  Why would you do that when you can have a solid middling guy available like Teuhema?  Cost.  So if Teuhema was ELC (say), he'd be hired.  He's not hired, so he's asking "too much".

If they say tomorrow Ceresna is season-ended with ACL or something... what are the odds we sign a couch vet, maybe Teuhema?  Basically 99%.  Other teams, depth or not, may be in that boat if their superstar gets season-ended.  And there's also the window Lemon got signed in -- the "stacking your team for playoff run" time of year.

Teams scout players for TC that they feel have upside. Rookies starting have 2 year minimum deals on ELC deals. Teuhema would probably sign a 1 year deal for more than an ELC but that doesn't mean it's an enormous SMS hit.

Those rookies have been in all of TC and understand the playbook and the ability to communicate with the rest of the defence.

Veterans free agents get signed before TC more than 4 games into the season unless disaster strikes.

Teuhema may have some issues or personality fit. IDK that is the case but there are a myriad of reasons why he hasn't been signed. SMS is only one and probably not the primary one.

I can't think of another import currently a free agent that might be a consideration. Regardless no team has signed him or any other possible candidate similar to his skill set.