Bombers acquire QB Dru Brown

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

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.

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.

Good point about Maier's durability, Brown has struggled to stay healthy the last few seasons and seems rather injury prone, it could be Dinwiddie saw him as a more reliable backup rather than a starter, which he may have deduced from his time as a Bomber. We don't know what criteria was used to make the decision, but we do know Brown would have gotten his chance to play sooner or later if Maier under performed and continued to lose games.  I watched the RB's lose to the Als on the weekend as expected, I wouldn't point the finger at Maier as the cause of that loss.

It's not likely it was a long devious plan to get rid of Brown after they agreed to pay him a bonus a few months earlier, the opportunity to delete him was readily available on that day. After Brown asked for his release Dinwiddie stated they weren't about to accommodate his request, the only way out was to suspend him or trade him away.

[Blueforlife]

Good point about Maier's durability, Brown has struggled to stay healthy the last few seasons and seems rather injury prone, it could be Dinwiddie saw him as a more reliable backup rather than a starter, which he may have deduced from his time as a Bomber. We don't know what criteria was used to make the decision, but we do know Brown would have gotten his chance to play sooner or later if Maier under performed and continued to lose games.  I watched the RB's lose to the Als on the weekend as expected, I wouldn't point the finger at Maier as the cause of that loss.

It's not likely it was a long devious plan to get rid of Brown after they agreed to pay him a bonus a few months earlier, the opportunity to delete him was readily available on that day. After Brown asked for his release Dinwiddie stated they weren't about to accommodate his request, the only way out was to suspend him or trade him away.

durability is a huge factor here

[markf]

Here's a video of the helmet to helmet that caused one of Dru's injuries.

Max penalty and fine to the guy that hit him in the face with the crown of his helmet.

I think he was injured one other time while in Ottawa.

https://youtube.com/shorts/rpxlHnUYT3M?is=mMAF3tuf7odEIX4X

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Here's a video of the helmet to helmet that caused one of Dru's injuries.

Max penalty and fine to the guy that hit him in the face with the crown of his helmet.

I think he was injured one other time while in Ottawa.

https://youtube.com/shorts/rpxlHnUYT3M?is=mMAF3tuf7odEIX4X

Yah, that's really bad, a 25 yd. penalty as punishment is a joke. I think it was last year a Bomber defender was also penalized for hitting him in the helmet, but I can't recall who it was.

[theaardvark]

Putting in #3 instead of Dru was probably the straw that broke the camels back.

And yes, as mentioned, Dinwiddie couldn't put Dru in and have him light it up.  Because then his whole reason for starting Maier is out the window.  And I would bet dollars to donuts (not sure than saying makes sense anymore, with donuts costing more than a dollar) Dru would have lit it up, big time.

Having MBT in the wings, waiting to take Dru's spot made all this easier for Dinwiddie.  Without someone like MBT to step in, Dinwiddie could be in deep if Maier gets injured or worse, starts to really suck.

[Tecno]

I watched the RB's lose to the Als on the weekend as expected, I wouldn't point the finger at Maier as the cause of that loss.

It's not likely it was a long devious plan to get rid of Brown after they agreed to pay him a bonus a few months earlier, the opportunity to delete him was readily available on that day. After Brown asked for his release Dinwiddie stated they weren't about to accommodate his request, the only way out was to suspend him or trade him away.

Sure, Maier didn't "lose" the game... but ask yourself, if Kelly was their QB, might they have won?  Dynamic QBs change the entire team.  Look at TOR with Arbuckle last year vs them with Kelly this year.

And yes, they could have already known they weren't starting Dru when paying his bonus... thinking they could trade him away.  Think about it this way: TOR essentially just bought 1-2 1RDPs for about $175k.  Most teams would take that deal in a heartbeat!  Especially if it's a throwaway "rebuild" season.

Or, just as likely, they hadn't decided on who their guy was and had a competitive camp.  Only after camp they decided Dru wasn't good.  And again, they sold his rights for 1-2 1RDPs.

There's really no way Dinwiddie loses here.

[Tecno]

Right, Aards.  And if Maier sucks and he switches to MBT, he can say he wanted MBT all along but couldn't until he shed Dru.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Yah, that's really bad, a 25 yd. penalty as punishment is a joke. I think it was last year a Bomber defender was also penalized for hitting him in the helmet, but I can't recall who it was.

TONY JONES, he was also fined for the infraction.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Sure, Maier didn't "lose" the game... but ask yourself, if Kelly was their QB, might they have won?  Dynamic QBs change the entire team.  Look at TOR with Arbuckle last year vs them with Kelly this year.

And yes, they could have already known they weren't starting Dru when paying his bonus... thinking they could trade him away.  Think about it this way: TOR essentially just bought 1-2 1RDPs for about $175k.  Most teams would take that deal in a heartbeat!  Especially if it's a throwaway "rebuild" season.

Or, just as likely, they hadn't decided on who their guy was and had a competitive camp.  Only after camp they decided Dru wasn't good.  And again, they sold his rights for 1-2 1RDPs.

There's really no way Dinwiddie loses here.

convoluted/ˈkɒnvəluːtɪd/

Convoluted means extremely intricate, coiled, or needlessly complicated to the point of being difficult to follow. It comes from the Latin word convolutus, meaning "rolled up together", and is typically used to describe things that are unreasonably tangled, both literally and figuratively.

[Tecno]

Simplistic Thinking.  Lower-order thinking.  Looking only at what is immediately ahead of you.

vs

Higher-level thinking.  Planning 3 moves ahead.  Outsmarting opponents.

See also: Sun Tzu

[theaardvark]

Right, Aards.  And if Maier sucks and he switches to MBT, he can say he wanted MBT all along but couldn't until he shed Dru.

MBT was available when he signed Maier, so that kinda invalidates this concept...

He could have cut Dru and signed both Maier and MBT and not spent the $150 roster bonus, effectively paying for MBT for free.

[Tecno]

MBT was available when he signed Maier, so that kinda invalidates this concept...

He could have cut Dru and signed both Maier and MBT and not spent the $150 roster bonus, effectively paying for MBT for free.

That's easy: he didn't know Dru was useless (in his eyes) until he worked with him through a TC.  Dinwiddie had never worked with Dru before.  Maybe on TV Dru looks like someone he can work with, but when you actually get on the field with him you find out you can't.

And the point isn't whether he's right or lying or whatever, the point is Dinwiddie can get away with that narrative -- he won't lose face, or lose the respect of his team or fans.

If I had to guess, I'd say he sees that Dru can be effective on the field and is fairly smart, but what he didn't know until he did TC was that Dru is like Kimi Raikonen: he's an even keel with zero fire.  He'll hype up the guys even less than Zach does.

[theaardvark]

That's easy: he didn't know Dru was useless (in his eyes) until he worked with him through a TC.  Dinwiddie had never worked with Dru before.  Maybe on TV Dru looks like someone he can work with, but when you actually get on the field with him you find out you can't.

And the point isn't whether he's right or lying or whatever, the point is Dinwiddie can get away with that narrative -- he won't lose face, or lose the respect of his team or fans.

If I had to guess, I'd say he sees that Dru can be effective on the field and is fairly smart, but what he didn't know until he did TC was that Dru is like Kimi Raikonen: he's an even keel with zero fire.  He'll hype up the guys even less than Zach does.

How many games did Dinwiddie coach AGAINST Dru?  How much time did he have in the film room.  Its not like he was an unknown before TC.

[Tecno]

How many games did Dinwiddie coach AGAINST Dru?  How much time did he have in the film room.  Its not like he was an unknown before TC.

And yet there remains the sticky problem of there being no other explanation for why he paid the $150k bonus rather than cutting the QB he never wanted...

He's not stupid.  So what could another explanation be?  Was it WPG wasn't interested in the trade until we saw Elgersma wasn't starting this year??  And Dinwiddie was playing the long game betting we'd be calling in-season and willing to give up our 1RDP's for the foreseeable future?

I give Dinwiddie a lot of credit as a highbrain... but that might be a bridge too far.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

And yet there remains the sticky problem of there being no other explanation for why he paid the $150k bonus rather than cutting the QB he never wanted...

He's not stupid.  So what could another explanation be?  Was it WPG wasn't interested in the trade until we saw Elgersma wasn't starting this year??  And Dinwiddie was playing the long game betting we'd be calling in-season and willing to give up our 1RDP's for the foreseeable future?

I give Dinwiddie a lot of credit as a highbrain... but that might be a bridge too far.

Have you ever played competitive sports?  Nobody involved in football or hockey is what you would call high-brained, they're blood spitting knuckle draggers of low intellect.  LaPo is as close as you'd get to being a brain scientist.