What did we do in the off season?

Throw Long Bannatyne · July 25, 2026, 05:08:15 PM

Quote from: bunker on July 25, 2026, 02:40:20 PMI think you hit the nail on the head. Walters and our scouting have been pretty mediocre over the last 3 years as we've fallen off the rails. When O'Shea was achieving his success we had by far the best talent in the league. I would say we are now definitely in the bottom 50%, and unfortunately that goes for the most important position, QB.

I don't know about that, they've recruited a fair number of good new imports in the last 2 seasons, Allen, Vaval, Woodbey, Pokey, Elsbury, Williams, plus 3 possibly 4 new D-linemen that look like they have promising futures. If anything they've fallen short along the O-line, not even sure Vibert is a future option as he is no longer getting any reps.

bunker · July 25, 2026, 05:41:37 PM

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on July 25, 2026, 05:08:15 PMI don't know about that, they've recruited a fair number of good new imports in the last 2 seasons, Allen, Vaval, Woodbey, Pokey, Elsbury, Williams, plus 3 possibly 4 new D-linemen that look like they have promising futures. If anything they've fallen short along the O-line, not even sure Vibert is a future option as he is no longer getting any reps.

Pokey is a good receiver, but not a number 1
Vaval is great
Elsbury and Allen are replacement level players. Woodbey, too early to tell.
We are nowhere near finding enough new talent to keep up with the better teams in the league, never mind being a grey cup contender. Look back at our grey cup rosters, the contrast is stark.

Throw Long Bannatyne · July 25, 2026, 05:48:49 PM

Quote from: bunker on July 25, 2026, 05:41:37 PMPokey is a good receiver, but not a number 1
Vaval is great
Elsbury and Allen are replacement level players. Woodbey, too early to tell.
We are nowhere near finding enough new talent to keep up with the better teams in the league, never mind being a grey cup contender. Look back at our grey cup rosters, the contrast is stark.

Nothing wrong with replacement level players, but agree they are falling short at key positions of QB, top end WR and on the O-line. Fix those areas and they again could be in contention.

bunker · July 25, 2026, 06:08:18 PM

I'd consider the secondary a problem as well, although sometimes it hard to tease out talent deficit form problems with scheme. I think Nichols lost a step last year, and another one this year. I have not been impressed with Moxey. In retrospect, we maybe should have paid T. Ford? Williams is a bright spot, and I still think Holm is excellent. Kramdi at safety, hard to know. I liked the days when we had a safety who was free to roam and punish people. I don't think Kramdi does that well, and I don't think he has the greatest cover skills.

Throw Long Bannatyne · July 25, 2026, 07:10:24 PM

Quote from: bunker on July 25, 2026, 06:08:18 PMI'd consider the secondary a problem as well, although sometimes it hard to tease out talent deficit form problems with scheme. I think Nichols lost a step last year, and another one this year. I have not been impressed with Moxey. In retrospect, we maybe should have paid T. Ford? Williams is a bright spot, and I still think Holm is excellent. Kramdi at safety, hard to know. I liked the days when we had a safety who was free to roam and punish people. I don't think Kramdi does that well, and I don't think he has the greatest cover skills.

I never paid any attention to Moxey in Hamilton and was surprised they considered him to be a top corner back worthy of a big contract. Kind of think they will keep him until the end of the year but move on from him quickly.

As for Nichols, he's being exposed in single coverage which I don't think he was subjected to much before this season. It's up to Younger to put him in a position to succeed, but likely 2 seasons at most left in his tank.

Pigskin · July 25, 2026, 07:28:05 PM

Broxton (B).
Ceresna (B+).
Neild (C)
White (C+)
Moxey (D).

But, there is a lot of football left.

Tecno · July 26, 2026, 04:36:20 AM

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on July 25, 2026, 07:10:24 PMI never paid any attention to Moxey in Hamilton and was surprised they considered him to be a top corner back worthy of a big contract

Moxey was a league top db when he was in Calgary. But did nothing after leaving. He's not crap, but he's not the force he used to be.

Tecno · July 26, 2026, 04:44:46 AM

Quote from: Jesse on July 25, 2026, 01:23:05 PMNeild wasn't signed on to be a focal part of our offence though. He's been a little disappointing based on the drops

No, Nield was paid brissett and gittens money. He was expected to play at the upper medium level, like those guys have over the last few years.

He's had one game this year where he made a difference. One.

The thing I hate most is he always looks tired, and bummed out, and bored, and dejected. That is not the attitude you want on your team. It drags everyone down.

Jesse · July 26, 2026, 01:13:56 PM

Quote from: Tecno on July 26, 2026, 04:44:46 AMNo, Nield was paid brissett and gittens money. He was expected to play at the upper medium level, like those guys have over the last few years.

He's had one game this year where he made a difference. One.

The thing I hate most is he always looks tired, and bummed out, and bored, and dejected. That is not the attitude you want on your team. It drags everyone down.

Yeah, well. Even in an offence that throws for significantly less yards than Calgary or Hamilton, he still has more than either of those two.

Again, he has to clean up his drops, but he's our 4th read and Demski insurance. He's not exceeding my expectations, but he's not in my top 10 list of disappointments this year either.

Throw Long Bannatyne · July 26, 2026, 05:14:04 PM

Quote from: Tecno on July 26, 2026, 04:44:46 AMNo, Nield was paid brissett and gittens money. He was expected to play at the upper medium level, like those guys have over the last few years.

He's had one game this year where he made a difference. One.

The thing I hate most is he always looks tired, and bummed out, and bored, and dejected. That is not the attitude you want on your team. It drags everyone down.

Have to update his name to Tommy 3-drops...or is it now 4? He's made a few difficult receptions and dropped a few but I don't think they should reduce his targets as punishment, maybe he has Adarius Bowman disease and just needs a constant feed to get past the rough spots. He's the closest thing they have to a bigger receiver so I'm willing to give him the entire season to prove his value. BOLO is proving he had long-term value, if not the most spectacular receiver he's demonstrated he can be a solid contributor.

Waffler · July 26, 2026, 05:17:26 PM

I am still giving Tim White props. Demski, Wilson and White all have 400ish yards. Just 66 yards difference from best to worst. That is 3 1,000 yard seasons if we keep it up. Something wrong with signing a 1,000 yard receiver? It would be his 5th in a row.

Pigskin · July 26, 2026, 08:28:04 PM

Interesting that Nield is ahead of Brisset, Gittens, Julien Grant, and Boo in receiving yards after 7 games.

Jesse · July 26, 2026, 08:32:56 PM

Quote from: Pigskin on July 26, 2026, 08:28:04 PMInteresting that Nield is ahead of Brisset, Gittens, Julien Grant, and Boo in receiving yards after 7 games.

No TDs because he keeps dropping them, but he's been a productive 4th still.

Tecno · July 27, 2026, 07:10:37 AM

Quote from: Pigskin on July 26, 2026, 08:28:04 PMInteresting that Nield is ahead of Brisset, Gittens, Julien Grant, and Boo in receiving yards after 7 games.

I knew you guys were going to bring this up, argh. I was going to pre-bunk it but wanted to keep my post short.

Brissett and Gittens both have had 900-1100Y seasons. Both were instrumental in their teams winning cups ('24 and '22 respectively -- against us: PTSD).

Nield's top season was 500Y, and while he made the critical play in the WDF, he did almost nothing in the GC.

Brissett and Gittens are also now on teams either without a QB (HAM) or had early-season struggles (CGY), so that's why their '26 stats are low.

Strangely enough, all 3 guys are in about the same point in their career. I think we saw the grit on that one catch and took a flyer because we knew we needed to start more NATs. But I think we chose poorly and overpaid. So many NATs in the league, some for less money, are outperforming him.

And as for $, as I originally said, Nield is being paid Brissett/Gittens upper-mid NAT $. BOO and KJG are not fair comparisons because they make Cobb-level $ (and KJG was once much better but clearly about to retire).

To be fair to Mafia, maybe Nield was the only/best one available in FA, at least at high-middling $ instead of KSB/Demski $.

Tecno · July 27, 2026, 07:13:06 AM

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on July 26, 2026, 05:14:04 PMHe's the closest thing they have to a bigger receiver so I'm willing to give him the entire season to prove his value.

To be honest, I think Clercius is better. He's bigger, tougher, and has better hands. Clercius even made that one circus catch for us last season. Nield is devoid of circus.

I'd put Clercius in Nield's spot, and Nield behind Cobb. Or even park him for now to send a wake-up signal. His attitude & demeanor is worse than the drops, and that won't change without a slap upside the head.