Have you lost all faith?

Blueforlife · August 01, 2026, 04:38:29 PM

Blue In BC · August 01, 2026, 04:46:28 PM

No, but we saw many of these problems going into free agency and then TC. Things like a pre planned 3 import OL, 3 Canadian receivers and hanging onto some veterans that should have been replaced. Lack of real competition at several roster spots.

We hoped they would prove us incorrect. That has not happened to this point of the season.

Management is fixated on things that have clearly not been working for several seasons and we've been in a downward spiral.

It may not be too late but will they change any of their current strategy both on game planning but roster decisions?

IDK. I would be looking at least a minor airlift into the PR. IF they aren't better than a couple of starters then time to find some players that are or have more potential upside.

At least a few starters should be looking over their shoulders. We all know who they are so no need to name them.

Waffler · August 01, 2026, 05:37:23 PM

Yes. I expected a better team. They did some things right. Signing Broxton, Ceresna and White. Signed a bunch of taller db's although that came to nothing.

What has made me lose faith is the MOS philosophy of "we will do the same things but better with who we have".

I expect nothing but further decay. Patches on patches.

Throw Long Bannatyne · August 01, 2026, 05:58:25 PM

Quote from: Blue In BC on August 01, 2026, 04:46:28 PMNo, but we saw many of these problems going into free agency and then TC. Things like a pre planned 3 import OL, 3 Canadian receivers and hanging onto some veterans that should have been replaced. Lack of real competition at several roster spots.

We hoped they would prove us incorrect. That has not happened to this point of the season.

Management is fixated on things that have clearly not been working for several seasons and we've been in a downward spiral.

It may not be too late but will they change any of their current strategy both on game planning but roster decisions?

IDK. I would be looking at least a minor airlift into the PR. IF they aren't better than a couple of starters then time to find some players that are or have more potential upside.

At least a few starters should be looking over their shoulders. We all know who they are so no need to name them.

This is a long shot strategy, they might find one player out of 10 that can displace a current roster player due to their lack of game experience and CFL knowledge. The team is stocked full of superior athletes, what they lack is proper understanding and execution of assignments which is the bigger piece.

As far as the oldsters I won't disagree, they had the easiest opportunity to walk away from Zach, Stan, Kyrie, and Nichols at the end of last season and instead decided to re-sign them all. Other than Nichols there was solid evidence their best years were in the past and it was time to transition to replacements.

Jesse · August 01, 2026, 06:02:12 PM

Signing all of the FA's we did and ending up with the worst version of the team in a 3 year downward spiral is hardly inspiring.

There's a small hope that Zach can come back and run the offence better than Dru is right now, but he wasn't doing it before he left and doesn't seem physically capable of staying on the field besides that. So I'm struggling to think there's anywhere for growth.

bomb squad · August 01, 2026, 06:06:18 PM

Of course not. There's more than half a season left. In this sport and this league, you're not out until you're out. They're not even close to being out. It can change. It's happened many times.

Blueforlife · August 01, 2026, 07:02:14 PM

This voting gives me hope

Ducky · August 01, 2026, 07:45:57 PM

3 consecutive years of decline...coaching/management stuck in the past. Not good offensively or defensively.

Blue In BC · August 01, 2026, 08:20:21 PM

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on August 01, 2026, 05:58:25 PMThis is a long shot strategy, they might find one player out of 10 that can displace a current roster player due to their lack of game experience and CFL knowledge. The team is stocked full of superior athletes, what they lack is proper understanding and execution of assignments which is the bigger piece.

As far as the oldsters I won't disagree, they had the easiest opportunity to walk away from Zach, Stan, Kyrie, and Nichols at the end of last season and instead decided to re-sign them all. Other than Nichols there was solid evidence their best years were in the past and it was time to transition to replacements.

There are players with CFL experience available. In some cases that might involve a trade as happened getting D. Brown.

You can't continue to do the same thing and expect different results. Players change on every team during the off season. Making the best decisions is a formula for success. Can we honestly say we've done that over the past 3 seasons?

Blueforlife · August 01, 2026, 09:29:46 PM

Quote from: Blue In BC on August 01, 2026, 08:20:21 PMThere are players with CFL experience available. In some cases that might involve a trade as happened getting D. Brown.

You can't continue to do the same thing and expect different results. Players change on every team during the off season. Making the best decisions is a formula for success. Can we honestly say we've done that over the past 3 seasons?

CFL trades are pretty rare

Usually picks for role players

But its possible

What assets works we give up? LB?

I would not give away picks

I might sell vets for picks

Needs
OL
FS
HB
Receiver maybe

Blue In BC · August 01, 2026, 09:50:42 PM

Quote from: Blueforlife on August 01, 2026, 09:29:46 PMCFL trades are pretty rare

Usually picks for role players

But its possible

What assets works we give up? LB?

I would not give away picks

I might sell vets for picks

Needs
OL
FS
HB
Receiver maybe

I don't have a particular trade in mind. We have too many Canadian LB's that are good ST players and might have some upside if given a chance elsewhere.

Even we we trade depth players we might shift excess at one roster spot for better depth at another. Canadian DB's come to mind although I can't think of a specific team that would be a win win for both sides.

I would be speaking with Ottawa, BC and Toronto as the other bottom teams.

We're still in the fight but we're reaching a tipping point soon going into the harder part of the schedule. At some point the newbies might need to get a chance to show their potential. Shay for example. Either play him or trade him to some team that might. He's a good ST player but can he become a good defensive player ELSEWHERE?

Tecno · August 02, 2026, 07:08:39 AM

For this season, in terms of getting to the cup? Yes. Unless the time magically 180's next week (which they won't) it's over for this season. Time to start thinking about next season. Which means 6G'ing the underperforming people and getting the next-gen live reps, even if it makes us suck more.

I do have hope they can rejig and improve for next season. Minus a 1RDP of course

Our "D draft pick guys take 3-4 seasons to develop" method is total butt. No other team does this. If you were drafted in the 1st or 2nd round, you need to be getting regular D reps, if not starting in year 1 or 2. If you can't do this, bye (QBs excluded).

Yes, I'm looking at Shay in particular. Most of his cohort of that year's 1st round are starting or taking regular snaps right now. Think of how much better we'd be if we had a top notch (i.e. 1RDP) MLB starting instead of Kyrie... and what that would allow to the ratio on O. We've seen a ton of Smith on D... but absolutely ZERO of Shay. That's unacceptable. If he's a bust, say "you're a loser" and cut him, or trade him forever whatever late-round pick you can steal from another team.

Tecno · August 02, 2026, 07:20:25 AM

Mafia & Zach need to sit down. They need to say: this is Zach's last year. Zach needs to take hits and just snap back up like every other QB (minus Dru) does. Just get up and pretend nothing happened... like everyone else. Play like there's no tomorrow, because there's not. Give it all you have and go out with a bang.

My theory is Zach is always OK. He's not concussed. He's not "neck". He's fine. He feels woozy and sees stars and has booboos, but so does every other QB after taking a hit. They just shake it off and continue. Yes, we (and Zach) want to protect Zach, and that's what we've been doing for 3+ seasons. But that will no longer buy anyone anything. It's the end, so just leave it all on the field. If they don't want to do this, then just 6G him the rest of the season or make him #2 to Dru (and we'll lose every game).

If Zach keeps playing 1.5 games then going out for an unprepared #2 for the rest, and then misses 3-4 more games, then that means he'll play at most 5-6 games this season. That's useless. And he'll get knocked out of the playoff. It's better just to give all reps to Dru. We'll suck, but we can pray Dru improves in time for next season.

Our best chance this year is still Zach, but only if he shrugs off the hits like everyone else. If you want to say this is too extreme and I'm not considering Zach's long term health, I say a couple of more hits are a drop in the bucket at this point (like 103 hits vs 99 means anything) and won't matter, and if you insist then I say you then must bench him. To do anything else is saying to other teams "you will 100% win this game as long as you sack Zach just once" -- then every team ignores all repercussions just for that one time they have to get to Zach.

Waffler · August 02, 2026, 01:50:42 PM

Quote from: Tecno on August 02, 2026, 07:20:25 AMMafia & Zach need to sit down. They need to say: this is Zach's last year. Zach needs to take hits and just snap back up like every other QB (minus Dru) does. Just get up and pretend nothing happened... like everyone else. Play like there's no tomorrow, because there's not. Give it all you have and go out with a bang.

I'd suggest it is pretty hard to do when it is obvious we aren't in the top 3 of our division. A bang would be a trade to Hamilton and have a hot playoff run.

Blueforlife · August 02, 2026, 03:26:09 PM

Quote from: Blue In BC on August 01, 2026, 09:50:42 PMI don't have a particular trade in mind. We have too many Canadian LB's that are good ST players and might have some upside if given a chance elsewhere.

Even we we trade depth players we might shift excess at one roster spot for better depth at another. Canadian DB's come to mind although I can't think of a specific team that would be a win win for both sides.

I would be speaking with Ottawa, BC and Toronto as the other bottom teams.

We're still in the fight but we're reaching a tipping point soon going into the harder part of the schedule. At some point the newbies might need to get a chance to show their potential. Shay for example. Either play him or trade him to some team that might. He's a good ST player but can he become a good defensive player ELSEWHERE?

Ottawa will likely sell early. I'm not sure who though. Toronto and BC will hold off likely and might be trade partners later.