Bomber Safety, SAM & MLB

[Blue In BC]

Something I'll be watching to see how all this transitions going into TC 2027.

At the moment we're thinking that Smith is our best choice at SAM. The forces Kramdi to safety.

My thought is that our position at safety was not the best we could do. In that sense I feel Kramdi is better at SAM than at safety.

What I'm wondering is whether Smith could be a strong candidate to move to MLB and let Kramdi return to SAM? Alternatively Griffin at SAM with Kramdi as the passing down 6th DB?  Kramdi is too expensive to not be an every down player and he's a captain of sorts of defence.

Our ratio will probably allow an import at safety if we want. Kelly may leave in free agency.

So what's the best combination of choices? Obviously lots of unknown issues including Kelly and Griffin as potential free agents.

Smith is the same height as Bighill and about 13 lbs lighter. He's 3" shorter than Wilson and 12 lbs heavier. Smith also seems quite quick and a big hitter.

I'm just throwing that out as a series of questions with no current clear path.

[Jesse]

I still think we would have seen Cam Allen at safety this year if he had been healthy, so maybe he comes back in next year. Then we can have Kramdi and Smith at LB.

[Blue In BC]

I still think we would have seen Cam Allen at safety this year if he had been healthy, so maybe he comes back in next year. Then we can have Kramdi and Smith at LB.

I never thought that was the plan from the moment they decided to move Kramdi, before TC started. Whether they bring Allen back might depend on what his injury was and where he'll be in his rehab.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I'm hoping we get a new defensive coordinator that can come reset things. JY has really made a mess of some of some of the positions and it makes it hard to evaluate especially because there's so much personnel movement through the different down and distances. At first glance it looks like 'wow what an intricate system' but in practice it's more a hinderance and causes way too much thinking and not enough playing fast and simple. Kramdi is a below average safety. He's not the best strong side linebacker either. If the unit was more structured and attacked and played a quicker game he wouldn't need to tell everyone where to go all the time which is apparently what he's good at, yes?

Over at MLB and the WLB, Tony Jones has been up and down and Wilson has been mostly terrible. They would both probably look better in a system that didn't suck so much but the truth is neither are super valuable either. I'd keep Tony and get rid of Wilson regardless of what we do.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Something I'll be watching to see how all this transitions going into TC 2027.

At the moment we're thinking that Smith is our best choice at SAM. The forces Kramdi to safety.

My thought is that our position at safety was not the best we could do. In that sense I feel Kramdi is better at SAM than at safety.

What I'm wondering is whether Smith could be a strong candidate to move to MLB and let Kramdi return to SAM? Alternatively Griffin at SAM with Kramdi as the passing down 6th DB?  Kramdi is too expensive to not be an every down player and he's a captain of sorts of defence.

Our ratio will probably allow an import at safety if we want. Kelly may leave in free agency.

So what's the best combination of choices? Obviously lots of unknown issues including Kelly and Griffin as potential free agents.

Smith is the same height as Bighill and about 13 lbs lighter. He's 3" shorter than Wilson and 12 lbs heavier. Smith also seems quite quick and a big hitter.

I'm just throwing that out as a series of questions with no current clear path.

I still think Griffin is the best SAM, but doesn't matter a whole lot if they switch him or Smith to WIL and put Tony Jones back in at MLB with instruction to bulk up, not down. 

Kramdi is out of the picture at 190 lbs. he doesn't qualify as a full time LB and sneaky stealth tackles "using leverage" don't always work. Kramdi also doesn't work at deep Safety where he lacks the speed and coverage skills to keep up with receivers going deep.  Kelly may not be the best Safety but he is still advancing and until the ratio allows, I don't expect them to change him out.

[Blue In BC]

I still think Griffin is the best SAM, but doesn't matter a whole lot if they switch him or Smith to WIL and put Tony Jones back in at MLB with instruction to bulk up, not down. 

Kramdi is out of the picture at 190 lbs. he doesn't qualify as a full time LB and sneaky stealth tackles "using leverage" don't always work. Kramdi also doesn't work at deep Safety where he lacks the speed and coverage skills to keep up with receivers going deep.  Kelly may not be the best Safety but he is still advancing and until the ratio allows, I don't expect them to change him out.

I think the idea was that they wanted Griffin on the field more and SAM was the best spot for him. I'd say he is the best of the 3 players. Smith has come on and may be the future there.

The issue is that the Canadians have to play where they are best suited. As I suggested Kramdi at safety is not where he's best suited. Moving him back to SAM has a domino effect with Smith and Griffin.

I suggested or questioned whether Smith might be an option at MLB but the same goes for Griffin. He's the stockiest of the two and has more experience. Fast / quick and can make plays.

It's kind of a 3 headed question in that if Smith goes back to SAM then Kramdi is stuck where he's not as effective.

I would be against Jones back to MLB since he's not as effective in coverage ( ala Bighill ). A better MLB would make him more effective at WIL IMO.

What the best option is an interesting conversation and even I'm not sure how I'd like it to work out.

I think I started the question in my mind knowing that I'm not happy overall with what we get out of the position at safety and what other choices we really have going forward.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I think the idea was that they wanted Griffin on the field more and SAM was the best spot for him. I'd say he is the best of the 3 players. Smith has come on and may be the future there.

The issue is that the Canadians have to play where they are best suited. As I suggested Kramdi at safety is not where he's best suited. Moving him back to SAM has a domino effect with Smith and Griffin.

I suggested or questioned whether Smith might be an option at MLB but the same goes for Griffin. He's the stockiest of the two and has more experience. Fast / quick and can make plays.

It's kind of a 3 headed question in that if Smith goes back to SAM then Kramdi is stuck where he's not as effective.

I would be against Jones back to MLB since he's not as effective in coverage ( ala Bighill ). A better MLB would make him more effective at WIL IMO.

What the best option is an interesting conversation and even I'm not sure how I'd like it to work out.

I think I started the question in my mind knowing that I'm not happy overall with what we get out of the position at safety and what other choices we really have going forward.

They have to acknowledge the current system isn't working with Jones playing WIL and no one really playing MLB, Kyrie is in there for his extra height and ability to drop back into shallow pass coverage, sometimes he gets the job done but he's not a terribly physical player. 

If they want to go to a 3-4 formation like they did back in the day with Tyrone Jones, James West, Delbert Fowler and Greg Battle then do it, but make sure 2 of them are at 230-240 lbs. Smith, Jones, Griffin and Kramdi could give them a fair bit of flexibility and athleticism to adjust to different situations.

 

[dd]

Safety and MLB for sure need new personnel there come next year, Kelly and Wilson are non impact players in impact positions, that's not good.

[RebusRankin]

Kramdi at SAM and Smith at WIL. Jones at MLB.

[Blue In BC]

Kramdi at SAM and Smith at WIL. Jones at MLB.

Like I said I'm not a fan of Jones at MLB. He was moved to WIL because of certain liabilities at the MLB role. Essentially not great in coverage over the middle.

Smith probably could play WIL though while Kramdi is too light for that role. Maybe that's a good solution for those 2 players.

It doesn't directly solve the MLB IMO and it doesn't answer what we do we Griffin. We need a MLB that plays more snaps due to versatility rather than trying to guess what we think we need based on the situation. Rotation is great but like any effort to match up is a guessing game. Players that are very good at more than one thing is more of what we need.

[BLUEBOMBER]

Kelly is definitely the worst safety in the CFL... and it shows..

[RebusRankin]

Like I said I'm not a fan of Jones at MLB. He was moved to WIL because of certain liabilities at the MLB role. Essentially not great in coverage over the middle.

Smith probably could play WIL though while Kramdi is too light for that role. Maybe that's a good solution for those 2 players.

It doesn't directly solve the MLB IMO and it doesn't answer what we do we Griffin. We need a MLB that plays more snaps due to versatility rather than trying to guess what we think we need based on the situation. Rotation is great but like any effort to match up is a guessing game. Players that are very good at more than one thing is more of what we need.

I think Smith could play WIL and Kramdi to SAM.
I agree mixed feelings on Jones.
Griffin is meh to me.

[Stats Junkie]

The modern day Sam is mislabelled as a LB (SLB). It is a DB position, sometimes called a cover linebacker (CLB) or dime back . When Michael Griffin was on the Huddle earlier this season he was definitive that he was a DB and NOT a LB.

The base defence that CFL teams run today is a 4-2 not a 4-3. When the Blue Bombers (and other teams) go to three down linemen they are playing a 3-2 defence. According to Derek Taylor, the Blue Bombers sometimes play a 3-1 alignment. The 3-4 that Blue Bombers ran for most of the 80s & 90s doesn't exist anymore.

In a 4-2 or 3-2, there really isn't much difference between the WLB & MLB.