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No coach I’d rather have than O’Shea, but I’m with Booch … his roster management is horrendous. I’m not concerned with how good we’re doing, I’m concerned with how we could be doing so much better. It’s almost comical in a way because everything that Booch and I have been saying all year is more or less exactly what has happened, but people still want to make excuses for it. We said key injuries with improper use of the practice roster will lead to us not being able to replace guys adequately - look at Janarion Grant. We said not having a proper rotation on the DL will gas Willie/Jeffcoat - they haven’t had a sack in forever and are visibly gassed. We said rostering a bunch of special teams bodies in lieu of some actual defensive depth may cost us a game down the road - look at how gassed our D was in Ottawa, even if you want to put the blame for the L in other areas. This roster management has been atrocious all year. Do I want O’Shea fired? No. Do I want someone to tell him that he needs to wake up and start doing a better job of it? Yes please. And don’t start up with this “he knows more about football than we could ever know” stuff, there’s a reason every single head coach gets fired at some point and it’s because they’re people just like us - with weak points, biases and blind spots that affect them just as they affect other human beings.

Tburg enters the chat... Does MOS know more than any of us? Yup. Does that mean he is perfect or above question? Nope. Do most folks think that MOS is making roster mistakes? Yup. Does that mean they want him fired? Nope. Tburg leaves the chat

<TBurgess has entered the chat>

Haba to the PR is absolutely ****** brain dead

You know what was a bigger issue than the D getting tired later in the game? 0 passing yards and 0 completed passes in the first quarter. I don't care what the roster looks like that is unacceptable.

Dear god let the game start already so we have some else to talk about

Everybody on this board is turning into me, and I don't know how to feel about that! I am leaning towards this:

I'm wildly uncomfortable with how many people are expecting a big win. This year's edition of the team terrifies me every single week. Never know who's going to show up.

I personally like this one. 🙂

Not one person is making excuses for the roster management. Everyone is in full agreement it could be better. MOS will have a statue next to Grant's by the time he is done, and yes he does know more than any of us ever will. That doesn't mean he doesn't have weak spots. I will take his weak spots in trade for his strengths any day of the week. The "excuses" you are referring to are not excuses. While some of you are grousing about roster management but knowing we are still a very well coached club and legit GC contender...others have taken this issue and a couple of losses and are signalling that this is the armageddon of the Bomber ball club and that is flat out ridiculous. That is what many of us are defending against because it is so far over the top it is not even funny. We are easily the favorite in the West to be in the Grey Cup, and it's a toss up between us and Toronto as to who is the best in the CFL right now. Could we be better if our coach rostered better, possibly....but it wouldn't be by much.

Starting to think that the possibility of a crossover is more likely than not. Today is a must-win for the TiCats... because their schedule for the rest of the season is basically Toronto and The West.

This is an over reaction. It's not horrendous, it's a couple questionable moves. If you can make a move or two and all is well it's not horrendous.

All I can assume at this point is that there is information that MOS has that we don't. MOS is not stupid, does not have his head up his ass, and has forgotten more about coaching football than any of us will ever know. We have the benefit of criticizing his moves in a bubble without access to the whole picture. I wish he would explain his reasoning once in a while because we would likely all have "aha" moments after and learn something but he keeps the locker room in the locker room. C'est la vie. From the outside looking in some of his roster choices are hard to logically explain. I have to assume that their are reasons for them that we are not, and never will be, privy too.

Man I hate agreeing with the angry mob but Haba absolutely needs to be on the roster. This makes zero sense.

Not getting that tho...BOLO hardly sees field...and he would first....just perfect opp to actually use Burtenshaw as the FB...as he did that in college so knows how....and get Haba on the field...just dumb roster usage...again

We just need Jets season to start so we can be reminded how bad it could actually be. I would love Booch's thoughts on Karson Khulman. 😜

Excerpt taken from a story by NHL Trade Talk: A recent debate sparked in the hockey world when Matthew Knies made controversial comments praising Auston Matthews as the best overall player in the NHL. Knies lauded Matthews for his goal-scoring prowess and defensive abilities, but his comments ignited a counterargument from one Edmonton Oilers host. Knies said when asked about how good Matthews is: “Pretty damn good. He’s not just the best goal scorer in the NHL but he plays defense too. He’s kind of the best overall player [in the NHL] in my eyes.” Me being a hardcore Jet fan and hater of the Oilers (and every other team at varying levels for that matter) but still able to recognize the obvious, this is why you can't take the Leaf nation seriously at all.

Dude you've totally gone off the deep end. Have a snickers!

No one says this. Like i said, hyperbole

Ugh! Anderson in again? What does he even do? He sucks at everything. He is old. He probably lied about military service as well. They should get him the ball more, but probably less. We need more screen passes! Why don’t we ever do trick plays?! WTF does our coach wear shorts? Booster juice is full of sugar! Does Buck have one page in his playbook?! This team is so frustrating!!

Real life footage of O’Shea and Jake Thomas.

Don't get me wrong I don't see what Jackson brings to the roster at all, but he doesn't make or break a team. The guys paid to be the stars need to be the stars.

No stats don't mean everything... but if your offense waits until the 2nd half to start playing ball you make life harder on your D from the get go. The offense it littered with stars and they are paid accordingly. That has been the issue most of the year nothing else. An underachieving offense. Yes we could make the Ds life a bit easier with haba and Hansen in but that's really not the huge issue some people make it out to be. Kramdi for all the **** he takes from some is not playing poorly. Parker didn't improve the punt return game one bit. A lot of this is being blown massively out of proportion because of some people having differing opinions on some players.

Yes, our roster management was not an issue last week. Our first half egg we laid was. When Edmonton took it to us in the first half, that wasn't on roster management either. The only time I think our roster management truly cost us was late in the game against Ottawa and only because the Bombers collectively decided the game was over and started playing completely half arsed and only woke up when the game was on the line and they were dogged out. We do not need Bennet for ratio reasons but we do have to dress a minimum number of NATs every week. Not saying that's a good reason, but Bennet over Haba is still a benefit roster wise. Wow...we are lucky to have won a game this year.

Jefferson has gone 5 games without a sack and Jeffcoat is at 4 games without but yeah we don't need a third rotational DE. A jack of all trades, no impact FB is better use.

If he wasn't ready he would be staying on the IR... even just for 1-game... moving him to the PR says he's healthy but they aren't rostering him... I've said it before, I don't hate the roster decisions as much as others... but I absolutely cannot understand why we are not using more DL... our defense has been at it's best when we do that...

Dee Alford has earned two starting roles with the Falcons to start the season - Nickelback and Punt Returner. https://www.atlantafalcons.com/news/falcons-release-first-depth-chart-of-the-2023-regular-season

That's because he didn't go on the PR, he was a free agent when he signed in OTT CFL legend Sam Montgomery? Played zero regular season snaps for EDM before landing on our PR a the conclusion of the 2017 season. Was released less than a month later. Was then brought back in January 2018 and was a final cut out of training camp that year. He did not get back on our practice roster and went of to play in the Arena League, hasn;t been in the CFL since.

No they don't, I read the same posts you do. They're not saying this, all that is being said is chill, the coaches have a positive track record. For some of you this has gone beyond critiquing the roster and its personal because God forbid anyone has a different opinion on roster make up.

So you think he would agree to go on the PR and decline to be put in the AR? This is getting crazy

As Merle Haggard wrote (My bad - Dolly Parton wrote it): No amount of money, can take from me the memories that I have of then. No amount of money, can pay me to go back, and live through it again.

Neg lister reveal out again. https://www.cfl.ca/2023/09/08/ten-players-revealed-from-each-cfl-teams-negotiation-list/ Anyone know anything interesting about these guys? WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS NAME POSITION COLLEGE Levi Bell DL Texas State Quinton Bell DL Prairie View Ian Book QB Notre Dame Carter Bradley QB South Alabama Kuony Deng DL California Darren Grainger QB Georgia State Mark Gronowski QB South Dakota State Oliver Martin WR Nebraska Garrett Shrader QB Syracuse Ontaria Wilson WR Florida State

Anyone notice CFL.ca has changed the players stats page back to something similar to the way it was last year. Away from those stupid PDFs .

Imo the cfl took a back step a few years ago. Teams pushed the boundaries on after the play crap more and more and the CFL just didn't crack down on it. Now its rampant. The huge huge majority of the time you do see a penalty on after the play chippiness it is off setting. No one gets ejected. League needs to really clean the game up.

Having Clements and not taking off Cole is good. Unless he signalled for a fair catch in practice, I don’t see why the new returner isn’t on there yet. Haba to the PR is baffling, and quite frankly dumb.

If you watch Kramdi he is actually good, that is why he is starting over an American. Hallett or Kramdi could play safety and move Alexander to SLB, maybe the coaches see Kramdi as a SLB. The Canadian SLB is making a come back.

Horrendous, atrocious, these are the issues I have. It's hyperbole. It could be better but it's not ad bad as all that. You guys have different ideas and that's fine, but just because it's different doesn't make it horrendous.

Bombers big names not concerned about lack of individual production By: Taylor AllenPosted: 7:30 PM CDT Thursday, Sep. 7, 2023 Some of the biggest names on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been held in check in recent weeks. Defensive end Willie Jefferson hit the ground running this season with eight sacks in the first seven games. Since then, he’s gone five straight contests without taking down a quarterback. It’s only the second time he’s gone that long without a sack since joining the Bombers in 2019. It also happened for a stretch in 2022. Jefferson didn’t even record a tackle in last weekend’s 32-30 Labour Day loss in Regina. The Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders meet again this Saturday in the annual Banjo Bowl matchup at IG Field at 3 p.m. “They can be beat. Like we really left a lot of stuff on the field,” said Jefferson after Thursday’s closed practice. “For me, communication wise, operation wise, we could’ve done a lot more. We’re glad we get the opportunity to play them again this week, back at our house with the noise on our side.” It’s the same story on the opposite end of the D-line as Jackson Jeffcoat, a fellow Texan who has four sacks in 2023, hasn’t added to his total in the last four games. He’s had two instances in his CFL career where he was shut out for five games (2017 and 2022) and he’s in jeopardy of having that happen for a third time. “They’re getting the ball out of the quarterback’s hands fast and they’re not giving us a chance to get to the quarterback,” said Jefferson. “It’s just offensive co-ordinators trying to do their best to get us out of the game.” Jeffcoat is quick to point out that it’s opened up the middle. Veteran defensive tackle Jake Thomas (five) has tied his career high for sacks through 12 games, and fellow DTs Ricky Walker and Cam Lawson have both chipped in with three a piece. Linebacker Adam Bighill also has four sacks to his name with two of them coming on Sunday. “They’re blocking us with two people, three people. I’m not saying they’re making it hard, they’re just getting the ball out fast and they’re making sure we’re not getting one on ones which is fine because the guys in the middle will make their plays,” said Jeffcoat. “I mean, it doesn’t frustrate me. That’s how it is.” Wide receiver Kenny Lawler can relate to the two star defenders as his numbers have also taken a dip in recent weeks. He’s had just two catches in each of the last four games for a total of 182 yards and two touchdowns. He had more yards, 200, in Week 9’s 50-14 home victory over the B.C. Lions then he’s had all last month. The Bombers have tried to get him the ball as he’s been targeted 21 times since the B.C. game. “You can’t beat yourself up about it… If it doesn’t come to me, I know it’s going to go to someone else and someone’s going to make a play. That’s just how I have to think. I can’t let my emotions get the best of me just because when it is my time, I might be too caught up on the play that I didn’t make and that might potentially take away from the play I’m about to make so that’s my outlook,” said Lawler. “After the game when I had 200 yards, coach O’Shea told all the media that it’s not always going to look like that, and it’s not going to always look like that for me. I’m not always going to have a 200-yard game, I might not have a 100-yard game, but I know what my presence on the field does. I impact the defence and they need to know where I’m at at all times.” Star kick returner Janarion Grant was running sprints last week at practice. Despite that, it could be a few more weeks until he’s back playing as the Bombers have extended him on the injured list until October. An ankle injury has kept him out since July 7. Greg McCrae failed to fill his shoes, and defensive back Jamal Parker didn’t fare much better on Labour Day. Parker gave up two rouges on punts against Saskatchewan and averaged 8.1 yards on his seven punt returns. McCrae was sent down to the practice roster Wednesday to make room for linebacker Malik Clements who’s back from injury. “I was told to do exactly that. The only one that I’d probably want back is there was a shorter punt that I let hit the ground and we kind of lost yards. That’s truly the only one I want back, but the other two, I just did my job, honestly, with the points,” said Parker. Parker is coming off a strong rookie season where he started eight regular season games as well as the West Division final and Grey Cup. He took reps at corner and halfback and recorded 37 tackles, a sack and an interception. He’s been unable to build off of that as he picked up an injury in the pre-season finale which led to him starting the year on the six-game injured list. Parker has zero starts on defence in 2023. “We got a deep room. We got a lot of good guys, so, you understand,” said Parker. “Whenever my time is to play defence again, I’ll be ready. But until then, I’m gonna star in my role.” taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca Bombers big names not concerned about lack of individual production – Winnipeg Free Press

Watched chiefs lions. Good game, still prefer cfl, but…. The game was really clean, no cheap shots, no pushing a player going out of bounds, guys holding up on hitting qb, when ball is gone. Players respecting each other. Not a lot of stupid celebrating after every catch or first down. Players meeting on field after game. just one game, but……So much better that way. That I think is coaching. And the bombers play that way. there is plenty of violence when played within the rules. Jahmyr Gibbs 👀 I was a lions fan in the days of Mel Farr, Altie Taylor, so good to see.

So I can find the logic in the invisible man Bennett being rostered, I can see the logic in a lot of what they do, but for the life of me I can not see the logic in using a roster spot on Jackson at all. He can't take meaningful reps on either offense or defense and neither is he some kind of indispensable special teamer... just don't know what he bring to this roster.

You fired up. Feisty. All I read here was blah blah blah Riders suck.

Beyond stupid. The two Jeffs are on the wrong side of 30 and have been a non-factor for awhile now. They are gassed. Its just been such a stubborn braindead decision not to add a defensive end to the game day roster to spell those two once in a while. It was dumb not to pick someone up to help when Haba was injured, and now that he's healthy its just idiotic.

More than fair... and I tend to lean this way. But man... Haba was so good before and we desperately need DL rotation help.

Maybe not quite ready? people were ranting and demanding Darby, then he goes to injured list. there are things we do not know. Specially injury info. Makes the insulting comments directed at the team, and O’Shea seem silly, and probably driving some people away. Make your point, and move on.

Looks like Haba has been added to the active roster and Murphy has been removed.

You're moving the goal posts. The facts don't support your suggestion that they constantly wilt when punched, which is what i was replying to. Agreed. I don't like it. But I do trust that they'll get it together. This team reminds me a bit of the 2019 squad in that way. Not always their best, except when it really mattered.

Bombers can't lose now Streveler just announced on Instagram that he is coming in to watch the game.