Leaderboard

Good to see they brought back some late cuts from TC last season that impressed in pre-season. Also excited to see Ontaria Wilson brought back, his game film looks spectacular against high caliber opponents. The Blue Bombers also signed American receivers Bryce Mitchell and Ontaria Wilson as well as American defensive linemen Nate Givhan and Jamal Woods. Mitchell made 70 receptions for 1,297 yards and 11 touchdowns over 52 games at the University of Toledo. The six-foot-three, 210-pound target was named second-team All-MAC in 2019 after leading the Rockets in receiving yards. Wilson made 108 catches for 1,521 yards and 12 touchdowns over 51 games at Florida State University. The native of Ashburn, Ga. also recorded seven carries for 57 yards and one touchdown along the ground. Givhan spent a portion of the 2023 season on Winnipeg’s practice roster, though he didn’t dress for any regular season games. The six-foot-two, 239-pound edge rusher made 97 total tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one interception over 47 collegiate games at the University of Toledo. Woods made 78 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, three pass knockdowns, and one forced fumble over 49 collegiate games at the University of Illinois. The six-foot-two, 290-pound interior defender went unselected in the 2023 NFL Draft. Winnipeg has also brought back four Canadian players who were selected in the 2023 CFL Draft, including running back Jonathan Rosery, defensive lineman Collin Kornelson, linebacker Max Charbonneau, and defensive back Bret MacDougall. Rosery, who also plays slotback, led the Alberta Golden Bears in receiving yardage this past season, making 32 catches for 440 yards and three touchdowns. The five-foot-eight, 199-pound native of Edmonton was taken in the seventh round. Kornelson made 17 total tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery playing along the interior of the defensive line for the Manitoba Bisons. The fifth-round pick missed three of the club’s games due to injury. Charbonneau won the President’s Award as the outstanding stand-up defensive player in the OUA this past year while playing for the Ottawa Gee-Gees. The eighth-round pick made 62 total tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one blocked kick. MacDougall made 30.5 total tackles, two interceptions, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery this past season with the Windsor Lancers. The sixth-round pick helped the club win a home playoff game for the first time since 1975.

Here is what you are failing to consider.... one of the things that this team used to do every single time was grind it out and wear other teams down over the course of a game and pull away in the end. The reason they were able to do that was primarily because they rotated like 8 quality guys throughout the defensive line and were always able to control that aspect. Last 2 grey cups we've seen the defense let them down late in the game and a big part of that is not having the quality bodies to keep rotating. That's roster management and it arguably cost them multiple games this season. Grey cup 100%, probably the loss to Ottawa as well. Cfl rosters are small enough as is, you can't be wasting spots on guys who don't contribute anything.

This. When people show you who they are, believe them.

You grind out a win on defence by constantly forcing 2 and outs for the offence to come back on the field.

Love this idea. This actually grows the game because fans (new or existing) can reasonably get to Lions games, unlike the Atlantic game which leads to nothing. I would consider going if the Bombers were playing, that's for sure.

Except now no one gets their name on the cup... so no I can't understand it.

Can’t he be both, like the late Earl Warren?

Maybe it was front loaded so it could dip in time for the front office guys to get covered. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least. For all that’s happened the thing about mos that sticks with me most and always will is just after the 21 gc stadium parade celebration, he and his wife walked around and picked up garbage off the field. Could’ve left it and trusted the grounds crew to do it. Could’ve directed such a group to do it. But nope, they walked around and picked up every thing them self.

If we improve the Front 7 just watch how much better the Back 5 play. Right now, the Front 7 isn't good enough.

A lot of repetition here but still an enjoyable read with my second cup of coffee this morning. To me, in a nutshell, we (the Bombers) were outcoached (roster "management", schemes and adjustments on both sides of the ball) in the most important game of the season...very frustrating for this armchair QB. Now that management is back in place for the next couple of years, they can go about trying to piece together another solid and, hopefully, Grey Cup calibre team. It should be an interesting off-season.

I believe that one can like MOS as our head coach, not want anybody else and be frustrated by his roster management. Much like one can be a Supreme Court Justice and a seedy make stripper.

The whole point is the mos built the roster so as to have no depth on it during game day. It cost us the Grey Cup this year full stop. We won in 2019 and 2021 because of functional depth on the game day roster. You think it's coincidence that as soon as they lost the depth on the DL they didn't win the Grey Cup anymore?

And that's the thing, absolutely no one has ever been trying to run oshea out of town. Just wanting the team to not play the game on hard mode when they don't have to.

Not once have I ever heard a player praise Walters or Miller, O'Shea built the locker room culture that is now self-sustaining, and that includes keeping it free of of doosh-bag players with the FIFO motto. He knew the type of players he wanted and Walters went out and found them and has acknowledged that in the past. Of course it's a management team effort and all 3 have done their specific jobs well, but the player culture has been built by O'Shea alone.

TD Atlantic is now TD Pacific....

FACT: We won the GC with Lapo as OC, so if Buck leaves, we should bring him back. (I'll just watch the heads explode from here)

Following my normal pattern on the football threads, I’ll keep true to my well researched analysis of any non Jet non Blue Bomber teams and remind everyone, regardless of the w/l records and where they maybe trending, Oilers suck and will always suck. Fact.

At no point did I say it wasnt. I stated that it was way, way down the list of reasons why we lost and I stand by that. FACT: That was a winnable game with the roster we had dressed. FACT: Our own mistakes cost us that game. FACT: Buck and RIchie Hall did not have very good game plans. FACT: 3 red zone turnovers took a potential 21 points, and a guaranteed 9 points off the board that would have secured us victory easily. When you add all that up, where does roster management stand in all of that. Very low in the order of importance. It would be different if the Jeffs looked gassed, or Biggie was completely ineffectual, or we were not able to drive on the ALs...which we did...just turnovers cost us points. However, we did all that and made some key mental and ball security mistakes and it cost us the game. I get that some of you guys really want to pin this on the roster management boogeyman that we have been hearing ad nauseum about all year, but it simply was not the case in the Grey Cup. A very small contributing factor....MAYBE...can not even say that for sure. What I can tell you for sure is that when you turn the ball over 3 times in the red zone against a D like the ALs...you stand a very good chance of losing that game and we did. Not sure why everyone is so myopically fixed on the whole roster management thing that you are forgetting football 101.

Is this a joke? Lol we literally started three guys who had no business being on the field because we had no depth alternatives

was the ol Manfred Mann blinded by the light deal....shiny stats glossed over repeatedly being burned for long td's and big plays at wrong time.....all that was...I work with DB's a lot in camps....and Houston by far had the worst overall package of skills and fluidity on the team....Parker prob had the best, along with Nichols, and oddly the kid we cut partway into the season ADS....

I honestly think the smart move is Mace. That guy is an excellent coach and I hope he's on the Bomber staff one day. Nothing against Buck of course. He's been good too.

I'm not trying to be mean, but how do you not understand?? One of the biggest reasons gave up the game winning TD is because everyone along the line was absolutely gassed, and we needed another body in the secondary after Parker got dinged on specials. There's several examples of why we needed more bodies on the field, especially on defense.

I guess all of that house hunting in Hamilton during Grey Cup was enough for Walters to decide "what the hell was I thinking...I better unplug from JBR and stay in Winnipeg".....

I figured Milanovich would be more interested in the GM position than a HC job under O'Day, Riders blew it again!

Don't tease me like that...

that would be classic and the funniest thing ever...hahaa...

why doent Ott and Mtl have a labour day throw down...they spitting distance from each other.....Or do the smart thing and slap a team in Quebec City as Quebec is a hot bed of football, and theres the natural rivalry....and let Ott and BC slug it out

because neither has a Labour Day match-up (could have been Montreal, too, I suppose) so they're giving them something for that weekend...

Not going to help Buck much when your suggested qb. is flat on his ass most of the time because of a porous O Line....Something I hope Buck is mulling over carefully IF he decides to sign on there....Big uphill for anyone signing there

I don't know what defense you watched but we played soft zone all year. In the GC when we needed a stop in the worst possible way we didn't get it. We played passive in the secondary. We got no push on the opposing qbs we played. There's no comaparison to the level we played in 2021 compared to the last 2 seasons. Stats can be interpreted in many ways. One of the many reasons we led in defensive stats is our offense. We;d grind out wins with 13 play drives. Defense wasn't ewven on the field as the offense was taking care of business. Our O was hampered by playing two injured receivers who never should have seen the field

Kyle Walters presser this morning; https://3downnation.com/2023/11/29/10-takeaways-from-winnipeg-blue-bombers-gm-kyle-walters-press-conference/ Kyle Walters spoke to the media on Wednesday morning after signing a contract extension to remain as the general manager of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Here are 10 takeaways from what he addressed. Two more years Walters signed a standard two-year contract extension to remain in Winnipeg, not a one-year deal plus club option as some general managers across the league are rumoured to have signed. He declined to indicate whether or not he took a pay cut due to the limitations of the CFL’s operations cap. Assistant general managers Ted Goveia and Danny McManus also signed standard two-year deals, meaning the trio will be up for extensions at the same time as head coach Mike O’Shea following the 2025 season. This also means the team’s brain trust will remain together through the 112th Grey Cup, which will be played at IG Field in Winnipeg. “(Goveia and McManus) work their tails off, they’ve been doing this for a long time and they’re good,” said Walters. “They know the type of players Mike wants and it’s critical now with more challenges getting players up here that we’ve got a good group that can be down there finding American players. They’re the kind of behind-the-scenes guys that make everything move around here in regards to the talent that comes through.” Buck watch Walters indicated that he and his colleagues can’t start making any decisions regarding player personnel until it’s determined whether or not offensive coordinator Buck Pierce will be back with the team. The veteran assistant is reportedly a finalist for the head coaching job with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, though it remains unclear if he will be hired. “That’s a question for (GM) Jeremy (O’Day) down in Saskatchewan,” said Walters. “You would think they want to get rolling for the same reason we’re talking about here, so hopefully sooner rather than later, Sask can make their decisions and get rolling because the domino effect one way or another, we’ll have to follow up with those decisions.” Pierce has been on staff in Winnipeg since 2014 when he retired as a player to become the club’s running backs coach. He was promoted to the role of quarterbacks coach in 2016 and to offensive coordinator in 2020 when Paul LaPolice left the organization to become the head coach of the Ottawa Redblacks. Key free agents Walters discussed the impending free agency of running back Brady Oliveira and receiver Dalton Schoen, who are arguably the club’s two best players currently set to hit the open market. Though negotiations have yet to take place, the veteran personnel man described his preliminary plan for approaching both players. “You kind of put a plan together with what you think is a fair offer and every time the agents think vastly differently. It’s quite a process, particularly with the high-end guys. They deserve to explore market value and they’ve earned the right to capitalize financially on the success. We’ll see. I’m sure it’ll be a fairly long process and their agents will do their due diligence and figure out what the best situation is.” Walters described Oliveira, who was named the league’s Most Outstanding Canadian after recording 2,000 yards from scrimmage this season, as “obviously the top free agent in the CFL this year.” That’s high praise, which means the Winnipeg native will assumedly come with a high price tag. For what it’s worth, league sources have indicated that Oliveira’s agent, who is based in Chicago and handles CFL and NFL clients, is a tough negotiator. Retirements Walters responded to O’Shea’s comments about “maybe a couple” players leaning towards retirement this off-season. He seemed to appear more optimistic than O’Shea that the club can get a few key veterans back for another year, though only time will tell. “The (Grey Cup) loss was so emotional that I think a lot of guys were upset and made some statements or let it be known that (retirement) potentially could be an option. I think the best is to let things settle down for a month, take a deep breath, and kind of revisit guys with what is their plan for next year because it was such a devastating loss for all of us that it does take a little bit of time to get over it. And don’t make kind of a rash decision based on the raw emotion that you’re feeling after a loss like that.” Among the players who will be at or over the age of 35 by the start of next season are offensive tackle Stanley Bryant (38), long snapper Mike Benson (37), quarterback Zach Collaros (35), linebacker Adam Bighill (35), offensive guard Patrick Neufeld (35), and special teams ace Mike Miller (35). Bryant, Neufeld, and Miller aren’t under contract for 2024, while Benson, Collaros, and Bighill are. Greater challenge Winnipeg lost veteran starters Casey Sayles and Michael Couture to free agency last off-season, though the club had replacements ready to take over both roles in Ricky Walker and Chris Kolankowski. In retrospect, Walters indicated it was pretty easy to keep the club’s core intact following last year’s Grey Cup loss to the Toronto Argonauts. With the roster now one year older, Walters expects this to be a more challenging off-season. One part of the challenge is the possibility of Pierce leaving for a head coaching opportunity, while the other is the age of the club. Walters didn’t explicitly say he considers the age of Winnipeg’s roster a problem, though it seems fair to suggest he’s less keen than O’Shea regarding having such a veteran-laden roster. “The older the players are, the generally higher risk of injury. The salaries generally are higher. All of that will go into our decision,” said Walters. “It’s not just a matter of age. Salary, on-field productivity, health, all of those things go into it, even on an individual-by-individual basis. That’ll be an interesting discussion over the next few weeks.” The salary cap is going up by $75,000 in 2024, though Walters indicated the increase won’t do much to help the Blue Bombers. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s fairly minuscule,” he said. “Certain guys have bumps already in their contracts. It’s fantastic for the players that each year the cap will go up, but from a planning standpoint, it does have a minimal impact.” Brown leaving town? Walters didn’t entirely rule out the possibility of bringing back quarterback Dru Brown in 2024, though it appears he expects to lose the pending free agent to another team. “The market will dictate that and I think Dru has certainly shown he’s earned the right to compete for a starting job,” said Walters. “I’m certain his agent will look around and try to find the best situation for Dru to compete as a starter and get paid as a starter.” The 26-year-old passer threw for 983 yards, nine touchdowns, and zero interceptions this season, going 2-0 as a starter. He set a new league record this season for most touchdown passes with zero interceptions. Frustration It’s rare for any general manager in professional sports to enter the final year of their contract without an extension, particularly when they’ve built a consistent winner. Walters was clearly frustrated about having to wait so long for an extension, which was presumably caused at least in part to the CFL’s operations cap. “It was difficult on the family having the uncertainty and with the operations cap, there needs to be some tough decisions, no different than with the salary cap. I’ve worked with the salary cap for a while and we’ve had to make some difficult decisions and that’s just the way it is now with the CFL with the salary cap for all of us downstairs, it’s I think the reality of the situation.” Walters isn’t the only one who isn’t crazy about the league’s operations cap and pointed out that the consequences of losing have remained the same, while the benefits of winning have largely been taken away. The Blue Bombers can certainly afford raises given how well they’ve done financially since the COVID-19 pandemic, though they’re not able to provide them for those who’ve earned them due to the constraints of the cap. “In the sports world, the reward of having success is an increase in pay and you get to capitalize on that — everybody — coaches, staff, scouts. And if you lose, you don’t get a contract renewal. The reality now is we’re in a situation where if we lose, we’re still going to be struggling with getting a job and the reward is not there financially,” said Walters. “You would think that the on-field product somewhat contributes to the financial success of an organization and the people that, certainly coaches and everybody else down here, is responsible for that success that, with the new setup, can’t capitalize, which is frustrating, but it’s the reality of the CFL.” NFL workouts Winnipeg hasn’t received any workout requests from NFL teams as of yet, though Walters indicated he’s not expecting those to start until December. He’s aware that Oliveira is interested in possibly pursuing the NFL, though he doesn’t appear to expect Schoen to garner significant NFL interest this off-season. “He had his opportunity coming out (of college) and he went through everything last year and didn’t get signed,” said Walters. “The probability of another opportunity is probably not very high for him because he’s had a couple.” Immediate future Frustration aside, Walters doesn’t feel as though his contract uncertainty held the club back heading into the off-season. He pointed out that a number of teams around the league are still working to finalize their coaches and personnel staff. “There’s no rush other than just letting your guys know the situation. We really do need to sit down as a staff and get input from the coaches and figure out what do we look for, what do the coaches think, get input from all of them.” Walters also feels the club has plenty of time to get into free agency, which doesn’t open until Tuesday, Feb. 13. “There’s plenty of time. Players and their agents want to see what’s going on here as well with the coaching staff, so it’s perfectly normal,” he said. “We’ve got three months now to sort things out before free agency, so once we get going and put a plan in place together regarding who’s coming back, who we can afford, what the coach’s input is, and we’ll get it going and we’ll keep it rolling.”

Right? I hated that Grey Cup loss as much as anyone but we lost that game a heckuva lot more than the Als won it with the roster, depth, and age that we dressed. I firmly believe that 95 times out of a hundred the roster we dressed and played that day wins that game. No one will ever convince me otherwise. The keys to victory that I stated somewhere in the week before the game were. 1. Protect the football - FAILED 2. Score when the opportunity is there against their tough defence. FAILED 3. Don't let Fajardo get flukey. FAILED. (and yes, I do very much believe there were a number of over thrown and under thrown balls that if our DB has proper position would have been incomplete or intercepted.)

It is crazy how such a poorly coached team with aging unproductive players and no depth keeps going to Grey Cups.

Must win simply because a hardcore Jet fan living in Oiler land said so and doesn't want to come into the office the next day and face a barrage of shots if we are unsuccessful.

One injury forced 3 changes in the secondary and you don't think that is a factor in blown coverage? When you ate trying to win a championship you need better than "wasn't a liability"

I just want someone in the teams management to force Mike oshea to justify dressing players on the game day roster who stand on the sidelines with their thumb up their ass all game. Rosters are small enough, why dress a guy who can't take any snaps?

and you know that how??... Losing Wade or Walters and his team would be more a blow....and it takes a lot for me to defend Wade as I use to just hate the dude from back in the day, but totally respect him for the turn around and creating what we have become....and now have nothing but love and gratitude for the guy

and who's fault is that??....MOS for not having an adequate PR and depth on roster. Ambles and even Alston would offered a heck of a lot on the active roster for the Grey Cup. Col and Clements taking Biggies reps and adding another giy...be it a dlineman or a DB would also added way more to the roster for the Grey Cup Taking off Jackson and adding again....an actual contributing force on defence would have added a lot to the Grey Cup roster....Maybe utilizing the Nationalized American would have helped in what we did with the game day roster for the Grey Cup Our coach hand-cuffed us worse than any game this yr, in a yr where he consistently handcuffed and he saved the worst of it for the biggest game of the year...thats facts and factored heavily into the loss....the 2nd one in a row now He'll eventually get it...

I guess if folks can't just leave it alone...

Thats why I think Cole would be ideal there...he can come down and brig the boom, and he can also run and cover guys doing screens and crossers, and is probably one of our best sideline to sideline guys, and part of reason why I would like for us not to go Canadian there, but if we did, Ford would be better suited than Kramdi as he has a way better skill-set for it.

Man some of this discussion ìs great football convo and some of it is a bit of a reach. We got guys saying Zac is declining and needs replacing while others are saying our secondary is overrated because our offence led by Zac was so dominant they never saw the field. Just extreme takes everywhere that contradict. I guess some are still really smarting from the loss.

it would be a move to show and lead by example.....I bet my left nut tho it never happened...and I like ol lefty so very confident he took no cut

Unpopular opinion, but I am more comfortable keeping Zach if we are getting a new OC. Some fresh ideas couldn't hurt.

You’re confusing correlation with causation. The personnel in our secondary is not why we lead the league in pass D. Our offensive domination especially in top and td%, our pass rush/run stop and our bend but don’t break game plan caused that. Teams just didn’t have the time/attempts to drive the field repeatedly. The secondary tackling was beyond pitiful, recovery poor from most dbs, Houston was gambling and getting burned frequently. Parker Nichols holm and Kramdi should stay. Though not automatically all in starting spots. Kramdi is valuable too. He’s probably best as the reserve db/rotational guy. Though he could take a step forward next year. He puts him self in position to make a lot of plays, he just needs to get better at finishing and being consistent. Having that in a ni is huge. Vs having 3 ni dbs who can’t cover a guy at all.

We've talked about it since last night?

Look how far offside the Montreal receiver is.

2 year deal for Walters, no details available for McManus or Goveia. Formal announcement from the club expected later today. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/11/28/bombers-gm-walters-assistants-have-new-deals

I'm very glad Walters and company are back.