TBURGESS

This years team is very different than last years team. We've drafted pretty well since Walters took over, getting 3 all stars in 5 years. We lost all of them in the off season. We've replaced 2 NI all star OL with guys who have a start or two under their belt or are rookies. We lost our WIL and our shutdown corner. We lost our all star safety who we are replacing with a guy who didn't win the spot out of TC last year as he got hurt in game 3 having not played safety at all. He is coming off of a big injury and is currently on the vet injured list. We lost some veteran backups like Wild, Leggett and Fogg. We're making a bunch of changes at DB. We only made 2 known upgrades. We're counting on our QB getting back to his 2017 form, that the guys who have been around the club for a while are now good enough to be starters and that this years draft will net a starter this year.

Ryan's a good punter, but $100K for a guy who just punts is way too high IMO.

Excellent signing!

https://www.cfl.ca/2019/05/10/off-season-depth-chart-winnipeg-blue-bombers/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Interesting read.

I'll be surprised if Sol isn't a great player again this year. Hughes for half a year or so. Manny looks to be broken down to me, but even a broken down Manny can make some plays. The Riders Achilles heal looks to be their OL and QB.

I think you have it backwards. From the article: "players in B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec have been instructed not to show up to training camp while players in Alberta and Ontario will have report due to provincial labour laws."

I do.

I don't think we needed another RB. Augustine is fine as a backup and I'd hope that we look for the best RB once Harris is done, not the best NI RB. I don't like Oliveira's speed, the fact he didn't go to the combine or that his mouth that writes cheques his talent can't cash ("Oliveira, who believes he should be the first overall pick in this year’s CFL draft"). I doubt we would have drafted him if he wasn't a home town pick. I'd have picked Wilkinson INSTEAD of Eli. Less questions. Less potential downside. Played last year. Was at the combine. Was ranked higher in the draft. Is in football shape. Plays all 5 OL positions. Is smart (degrees in pre-law/philosophy and communications with a minor in business administration). Hasn't quit football. Since Walters took over he's had 5 drafts, 2014-2018 (I'm not counting this draft because we have zero idea of what we have yet). He's drafted 3 all stars in that time frame and we lost all of them this off season. He had 4 busts (Ekakite, Corney, Richards, Waggoner). Woli is a bona-fide starter, we have some special teamers and we have a few guys who will get a chance to start this year. Folks need to stop reading all my posts in an Eeyore voice. It's not that I only look at 5% of the positives, it's that there's no need to repeat the positives that others have already posted.

Overall, I think it was a good draft. I didn't like the RB pick because I don't think he was the BPA at the time (Wilkinson was IMO). Even if Eli doesn't turn out, I don't see a better use of the 34th pick. I don't really care past the 3rd round because I don't even know the players. I don't expect Desjarlais will get any playing time this year. He may even end up off the game day roster. Due to injury, don't expect Kongbo to do much of anything this year. He'll miss TC. He'll likely be ready to go mid-season. After that, I hope he at least gets some reps in the D line rotation. I'm assuming that he will sign a 2 year plus an option, which means if he does really well, we get a season and a half from him. Eli has a ton of upside and a ton of questions. He didn't play and didn't go to school last year, which IIRC means he can't go back to school this year. Will he take a PR spot? Will he even show up?

How do you see 'lets see what we have before we fit them for all star jerseys' as negative? It's just the reality of the draft.

I'm thought of as negative no matter if I hate our draft pick like Jade Etienne or if I like our draft picks, but want to wait until we see what we actually have before I fit them for an all star jersey. As a realist, I can't understand how people can only look at positive things. You guys must get constantly disappointed when things don't turn out great all the time.

You don't understand sarcasm do you?

You've got that wrong and you know it. You're one of those 'If you're not overtly positive all the time, you're negative' folks. I look at both sides, not just at the positives. You used to do that too, but have gone over to the Pollyanna side. Now you seem more interested in how negative I am than anything else. Angry that I don't see things the same way you do. If you and others didn't care what I type, you'd let it go. You wouldn't consistently bring up my name or call me out. You'd just think... that guy doesn't think the same as I do. It's kinda of funny/sad actually considering how you react to every tiny perceived slight against you on these boards. I want the Bombers to get 1st in the West and go on to win the Grey Cup. I was at the game the last time they won it all. I still remember what it felt like. I want the Bombers to make the right decisions so they can win the Cup again. I don't assume that every decision they make is good or bad. I call each one as I see it. I don't assume that just because it's a good looking pick that it's going to work out, because lots of good looking picks never work out. I don't assume that players who gave up on football or were out of the game for a year or more will suddenly become fully invested again and that's what it takes to play in the CFL. I don't assume that a blown out knee will get back to normal especially in the short term. I don't assume that 'if he hadn't got injured' or 'if he hadn't taken a year off' he'd have been drafted to the NFL is true or even means anything. I don't assume that this years draft picks are all going to be starters, let alone as good as the all stars we lost. I agree that everything might turn out the way we hope it does, but I don't assume it.

Intellectual like OMG EVERY PICK WAS AMAZING! We've completely fixed our NI problems! All of our picks will be all stars in a couple of years! Even better than the all stars we lost in the off season!

Nah. I leave most of them alone, but I live in a few posters heads without paying rent and they like to bring my name up when they post so I reply.

I like both picks, but lets be honest. None of us has any idea if the new draft picks will work out or not. Even the Bombers management doesn't know yet. Suggesting that 3 untested rookies are going to be great is one scenario, but there are tons of other scenarios too. If everything goes the way folks around here think it will, then this years starters will be so good that the draft picks won't even get a chance to start for at least a couple of years.

Everyone has 'star' potential before they play against CFL level competition. Pancaking a freshman in college is very different than doing it to a pro. Eli's been out of football for a year. He'll need to get back into football shape before he gets to camp. He may decide to give up on football again. He'll start at the bottom of the depth chart. I'd expect a PR season for him this year. The point I'm trying to make is... Lets see what the new draft picks can do against CFL level competition before we put them up on a pedestal. One, both or neither may make it in the CFL, let alone be stars.

@wbbfan You're saying that our 2 new draft picks and Gray are all better than Couture, Foketi, Neufeld and Speller? What are you basing your opinion on? It's certainly not based on how well they've played at the CFL level.

I'm certain that's not the plan. 3 guys with zero CFL experience is a recipe for disaster. The level of stupid in this idea is very high indeed.

Liked the first 2 picks. Don't like this one. Would have taken Wilkinson.

Vandervoot has a catch in 2 years. That's Jade Etienne like numbers.

No, I'm saying fans know the backups names and think the new starters will play almost as well as the all-stars they are replacing because they believe the stories being put out by the Bombers media folks. Folks around the league, who don't follow the Bombers as closely know that the backups would still be backups if we hadn't lost 2 all star NI OL. Being on the Bombers for a few years doesn't equal being ready to start. Being a first round draft pick doesn't mean being good enough to start in your first season. Being on the team for a couple of games last year doesn't mean knowing the system and it doesn't make you a non-rookie. There are lots of examples of players who were with the team for years and never did anything. Lots of examples of first round draft picks who turned out to be busts. Sounds like Jones is already inked in at safety. Big gamble for a guy whose never been a starter and who is coming off of a season ending injury last year.

More hogwash.

What a bunch of hogwash. If you ever read anything I've typed, you'd know that wasn't remotely true.

People outside of Bomber fans sites think that losing our best two NI OL in the same year is a problem. They think that replacing two all star NI OL with guys who have a couple of starts each or no starts depending on who wins the starters spots, is a big issue. It's only around here that folks think last years backups will be as good as last years all star starters.