JuranBoldenRules

Hufnagel is right to a large extent. There needs to be improvement on the procurement side for the Bombers too. These signings alone won't make a huge difference. Our lines are still both below average.

Keeping is a mild upgrade on Picard. Centre who can't really play anywhere else. The only OL that would be useful to us out there is Andrew Jones. Our best roster still has 3 import OL starting.

I really don't see the Bombers going hard after more than one of the DL early, and most likely NI. Laurent and Laing are probably targets, but I don't think Shologan will get what he's looking for. He'd be a guy who signs a bit later. I'd rather go after guys like Oramasionwu or Dylan Ainsworth if they don't land one of the big fish on the DL. Solid role players who won't be overpaid, fit well with what we have on D in Westerman and Thomas. If we got two guys like that and found a good pass rusher down south we'd be set. I think in terms of both imports and non-imports we're looking at adding a running back of each designation, a couple receivers, a couple DL and a couple NI DB/LB types. There's not much out there OL-wise.

You're looking at this in a fashion that is far too linear. There would be more than one tailback on the roster. You can replace the NI with a NI at any spot on the field on that side of the ball, assuming you're starting the minimum of 7. More flexibility on at least one side of the ball if you start 8. All boils down to needing good NI's available all over the field, not just OL, and honestly given the crop of OL around at this juncture, I'd rather try my luck with all NI skill guys and an all import OL than vice-versa.

Mitchell? He's not a CFL player. Unfortunately all the decent (and that's hugely relative) free agent OL are centres with the exception of Andrew Jones. Looks like Wojt is done due to injury. This draft is light on OL, and the ones who are likely players are going to get NFL shots. It would be foolish for the Bombers to construct their roster based on having 3 NI's starting on the OL this season IMO. The goal should be to beef up the roster in general in terms of NI's and build a real good OL around 2 NI's.

What you read is a sportswriter's and CFL.ca writers opinion on where guys might end up. It's about as deep as, "Andrew Harris from Winnipeg might sign with Winnipeg."

I don't really agree with this. I just think it comes down to coaches being extremely risk averse and getting used to the new rules, focusing too much on the form chart in game management, scoring '7's.' The game becomes one of matching scores and trying to manage it to be a one score game by the time of the last couple possessions. Playbook is wide-open needing 3 yards. The list of plays for 2nd and short is literally the longest one on any play chart. You get to pick where the ball is placed. You can use the width of the field and you have 20 yards of endzone. Literally could run anything and have a 50-50 or better shot at the 2.

Looks like their expenses will be about $2-$3 million per team, depending on leases. Keep in mind that a CFL team, which has 20,000 plus people at every game, pulls in less than $10 million per team just on pure football operations. Covering their own asses already. Here's the legal waiver on all their press releases, it's usually longer than the press release.

They could literally end up playing in high school stadiums based on what I've read on this.

I'd prefer the opposite. Hajrullahu is a better place kicker and I think it's harder to find good place kickers. His only redeeming quality as a punter is distance. His placement was a big part of the trouble our cover teams had. Easier to find a guy who can locate punts and net toward the mid 30s than a 85%+ place kicker, which is what Hajrullahu is when he's not punting too.

I'd stick with Adams and hope some recruits turn out over Stafford. What we need is a solid guy on the boundary. Stafford isn't that guy, he's like a Nick Moore with worse hands. Wouldn't waste cap space on him.

Fuller would be a real good add for this team. I'm not a huge fan of Stafford, I don't think he's all that diverse in terms of his skill set and he's not particularly dominant at what he does well either. He's the kind of guy who has a handful of games, gets a big contract and disappoints. Fuller is dominant. If they could afford the cap space to keep Adams around as a spare that would be awesome too. Fuller-Denmark-Dressler-Kohlert-JFG/other NI's That crew would tear it up if the OL can be just below average.

There's no league that publishes salaries for public consumption. There are just better reporters ("insiders") and more interest in those leagues generally which leads to more of that information being available. Salaries are disclosed to agents and players by the CFLPA, just as they are in any other pro league. We seem to have this discussion quarterly.

Well, it's a public entity. They can spend money they have through operations, no more than that. The board doesn't pocket what is left, so I'm not sure what you're suggesting. If you're comparing the Bombers to a privately owned team like Hamilton or Montreal who will take multi-million losses to win, yes they will look cheap.

About as interested as I would be in Aaron Kelly. We need players, not guys who show up for 3-4 games a season.

Size is almost meaningless. Dressler would be the best receiver we've had since Stegall in the early 00s by a wide-margin, even at his current age. Dressler and Carter are both going to go for $250,000.

Crown of his helmet is the first point of contact with Bernard's face mask. Shazier is looking at turf as he launches into the hit. It's a textbook spear.

Except that it's a personal foul for spearing and targeting. You can't lead with the crown of your helmet as a tackler and particularly when you are hitting high. Rule exists on both sides of the border but is not applied often enough. Really it's to protect everyone because the tackler is putting himself in danger of neck, headand spinal injuries too. ARTICLE 8. INITIATING CONTACT WITH THE CROWN OF THE HELMET. It is a foul if a runner or tackler initiates forcible contact by delivering a blow with the top/crown of his helmet against an opponent when both players are clearly outside the tackle box (an area extending from tackle to tackle and from three yards beyond the line of scrimmage to the offensive team’s end line).

The NFL (and CFL) really need to add the ability to review personal fouls and unsportsmanlike penalties in-game. They handle the Shazier spear correctly and keep the Steelers coaches off the field and they avoid that embarrassing mess that reflects poorly on the entire sport.

Pretty much everyone around the world who plays football runs zone blocking where the linemen are not blocking to create a specific gap but adjusting their block to the defensive front and leaving it up to the running back to make a quick decision to find the gap. These are "search" plays, "zone read" and can involve any ball carrier really. 99.9% of the time you're running to a specific side of the formation and the line might slide a touch that way. For instance, if the end is lined up outside the right tackle and the run is going right, he right tackle is going to slide right with that end being his primary block. If that run is going left he's probably going to chip the DT and try to get into the second level or might even be pulling. Ultimately you're trying to get the back outside contain but since that is such a key for defenses the cuts upfield are usually inside or to the gap directly off tackle.

That stuff works to a point. Defenses are getting pressure consistently with 4-5. With the couple teams really committed to the zone blitzing, you don't know who those guys are going to be so quick game is just a pre-snap guess, and that's why Hamilton and Edmonton had so many takeaways. I believe Ottawa led the league in sacks and they run a pretty straightforward rush. The OL just aren't good enough. It doesn't matter what is called if guys like Picard and Neufeld can't even figure out how to be speed bumps.

Agree completely. If I were managing a CFL team my goal would be to have 4 NI starters on each side of the ball. What position they play is almost inconsequential. You need to have contingency plans for injury and poor play, so realistically you need at least a dozen NI's who can play offense/defense at a level where you aren't scared when they are on the field. IMO we are reaching a point where the supply of NI receivers and running backs who can play in the CFL is about that same or greater than NI OL who can play in the league at a reasonable level. There's no reason to force a certain number of NI OL on the field.

The vision problem was well-known and dealt with before he was a Bomber. Lapolice simply couldn't figure out how to use him. There's 9 routes on the route tree, Bowman struggled tracking the ball with 2 of them running to the boundary. Lapolice insisted on running him on those routes, shattering his confidence and making him look like an idiot. He was an absolute monster on every route coming into the field and continues to be. I'd put the chances of Bowman signing with a team having Lapolice designing and calling the plays at less than zero. The guy nearly killed his pro career.

If a guy who is a head coach under contract can actively shop/be shopped for other jobs within the league, it's the wild west. The timing of when the league actually decides to act is always just a little too late to avoid stepping in the doo doo pile.

I have no problem with Randle at SAM, I hope they move Leggett up there to challenge him though.I personally thought Leggett was more valuable at safety than linebacker as well as Randall at db. Leggett was a monster at SAM.