JuranBoldenRules

He's proven himself as a GM. He's a mediocre coach, but he's proven he can hire the right coaches and support staff, stay out of the way and find players.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2013/10/22/season-of-new-quarterback-in-cfl Not a random Penton musing, a quote from a league source.

Nobody wants to acquire players unless they have room to protect them in the draft. Argos also need compensation for losing a better NI than they would if they had Collaros as bait in the draft.

I think the offer would be a draft pick this year, maybe our 3rd, and a conditional 1st in 2015 based on the Bombers signing Collaros. Barker would have to decide if that's better value than being able to protect his 7th and 8th non-imports. Who knows, maybe he makes that decision knowing in the back of his mind he's heading to Winnipeg to be football operations overlord.

Ya, but if someone took Andy Fantuz 2nd overall, you can't take him 3rd overall, similar to what happened with Westerman. You have an exponentially better chance of getting the player you want the higher you are in the draft order.

could be a good deal for both sides... but i wouldn't do it if i was Winnipeg at this time. not because i don't think that it's a fair exchange of values, but because you may not have your starting NI LB after Feb 15 so trading away a prospective starting NI until the one you have is locked in is a bit dicey. agree on that. besides collaros is a free agent why trade if the bombers can get him from free agency. Because Ottawa can acquire his rights for nothing and have him signed by February 15. If the Bombers identify Collaros as they guy they want, they need to move on him before the expansion draft.

If we want to have a good offence, we should plan to "start" 5 NI's on offence, 2 on defence. If Pencer or Neufeld win the RT spot, great, Swiston is the better of the 3 so he'll probably end up being our RG by default. We shouldn't rely on it. That's a recipe for a bad season. We really need to solidify the interior though. For some reason the Mack/Lapo regime had this great fascination with the NI tackles and we've done nothing to procure or develop any interior guys other than Greaves and even Greaves was looked at as a tackle prospect.

If we can find 4 NI OL who are ready to play this off-season with the addition of another team, great. We have one guy who is an above average starter right now in Greaves, and even he is pretty inconsistent. You might want to look into the "Montreal model." Other than the last 5-6 years, Popp used import OL more than anyone, perhaps because of his experience with Baltimore. It would be hard to pin Popp down to any blueprint, he drafts NI's who can play and he'll deploy them anywhere from CB to MLB to OT. Berry was very rigid with how he deployed his NI's and didn't use many more than 7 players on offence or defence, the rest were strictly special teams.

3 OL, 2 receivers/tight end/running back, 3-4 guys rotating between 2 spots (DL, LB and DB) on defence. IMO we'd be stretching to claim that we have 3 starting quality NI OL now, so we need to do some work/development just to fill 3 spots, forget 4. Quantity does not equal quality. We can add every halfway decent NI OL prospect from around the league, doesn't mean we can build a OL out of them. Makes sense. Not sure we have the DB or DL right now though. There are enough DL who will be available that can take 20-25 snaps a game. Ideally we'd have 2 DL who can basically take a spot on the DL between them every down in a 40 front. Labbe can play in a 30 front, that's 20 snaps. Sherman isn't bad at playing dime. We could stand to add NI's at all 3 spots on defence, and will absolutely need to if Muamba leaves.

3 OL, 2 receivers/tight end/running back, 3-4 guys rotating between 2 spots (DL, LB and DB) on defence. IMO we'd be stretching to claim that we have 3 starting quality NI OL now, so we need to do some work/development just to fill 3 spots, forget 4. Quantity does not equal quality. We can add every halfway decent NI OL prospect from around the league, doesn't mean we can build a OL out of them.

Who? Anybody who can start likely won't hit the market. At best you are looking at utility guys who can step in and be average (like Parenteau), or guys that price themselves off of rosters like Picard. You can't count on draft picks to step right in. For one, guys that have that talent ready to go will probably get a NFL shot, and the others likely won't be ready. If a rookie steals a spot that's a bonus, but you can't plan for that. If we are lucky, one of our NI "tackles" will develop into an adequate guard and we'll able to acquire an average centre, which we don't have. Starting 4 NI's on the OL would just be pure ratio desperation because the players needed to do it aren't on the horizon. Well, unless there are zero linemen as free agents coming, I don't know how you can even makes that statement now. Doug Berry turned the oline around in one season using cast off veterans, it happens and should happen again with the right man in charge. I don't know which Berry team you're talking about. Taman traded a 1st round pick and Garrick Jones (probably the best import tackle we've had since the 80s) for Gauthier, Abou-Mechrek returned as a free agent the year before Berry was low-balled after 06 and hoisted the Grey Cup for the Riders in 07, Khan was a dispersal draft pick, Picard was a draft pick, Goodspeed was added in 05. What's it matter how he acquired them, Gauthier & St Germain allowed them to start 4 NI's and the team went from 5 wins to 9, just do it. Gauthier and St Germain were never teammates with the Bombers.

Who? Anybody who can start likely won't hit the market. At best you are looking at utility guys who can step in and be average (like Parenteau), or guys that price themselves off of rosters like Picard. You can't count on draft picks to step right in. For one, guys that have that talent ready to go will probably get a NFL shot, and the others likely won't be ready. If a rookie steals a spot that's a bonus, but you can't plan for that. If we are lucky, one of our NI "tackles" will develop into an adequate guard and we'll able to acquire an average centre, which we don't have. Starting 4 NI's on the OL would just be pure ratio desperation because the players needed to do it aren't on the horizon. Well, unless there are zero linemen as free agents coming, I don't know how you can even makes that statement now. Doug Berry turned the oline around in one season using cast off veterans, it happens and should happen again with the right man in charge. I don't know which Berry team you're talking about. Taman traded a 1st round pick and Garrick Jones (probably the best import tackle we've had since the 80s) for Gauthier, Abou-Mechrek returned as a free agent the year before Berry was low-balled after 06 and hoisted the Grey Cup for the Riders in 07, Khan was a dispersal draft pick, Picard was a draft pick, Goodspeed was added in 05.

Who? Anybody who can start likely won't hit the market. At best you are looking at utility guys who can step in and be average (like Parenteau), or guys that price themselves off of rosters like Picard. You can't count on draft picks to step right in. For one, guys that have that talent ready to go will probably get a NFL shot, and the others likely won't be ready. If a rookie steals a spot that's a bonus, but you can't plan for that. If we are lucky, one of our NI "tackles" will develop into an adequate guard and we'll be able to acquire an average centre, which we don't have. Starting 4 NI's on the OL would just be pure ratio desperation because the players needed to do it aren't on the horizon.

Pencer and Neufeld are redundant. Neither one can play guard at a level to start in the CFL. The only way we try to start 4 NI OL is if Burke is retained. Anyone with half a brain will make better use of the collection of NI's at receiver/TE/RB. I want to see Neufeld's broken leg healed to the point he can at least practice before I'd consider protecting him.

Kohlert is a free agent. If he were signed for 2014, I'd definitely agree with you. There's probably no use in protecting Suber and Stewart. Since we can only lose one import, it's not going to be a free agent. Maybe substitute Ford and Mainor in for Suber and Stewart. Mainor makes little sense to me. We bring in DE's off the street, let them practice for a week and they are as good or better.

The take it or leave it, not our problem attitude has been the common approach to customer service through the transition to the new stadium and asset sale. Starts with a couple people in leadership positions that are in way above their level of competence, and I'm not talking about Buchko or Miller.

Lapo tried to make him Jason Tucker, he had trouble tracking the ball on one set of routes on the tree and they kept trying to force that corner route until they destroyed his confidence in that offence entirely. Bowman makes lots of plays on deep balls, did here, in Regina and in Edmonton now.

He's sort of like the Tim Burke of quarterbacks. He'd be a great one if he could throw the ball. Not sure why Toronto went heavy blitz in the 2nd half. Sit on routes and you are pretty much guaranteed that Hall won't complete many passes for first downs because he can't place the ball on intermediate routes, and chances are pretty good you'll be returning INTs. That said, I guess you can't quibble too much with a gameplan that limited the opposition to 20 points.

I don't even care about the money. I need a reason to continue supporting this team. I need to see some progress towards the operation of a professional football team in the 21st century. At this point, I feel like the family member of the drug addict who keeps slipping them $40 to get their next fix. I just can't justify continuing to blindly support/enable this "community-owned" organization that is severely flawed, sadly even more so off the field than on. If you told me a year ago that the Football Club would bungle their relationship with me as a paying customer and fan so immensely that I'd basically have zero interest in renewing my season tickets I wouldn't believe it possible, but they've managed to do it.

Kelly was good for a play or two a game and doesn't have much of an all-around game. Hardly a cornerstone player that should stop the Bombers from looking at other prospects. Denmark's guaranteed himself a job somewhere next season, great receiver that can play every spot.

I don't think they can afford to keep Burke, even if keeping him seems like a way to save money. Say goodbye to 10,000 season ticket holders, although many will be gone regardless you might be able to salvage some with the promise of a halfway competent coach and manager. That said, it wouldn't shock me if they kept the core of this staff together, mostly due to cost.

He did use one time out on the play after Foster took a knee. It was the same play where the command centre reviewed a catch. Isn't that a forced timeout when there is an injury, or is that NFL I'm thinking of? NFL. The only way to lose a timeout in the CFL is by losing a 2nd challenge.

And he's not interested in any position where he doesn't have final say, so he's basically guaranteed that he never will manage a CFL team.

Can the Football Club afford all the comp'd meals...Wade Miller CEO, Duane Forde GM?

Obviously we're talking base salary though. Yes, but to be honest, other than Muamba, Edem and Heenan, most of the recent 1st rounders aren't hitting the jackpot on their incentives. The potential is there, but they aren't producing or playing enough to meet them. They are hitting roster bonuses which leave them at still below average CFL salaries. It's not like the NFL before the rookie cap where high picks were handed the biggest contract on their team.