Atomic

Could we target Evan Gill if Lavertu goes to Ottawa as expected? Take O'Shea's comment about needing someone who can start right away, and weigh it with this comment: Or even Quinn Smith: But I still believe Lavertu is the number one target. I just don't think we are going to take Goossen or Foucault if Lavertu is gone.

I read an article that suggested that may be a possibility. But I just can't see them passing on Lavertu. He is just a perfect fit, with their OL needs and the fact that Ottawa is going to want French players on their team. Drafting a Franco first overall will be great for relations with the French fans.

Gotta go with an olineman unless they are officially told their pick is gonna go NFL if Bombers take him. btw - I believe all CIS players should be forced to play 1 + 1 in the CFL before going into the NFL draft. Officially told? So go with Foucault, and then watch as he signs in the NFL the next day? Yeah, no one would be cutting down the Bombers for that one. Hamilton didn't think Gaydosh was going to the NFL so they took him first overall. Not doing them much good now. We need someone who will contribute this year. Our Canadian depth was poor and it took a hit this off-season. We need someone who can come in and make a difference. That likely won't be an OL if we can't get Lavertu.

I still feel like we go with a DL like Gill or Smith if Lavertu goes to Ottawa. Foucault is too risky... NFL interest scares me off. If Goossen isn't good enough to start this year, then he shouldn't be our pick. We need someone who can contribute to our ratio right away and IMO that means Evan Gill or Quinn Smith.

Rank Name Position School 1 (1) Laurent Duvernay-Tardif OL McGill 2 (3) David Foucault OL Montreal 3 (2) Pierre Lavertu OL Laval 4 (--) Quinn Smith DL Concordia 5 (4) Devon Bailey WR St. Francis Xavier 6 (6) Evan Gill DL Manitoba 7 (15) Dylan Ainsworth DL Western 8 (9) Anthony Coombs RB Manitoba 9 (5) Matthias Goosen OL Simon Fraser 10 (8) Andrew Lue LB Queen's 11 (13) Adam Thibault DB Laval 12 (11) Casey Chin LB Simon Fraser 13 (--) David Menard DL Montreal 14 (-) Antoine Pruneau DB Montreal 15 (7) Beau Landry LB Western http://cfl.ca/article/final-scouting-bureau-rankings

Oh please. The system has given us the country we live in today. I'd say the people of Canada are doing pretty damn well for themselves, wouldn't you?

What?!!? 9000?!?! I'm expecting a 9-9 record. I have several reasons to be this optimistic.

I'm surprised you're giving Walters and co. a free pass just based on effort. I'm still interested to see the results of all these camps before I go on praising the wonderful job these guys are doing. Sure it looks great in the media but how about on the field? The jury is still out.

Classic Liberal guilt-mongering!

Darrin Bauming said the Bombers are high on kicker Johnny Mark and will try to get him with a mid round pick in the draft.

I'm as nervous about Etcheverry as anyone else, but let's not forget that he has had some success, including going to back-to-back Grey Cup finals in 2009 and 2010. That 2009 defence especially was not only effective but also exciting to watch. Yes his comments are bordering on insanity, but I'm willing to wait and see what he gives us.

Etcheverry's first comments since being hired. Interesting gentleman... http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/new-defensive-guru-looks-only-at-future-255124031.html BRADENTON, Fla. -- If you were thinking getting fired from his last job after just five games had humbled Gary Etcheverry, well, think again. The new defensive co-ordinator of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was defiant here Sunday when asked about his brief -- and winless -- stint in 2012 as head coach of the University of Ottawa Gee Gees football team. Asked how the Ottawa experience -- in which he was abruptly fired after opening the 2012 season at 0-5 -- had changed him as a coach, Etcheverry invoked the memory of one of the world's most famous firings. "Kind of the way maybe getting fired by the company he founded changed Steve Jobs 11 years later when he went back to save Apple," Etcheverry said Sunday on Day 1 of the Bombers' first-ever spring mini-camp in Florida. "They weren't ready for me, and I wasn't ready for them." Well then. It was one of just two Apple references Etcheverry invoked Sunday in what were his first public comments to the Winnipeg media since he was hired as the Bombers' new DC in February. "People always talk about a playbook. We don't have a playbook," Etcheverry said in reference to his unique -- and famously confusing -- defence. "Well, when you used to have a VCR you had a playbook like this," Etcheverry continued, holding his hands several inches apart, "and you still couldn't set the damn clock. And nowadays if you have an Apple product, what's the playbook? What's the user manual? "But they say we're behind the times because we don't have a playbook? S , we're so far behind the times we're ahead of the times." Confidence What emerged here Sunday is that the Bombers have secured for themselves a new defensive co-ordinator who, if nothing else, is certainly not lacking in confidence. But then why would he be? Now in his 35th year in coaching, the 57-year-old Etcheverry has coached everywhere from college to Europe to the NFL to 10 years in the CFL, which included a brief stint as head coach of the Toronto Argonauts in 2002. A Grey Cup winner in 1997 with the Argos and more recently the architect of stingy defences in Saskatchewan from 2008-10, Etcheverry is considered a master of a defence that can best be described as organized chaos, with defenders expected to play all over the field and in strangely named positions such as rover. "I believe he's thought more about football than a lot of people and he's thought about it in a lot of different ways," says Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea, who played under Etcheverry in Toronto. "He's very thorough in his thought process on how defensive football should be played and how offensive football should be played." The admiration is mutual. "I've told people that there's nobody that I've worked with at any point in time that I've had more respect for," Etcheverry said of O'Shea. "It's very exciting. Certainly he's elated and I am for him. Our job now is to get us to where we need to be." So how will he do that? With fleet and finely tuned athletes, instead of the physical behemoths so commonly associated with CFL defences, Etcheverry says. "We do a lot of things that require interchangeability among our players, so we can't have a bunch of 300-pounders out there, because they can't run on this big-ass field... "We cause confusion, there's no question about it," Etcheverry continued. "We want to be multiple, and to be multiple you gotta have interchangeable athletes... Multiple everything. Multiple alignments, multiple movements, multiple coverages, multiple, multiple, multiple... "If we're gonna err, we're gonna err on the side of speed."

Rick Zamperin ‏@rickzamperin 2m BREAKING: Former #Ticats centre @marwanhage will announce his retirement from the #CFL Monday. #REDBLACKS #HamOnt Not totally unexpected. Ottawa kinda took a risk on this one.

Who? Quentin Saulsberry? There not much. But he is #55 in this video: http://www.patriots.com/media-center/videos/2012-Draft-Prospects---Quentin-Saulsberry-C/70478f85-2110-4d6c-8dc4-e21621c735ac

McRath, Maurice Leggett, Leon Williams, and Mario Urrutia are all interesting prospects. Certainly whoever wins the starting MLB job will have a great chance at making an impact.

Rule 3 from the Lefty handbook: When someone says something you don't have a response for, act offended and cry 'Politically Incorrect'! Too funny!

Thanks for the clarification guys.

You can't play AHL the year of your draft. It's either NHL or back to junior. I don't believe that's true? JC Lipon and Brenden Kichton were both drafted this year and played in St. John's....

No, you come on. This time, he relates just the story. That shows me you didn't read the article I'm talking about. Here: .http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/football/bombers/Melting-snow-damages-new-stadium-254417861.html Far different take than Friesen. My mistake, I actually was looking at the wrong article.

Oh come on. Kives does the exact same thing Friesen does, but because he is not a sports reporter his target is the City of Winnipeg... not the Bombers.

Alright then. Bogo and Pav for Eberle and a draft pick. Yes, that will be fine.

There is no chance we could get Hall for that price. He's one of the best offensive players in the league. Those type of guys don't get traded for 2nd pairing dmen & subpar goalies. Yeah but Edmonton's management is confused and desperate. We should be able to take advantage in some way.

I wonder if we could move Bogo and Pav to Edmonton for a stud forward like Taylor Hall. Though I'm not sure who would take a chance on Bogo with him going through rehab yet again.

He has been pretty damn impressive. But we just don't know.... I mean, the guy was in the ECHL for a reason, right? Keep him in the organization, but don't make any plans around him being part of the Jets equation next season.

And now Billy Gunn is back in the WWE. The circle of life.