AKAChip

Nevis, Johnson, Westerman and Okpo are easily the best D line in the league. The rest of the team just needs to catch up.

If I remember correctly he got into a few scraps in camp that year but he and Adams were easily the best DBs out there.

Shaq Richardson was amazing in TC when he was here a few years ago. We don't bring in enough import talent to justify cutting the few actually good original Walters finds.

Trying to get the most yards each play is vastly different from actually getting those yards. He does not get it done between the tackles.

I will agree that the run plays are bland and predictable so that doesn't help but Harris still doesn't do anything for me.

And if L'damian Washington is the best receiver Walters can discover in a year, we are in deep trouble.

This will also be an unpopular opinion but Harris is not nearly good enough as a running back to justify being featured so much. I will give him credit, he is a good blocker and very good as a receiver out of the backfield but at this point his number on the ground come purely out of the sheer volume he gets. It will never happen but Flanders is legitimately a far superior back.

Lapo continues to baffle and infuriate me. I realize running an offence is easier said than done but why he insists on calling routes that leave the receiver stationary when they catch the ball defies any logical reason I am come up with. This is the CFL. There is a ton of room in the middle of the field. Call some bloody slants and give the receiver the ball where they have room to run. I realize some of this is on Nichols, who was abysmal last night but Lapo put the team in a hole last night. And yes I realize JFG was solid last night but he sees way too many balls. Nichols struggles badly with that throw to the wide side. I also am afraid that going into the season with only Fogg as a legitimate returner is going to be a huge mistake. McDuffie was a massive difference maker last year and it did not seem like we even tried to bring in any replacements for him. Lankford is awful. One of the worst returners we've ever had and doesn't even have the ball security to justify his terrible returns. It is a shame because Heath, Randle and the D Line is amazing on this team and the O-Line, Adams and Dressler are really good.

Nichols can't read a blitz to save his life and he can't make a quick read and throw to save his life either.

Mike Miller was insane. He's going to be Arakgi levels of good for this team and the special teams unit was easily the most impressive part of the team. I hated the play calling early and especially late. Lapo seems to have this tendency to never want a greater than two touchdown lead. Or at least when he does get one, he goes ultra concervative and it often times ends up with a blown lead. The less the said about the Bombers time management with 2 minutes to go in the fourth, the better. That being said, it was their first game of the season and the circumstances of it being the opening of New Mosiac made that a difficult game to win even with their opponent being a truly abysmal. Jones has truly destroyed that team and it is beautiful. On defence, Randle was incredible and Hurl had a number of great plays in space and on screens. I was thoroughly impressed with Nevis and Poop as well. I am starting to think that Westerman has a reputation for taking cheap shots at QBs because he certainly got no benefit of the doubt on the roughing the passer call that was actually him. Carmichael was garbage but I will concede that it is not easy playing HB in the CFL in your first career game, regardless of the opponent. I also think Hall gave Glenn way too much underneath early and that contributed a lot to his success early. If I remember correctly only one deep shot from Glenn connected and while it's never a great strategy in the CFL to give the QB a chance at a deep pass, with Glenn the risks are far smaller. I hope the Nichols from the third quarter was a more accurate depiction of what he does this year because for much of the first half, we was absolutely awful. Missed receivers, minimal poise in the pocket, just about everything. Though the play calling I do not believe gave Nichols the best chance to succeed. JFG in particular seemed like he was featured a little too highly early on with Lapo's classic six yard pattern when you need 8 yards. I wouldn't even mind that if they were slants or a route that actually had the receiver in motion when they catch the ball but the outs and short curls on second and long just have to go. Overall, not a terrible performance and I think the score is more indicative of the Bombers shaking off rust combined with the boost of the new stadium than the difference in quality of those two teams.

I hate the horse-collar tackle rule in the CFL so much. If you pull a guy down by the shoulder pads, sure. But this jersey tackle from behind stuff has got to stop being called. It is just ridiculous.

And Stuart is untradeable so he's worse than Schlemko.

Have you ever seen him play? He's a puck mover and absolutely nothing like either of them.

Schlemko is easily better than Chiarot, who is one of the worst defencemen in the league.

He's American.

James Green played next to 0 defensive reps and PLL played sparingly. Your point?

Defensive halfback is an immensely important position. If you'd rather be weak there you are crazy.

I get that and I am not as hard on Hurl as most but would it not make more sense to start Johnson at DT and then have either Thomas and Ekakitie rotate in in a pinch than start Thomas and then have the ability to sub Johnson in if he were to be hurt? Frankly, I think Thomas is nearly on the same level as Hurl but is far less maligned because he has succeeded with limited reps and DT is a far less visible position than MLB.

I will reserve judgement until it is official but if we start both Jake Thomas and Sam Hurl, I will be disappointed.

Yikes @ #67 for Poop. Awful, awful number for a D-Lineman.

I strongly dislike Hodge and find that he comes up with a narrative and will skew is observations to match it. He also seems like he is trying very hard to appear objective which leads him to be overly negative about trivial things like preseason performance. Like judging the number one offence by their performance through two drives against the Esks backups.

He played the first few series on D and then was in street clothes on the sidelines the rest of the game. I assumed he was hurt when I saw him but nothing was ever announced.

His age is relevant, rationalizing it just makes no sense.

The age thing is relevant only in the sense that he is so much younger than Hardy. The fact that Hardy played extra years or junior explains why he is older despite the same draft year but why does that matter in the context of this argument?

How in the world is it relevant why he is older? It doesn't change the fact that he is and only marginally more effective. What is with this obsession with special teams? I get that Richards has done little as of right now and I am hardly a fan but this reeks of you picking a guy to obsess over.