Armchair GM

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A team playing its first game worries me, because I expect them to come out as fired up as they'll be all year. That said, I love how prepared and disciplined O'Shea's Bombers were last week. I don't think O'Shea is the type that tolerates complacency, and expect a really high compete level out of Winnipeg. Think it'll be higher scoring because I don't think Ottawa's going to be able to play great defence with their poor NI situation. Bombers 36 - Roughrenegblacks 27

Think Dan West is really underestimated by this board. All that we know about him is that he KO'd Watson in practice last year and Watson missed games because of it. Dude's still on the team for a reason, and he can play teams.

Just ask him, he'll tell you. I can hear the interview already "We had what we thought was a great game plan, and we went out there and didn't execute. The guys were taking bad penalties... that's not in the game plan or the scheme. I can't get the pressure for you, or cover guys for you either." It's that "refreshing honesty with the media" that a few posters on here just adored about Timmy.

While we're at believing the announcer... "Patrick Swayze with the 49 yard punt," anyone?

I wouldn't say you were wrong, he was my pick too. Willy was two - best part is Willy was #3 for the bombers (they wanted Burris after Collaros went to Hamilton). It's cliche but so true in a lot of cases, and it is here - sometimes the best moves are the ones you don't make. We missed on Collaros, and we lost out on Burris. Not sure why people continue to claim that Willy was the third choice for the Bombers out of the three available quarterbacks. Collaros and Burris were pursued first because they were available first. It was well publicized that ideally we wanted both Willy and Burris but obviously that didn't pan out with the ridiculous contract he signed in Ottawa. The team is on record as saying Willy is the player they coveted most. No it's not because he's the one we ended up with but rather because he is simply the best quarterback of the three (what a novel concept), and I would have said that before last night as well without hesitation. Exactly. The optics of not going after those two would have been indefensible. Even though the optics of being outbid for both made us look like the same old cheap Winnipeggers that can't bring themselves to raise at the big boy table... if we truly had our target set on Drew Willy... we look really good after what he showed yesterday. I say this as a guy who was firmly in the Willy camp at the end of last year

Grigsby's numbers were great, but from my seats it looked like he made a number of reads that he didn't have the quickness to execute. I remember a few times thinking Cotton's quickness would have helped him bust off big runs where Grigsby cut or stutter-stepped and didn't push off quick enough and got grabbed by a reaching defender. I like how Grigsby's reads got better as the game went on, but can't help but think it was partially because the Argos D was getting fatigued, and we were in run mode to close the game out. Don't know that we'd be talking about a great performance if it were a tighter game. That said, there's something to be said from learning from in-game action. If Cotton's out again next week, Grigsby might have an opportunity to earn the job if he keeps progressing.

Yeah... so Aaron Kelly's not fit to be our 5th receiver. Wonder if he's been reading this board... monster game with some degree of difficulty catches too.

Please post the icing girl. I want to weird people in the office out instead of working this afternoon...

Not to beat a dead horse (although I'd love to)... but isn't that what a leader SHOULD be doing? cc: Tim Burke

I agree in the sense that if you talk to Tim Burke for 2 1/2 minutes (even though you had 2 1/2 years), you should get the sense that he's not a leader, and that by extension a very poor leader for one of the youngest assemblies of talent in the CFL. But to not place blame at Burke's feet for failing to lead, for failing to motivate, for failing to get even an average level of effort out of the team... Burke had an opportunity to show those abilities, and chose not to. How can you be doing your best, when you choose not to do anything to solve your problem?

A 3-15 records says he's being honest about their being very little talent on that team. Why even have a coach at all if it's only about the talent? Give Burke Calgary's roster, and I'll bet dollars to doughnuts it is sub .500. He is simply not cut out for leadership.

Oh sure Burke you assclown, blame it entirely on the players. Sure the talent was below par, but come on... You were the leader. You had the opportunity to show your leadership skills and do something with what you had. You either chose not to, or you were incapable. Neither is an admirable quality for a future HC. I've never had less respect for Burke than I do now.

Romby was a slotback wasn't he? Or as he's aged, has he transitioned to boundary?

Roster spot is probably the least of our concerns. We're likely going to have 2 import OL on the 46 this week, so we could easily just take one of them off. But I think gbill hit on a salient point, the player has to agree to come here (or go to another team as well) .. and let's face it .. Winnipeg isn't the most attractive location league wide at the moment .. yes .. there are some positive things going on but .. when you are part of a perenial contender like Calgary .. Winnipeg is a hard sell. As for managing relationships amongst member teams .. it's a business .. and I wouldn't be in the business of offering up assets for a player I could potentially get for "free". It's a very good point but at the same time ... if you're a young OL, I'm selling you on three things in Winnipeg - game cheque, brand new facility, Bob Wylie. I'll add a 4th: Playing time. There's 6-7 guys ahead of him on Cowtown for 4 starting spots. In Winnipeg, he's likely going to slot in immediately as a 4th national OL behind Greaves, Neufeld, and Morley. Best case scenario for us is that if he is game ready mid-way through the year, we could be starting 4 nationals on the OL. Import T, Greaves, Goossen, Peach, and Neufeld. Morley and Swiston rostered to back up. Best case for him: Neufeld and Morley aren't necessarily locked in for the year. That's big-time opportunity that he'll only find in Calgary if the injury bug hits multiple guys.

Victim of the absolute glut of national OL's Calgary has then. Speaks to how highly they valued Lavertu that they'd deal with Ottawa to take him, leaving vulnerable a guy like Peach that we and probably a couple of other teams are salivating over.

Is what you're saying that for this reason, you don't expect Walters to make a play for Peach? I'm assuming he's a first year guy.

Just want the Bombers to put together a scratch-and-claw type effort that is easy to cheer hard for. We'll look like apathetic, uninterested Toronto Bills fans on the larger stage if IGF is anything like it was last year with Burke's roll-over-and-die team.

I agree with this, I wasn't thrilled with the kuale signing either. But i guess it's not easy finding MLB's out there. Hopefully one or 2 is brought on to the PR because i don't see Kuale being the long term solution, short term? debatable. Wonder what it would take to get bighill or elimimian out of BC. probably more then we are willing to give up but i'd love to see Bighill here especially. Ian Wild looks very capable. The solution might very well be in-house.

Oh good. A 35 year old Korey Banks and an MLB who no one else wanted. People often say you can't buy leadership. We did, for a late round draft pick. Maybe no one else wanted to pay for him, but I guarantee you a few teams were waiting at the door if he were to be released.

Max Hall was the best of a group of really bad QB's that we ended last year with. We brought in 3 new guys, and they all outperformed him. That speaks more to exactly how bad the QB's we had last year were, than anything else.

NameYear Team No. Yards Avg Long TD KELLY, A 2011 HAM 27 383 14.2 34 2 KELLY, A 2012 HAM 11 107 9.7 30 1 KELLY, A 2013 WPG 22 321 14.6 45 0 Career Total 60 811 13.5 45 3 those numbers don't seem to indicate to me that he makes a lot of catches or scores a lot of TDs.. Really is a receiver who has a career best year of under 400 yards and 2 TDs the best we can do? . I'm not saying I want Kelly as our 5th receiver long-term. Just that he's the type of sticky-handed receiver that could be successful as a 2-3 ball/week guy making clutch catches. You can't have 5 1000 yd guys anyways. If you decide to keep a guy like Urrutia or another guy on the PR that's got the tools, but isn't yet ready for game action... we could do worse for a placeholder.

Some people are saying that is a failure on recruiting…what if it's success by Kelly? The Bombers last successful days, Jamie Stoddard was a mainstay at 5th WR. A sticky hands guy without much flash that just caught whatever was thrown to him as a 5th receiver. Why not Kelly? Queue the Stoddard love Stoddard love... LOL. There's something to having an unthreatening guy that catches whatever's thrown at him in a low volume role. Those guys tend to be the open ones on key 2nd or 3rd down passes.

Some people are saying that is a failure on recruiting…what if it's success by Kelly? The Bombers last successful days, Jamie Stoddard was a mainstay at 5th WR. A sticky hands guy without much flash that just caught whatever was thrown to him as a 5th receiver. Why not Kelly?

I just think it's super sh!tty that we need a buffer between rush hour traffic and game traffic. Hate to say the obvious thing, but building it right includes building transportation routes right. There were public outcrys to consider transportation... the bumbling Selingers just flat out ignored them.