Is Drew Willy finished here?

[IC Khari]

Now that he's been relieved of the starting QB role how hard will it be to come back with everything that is working against him here? He's done enough himself (lost his confidence and is playing like Bambi) to warrant it. Maybe he never was starter material, hard to say. If he is and is just simply lacking confidence, can a QB get his confidence back if the coaching is substandard. Can he get confidence back if the receiving core is just OK? Can you get it back with a very green O-line? I'd like to see Drew turn it around, not sure he can. The deck is pretty stacked against his success here it seems. I hope I'm wrong and what many saw in him when he first came here is the true Drew ...

Edited July 26, 2016 by IC Khari

[TBURGESS]

Drew being pulled was something that needed to happen, but I don't think it means we are done with Willy yet. He may even end up playing some in Edmonton if Nichols can't get the job done.

[Mike]

Tough to say.

Tough to say until Nichols plays a game.

Tough to say until we see how they go forward beyond this week.

Tough to say until we see what happens with the coach.

Tough to say.

[17to85]

Nichols ain't no screaming hell and without a strong supporting cast he will get beaten down as well. We will be back to Willy before the season is done and perhaps some time on the bench to watch will help him avoid the panic situations that have been his only real problem the last few years. See how much time is actually being given rather than his internal alarm going of as soon as the ball is in his hands. 

[WBBFanWest]

9 minutes ago, Mike said:

Tough to say.

Tough to say until Nichols plays a game.

Tough to say until we see how they go forward beyond this week.

Tough to say until we see what happens with the coach.

Tough to say.

Cut to the chase Mike, what do you think?

[pigseye]

Competition is good, Willy needs to nut up and get his job back, if he isn't capable of that, then it's his own fault.

[Logan007]

1 minute ago, WBBFanWest said:

Cut to the chase Mike, what do you think?

Thanks, I was trying to think of something to say to Mike, but it was pretty tough.

[WBBFanWest]

IF this set back is enough to finish him with us then, c'est la guerre.  I'd hope that he'd take this as a wake up call, that it might light a fire and a "ah, hell no" and make him come out with a rather large chip on his shoulder.  If not, well, better to know that know and move him down the road.  

[iso_55]

If he's playing scared then a benching won't help him. He'll be finished. You just can't turn fear on & off.

[BomberBall]

1 minute ago, iso_55 said:

If he's playing scared then a benching won't help him. He'll be finished. You just can't turn fear on & off.

Seriously?  You may be overstating things just a tad.

[M.O.A.B.]

honestly i dont think were finished with willy-peg unless of course matt-nitoba lights it out and string wins.

this is just to find some spark for the offense.

i still thinks at some point the Bombers will go back to willy

Edited July 26, 2016 by M.O.A.B.

[Goalie]

Willy will come in against Edmonton when Nichols is carted off the field and light that Beach UP!! 

 

But yeah, I'm with Mike, Tough to say. lol 

[Tracker]

Willy may well be done with the Bombers. He has lost his starting job and if Nichols shows any promise, Willy will not get it back. Willy is being paid to be a top-5 quarterback and I cannot see the Bombers keeping him around as a backup for that kind of money. A head coach who was previously a good QB, like Kent Austin might be able to help Willy revive his career, but some of the intangibles that a good QB needs cannot be taught.

[Goalie]

1 minute ago, tracker said:

Willy may well be done with the Bombers. He has lost his starting job and if Nichols shows any promise, Willy will not get it back. Willy is being paid to be a top-5 quarterback and I cannot see the Bombers keeping him around as a backup for that kind of money. A head coach who was previously a good QB, like Kent Austin might be able to help Willy revive his career, but some of the intangibles that a good QB needs cannot be taught.

Like a capable OC and talent on the field at the receiver and ol positions? For sure.

 

 

[IC Khari]

As pointed out by Penton, history is not on Willy's side here ...

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2016/07/25/bombers-look-to-repeat-history

Quote

If Mike O'Shea and Drew Willy somehow survive the latter's demotion to No. 2 quarterback, it will buck an unfortunate series of events that usually happens to those involved.

The removal of Willy as the team's starting quarterback for Thursday's game in Edmonton marked the fifth time since 2004 the Bombers have demoted their starting quarterback, and the similarities between them are numerous.

For instance:

• They all happened between July 20 and Aug. 7, when the team had three or four losses. The Bombers are in last place in the West Division with a 1-4 record.
• They all came relatively soon after the quarterback got a hefty raise. Willy's three year contract extension he signed last off-season bumped his salary from the $250,000 range last year to more than $400,000 this year.
• They resulted in one playoff berth but no post-season victories.
• In each instance the head coach was fired within four months of the demotion.
• Finally, in three of the four occasions the demoted quarterback's tenure in Winnipeg also ended shortly after he moved down the depth chart.

In other words, the demotion of Winnipeg's No. 1 quarterback since the turn of the century has been nothing more than the beginning of the end. O'Shea is hoping Matt Nichols is the quarterback who can do the impossible and get the situation headed in the right direction.

Here's a look at Winnipeg's last four starting quarterback demotions:

Aug. 1, 2013

Head coach Tim Burke announced Justin Goltz would be the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season and ultimately relegated No. 1 pivot Buck Pierce, who today is the Bombers quarterbacks coach, to the third string role.

The Bombers were 1-4 at the time of Pierce's demotion, and they won only two games the rest of the season using Goltz and backup Max Hall. Pierce was traded to B.C. in early September, and Burke was fired at the end of the season.

The only contract difference between this one and the rest of them was Pierce got his big raise the previous year.

July 26, 2009

The Mike Kelly era featured a No. 1 quarterback demotion, because of course it did.

Kelly traded for lefty Stefan LeFors in January 2009 and gave him a starter's contract, but then he demoted him four games into the season after a 1-3 start.

The Bombers signed Michael Bishop on July 26, 2009, and he started less than a week later in Toronto. The move almost paid off for the Bombers, but Bishop ended up throwing two interceptions in the regular-season finale against Hamilton (the boat game) and Winnipeg narrowly missed the playoffs.

Kelly was fired a month later, and Bishop was released in February 2010, making way for Steven Jyles and Pierce.

July 20, 2008

Head coach Doug Berry demoted No. 1 quarterback Kevin Glenn in favour of Ryan Dinwiddie after the team's 0-4 start. Glenn, who got his first big contract that spring, had thrown two touchdowns and eight interceptions at the time of his benching, and his quarterback rating of 65.9 was the league's worst.

Four days later Dinwiddie threw a 35 yard touchdown pass to Romby Bryant with 12 seconds remaining to win his first start, against the Calgary Stampeders, but he lost the next two and Glenn was back at the controls by mid-August.

The offence never got rolling despite the team's 6-2 finish to the regular season that resulted in a playoff berth, and it was a big reason why Lyle Bauer fired Berry on Nov. 12, 2008, after Winnipeg lost to Edmonton in the East semifinal at home.

Kelly released Glenn the following March.

Aug. 7, 2004

Head coach Dave Ritchie was on the hot seat because the Bombers kept regressing after their spectacular 2001 campaign, so he benched No. 1 quarterback Khari Jones in favour of backup Glenn for a game in Calgary.

The Bombers were 2-4 going into the match at McMahon Stadium, and Glenn lasted only a quarter and a half before Ritchie threw Jones back into the contest. It was too late, however, as Calgary cruised to a 49-27 drubbing of the Blue and Gold.

The kicker was Jones had signed a three year contract worth more than $1 million only a month earlier.

Ritchie got fired the next day, and Jones was traded to Calgary a month after that. Glenn became Winnipeg's starting quarterback and remained in the role until the end of 2008.

kpenton@postmedia.com

twitter.com/PentonKirk

 

Edited July 26, 2016 by IC Khari

[braddman19]

Yes.  Yes he is.  Just my guess.

[M.O.A.B.]

nicholls will string wins prior to LDC 

willy will be traded to Tor after the bye

nicholls will be hurt on LDC

and our bad luck continues...

[Goalie]

It's really all about the Money Willy is making isn't it? Cuz if he was making Nichols money or even a bit more, perhaps he sticks around... But he's being paid eLITE QB money so it really is tough to say what happens. I don't know if he  gets cut or traded? can you trade a guy making that type of money? I don't think you can. 

 

I'll just add... I think it's very likely he gets another chance, when? I don't know but i think it could be sooner than people think, like sometime thursday if Nichols struggles or next week type of soon. 

 

Edited July 26, 2016 by Goalie

[The Unknown Poster]

Willy is now the most popular QB in Winnipeg.  The Back Up.

He'll be back.  Probably before this week's game is over.

[Tracker]

For what its worth, my prediction: Nichols will not set the league on fire but will turn out to be a Kevin Glenn-type QB. Useful but not good enough to build a team's future around. Willy gets cut or traded by or shortly after Labour Day right about the time O'Shea gets canned. The Bombers will continue to wander in the wilderness and Miller will try to placate the masses by saying that it took the Israelites 40 years to reach their destination, so why are fans upset?

Fans respond by building a golden calf at the next home game and Miller climbs to the top of the stadium roof and throws down a copy of the corporate manual during a thunder storm while wearing a bathrobe.

Edited July 26, 2016 by tracker

[Fatty Liver]

42 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

If he's playing scared then a benching won't help him. He'll be finished. You just can't turn fear on & off.

I would suggest there are a few "ingestibles" that make this statement false, starting with spinach.

[Goalie]

It's an interesting game tho, will tell us a few things for sure... 1. Is Willy the biggest problem? 2. If Nichols looks the same or worse, then is the OC the problem? 3. Is it the OL that is the issue? Looks like 3 american hogs this week so that should i repeat SHOULD help, 4. Are receivers the issue? Is it all of the above? or does the QB make the Oline look bad because he's holding the ball 2 long? I dunno, guess we will find out. I have a feeling that QB isn't the actual issue but...  It very would could be. 

[Tracker]

1 minute ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

I would suggest there are a few "ingestibles" that make this statement false, starting with spinach.

But do you know what part of Popeye never squeaked? The part that he dipped into olive oyl.

[BigBlue]

The future of our franchise lies with Dom Davis and Bryan Bennett .... our top two aren't good enough.

[Fatty Liver]

53 minutes ago, tracker said:

Willy may well be done with the Bombers. He has lost his starting job and if Nichols shows any promise, Willy will not get it back. Willy is being paid to be a top-5 quarterback and I cannot see the Bombers keeping him around as a backup for that kind of money. A head coach who was previously a good QB, like Kent Austin might be able to help Willy revive his career, but some of the intangibles that a good QB needs cannot be taught.

Another angle to this is that this is probably Nichols best and possibly his last opportunity to prove he is a starting caliber QB, so he should have all the motivation in the world on his side.  He's been playing QB for 20 years and the time to perform is upon him, otherwise he best dedicate a good portion of each day thinking about his life after football.

If Nichols can play to the level of Sean Salisbury and magically eek out wins using brain over brawn he may hang in there for a few more years as a serviceable backup QB but otherwise he's on the downhill slide of his football life.

 

Edited July 26, 2016 by Throw Long Bannatyne