Is Drew Willy finished here?

[Rod Black]

In recent CFL history, players faultering badly and finding a new notable life in football has occurred. A part of the Anthony Cavillo career story is how he had one step out the door for a number of seasons before finding his groove in Montreal. He did have to change teams several times to become the record setting qb that he became, but his career was salvaged, blossomed and will result in the HOF placement.

[17to85]

It's funny they bring it up because I see so many similarities between Willy and Glenn in 08. The situations are so damned close it's not even funny and I actually think Glenn is probably the best comparable for Willy out there. decent qb if surrounded by the right mix of people but not the guy who will carry a crappy team on his back. 

[rebusrankin]

I think we ultimately go back to him. Pay cut or gone in the off-season.

Willy is not Glenn. Glenn had three season with us with at least 25 td passes, Willy has 27 total, including 14 as a high.

Who takes him in the off-season?

[Ripper]

Is Willy finished?  Not at the moment, the second Nichols coughs up a juicy pic-6, Willy will be back. I do believe this will be his final season in Winnipeg.

[Stickem]

IF Willy can somehow find what he's lost..he'll hang around....400,000 big ones should certainly be enough incentive BUT a big drawback if we were thinking trade...Nobody will want to pick up that contract, especially the way he's been playing lately...Nichols would have to totally crap the bed or get nic'd, to see a Willy return...I do think he's finished here if Nichols can prove he has the goods to carry this team to the end of the season..The Bomber braintrust will then proceed to rid themselves of Willy and his big contract...He could be released but most likely not before the end of this year...To say he's 'finished here' as of now, is a little premature...to say he is sliding towards the precipice of an exit here would be accurate...Tough call for sure, as a lot can still happen, including a dramatic turn around.... presently that would be just wishful thinking. 

[Ripper]

If Nichols plays good and Toronto sucks without Ray, you may have a trading partner with the Cheeseburgular.  We bought magic beans from him twice this year so be careful. Check obituaries and retirements before trading with him, just sayin. 

[IC Khari]

... and MOS too

Edited July 26, 2016 by IC Khari

[Stickem]

1 minute ago, Ripper said:

If Nichols plays good and Toronto sucks without Ray, you may have a trading partner with the Cheeseburgular.  We bought magic beans from him twice this year so be careful. Check obituaries and retirements before trading with him, just sayin. 

The cheeseburgler is pretty shifty ( not as shifty as Wally though)...I don't know what 'magic bean' in particular we would want from T.O. as I think they're out of star quarterbacks..//??

[Ripper]

1 minute ago, Stickem said:

The cheeseburgler is pretty shifty ( not as shifty as Wally though)...I don't know what 'magic bean' in particular we would want from T.O. as I think they're out of star quarterbacks..//??

You may be looking at draft picks or something, not easy to move someone making 411k .  Not that I'm suggesting you guys should trade him, I'm only commenting that it would need to be someone who needed him. Montreal could be another, after they dump Glenn.

[WBBFanWest]

2 hours 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?   What orifice did you pull that little nugget of "wisdom" from?  You might want to pull out a dictionary and look up the word "overcome".

[ddanger]

29 minutes ago, Stickem said:

IF Willy can somehow find what he's lost..he'll hang around....400,000 big ones should certainly be enough incentive BUT a big drawback if we were thinking trade...Nobody will want to pick up that contract, especially the way he's been playing lately...Nichols would have to totally crap the bed or get nic'd, to see a Willy return...I do think he's finished here if Nichols can prove he has the goods to carry this team to the end of the season..The Bomber braintrust will then proceed to rid themselves of Willy and his big contract...He could be released but most likely not before the end of this year...To say he's 'finished here' as of now, is a little premature...to say he is sliding towards the precipice of an exit here would be accurate...Tough call for sure, as a lot can still happen, including a dramatic turn around.... presently that would be just wishful thinking. 

Agree with almost all of this, and I think you have summed it up very well......it's premature to say he's finished, but he's certainly standing on the edge of the cliff. I think the leash is very short with Nichols, if we get blown out I expect to see Davis play. I'll be surprised if Willy gets to play at all in Edmonton.

And if any of the quarter backs we have here other than Willy can deliver then Willy will definitely be gone at the end of the year. Unlike the NHL these contracts aren't guaranteed, he gets big money this year, and if he can't rekindle his mojo, he may not get anything next year.

[17to85]

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

I think we ultimately go back to him. Pay cut or gone in the off-season.

Willy is not Glenn. Glenn had three season with us with at least 25 td passes, Willy has 27 total, including 14 as a high.

Who takes him in the off-season?

Glenn had a much better team around him though. Good OL, Milt Stegall and Charles Roberts as weapons. It's not even comparable the situations the two were in. 

[JohnnyOnTheSpot]

If we don't start winning and soon, then Willy becomes potential trade bait for any contender who loses their starter. His salary is already in the budget, crazy to get rid of him for nothing and that won't happen.

I think though that sitting will help Willy and he gets another chance here.  If he doesn't take full advantage of it then it is indeed over.

[wbbfan]

If he reaches the the end here another team will pick him up. A lot worse see recycling in the cfl. 

[Tracker]

4 hours ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

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.

 

I think we're past the point of holding out for a premier quarterback and are willing to settle for close to average.

[White Out]

How can he not be? His salary is what will do him in.

 

[iso_55]

5 hours ago, BomberBall said:

Seriously?  You may be overstating things just a tad.

Ever had a serious injury playing a collision sport like football? Like a knee or leg? It takes a certain kind of player to bury the fear in the back of their heads & go out & play at the same level prior to the injury. Knowing that on any given play you could seriously injure your leg or knee again? That's one of the characteristics it takes to play pro football. Not everyone can do it.

[iso_55]

2 hours ago, WBBFanWest said:

Seriously?   What orifice did you pull that little nugget of "wisdom" from?  You might want to pull out a dictionary and look up the word "overcome".

Not everyone can "overcome".

[Atomic]

We need better receivers.  I'm convinced that has been this offence's biggest problem since Walters took over.  Not saying OL and QB aren't problems too but I think receivers have been problem #1.  No superstar, no deep threat.  Adams is average, Dressler is more of a possession receiver at this point, Smith was vastly overrated and overpaid, Kohlert is a nice guy but come on.  Gotta do better there.

[Eternal optimist]

5 hours ago, M.O.A.B. said:

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

Anyone else hate that whenever the Bombers do well, we give them some stupid nickname ... instead of Swaggerville, Willypeg or Matt-nitoba, can't we just be the Blue Bombers?

[Blueandgold]

I mean Matt Nichols isn't very good so Willy will have an opportunity to re-gain his job. The rest is on him.

With that being said, I doubt that he's our 2017 starting QB.

[Tracker]

13 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

Not everyone can "overcome".

There is something called "ego strength". Some people can experience all kinds of bad stuff and shake it off, and some will be so traumatized that it affects them for a very long time, and some never get over it. In its more extreme form,it is called PTSD.

[Rod Black]

49 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

Not everyone can "overcome".

And when they can't, they become another wasted life. That's how it works in your world, doesn't it?

Edited July 27, 2016 by Rod Black

[17to85]

3 hours ago, IC Khari said:

... and MOS too

 

[HardCoreBlue]

3 hours ago, ddanger said:

Agree with almost all of this, and I think you have summed it up very well......it's premature to say he's finished, but he's certainly standing on the edge of the cliff. I think the leash is very short with Nichols, if we get blown out I expect to see Davis play. I'll be surprised if Willy gets to play at all in Edmonton.

And if any of the quarter backs we have here other than Willy can deliver then Willy will definitely be gone at the end of the year. Unlike the NHL these contracts aren't guaranteed, he gets big money this year, and if he can't rekindle his mojo, he may not get anything next year.

If Nichols can't produce, would not that mean it is indeed something other than the QB or is it we just have two really average QB's that need an exceptional supporting cast to succeed? I'm not ready to give up on Willy just yet. You'd think he has the talent to be a great QB in this league, it's just taking longer than we want. That's my hope. Not saying it would happen and can't make roster decisions by thinking this but the  worst thing that could happen to us is we cut him loose than he thrives somewhere else. That would be hard to take.