Potential defensive dynasty

[peggars]

Looking back on the unreal progress this defensive squad has made in the past few weeks and youthfulness of not just role players, but impact players, i think we are on the verge of a defensive dynasty similar to the 80s.

Looking at our starters (best line up bombers could put out when everyone is healthy imo):

S - Loffler: 24 years old, already a ratio breaker, could be an all star for us for next 6-8 seasons easily

CB - Adams: 27 years old, all star corner, probably another good 3-5 years left in him

CB - Randle: 28 years old, all star corner, probably 2-3 good years left before age and injuries catch him

HB- Johnson: 28 years old, solid hb but not all-star, probably the first DB to exit the team in the future, 1-2 good years left

HB- Fogg: 25 years old, emerging as a solid if not elite level hb and returner, 4-5 good years expected

WLB- Wild: 26 years old, stud, nothing else to say, we need to keep him here at all costs, 4-6 all-star years left

MLB- Bass: 26 years old, diamond in the rough find, has been solid and steady, i dont see us upgrading here this position in the near future, 2-4 good years left

SLB- Leggett: 29 years old, one of the best players in the league, i have no idea how age will impact his play, would love 2-4 years of solid play from him

DE- Westerman: 31 years old, elite DE in the league and ratio breaker, again dont know how age will play out here, could see us signing him for one more year after his current contract is done, 2-3 solid if not all-star years left

NT- Shologan: 30 years old, solid DT with the right passport, is getting old and i dont see us keeping him around after current contract is done

DT- Cummings: 25 years old, solid DT and anchor in the middle, would love to try and keep him here as long as possible, 4-6 solid years left 

DE- Green/Cole: Green is younger but they are pretty similar to me in production, probably on cheap contracts and dont hurt us keeping them around

Guys to step in to roles:

CB- Frederick: 26 years old, good player, could be randles replacement in a year or two, probably has 4 good years in him

DE- Corney: 22 years old, potential ratio breaker allstar imo, could anchor that line for 6-8 years, westermans replacement 

DT- Thomas: 25 years old, has a lot of heart, solid but not a ratio breaker, could see him being a stop gap starter for shologan until we can find a better non-import somewhere and then goes back to current role, will probably be here for another 3-5 years

WLB/SLB- Waggoner: 25 years old, has the right passport but im not sure if he will become an impact starter or remain as a backup/ST guy, which is not the worst case scenario either, probably stays here another 2-4 years or could turn into a ratio breaker....who knows

DE- Martin: 25 years old, his signing got me pumped up, looks like the perfect CFL DE and could easily replace cole or green this season, still young and has not played a snap here but would not be surprised if he became a starter for the next 3-5 years

DB- Roberts: 24 years old, weakest of the new DB recruits but could be a steady player whether in a starters role or as a DI, pretty young but would not be surprised if he is not here in a year or two, but could also stick around 

Looks like we have 3-5 good years ahead granted that we keep everyone signed here, we stay healthy and are not forced to cut vets for cap reasons.  We have a young defensive unit with some young stud players and a DC that has turned them into a force to be reckoned with.  Perhaps we become the Baltimore Ravens of the CFL, winning championships with league best defences and a trent dilfer (nichols).

Edited August 28, 2016 by peggars

[IC Khari]

Good thoughts though , hope you're right!

Edited August 28, 2016 by IC Khari

[iso_55]

LOL!

[wbbfan]

36 minutes ago, peggars said:

Looking back on the unreal progress this defensive squad has made in the past few weeks and youthfulness of not just role players, but impact players, i think we are on the verge of a defensive dynasty similar to the 80s.

Looking at our starters (best line up bombers could put out when everyone is healthy imo):

S - Loffler: 24 years old, already a ratio breaker, could be an all star for us for next 6-8 seasons easily

CB - Adams: 27 years old, all star corner, probably another good 3-5 years left in him

CB - Randle: 28 years old, all star corner, probably 2-3 good years left before age and injuries catch him

HB- Johnson: 28 years old, solid hb but not all-star, probably the first DB to exit the team in the future, 1-2 good years left

HB- Fogg: 25 years old, emerging as a solid if not elite level hb and returner, 4-5 good years expected

WLB- Wild: 26 years old, stud, nothing else to say, we need to keep him here at all costs, 4-6 all-star years left

MLB- Bass: 26 years old, diamond in the rough find, has been solid and steady, i dont see us upgrading here this position in the near future, 2-4 good years left

SLB- Leggett: 29 years old, one of the best players in the league, i have no idea how age will impact his play, would love 2-4 years of solid play from him

DE- Westerman: 31 years old, elite DE in the league and ratio breaker, again dont know how age will play out here, could see us signing him for one more year after his current contract is done, 2-3 solid if not all-star years left

NT- Shologan: 30 years old, solid DT with the right passport, is getting old and i dont see us keeping him around after current contract is done

DT- Cummings: 25 years old, solid DT and anchor in the middle, would love to try and keep him here as long as possible, 4-6 solid years left 

DE- Green/Cole: Green is younger but they are pretty similar to me in production, probably on cheap contracts and dont hurt us keeping them around

Guys to step in to roles:

CB- Frederick: 26 years old, good player, could be randles replacement in a year or two, probably has 4 good years in him

DE- Corney: 22 years old, potential ratio breaker allstar imo, could anchor that line for 6-8 years, westermans replacement 

DT- Thomas: 25 years old, has a lot of heart, solid but not a ratio breaker, could see him being a stop gap starter for shologan until we can find a better non-import somewhere and then goes back to current role, will probably be here for another 3-5 years

WLB/SLB- Waggoner: 25 years old, has the right passport but im not sure if he will become an impact starter or remain as a backup/ST guy, which is not the worst case scenario either, probably stays here another 2-4 years or could turn into a ratio breaker....who knows

DE- Martin: 25 years old, his signing got me pumped up, looks like the perfect CFL DE and could easily replace cole or green this season, still young and has not played a snap here but would not be surprised if he became a starter for the next 3-5 years

DB- Roberts: 24 years old, weakest of the new DB recruits but could be a steady player whether in a starters role or as a DI, pretty young but would not be surprised if he is not here in a year or two, but could also stick around 

Looks like we have 3-5 good years ahead granted that we keep everyone signed here, we stay healthy and are not forced to cut vets for cap reasons.  We have a young defensive unit with some young stud players and a DC that has turned them into a force to be reckoned with.  Perhaps we become the Baltimore Ravens of the CFL, winning championships with league best defences and a trent dilfer (nichols).

Its a little soon for that.

I think frederick draws back in before long, he was our best db over the games he played.

Loffler is gonna cost a good penny to keep around long term, if he doesnt get nfl interest which at this rate he will. I could see fogg getting interest as a returner alone. Over all our D line production hasnt been great for the guys we have there. The lbs and secondary are playing at a crazy level though.

The future is certainly bright though. I do expect to see us come back down to earth a bit in terms of turn overs. But this D is really good with out the turn overs imop. 

[iso_55]

Cummings signed a 1 yr deal so he could go the FA route this off season.

[wbbfan]

4 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

Cummings signed a 1 yr deal so he could go the FA route this off season.

thats 1 yr plus an option. He isnt gonna get nfl interest imop. 

[iso_55]

There is no option year anymore. Once the contract expires he's a FA. I'm sure there'll be interest from other CFL teams.

[wbbfan]

5 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

There is no option year anymore. Once the contract expires he's a FA. I'm sure there'll be interest from other CFL teams.

vets have the right to get a 1 year no option deal, but there are still 1+1 deals for vets in the cfl. 

 Starting in 2014, veteran players signing a CFL contract that is not their first are not required to have a team's option year added to the contract, therefore they may sign a single year contract.

[Mark F]

thanks peggars, good/interesting analysis...

[iso_55]

I remember when he signed the concern was he'd play 1 season for us & have the chance to move on if he wants to. That was mentioned in the media so I'll go with what they said. Now, if we have a great year he may want to stick around & sign another contract.

[ALuCsRED]

Last week was SWAGGERVILLE, Part DEUX!!!! (Just for Jevon)

[blueingreenland]

Well if we need to re-up some of these guys in the future we could cut/not re-sign some of our more expensive off season acquisitions like Smith and Dressler. They haven't exactly set the league on fire (hard to do that from the tub).  

[Arnold_Palmer]

2011 defense was more dominant. But this group has the potential to be great. I think this defense has better depth then 2011 but Jovon Johnson and Jonathon Hefney were the two best defensive backs in the CFL in 2011. That was a scary team. Add a prime Oddell Willis. 

[iso_55]

2 hours ago, blueingreenland said:

Well if we need to re-up some of these guys in the future we could cut/not re-sign some of our more expensive off season acquisitions like Smith and Dressler. They haven't exactly set the league on fire (hard to do that from the tub).  

You can bet that decisions on personnel will be made before FA next February.

[Mark F]

8 hours ago, ALuCsRED said:

Last week was SWAGGERVILLE, Part DEUX!!!! (Just for Jevon)

Swaggerville without the histrionics

It's looking like the O'Shea way, works too. The Bomber version of "do your job"

I sure hope they keep this rolling. so much fun.

[do or die]

I give myself a star, for hanging with the gin, when I could of given up.......

[Brandon]

Lol at using the word dynasty... maybe save that for after we win a cup.

Swaggerville definitely was a high energy defense.... this defense though is much more controlled.  They dont' seem to take to many unnecessary penalties and don't let their emotions get the best of them.

[TBURGESS]

Speaking of a Dynasty after 4 wins and assuming that they all re-sign with us as their contract come up? Other than that, I like the comments about each player.

[Noeller]

Fwiw, Loffler is under contract for another 2 years after this, at about half the salary he'd be making on the open market. Walters doing cartwheels for how that one's panning out... 

[Jesse]

Assuming everyone continues to play as we have come to expect, we're going to have to make some cost/benefit decisions in our secondary. Johnny Adams will be an expensive second contract. Chris Randle is one of our best players but has had injuries pile up a little - do we re-sign him?

Bruce Johnson isn't going anywhere for at least a couple years. Solid HB's are hard to find. Good vet to have back there. And he previously signed an extension through the 2018 season.

But Fogg, Frederick, and Roberts are all great finds and are all under contract for at least next season, maybe also to 2018.  

DLine has a smaller window of our known starters. Cummings will be hard to resign. He's a big contract - we may need the cap room. Shologan is older, and I have no idea what contract length he signed for, but his body should still hold up for a couple more years. Westerman has one year on his contract after this one, we'll see what happens over the next year and a half. Cole looks like he's a good find, but has already been in and out of the line up with injury. Green will hopefully learn to put his athleticism to good use - he's been very hit or miss in limited time. I agree that Martin looks like an intriguing signing. Corney has slipped into the background a bit after a very loud training camp, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

Love our LBs. Starters and depth. Wild, Bass, and Leggett aren't going anywhere. We love them, they love us. Knox and Waggoner are exciting ST'rs. 

The fact is, "Dynastys" are built in the post-season. If they can carry our offense to the Grey Cup, and Walters can keep scouting to replenish the older vets (especially along the line, which isn't complete as is), they have some serious potential here.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Jesse

[Jesse]

Also, check out the OL.

Everyone along the line - other than Stanley Bryant - is 26 or younger. If you take out Hardrick, who isn't starting right now, they're all 25 or younger. Assuming we don't make any coaching changes going into next season - they are going to have a lot of time to row together. 

[Atomic]

Dynasty warriors!

[Taynted_Fayth]

I dont see how we couldnt resign everyone we wanted. Id assume what they are putting together and have put together over the last month and change probably feels pretty good and might mean more then a few extra bucks elsewhere. In a case like chungh n loffler, they will get paid accordingly when their rookie contracts are up so I dont think they are overly concerned. Waltersi doubt will risk losing them by being cheap

[The Unknown Poster]

It wasn't that long ago that we wanted to run Hall out of town.  Did he make changes or is it just the team coming together and getting better as a unit?

[Taynted_Fayth]

I think its just a better team, the additions of loffler, fogg and roberts + shologan and cummings (still need to see a little more from cole but looks great so far) likely makes it easier to use a variety of calls we couldnt before. To much bend but dont break zone, but now were gettin after the ball