Regular Season - Bomber News, Developments & Speculation

[BigBlue]

I think we have finally got it together:

QBing is more than adequate and we have double bench strength ... no QB plays 21 games injury free .... most are good doing 16 games healthy

Running Backs - as good as we have had since superstar Charles Roberts

Receivers - good enough if not slightly better than average ... steady not brilliant

Blocking back /tight end / Canadian receiver - unnoticeable but ok

O-Line - the best I can remember ands THAT IS EVERYTHING

Defensive backs - upgraded from last year ... ball hawks

Linebackers - outside fits in with our DBs real nice but we don't scare anyone with our RUN defense .... its our first major problem to solve

DLine - I am expecting a genuine pass rush & real pressure compared to last year ... I don't have a clue about their skill as run stoppers

Special teams - Medlock says it all on the kicking side; returning is a notch down from last year but still OK .... our nemesis is undue penalties away from the play

Coaching - MOS has everyone's respect and that counts for huge ... still has stubborn streak blind spots that will cost us but hopefully not at the worst possible times .... losing Wylie hurts but lets hope his legacy will carry the day

Coordinators - Conservative by choice ... we may finally have the talent to fit that .... we are the turnover ratio experts and that should be better not worse this year

 

[BigBlue]

Does anybody know how Lapo is running 2nd & 3rd QQB duties? I assume Davis is getting 2nd team reps and Lefevour is more involved running the mock opposition reps but I really don't have a clue....

[JCon]

The Fever came in and did short yardage work in the 2nd preseason game. I assume he's doing it in the regular season?

[Noeller]

The only thing that's really being said is that they're all (all 3 of them) going to be involved in the offense and will have specific duties. I don't think it's going to be as simple as 1, 2, 3.........as for who's first off the bench if *KNOCK ON WOOD* Nichols goes down, I'd bet it's Davis.

[Arnold_Palmer]

I think we're heading into the season in great shape. I can't remember a time when I was so confident in our 1) QB situation 2) NI talent 3) OL it's no secret the best teams year in and year out are the teams that prioritize these three things.

[kelownabomberfan]

6 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

I think we're heading into the season in great shape. I can't remember a time when I was so confident in our 1) QB situation 2) NI talent 3) OL it's no secret the best teams year in and year out are the teams that prioritize these three things.

yes our OL this year is the best I've seen in a long time.  Now they just have to stay healthy.  We should be competitive with every team in the league this year.

[JCon]

4 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

I think we're heading into the season in great shape. I can't remember a time when I was so confident in our 1) QB situation 2) NI talent 3) OL it's no secret the best teams year in and year out are the teams that prioritize these three things.

This seems to be totally ignored when everyone is making their picks.

Our OL provides the QB an extra second or two of protection. That's the difference of making a play or not. Nichols is confident when he steps back that he has time to make a play and he does. Also, the OL creates holes for the run game.

Based on our OL alone, I know we'll win more than 10 games.

[Noeller]

2 minutes ago, JCon said:

This seems to be totally ignored when everyone is making their picks.

Our OL provides the QB an extra second or two of protection. That's the difference of making a play or not. Nichols is confident when he steps back that he has time to make a play and he does. Also, the OL creates holes for the run game.

Based on our OL alone, I know we'll win more than 10 games.

This is everything.....

[Arnold_Palmer]

Not only is our OLine good, we have the depth to sustain injury. Looking at the depth chart for the Riders today. They're one or two injuries away from disaster. 

[BigBlue]

5 minutes ago, kelownabomberfan said:

yes our OL this year is the best I've seen in a long time.  Now they just have to stay healthy.  We should be competitive with every team in the league this year.

 

10 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

Not only is our OLine good, we have the depth to sustain injury. Looking at the depth chart for the Riders today. They're one or two injuries away from disaster. 

The big deal is that we have depth and that will be the difference maker this season ... the reason we are going to finish first this season

BTW why are you comparing us to the Riders? Lets compare ourselves to Calgary and the other top teams

[BomberBall]

The main thing that concerns me is our defense.  Hopefully Hall has been told to be a little more aggressive and to mix up coverage a bit.  Pressure from the D line will certainly help with overall success.  I don't think we can count on another year of +29 in the T/O department...  But we can hope. 

[Arnold_Palmer]

1 minute ago, BigBlue said:

 

The big deal is that we have depth and that will be the difference maker this season ... the reason we are going to finish first this season

BTW why are you comparing us to the Riders? Lets compare ourselves to Calgary and the other top teams

im demonstrating why I think we're closer to BC and Calgary then we are to teams like Saskachewan 

[Bigblue204]

17 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

Not only is our OLine good, we have the depth to sustain injury. Looking at the depth chart for the Riders today. They're one or two injuries away from disaster. 

Bladek certainly has all the potential to be a great player in the CFL. But he looked like hot garbage in the BC game. And he's the back up to often injured Labatte....I'd be really worried if the bombers where in the same position.

[Arnold_Palmer]

People keep on saying we can't  count on being plus 29 on the turn over ratio, I say fair enough, but this is a full year of continuity for the offense. One more year with a confident Matt Nichols, a good running game, a healthy Darvin Adams, and a full season out of Clarence Denmark, and of course a good OL that will allow time for good things to happen. 

Edited June 21, 2017 by Arnold_Palmer

[Bigblue204]

13 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

People keep on saying we can't  count on being plus 29 on the turn over ratio, I say fair enough, but this is a full year of continuity for the offense. One more year with a confident Matt Nichols, a good running game, a healthy Darvin Adams, and a full season out of Clarence Denmark, and of course a good OL that will allow time for good things to happen. 

They play SSK 3 times this year. They'll be getting 35+ turn overs  

[Jpan85]

I think we get a few less turn overs this year but that's off set by a few more sacks.

[Fatty Liver]

8 minutes ago, BomberBall said:

The main thing that concerns me is our defense.  Hopefully Hall has been told to be a little more aggressive and to mix up coverage a bit.  Pressure from the D line will certainly help with overall success.  I don't think we can count on another year of +29 in the T/O department...  But we can hope. 

Hopefully with an entire off-season to analyze the weaknesses of his defence Hall has come up with an effective plan to improve it's performance.  If he just dishes up the same schemes from last season expecting an improved performance based on personnel changes then he may find himself liable for the results.  I have much more confidence that the O will show progression this year, the D is still a huge question mark.

[bigg jay]

17 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

People keep on saying we can't  count on being plus 29 on the turn over ratio, I say fair enough, but this is a full year of continuity for the offense. One more year with a confident Matt Nichols, a good running game, a healthy Darvin Adams, and a full season out of Clarence Denmark, and of course a good OL that will allow time for good things to happen. 

Don't forget our secondary will have TJ Heath for a full season as well.

[Bubba Zanetti]

And the talking heads never seem to mention the fact that Nichols didnt start until week 6 and we were 1-4 with limp willy in control. We could have won 13 or 14 games last season had Nichols been the starter week 1. Sure the turnovers will go down but add significant more QB pressure from our re-vamped d-line PLUS a confident undisputed leader in Nichols, with a completely intact o-line and nearly intact offense around him, and i dont see how we dont win at least 11 again, if not more.

 

On a side note, Rod Pederson Jr, errrr, Jamie Nye has a great Nostradamus like piece on CFL.CA with his predictions for the upcoming season. Here's his Bomber prediction "With a drop in defensive output will also become a drop in victories as the Bombers fall back to .500 or below in 2017". Well written too! Take your watermelon off Nye, its clearly squeezing your brain.

[kelownabomberfan]

3 hours ago, bigg jay said:

Don't forget our secondary will have TJ Heath for a full season as well.

and Taylor Loffler

[Tracker]

I suspect that our defence will take a couple of games to mesh, even if our MLB problem is solved. I also echo the concerns about Richie Hall's strategies, but maybe with a more aggressive front four, that will not be a problem.

[Eternal optimist]

5 hours ago, JCon said:

This seems to be totally ignored when everyone is making their picks.

Our OL provides the QB an extra second or two of protection. That's the difference of making a play or not. Nichols is confident when he steps back that he has time to make a play and he does. Also, the OL creates holes for the run game.

Based on our OL alone, I know we'll win more than 10 games.

It's funny, a good offensive line can make a bad QB look great.. but a good QB can't masque the sheer terror experienced when taking snaps from a bad offensive line...

[Guest J5V]

8 hours ago, Noeller said:

The only thing that's really being said is that they're all (all 3 of them) going to be involved in the offense and will have specific duties. I don't think it's going to be as simple as 1, 2, 3.........as for who's first off the bench if *KNOCK ON WOOD* Nichols goes down, I'd bet it's Davis.

Even if Nichols doesn't go down, is there any chance O'Shea/Lapo will give Davis some playing time if Nichols is struggling or if the score is out of hand either way?

[bb1]

5 minutes ago, J5V said:

Even if Nichols doesn't go down, is there any chance O'Shea/Lapo will give Davis some playing time if Nichols is struggling or if the score is out of hand either way?

Well if it's 51 to 3 for us and 3 min to go..im betting Davis gets a look.. ?

[Guest J5V]

7 hours ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

im demonstrating why I think we're closer to BC and Calgary then we are to teams like Saskachewan 

I still have a little PTSD after Jennings did what he did to our D last year. Looking at this year's D and considering Richie Hall's M.O. I'm more than a little concerned.