Blue Bomber Free Agent List

[Colin Unger]

5 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

How Colin can make a statement that Couture is somehow ready with virtually no playing time is hard to understand. All I know our OL sucked until Bond started & now it looks like management has made the decision to replace him. If we start an inferior player in his place & Nicholls gets injured then that is on Walters for not managing the salary cap properly. 

At the time that Bond began starting on the offensive line he really helped the offensive line get over the hump. However, Chung was just finding his footing at the time. He's come a long way since then. Goosen has come a long way since then. Hardrick has come a long way since then. It's a bit of a red herring to point out that the offensive line sucked before Bond came on the scene especially considering the offensive line didn't suck when he was injured last season.  I'm not suggesting that its a guarantee that Couture is ready to be a solid starter. I'm suggesting that he came in with starter upside and has now has now gone through the regular trials that an up and coming offensive lineman should go through, he's gotten bigger and stronger, and there's no reason not to think that he's ready face the challenge of becoming a starter. There's always a chance that he doesn't follow the path of Chung and Goosen. But you can't as an organization be afraid of giving your young developing talent an opportunity to start when it is appropriate if you want to make progress.  Every team in the league is going to have guys like this who are going to be given the opportunity to take the next step. Success or failure depends on it.  Dave Ritchie's mindset of playing whatever veterans we could get our hands on had a limited ceiling and a short shelf life.

I'm not trying to take anything away from Bond here.  He's a terrific CFL guard. But I honestly don't think the offensive line would have look fantastic so long as Drew Willy was the starter. A big part of the credit goes to Matt Nichols and an offensive system which attacks defenses quickly. 

Edited February 5, 2018 by Colin Unger

[Mark H.]

2 hours ago, Booch said:

Our online may have sucked somewhat..but a lot of the unsucking has to do with game experience gained in chungh and goosen..and the cohesion and continuity with them all being familiar with each other and knowing how to work together.. and know how they react to stunts..schemes..certain players 

That's the biggest thing with online play and I have seen first hand lines dominate with not necessarily all the best most dominant guys..but kicked add cause they functioned so good as a unit...and that's where ours is at..as well as working with lapo too now going on 3 years.

Couture as well got a lot of in game reps as injury replacement...especially inc2016 and didn't look outmatched one bit.

He will be fine..and if there are issues we can slot foketti in the lineup at either the guard spot...or flip him and Yoshi. 

Not sure if most here would know but he could be a starter on any other team in this league and it's a real testament to where this club is at..and the culture it has developed that he is still on our roster...he was in my opinion one of our key off-season resigns..and love him cause he is a mean nasty sob on the field

If all that is true, then I don’t see how they can keep Bond. Worst case scenario: Couture’s not quite ready & Foketi starts at guard. 

[Floyd]

2 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

If all that is true, then I don’t see how they can keep Bond. Worst case scenario: Couture’s not quite ready & Foketi starts at guard. 

Funny how quickly we forget how weak our OL was on the blind side... since 2007?

And how crappy our boundary DBs were since... Swaggerville?

Bond and Heath leaving... meh.... right??

[Mark H.]

1 minute ago, Floyd said:

Funny how quickly we forget how weak our OL was on the blind side... since 2007?

And how crappy our boundary DBs were since... Swaggerville?

Bond and Heath leaving... meh.... right??

I know right? But all signs are pointing in that direction...

[SpeedFlex27]

2 hours ago, Floyd said:

Funny how quickly we forget how weak our OL was on the blind side... since 2007?

And how crappy our boundary DBs were since... Swaggerville?

Bond and Heath leaving... meh.... right??

Yeah, we have replacements. Who needs Bond, right? #famouslastwords

 

[Colin Unger]

56 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Yeah, we have replacements. Who needs Bond, right? #famouslastwords

 

We can't still be stuck back in the days when everything this team did blew up in their face.   Let's face it. Back in those days we never would have been able to take a castoff qb and turn him into what Matt Nichols is today. Its time to move forwards with confidence that Walters and Co. can replace a couple of positions when certain athletes got too expensive. If we aren't at that point then it wouldn't matter if we brought everyone back or not.   The second a guy would get injured we'd be screwed anyways.  If we do get Leggett back we are doing pretty good. We have re-signed a lot of players and haven't lots key athletes to the NFL like other teams in this league and in our division. 

[Colin Unger]

3 hours ago, Floyd said:

Funny how quickly we forget how weak our OL was on the blind side... since 2007?

And how crappy our boundary DBs were since... Swaggerville?

Bond and Heath leaving... meh.... right??

The thing is that even with Heath back there our secondary wasn't good enough last year.  We had all these so called all-stars but somebody wasn't doing their job.

[Floyd]

8 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

The thing is that even with Heath back there our secondary wasn't good enough last year.  We had all these so called all-stars but somebody wasn't doing their job.

Boundary was about as locked down as you can get

and yes Sam hurl was not doing his job

[Colin Unger]

16 minutes ago, Floyd said:

Boundary was about as locked down as you can get

and yes Sam hurl was not doing his job

The problems with the defense had more to do with just one guy. We need to upgrade Hurl no doubt I just don't believe he was the primary reason for our porous pass defense. 

We need to make multiple upgrades to the defense. When it comes to defense you're only as strong as your weakest link.   I'd like to have Heath back as I'm not one who noticed him freelancing out there. I saw a very good defensive halfback.  I just don't think any CFL team can freak out over losing two import position players. That's the bare minimum of what any team will lose in any off season and typically you'll lose more. We need to do a better job of replacing than our competitors. 

Edited February 5, 2018 by Colin Unger

[Mark H.]

7 hours ago, Colin Unger said:

The problems with the defense had more to do with just one guy. We need to upgrade Hurl no doubt I just don't believe he was the primary reason for our porous pass defense. 

It was a domino effect - the safety was often lined up as an extra linebacker.

[blueingreenland]

I agree with Colin. We are in a better spot than we have been for years. We all agree we have to get better but that is also the thinking of 8 other teams who all have to abide by the salary cap.

[SpeedFlex27]

How can the Riders sign all these players & be under the cap? Today I read that now they're in the running to sign Adarius Bowman. How can they sign every expensive veteran player out there??

[Tracker]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

How can the Riders sign all these players & be under the cap? Today I read that now they're in the running to sign Adarius Bowman. How can they sign every expensive veteran player out there??

I believe that Chris Jones has amply demonstrated that it is easier for him to get forgiveness than permission. Sort of like Trump and Ms. Daniels.

[Mark H.]

23 hours ago, Floyd said:

Funny how quickly we forget how weak our OL was on the blind side... since 2007?

Well, part of the problem with previous OLs was the lack of receivers who could stretch the field. Teams could keep more defenders in the box when they played the Bombers. 

[Colin Unger]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

How can the Riders sign all these players & be under the cap? Today I read that now they're in the running to sign Adarius Bowman. How can they sign every expensive veteran player out there??

Because they pay their players in bags of weed!

[Colin Unger]

54 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Well, part of the problem with previous OLs was the lack of receivers who could stretch the field. Teams could keep more defenders in the box when they played the Bombers. 

Yeah.  Before Walters and Miller took over we were coming from decades of not doing anything the right way.  We are still catching up IMO from years of neglect at the draft.  Had we drafted for the last 10 years like we have in the past 4 years we'd probably have at least 2 additional experienced Canadian offensive lineman on the team. We'd have an embarrassment of riches.  All of our good Canadian offensive lineman are Chung's age or younger. Kind of like the Jets in that way. They've got way more talent Scheifele's age and under then they do players that are older. 

[Dr. Blue]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

How can the Riders sign all these players & be under the cap? Today I read that now they're in the running to sign Adarius Bowman. How can they sign every expensive veteran player out there??

Because they don't have a lot of money tied up on their QBs... oh wait...

Because everyone wants to live in Regina, and will take a pay cut to do so... 

They will just 6 game these guys until the playoffs, therefore the majority of their salaries don't count against the cap.

[SpeedFlex27]

2 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Well, part of the problem with previous OLs was the lack of receivers who could stretch the field. Teams could keep more defenders in the box when they played the Bombers. 

Receivers have nothing to do with the ability to block. Either you can or can't. 

[Mark H.]

7 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Receivers have nothing to do with the ability to block. Either you can or can't. 

A D can apply more pressure when a QB has subpar receiver talent to throw to - you know it. 

[sweep the leg]

Leggett will be back, possibly, I think?  Was listening to 92 this morning and KB was on. I was getting recycling together, so I didn't hear the whole thing, but I'm almost positive he said Leggett has re-signed and it will be announced soon. Wheeler and Turnbull were making a big deal of him being an insider, so I think that's what it was.

Not an airtight source, but take it for what it's worth.

 

[Tracker]

10 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Receivers have nothing to do with the ability to block. Either you can or can't. 

If your receivers cannot get open, then the O-line has to hold their blocks longer.

[Goalie]

 

[Booch]

huge

[Mark F]

Good news.

play a few more years , win Grey Cup for Bombers, then Bomber coaching staff.

 

Edited February 6, 2018 by Mark F

[Super Duper Negatron]

One of my all time favorite Bombers.