Darian Durant signs with Bombers

[Nickthesizz]

18 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Everything is the Bombers do is wrong?  This is the first off season move that I really dislike. I questioned re-signing Wild due to injury concerns and Nevis because he is expensive and was outplayed by the much cheaper Johnson, but I loved re-signing Randle and Bryant and I didn't complain about any of the other off season moves, but that doesn't matter cuz mbrg gotta mbrg. 

As for Cato being lucky... you bet he was, and I never suggested he wasn't, but that's not the only way to judge a QB. I didn't say he was my #1 choice . That would be Adams from the Riders. I didn't suggest that either of them were  to complete for the #1 job against Nichols, so what you really want to look at is how Cato compares to Davis/LeFevour. Cato threw for almost 10 times as many yards (3570) in his 2 year career than Davis (377) in his 3 year career and more than LeFevour (2620) in his 5 year career. He's only 25 and he has more playing time than Davis(28)/LeFevour(30) combined. 

Durant peaked yards wise in 2010 and hasn't played a full season since then. His Eff Rating was 93.3 in 2016 which is below most of the other starters including Cato and Jennings. Willy was the only starting QB below him. Durant's Eff Rating in 2017 was even worse at 85.1. Jennings and Collaros were the only 2 starters below him. I'll be very surprised if Durant turns it around this year, but luckily we don't need him to be #1 unless Nichols goes down.

This is the exact argument that was made when I suggested the Bombers sign Henry Burris a couple years ago.

[Fatty Liver]

20 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Rakeem Cato?  Is this for real?  He's never going to throw another pass in the CFL.  Might as well be pining for Nealon Greene.

Cato be busy, he ain't got time for no mind games.

https://florida.arrests.org/Arrests/Rakeem_Cato_33547905/

[Goalie]

1 hour ago, Gotmilt said:

What's your point? I was comparing Glenn  and Durant.

Both are backups who wont play much. Glenn is also 3 years older than Durant. 

[Eternal optimist]

45 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

As for Cato being lucky... you bet he was, and I never suggested he wasn't, but that's not the only way to judge a QB.

Other former CFL studs currently slated to play in the American Arena League (which has its inaugural season in 2018)

Ronald Johnson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Johnson_(American_football)

I probably could've found more, but only about half of the teams actually have a functioning website with a roster.

[Tracker]

2 hours ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

Cato be busy, he ain't got time for no mind games.

https://florida.arrests.org/Arrests/Rakeem_Cato_33547905/

Apparently the charges were out of county and had to do with brandishing a firearm. Talent doesn't always mean smart.

[SpeedFlex27]

On ‎1‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 11:10 AM, Rod Black said:

Salary details haven’t been released which leads to speculation that he wanted to end his career with another grey cup ring. He spent over a decade in a dump at Regina always envious of any opportunity to play in our forested megalopolis, Winnipeg.  From Assiniboia to St. Vital, to the St.Pauls, to the Oakbank he has cherished this opportunity to live where we create outstanding garlic sausage, remarkable breads, Jennie’s cakes and Ellmans pickles. It’s an incredible dream great come true. With the Zoo, IGF, professional hockey, and the Big Blue personnel, he views this move as a instant improvement in his quality of life. Hopefully he can contribute to the teams success as he much as receives in benefits. 

Dieter Brock loved the zoo & D i c k  Thornton liked every road that lead out of Winnipeg.

Edited January 23, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[Tracker]

3 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Dieter Brock loved the zoo &  D i c k  Thornton liked every road that led out of Winnipeg.

If Brock loves zoos,  he ought  to feel at home with the Riders and Alouettes.

Edited January 23, 2018 by tracker

[Rod Black]

3 hours ago, bluto said:

You may have missed my prior post when I was asking, but I wondered to what extent you could attribute the sh__show that was in Montreal last year with Durant's play level? Any? And if so, what sort of boost it could be to his confidence and form in coming to a team that plays better football and actually seems to have a good clubhouse atmosphere?

Sure.  A breath of fresh air for Durant. He finds the Bomber team atmosphere uplifting. It’s been done before. The venerable A. Calvillo was still very efficient and valued at ages 37 and 38. D. D. Is no where near the caliber of  AC, but my point is, “where there’s dirt, there’s money”. 

[Rod Black]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Dieter Brock loved the zoo & D i c k  Thornton liked every road that lead out of Winnipeg.

Thornton was always sloshed. Spent three days on the Perimeter Highway before deciding to take a plane. 

[SpeedFlex27]

24 minutes ago, Rod Black said:

Thornton was always sloshed. Spent three days on the Perimeter Highway before deciding to take a plane. 

I remember a story about Thornton. He always felt he was the best qb on the Bomber roster but Bud Grant thought otherwise. The story goes that in 1964 when the Bombers won just a single game that season, he paid kids to walk around Winnipeg Stadium during one home game with signs proclaiming "We Want Thornton" on them. Or something like that. He was traded to the Argos in 1967. 

[mbrg]

2 hours ago, Atomic said:

Rakeem Cato?  Is this for real?

It's...truly remarkable.

Cato wasn't just statistically the luckiest QB in the league, he was also statistically the worst.  The worst.  He was the worst before luck was factored in, and surged even further to the top (bottom?) when lucky missed interceptions were included.  That's when he became the super-worst.

Of course, the half about being lucky was included and the half about being the worst was omitted.

Rich or someone will come along and delete this eventually - argue the post, not the poster - but when every post the poster makes is smothered in poster-juice...always half the story and none of the context, then...?  They can't be separated out.

 

Let's take the Bombers out of this completely and show how it's done.

Reality for most:  The Jets are one of the top teams in the NHL.

Context-free "truths":  The embarrassing Jets are BEHIND AN EXPANSION TEAM!!! in the standings.

Reality for most:  The Jets won two extremely tight road games.

Context-free "truths":  The embarrassing Jets can only manage ONE GOAL IN 60 MINUTES OF HOCKEY!!! these days.

 

I know this is over the top silliness, but what do you do with this never-ending nonsense?  Sigh, shrug, hold the mirror of satire up to it to demonstrate how farcical it is, wait for the post to get deleted, wash rinse repeat, six more weeks of winter, here's to you Mrs. Robinson, the end.

As for Durant, it's a low-risk medium-reward signing and hopefully we don't need him with Nichols going wire to wire, lifting the Grey Cup 10 months from now.

[Mark H.]

4 hours ago, bluto said:

You may have missed my prior post when I was asking, but I wondered to what extent you could attribute the sh__show that was in Montreal last year with Durant's play level? Any? And if so, what sort of boost it could be to his confidence and form in coming to a team that plays better football and actually seems to have a good clubhouse atmosphere?

Don't hold your oxygen...

[bluto]

8 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Don't hold your oxygen...

Why not? It was a polite inquiry with the sole motive of exploring the truth of the topic at hand. 

[TBURGESS]

14 hours ago, bluto said:

You may have missed my prior post when I was asking, but I wondered to what extent you could attribute the sh__show that was in Montreal last year with Durant's play level? Any? And if so, what sort of boost it could be to his confidence and form in coming to a team that plays better football and actually seems to have a good clubhouse atmosphere?

Sorry, I actually did miss it.  Durant was part of the problem in Montreal, not part of the solution. He himself said that he needed to play better and stayed in Montreal on a bye week to go thru every pass he'd made up until that time. Didn't help, tho.  He still came out and played badly after that. FTR: He was part of the Riders problems in 2016 too.

Everyone was talking about it last year, from sports casters to fans in forums. I'd guess if we hadn't signed Durant ourselves, that most on this forum would say he's done.

[Brandon]

I'd like to read any arguments or opinions on the people who would think that Darian Durant is a downgrade from Dan LeFevour?  

I don't get all the complaining about the guy being washed up ,  passed his prime,  stinking in Montreal?   The only comparison would be DD and DLF....  I can't see anyone thinking that the fever makes us a better club over Double D's?

[Atomic]

1 minute ago, Brandon said:

I'd like to read any arguments or opinions on the people who would think that Darian Durant is a downgrade from Dan LeFevour?  

I don't get all the complaining about the guy being washed up ,  passed his prime,  stinking in Montreal?   The only comparison would be DD and DLF....  I can't see anyone thinking that the fever makes us a better club over Double D's?

The argument is that we can win with Dan LeFevour throwing 80 yards per game because the rest of our entire roster will be so improved by saving hundreds of thousands on our backup QB.

In other words, it's a total fantasy.

[bluto]

2 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Sorry, I actually did miss it.  Durant was part of the problem in Montreal, not part of the solution. He himself said that he needed to play better and stayed in Montreal on a bye week to go thru every pass he'd made up until that time. Didn't help, tho.  He still came out and played badly after that. FTR: He was part of the Riders problems in 2016 too.

Everyone was talking about it last year, from sports casters to fans in forums. I'd guess if we hadn't signed Durant ourselves, that most on this forum would say he's done.

I know what you're saying, but I think it is (and was last year) still an open question whether Durant has another run of form left in him. Given better surroundings this season, there'll be no excuse if he's lost it.

I also thought that last season when he shouldered the blame for the Al's crappy play that it showed maturity and leadership. There certainly was enough players and coaches that could've shared the blame. Perhaps a sign that he's grown some character. 

Thanks for the reply. Regardless of what some might think, I don't doubt that if Durant has to line up under centre that you'll be supporting him and hoping he leads you to a win.

[do or die]

More than willing to trot Durant out there.....after watching what happened when Nichols went down,  last year.    Obvious doubts about him as a starter,  the last couple of years - but that is not what he is here for.    

[TBURGESS]

I'm not saying that LeFevour is any good or that we should have kept him or that we even should have signed him in the first place (Last off season's I hate this signing argument) or that he is an upgrade over Durant. I doubt anyone would say that. So no, that's not the argument.

1 hour ago, bluto said:

I know what you're saying, but I think it is (and was last year) still an open question whether Durant has another run of form left in him. Given better surroundings this season, there'll be no excuse if he's lost it.

I also thought that last season when he shouldered the blame for the Al's crappy play that it showed maturity and leadership. There certainly was enough players and coaches that could've shared the blame. Perhaps a sign that he's grown some character. 

Thanks for the reply. Regardless of what some might think, I don't doubt that if Durant has to line up under centre that you'll be supporting him and hoping he leads you to a win.

That's the big question. If Durant can get back to anywhere near where he was in 2013/14 (Very slim possibility to me) then he'll be a good signing, assuming that we need him for more than a game or two. 

You're right about me cheering for him when he gets in. I'd rather be wrong about Durant than right now that we've signed him.

Edited January 23, 2018 by TBURGESS

[Doublezero]

Bombers must be satisfied that whatever was causing Durant to repeatedly throw balls into the turf, is correctable.

Kavis said at the time that it was simply a case that Durant's mechanics were off. How is that possible with a vet of Durant's experience?

Hopefully he'll get a couple of quarters of game action in preseason and everyone will get a chance to see if he can throw on target.

[GCn20]

On ‎2018‎-‎01‎-‎22 at 9:15 AM, bluto said:

Attempts to engage TBurg's inner Devil's Advocate:  How much of looking like he's "done" would or could you ascribe to having been in the dumpster fire that is the Alouette Football Club?

Durant was god awful last year. It wasn't entirely his fault but some of it definitely was. He needs to hit the reset button and have this year to find his game again. This is a win/win proposition for the Bombers and Durant. He gets to get his feet back under him without the pressure of being the franchise QB. I don't think, because of his age, that he will get much opportunity to be a starter again but he can certainly become a highly coveted backup for the next few years in this league. I'm sure that's not ideal but a highly paid CFL backup still beats the heck out of the unemployment line....and you never know...you might get to lead your team to one last GC victory.

I like Durant's chances of doing well at his position this year a heck of a lot more than I like Collaros's chances of doing well at his.

[blue_gold_84]

2 hours ago, Doublezero said:

Bombers must be satisfied that whatever was causing Durant to repeatedly throw balls into the turf, is correctable.

Kavis said at the time that it was simply a case that Durant's mechanics were off. How is that possible with a vet of Durant's experience?

Hopefully he'll get a couple of quarters of game action in preseason and everyone will get a chance to see if he can throw on target.

Well, for the first time in quite a few years, he'll have an actual O-line in front of him. He'll also get to work with LaPolice, with whom he had considerable success. He's also joining a winning team as a backup and isn't being expected to lead a dumpster fire. But sure, feel free to ignore all of those factors.

And we all know Kavis Reed never talks out of his ass. Oh, wait...

[kelownabomberfan]

Durant played well in the miracle comeback game against the Bombers. Not sure what happened after that.

[Noeller]

I totally understand the people who are upset if we overpaid for his services, to the point where it costs us at other important positions (MACK), but I just have more faith in Kyle Walters than to think he'd put us in that position...

[Booch]

EXACTLY