Some light reading

[Super Duper Negatron]

http://3downnation.com/2018/06/13/3downnations-fearless-2018-cfl-predictions/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DrewEdwards3downnation+(3+Down+Nation-Drew+Edwards+√)

 

 

[do or die]

One really needs to apply the Drew Edwards filter on these results..... to get anything resembling accurate data.

[17to85]

Let people keep selling this team short. They hate us cause they ain't us. No one believes in this team and hasn't for years. They will be proven wrong again.

[Mark F]

 

taking a break from that site as of now.

[Mike]

I mean ... seems pretty fair. Nichols being out could be a huge loss for us that makes it impossible for us to catch the top 2. 

[17to85]

6 minutes ago, Mike said:

I mean ... seems pretty fair. Nichols being out could be a huge loss for us that makes it impossible for us to catch the top 2. 

Ok but what about the people putting them 4th or 5th? They go on and on about depth and talent and all that yet assume we are trotting out inept ******* at QB who will be so useless there is no way they can fall ass backwards into a win. I will have as much faith in a rookie QB as I will the actual ******* that Saskatchewan haz.

[wbbfan]

As Chris Jones demonstrated, accurate information about quarterback can be hard to come by...

I don’t want to take a usual suspect, so… Zach Collaros, QB, Saskatchewan.

 I don’t like their offensive line, Canadian depth....

How can soo many people NOT see the utter disaster in waiting that is the sask offense? Bad ol, Qb coming off a bad season + a half a season before that where he couldnt get it done till garbage time, and a guy who averaged just 11 games a year for the last 4 years! Im not big on qbs "record" but any starter and top paid guy on his team that hasnt won in 12 starts is an issue. 

The riders cut bond, maybe the best guard in the league. They cut 2 starting wrs one canadian coming off his best season. They are already in cap trouble and have no NI depth. The "vaunted" D, has sam hurl starting! The best move we made in the past couple years is dumping him. They are starting a rookie corner who hasnt played a regular season game at any level as a db, or on defense. 

They have a real good DL. I really liked judge coming out. They have a couple good dbs and a couple talented wrs. Thats like half a team at best. And missing the most important parts. 

[wbbfan]

36 minutes ago, Mike said:

I mean ... seems pretty fair. Nichols being out could be a huge loss for us that makes it impossible for us to catch the top 2. 

Nichols is also slated to be out for less games then collaros has missed on average the past 4 seasons.

impossible to catch the top 2? no. Unlikely, perhaps. But its also bolstered by the fact edm has 3 starting dbs out to start the season and no longer has franklin waiting to back up, and calgary looks more and more human. The sask situation with collaros, the old and the ni depth, and bc is in even deeper trouble with its ol and qb. 

[17to85]

I just don't see how they can point out flaws with the riders and still put them above Winnipeg. We have a better and deeper team and yeah I'll put our unknown qbs in a good situation on par with their qbs in a **** show situation

[Booch]

also a rookie kicker...A  first yr left tackle and left guard...and no o-lineman of any nationality on their practice roster...how is that team considered to be fighting for top spot?

[wbbfan]

they are probably getting puffed up because rider fans click en mass. Give them some thing they like and the clicks soar. Least thats what I hope it is. I really hope the people who cover football coast to coast arent that dead between the ears. 

[blueandgoldguy]

Fourth is realistic for the Bombers given Nichols injury and lack of a proven backup.  Streveler might be the second coming of Justin Goltz, Max Hall, Alex Brink, etc. for all we know.  It won't matter how good the rest of the team is around him if he unable to put together some drives and TDs.  Qb is the most important position and in a league in which the pass makes up 70% of the plays Streveler will probably struggle in his first few (maybe all?) outings. 

 

Plus it just might be possible that the timeline for Nichols return in 4-6 weeks just might be a best case scenario presented by Bomber management.  Maybe in a few weeks we hear Nichols is not progressing as they have hoped and he is actually out of the lineup until Labour Day or later.  We have seen this happen before...overly optimistic injury estimates.  

 

Possible good news with the fourth place finish is that it should be adequate for the crossover to the east.

[Captain Blue]

I think the rankings are mostly fair. The West is so good and so close that I don't really think anything is unreasonable.

That said, this team has also won the second-most games over the past two years, so I think confidence in the team is also fair.

[rebusrankin]

I think 3rd is fair, perhaps 4th. I feel the Riders are severely overrated for the reasons many of you have stated. Heck BC should feel pissed at how many people have them behind Saskatchewan. Jennings is a better QB than Collaros. Manny and Burnham are argubly the equal of Cater/Roosevelt. Better OL, Better NI talent. Better RB. Much smarter coach.

[wbbfan]

3 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

I think 3rd is fair, perhaps 4th. I feel the Riders are severely overrated for the reasons many of you have stated. Heck BC should feel pissed at how many people have them behind Saskatchewan. Jennings is a better QB than Collaros. Manny and Burnham are argubly the equal of Cater/Roosevelt. Better OL, Better NI talent. Better RB. Much smarter coach.

I think people (probably my self included) are writing off bc as buono is perceived to have one foot out the door. 

[Tracker]

2 hours ago, wbbfan said:

I think people (probably my self included) are writing off bc as buono is perceived to have one foot out the door. 

At some point in a career, athletes, coaches and GMs lose the fire in their bellies. The smart ones ease themselves out the door, the dumber ones hang on until they get turfed, and we will see which Wally is.

[the watcher]

I find it funny that we are being slated for 5th because Mat is out for 4 to 6 weeks (and 1 week is gone).YET everyone including them love to say the real season starts on Labour Day.Our schedule is very decent while he is out.

[HardCoreBlue]

16 hours ago, wbbfan said:

I think people (probably my self included) are writing off bc as buono is perceived to have one foot out the door. 

With what Buono has said during this off season, BC might end up at either end of the spectrum, great season (15-3), win it all or disastrous (3-15) out of playoffs, no middle ground (i.e., 9-9 record). 

Unless of course he gets fired 5 games in.

Edited June 14, 2018 by HardCoreBlue

[17to85]

I think people are really selling BC short. They will be in there with the rest of the west. Honestly the only Western team that I look at having major flaws is Saskatchewan. I will be absolutely shocked if they're not bringing up the rear in the CFL west. 

[johnzo]

Quote

I don’t like their offensive line, Canadian depth or the controversy that seems to follow them around. Still, from chaos comes beauty (and wins.)

bad line, bad Canadians.  NBD.

Linked article is just trolling --  but I do like that Justin Dunk term "Strevelation"

[ediger]

The Bombers could do direct snaps every play for the first 5 weeks and still finish higher than the Riders. Their team is putrid this year.

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, johnzo said:

bad line, bad Canadians.  NBD.

Linked article is just trolling --  but I do like that Justin Dunk term "Strevelation"

strevelation is indeed fantastic. 🤣

[Mr Dee]

Strevelation will sweep the nation..

[wbbfan]

7 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

Strevelation will sweep the nation..

it is the mans obligation 

[TrueBlue4ever]

Just as it is impossible to take the media's 'Rider love too seriously, it is hard to take the opposing 'Rider hate on this site too seriously. They have their holes for sure, and I do not care for how Chris Jones runs that team/carries himself/ingests oxygen, but the man does have a Grey Cup ring and took a team with no proven QB and turned in a 10-8 record last year having to play in the West. Maybe they will suck, but it's too easy to disregard them around here just cuz they be from Saskabush. I think Collaros was done in Hamilton, but is not done as a QB, much like Calvillo was done there but found a re-birth in Montreal. Now, the wild card in this is that o-line, and if they don't show any better than they did in the pre-season, then Collaros may be in for more shell shock at Mosaic and be mentally ruined forever. Jones did not help himself with cap mis-management and the cuts he made, including Bagg and Bond. Saskatchewan in my mind is a .500 team give or take a win or loss, and I think the media is putting them ahead of Winnipeg because (at least from what I have heard the media outside of Winnipeg say) they believe that Nichols is gone longer term than Mike O'Shea's rosy "4-6 weeks, but he'll be back in 4 games and on the 6 game IR" prediction, with many mentioning Labour Day (that's week 12, BTW, with the Bombers 11 games into their year at that point) as his return date. Bombers without Nichols for 10 games looks a whole lot different than Bombers with out Nichols for 3, and the media seems to be hedging their bets on his early return and dropping the Bombers in the standings accordingly, right or wrong. I lean more to O'Shea's math, but who can really know in today's upper/lower body "malaise" world of injury reports?