2021 (??) CFL Season

[bigg jay]

Say what you want about him on the field but off-field Matt Nichols is phenomenal.

 

 

[TrueBlue4ever]

25 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Say what you want about him on the field but off-field Matt Nichols is phenomenal.

 

 

 

One good thing about the Nichols move to Ottawa for me: we were not supposed to play the Argos at home this year due to the imbalanced schedule. At least now when the RedBlacks show up Oct. 2 the club can give Nichols a proper video tribute (which he deserves) and the fans can applaud him (which he even more so deserves) for all he did to bring the Bombers back from the dead into the playoffs and ultimately into a Grey Cup champion in his time here, not to mention all his community work and charitable donations. 

Edited February 3, 2021 by TrueBlue4ever

[Dodge and Burn]

1 hour ago, bigg jay said:

Say what you want about him on the field but off-field Matt Nichols is phenomenal.

 

 

A few xmas's ago my brother got my girls a Harris and Nichols jersey. 

 

I Instagramed a pic of the girls wearing the jerseys and tagged both players. 

 

Nichols shared the pic on his feed and thanked my girls and wished them a merry xmas.  

 

Class act, I have nothing but love for Matty Ice. 

[JCon]

Oops, meant to post this in the FA thread. Anyhow, I'll leave it here too. 

 

At least Hughes won't have to drink so much anymore, he'll no longer have to be in Regina as much. 

Edited February 3, 2021 by JCon

[Dodge and Burn]

I may have missed this but, 

 

I'm wondering if anyone has an idea how Buck is gonna run our Offense? 

Im sure Lapo will have influenced his schemes but this is another storyline im really looking foward to seeing. 

 

I dont see him being a scheme before players strenghts guy. 

[TrueBlue4ever]

4 hours ago, Dodge and Burn said:

I may have missed this but, 

 

I'm wondering if anyone has an idea how Buck is gonna run our Offense? 

Im sure Lapo will have influenced his schemes but this is another storyline im really looking foward to seeing. 

 

I dont see him being a scheme before players strenghts guy. 

I don’t think LaPo was the “scheme over talent” guy many would claim. The talent on this offence was a big o-line, a bull at running back who was a great receiver out of the backfield, one deep threat who had OK but not world class speed, and a QB with good accuracy and could run through progressions but a middling arm and was not a risk taker. LaPo crated a ball control offence that would not light it up but could control the time of possession and limit turnovers, and took advantage of a robot at kicker to get points on the board more often than risking turnovers that kept points off the board. Not as flashy as a high risk/reward quick strike offence, but took the tools he had and maximized its effectiveness and working around its shortcomings. When he had Milt, Khari, and Roberts in his first go-round he loaded up the playbook to use them. When Streveler came in he adapted to incorporate a strong running pivot with much less accuracy and made him a viable weapon that could throw just enough to keep defences off balance. When Collaros came in, the longer pass plays were then incorporated to work to his strengths. People knocked LaPo for a “predictable, boring” offence but it played to the ball control grind it out strengths we had and it won us a Grey Cup. At least that’s how I saw it. Many would chafe at the lack of excitement and non-sexiness of the “not a gun-slinger” style of offence, but you can’t argue with the ultimate result, and it for with the strengths of the talent we had. 

[Dodge and Burn]

5 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

I don’t think LaPo was the “scheme over talent” guy many would claim. The talent on this offence was a big o-line, a bull at running back who was a great receiver out of the backfield, one deep threat who had OK but not world class speed, and a QB with good accuracy and could run through progressions but a middling arm and was not a risk taker. LaPo crated a ball control offence that would not light it up but could control the time of possession and limit turnovers, and took advantage of a robot at kicker to get points on the board more often than risking turnovers that kept points off the board. Not as flashy as a high risk/reward quick strike offence, but took the tools he had and maximized its effectiveness and working around its shortcomings. When he had Milt, Khari, and Roberts in his first go-round he loaded up the playbook to use them. When Streveler came in he adapted to incorporate a strong running pivot with much less accuracy and made him a viable weapon that could throw just enough to keep defences off balance. When Collaros came in, the longer pass plays were then incorporated to work to his strengths. People knocked LaPo for a “predictable, boring” offence but it played to the ball control grind it out strengths we had and it won us a Grey Cup. At least that’s how I saw it. Many would chafe at the lack of excitement and non-sexiness of the “not a gun-slinger” style of offence, but you can’t argue with the ultimate result, and it for with the strengths of the talent we had. 

I would agree on all that. It worked and came to head in the big game, Harris was the catalyst of our game plan and we dominated. 

 

We pretty much have the same personal as the grey cup winning team minus Strev plus Harris who is year older. 

 

Nobody knows if Harris has lost a step. 

 

Does Buck base his offense around Harris and misdirection/short passes like Lapo or not? 

[TrueBlue4ever]

A lot of that probably depends on where Harris is at after 18 months of inactivity, and the evolution of both our offence around Collaros and other teams’ defences. Hopefully we adapt as others teams will have tape on what we already did. 

[17to85]

51 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

I don’t think LaPo was the “scheme over talent” guy many would claim. The talent on this offence was a big o-line, a bull at running back who was a great receiver out of the backfield, one deep threat who had OK but not world class speed, and a QB with good accuracy and could run through progressions but a middling arm and was not a risk taker. LaPo crated a ball control offence that would not light it up but could control the time of possession and limit turnovers, and took advantage of a robot at kicker to get points on the board more often than risking turnovers that kept points off the board. Not as flashy as a high risk/reward quick strike offence, but took the tools he had and maximized its effectiveness and working around its shortcomings. When he had Milt, Khari, and Roberts in his first go-round he loaded up the playbook to use them. When Streveler came in he adapted to incorporate a strong running pivot with much less accuracy and made him a viable weapon that could throw just enough to keep defences off balance. When Collaros came in, the longer pass plays were then incorporated to work to his strengths. People knocked LaPo for a “predictable, boring” offence but it played to the ball control grind it out strengths we had and it won us a Grey Cup. At least that’s how I saw it. Many would chafe at the lack of excitement and non-sexiness of the “not a gun-slinger” style of offence, but you can’t argue with the ultimate result, and it for with the strengths of the talent we had. 

Ok but did lapo get the players he wanted to make his scheme work? Remember when we hired him how he talked about getting more say in his players? Even in 02 he used dump offs to roberts and sellers a crap load. The guy runs a very similar offence everywhere he goes.

[Noeller]

"does Buck base his offense around Harris...." 

If he doesn't, he's a dummy. And Buck's no dummy... 

[TrueBlue4ever]

40 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Ok but did lapo get the players he wanted to make his scheme work? Remember when we hired him how he talked about getting more say in his players? Even in 02 he used dump offs to roberts and sellers a crap load. The guy runs a very similar offence everywhere he goes.

I don’t think he said “Hmm, Milt Stegall better fit into my short pass scheme or he has to go for a better fit”. But yes, his schemes would probably highlight some players more than others, and in some cases individual production would either exceed expectations or suffer. Still, I don’t think Drew Wolitarsky and Julian Feoli-Gudino are 1,500 yard receivers that got wasted by Lapo’s short pass offence. Maybe with Mike Reilly they hit 800 yards or scrape to 1,000 in a career year. 

Edited February 4, 2021 by TrueBlue4ever

[Dodge and Burn]

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

Ok but did lapo get the players he wanted to make his scheme work? Remember when we hired him how he talked about getting more say in his players? Even in 02 he used dump offs to roberts and sellers a crap load. The guy runs a very similar offence everywhere he goes.

Idk, did he get the players he wanted? Enough to win a grey cup yeah? 

[SpeedFlex27]

2 hours ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

I don’t think he said “Hmm, Milt Stegall better fit into my short pass scheme or he has to go for a better fit”. But yes, his schemes would probably highlight some players more than others, and in some cases individual production would either exceed expectations or suffer. Still, I don’t think Drew Wolitarsky and Julian Feoli-Gudino are 1,500 yard receivers that got wasted by Lapo’s short pass offence. Maybe with Mike Reilly they hit 800 yards or scrape to 1,000 in a career year. 

Sorry, disagree about Wolitarsky. He was woefully under used in LaPo's schemes & with Nichols doing checkdowns. He's a thousand yard receiver easily with Bo Levi Mitchell & Trevor Harris.. 

[17to85]

11 hours ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Still, I don’t think Drew Wolitarsky and Julian Feoli-Gudino are 1,500 yard receivers that got wasted by Lapo’s short pass offence.

Those two aren't remotely comparable... wolitarsky is significantly better, and yes I truly believe ha can be a 1000 yard guy if used differently. Might not happen here because of how good and versatile Harris is though.

[GCn20]

12 hours ago, Noeller said:

"does Buck base his offense around Harris...." 

If he doesn't, he's a dummy. And Buck's no dummy... 

Any team employing Harris is going to base their offence around him. It's a no brainer and a pretty obvious formula for success no matter what the Lapo detractors are trying to sell here. The proof is in the pudding. Grey Cup Champs!!

[blue_gold_84]

35 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Any team employing Harris is going to base their offence around him. It's a no brainer and a pretty obvious formula for success no matter what the Lapo detractors are trying to sell here. The proof is in the pudding. Grey Cup Champs!!

Not to mention some of the best offensive production in the league in recent years. #33 is the straw that stirs in the drink in Bomberland.

[CodyT]

On 2021-02-03 at 2:02 PM, TrueBlue4ever said:

 

One good thing about the Nichols move to Ottawa for me: we were not supposed to play the Argos at home this year due to the imbalanced schedule. At least now when the RedBlacks show up Oct. 2 the club can give Nichols a proper video tribute (which he deserves) and the fans can applaud him (which he even more so deserves) for all he did to bring the Bombers back from the dead into the playoffs and ultimately into a Grey Cup champion in his time here, not to mention all his community work and charitable donations. 

Appreciate this but wouldn't hold your breath on fans in the stands

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

5 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Any team employing Harris is going to base their offence around him. It's a no brainer and a pretty obvious formula for success no matter what the Lapo detractors are trying to sell here. The proof is in the pudding. Grey Cup Champs!!

Speaking of Grey Cup Champs... shouldn't you change your name?

[Noeller]

1 hour ago, CodyT said:

Appreciate this but wouldn't hold your breath on fans in the stands

So much can change so quickly.......but right now I'd bet on no fans for the first half of the season, and then limited fans starting after Labour Day...

[CodyT]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

So much can change so quickly.......but right now I'd bet on no fans for the first half of the season, and then limited fans starting after Labour Day...

Yeah. Completely agree.

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2021-02-03 at 2:16 PM, JCon said:

Oops, meant to post this in the FA thread. Anyhow, I'll leave it here too. 

 

At least Hughes won't have to drink so much anymore, he'll no longer have to be in Regina as much. 

So, everyone spend to the salary cap floor but the asshat Argos look to be spending to the ceiling. ThE CFL can be so bush league at times & why Ambrosie won't open the books to the govt or CFLPA. 

[TrueBlue4ever]

3 hours ago, Noeller said:

So much can change so quickly.......but right now I'd bet on no fans for the first half of the season, and then limited fans starting after Labour Day...

The Ottawa game is on October 2. I would say odds are better that we will have fans in the stands than not by that time. 

[wbbfan]

On 2021-02-03 at 3:39 PM, Dodge and Burn said:

I may have missed this but, 

 

I'm wondering if anyone has an idea how Buck is gonna run our Offense? 

Im sure Lapo will have influenced his schemes but this is another storyline im really looking foward to seeing. 

 

I dont see him being a scheme before players strenghts guy. 

I suspect we will see less gimmick plays, a slightly more balanced attack, and progressive passing offense. Instead of constantly just targeting what the defensive gives under coverage and then having wrs try to turn it up field for first downs, I think we will see that used to set up deeper shots, so we push the defenders back and open up the mid section beyond the classic hook/curl/flat zone.  More slants/skinny post/ F post multi post  plays creating rubs etc. 

I could see some evolution in the type of running plays, as well as more demski touches too. Less hard nosed between the tackle running and maybe more off tackle stuff. When we've run counter trap stuff its been really effective. 

[bryan35]

22 hours ago, Noeller said:

So much can change so quickly.......but right now I'd bet on no fans for the first half of the season, and then limited fans starting after Labour Day...

Can the CFL even start with no fans in the stands?

[JCon]

Just now, bryan35 said:

Can the CFL even start with no fans in the stands?

I don't think they can without gov't support. I expect that they will bring a plan this time and receive support from the Feds. Most Prov gov'ts are already supporting the clubs through their stadiums.