2022 Off Season - Back 2 Back Champs Edition

[Bomber_fanaddict]

We probably won’t hear about Bighills re signing for another week or so as he is in Hawaii. Unless somonen spots the Grey Cup making it’s way there 🤣

I am confident he will be back next year as well. 

[Geebrr]

BA is a must sign.

Would like to have Darby back as well, and I think he will. 

[wbbfan]

When does fa start Feb some thing? Mafia are moving at a good pace but I don't think any team will have even half their roster signed by then. 

Any bets on who we lose to another cfl team as a fa? I think it would probably be a db. We have a lot of starters at db and they have to save money some place. Could be Darby or Nichols. 

Maybe Sayles walker rose or kongbo too. We are crazy deep at dl. It'd be smart for another team to poach one of those guys with the offer of a starting job. 

2 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

BA is a must sign.

Would like to have Darby back as well, and I think he will. 

Ba Lawler and collaros are the ones I worry the most about. 

[Jpan85]

Feb 8th

Feel like Richardson is going to be the guy we lose. They have Sayles under contract brought back Rickey Walker. Were also very high on Rose before he got hurt but currently a FA to.

[wbbfan]

2 minutes ago, Jpan85 said:

Feb 8th

Soo soon. I feel like the entire west division might have 1 combined roster signed by then. 

[rebusrankin]

I think Desjarlais to the NFL and Kongbo to free agency are the two big losses. 

[Bubba Zanetti]

7 minutes ago, Jpan85 said:

Feb 8th

Feel like Richardson is going to be the guy we lose. They have Sayles under contract brought back Rickey Walker. Were also very high on Rose before he got hurt but currently a FA to.

Im very worried about this too. He took a long time to sign last offseason and ive got a bad feeling he ends up somewhere else. I like Sayles but he doesnt have the run stuffing/brute strength of Richardson in the middle.

[Booch]

10 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

When does fa start Feb some thing? Mafia are moving at a good pace but I don't think any team will have even half their roster signed by then. 

Any bets on who we lose to another cfl team as a fa? I think it would probably be a db. We have a lot of starters at db and they have to save money some place. Could be Darby or Nichols. 

Maybe Sayles walker rose or kongbo too. We are crazy deep at dl. It'd be smart for another team to poach one of those guys with the offer of a starting job. 

Ba Lawler and collaros are the ones I worry the most about. 

Nichols is signed...if he doesnt get NFL deal..I think he is done there..age...and has some PR time already, Sayles is back as well, and I know Darby loved it here, and expect him back...same with Rose and Jones, so the loss of Alford is easily absorbed, and we also have Maston who will be back, and prob on a team friendly deal coming off injury.

Richardson tho...only so many bucks to go around when we still need to ink Biggie..BA and Rose...he may be the casualty which would suck, but Biggie and the Jeff's over him I can live with...I like our Dtackle depth if those rookies are all back

[Jpan85]

4 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Im very worried about this too. He took a long time to sign last offseason and ive got a bad feeling he ends up somewhere else. I like Sayles but he doesnt have the run stuffing/brute strength of Richardson in the middle.

In a world where we could only keep 2/3 of Biggie, Stove and BA. Biggie and BA would be the two to keep.

[bearpants]

On 2022-01-07 at 1:39 PM, Noeller said:

 

 

well isn't that convenient.... he's in Texas during 2 months of -30... only to return once the weather starts to turn 😂

[GCn20]

13 minutes ago, Booch said:

Nichols is signed...if he doesnt get NFL deal..I think he is done there..age...and has some PR time already, Sayles is back as well, and I know Darby loved it here, and expect him back...same with Rose and Jones, so the loss of Alford is easily absorbed, and we also have Maston who will be back, and prob on a team friendly deal coming off injury.

Richardson tho...only so many bucks to go around when we still need to ink Biggie..BA and Rose...he may be the casualty which would suck, but Biggie and the Jeff's over him I can live with...I like our Dtackle depth if those rookies are all back

I can live with losing Stove. We seem to do just fine in our recruiting of DTs. A lot of people were upset at the loss of Nevis before last year and Stove stepped up without missing a beat. Sayles was a rookie last year and played excellent and I expect that in year 2 he would be even better, and he was neck and neck with Stove already.

Edited January 11, 2022 by GCn20

[Bubba Zanetti]

6 minutes ago, Jpan85 said:

In a world where we could only keep 2/3 of Biggie, Stove and BA. Biggie and BA would be the two to keep.

I agree but man did our run defense suck when Richardson was out of the lineup. I think he's more valuable than we realize.

[rebusrankin]

Losing Stove would be a blow to the run D for sure. We'd still be solid with say Sayles +Walker or Sayles+Rose but it would be a loss for sure.

[GCn20]

19 hours ago, Stickem said:

We just knew Alford was a super find and that he had a good chance of signing down south...Well there he goes and good for him....We recruit well in the db department .....and if we bring enough talent north in the numbers we brought to camp last year, I'm sure we can find another diamond

Remember when losing Marcus Sayles and Winston Rose was going to cripple our secondary. In comes Nichols and Alford and we don't even remember Sayles anymore. My point is that I am ultra confident in our recruiting after witnessing the talent that is being unearthed the last several years in our secondary.

1 minute ago, rebusrankin said:

Losing Stove would be a blow to the run D for sure. We'd still be solid with say Sayles +Walker or Sayles+Rose but it would be a loss for sure.

I'm not so sure that run stop is all that big of a deal, nor was it bad in the first 9 games of 2021 before Stove came back.

[bearpants]

20 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I can live with losing Stove. We seem to do just fine in our recruiting of DTs. A lot of people were upset at the loss of Nevis before last year and Stove stepped up without missing a beat. Sayles was a rookie last year and played excellent and I expect that in year 2 he would be even better, and he was neck and neck with Stove already.

I agree that he can be replaced... but Stove is a special player... the middle of our D-line changed dramatically when he returned from injury... after 2019 we knew Stove was in house and ready to replace Nevis... I'm not sure (yet) if Sayles or Walker are at that level... I also agree that it's possible a team opens up their wallet for him and Walters can't (or won't) match

[GCn20]

4 minutes ago, bearpants said:

I agree that he can be replaced... but Stove is a special player... the middle of our D-line changed dramatically when he returned from injury... after 2019 we knew Stove was in house and ready to replace Nevis... I'm not sure (yet) if Sayles or Walker are at that level... I also agree that it's possible a team opens up their wallet for him and Walters can't (or won't) match

I don't think there is as big a difference between Stove and Sayles as you might think. Nevis was head and shoulders better against the run than Stove in his rookie year. Run stopping is usually the last thing a rookie DT becomes good at. There is a very real trajectory of run stopping improvement that Sayles underwent in 2021. His first few starts the Bombers got gashed pretty bad but after that the stats showed significant improvements over his final few starts against some very tough running backs. IF Sayles show improvement from year one to year two like Stove did than I don't expect much drop off at all. However, the best case scenario would be that we re-sign Stove...definitely.

[BBlink]

Can't sign everybody back. So focus on our leaders and Canadians. Can fill holes in free agency (not everyone gets a big deal) and scouting. Canadians are not easily replaceable. Leaders like Bighill, Bryant and BA are not easily replaceable. Certain guys that are veteran and versatile aren't easily replaceable (like I said before, Darby is someone I'd like to bring back). 

So all that being said were probably going to have to fill some holes at DB, maybe a receiver and DT.

Edited January 11, 2022 by BBlink

[Bubba Zanetti]

52 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Remember when losing Marcus Sayles and Winston Rose was going to cripple our secondary. In comes Nichols and Alford and we don't even remember Sayles anymore. My point is that I am ultra confident in our recruiting after witnessing the talent that is being unearthed the last several years in our secondary.

I'm not so sure that run stop is all that big of a deal, nor was it bad in the first 9 games of 2021 before Stove came back.

Our run defense was brutal when Stove was hurt. Pretty sure we were dead last in the league for rush yards against per game while he was on the shelf. I mean, we were still clown pounding the league but it was an issue.

Edited January 11, 2022 by Bubba Zanetti

[GCn20]

10 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Our run defense was brutal when Stove was hurt. Pretty sure we were dead last in the league for rush yards against per game while he was on the shelf. I mean, we were still clown pounding the league but it was an issue.

We weren't dead last but it was an issue. However, this was compounded by two really poor games against Toronto early in the season. They ran the rock at will against us and it really wasn't on Sayles. They were picking heavily on Jessie Briggs who was in at WIL those two games.

When Rocquemore came back and replaced Briggs, Gauthier, and Brown at WIL our run defence signficantly improved even though Sayles was still starting. I would say the combination of the loss of Stove AND the rotating door at WIL and SAM early in the season were the factors that led to our run defence being poor over the first 6 games.

Edited January 11, 2022 by GCn20

[BBlink]

7 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

We weren't dead last but it was an issue. However, this was compounded by two really poor games against Toronto early in the season. They ran the rock at will against us and it really wasn't on Sayles. They were picking heavily on Jessie Briggs who was in at WIL those two games.

Weren't they running a bunch off tackle in those games with DJ Foster? There wasn't a lot of film at the time and I think we were partially out-game-planned.

[Stickem]

Hate to lose Stove....he can really turn the heat up in the middle.....He is one of these players that has that low centre of gravity and bear like power....He'll be missed IF he decides to move on and he'll make someone else stronger up the middle....something I don't relish...Priorities are Biggie and Alexander though if it comes down to the cash crunch

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, BBlink said:

Weren't they running a bunch off tackle in those games with DJ Foster? There wasn't a lot of film at the time and I think we were partially out-game-planned.

They gashed us with DJ Foster one game and John White the other. John White was on a couple long runs but through the middle and DJ Foster was consistently going around the tackle and running into the flat. Briggs had a real tough game that day. What is lost in the stats was the first game where White gashed us we were running our LBers a lot in the secondary to shut down MBT which we did with great success. Sometimes you gotta give up something to gain more back.

In that first game White gashed us for around 150 yards, with over half that total coming on two long runs. We bet they couldn't beat us by running and the fact we surrendered 6 points that game proves that our allowing them some room to run to shut down the passing game was a smart decision. Sometimes context is important and when people criticize our run stop they need to remember that our defence was amazing overall even without Richardson helping to limit the ground game. Even in the loss to the Argos, they ran about 75% of their offensive runs AND passes to the flat where Briggs was and we just didn't adapt well to it at all., I believe along with missing our WIL we were also short that same side half back that game and it was a disaster.

Edited January 11, 2022 by GCn20

[Nolby]

BA and Biggie are our musts,right behind or in front is obviously Collaros and Castillo is an absolute must(or a top kicker)

[camper_2]

7 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

They gashed us with DJ Foster one game and John White the other. John White was on a couple long runs but through the middle and DJ Foster was consistently going around the tackle and running into the flat. Briggs had a real tough game that day. What is lost in the stats was the first game where White gashed us we were running our LBers a lot in the secondary to shut down MBT which we did with great success. Sometimes you gotta give up something to gain more back.

Remember, Glen Young started the year in Toronto as their DC and knew the Bomber team/players very well as far as strengths/weakness. In my opinion, that played a role in the Toronto games.

Now, the 2021 Bomber run defense for the whole year, wasn't quite that of the 2019 run defense in my opinion. Do agree, that once Stove came back, there was a improvement and showed as well.

 

[Bubba Zanetti]

1 hour ago, GCn20 said:

We weren't dead last but it was an issue. However, this was compounded by two really poor games against Toronto early in the season. They ran the rock at will against us and it really wasn't on Sayles. They were picking heavily on Jessie Briggs who was in at WIL those two games.

When Rocquemore came back and replaced Briggs, Gauthier, and Brown at WIL our run defence signficantly improved even though Sayles was still starting. I would say the combination of the loss of Stove AND the rotating door at WIL and SAM early in the season were the factors that led to our run defence being poor over the first 6 games.

Our opponents ran for 100+ yards against us in 4 of the 7 games Richardson missed. The rest of the season it happened once. A lot of the time teams just couldnt establish the run against us because they were down by so much early. We were hovering around 6 yards per carry against which was last in the CFL for a good chunk of last season. If we lose Richardson and arnt as dominate offensively it could be a whole different season in 2022. Teams knew we could be run on but just didnt have the time to keep at it. My point being Richardson is more valuable than a lot of people think. I like Sayles and he was good but he looks more like a DE to me. Doesnt have the size to be a run stuffing difference maker in the middle like Richardson.