2022/2023 Off-Season (League/Non-Bombers-specific News)

[bigg jay]

40 minutes ago, Stickem said:

Regarding retaining of draft pics.......I guess we've done fairly well  judging by the talent we have retained and the Cup games we've played in recently....Facts and figures should ,such as this, equate to success on the field ....as that's what the name of the game is....Nice to retain all high level pics ....but if you're continually treading water as a club...what good are they....So many variables besides numbers

Including players who are no longer playing football also skews things.  When the average career is like 3 years and change, of course a bunch of draft picks from 6 years ago will no longer be with the team (or any team for that matter).   

I'd rather see those same stats but strictly for players still actively playing pro football.  Just looking at the Bombers draft picks listed, of the 18 active players (NFL & CFL), we still have 12 of them (66.67%) with 2 being in the NFL.  Even that won't give a completely accurate picture though because we know some players go back to school but could still be part of the plans for the team. 

 

[Noeller]

2023 CFL HOF Class announced: 
 

 

[Booch]

4 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Yep, it's tough when your draft picks play so well that they go to the NFL, or price themselves out of the market for us. Lucky for us players want to be here so replacing the excellence we lose does not hurt us as much.

Kind of useless though without context. What draft? How many drafts? Equal number of picks for all teams?

he should have posted % of a teams picks...in the CFL or NFL....regardless of team they on...that will show who the better evaluator and groomer of talent is

[JCon]

Elimimian already qualifies for induction? Feels like he just retired. Good for him. 

[GCn20]

28 minutes ago, Booch said:

he should have posted % of a teams picks...in the CFL or NFL....regardless of team they on...that will show who the better evaluator and groomer of talent is

I just feel like the % of draft picks retained is such a red herring overall. Take us, who had home town guys we didn't draft want to come home that kept us from retaining our own picks because they were too good to be unseated. Or the loss of 3 high picks to the NFL, or having such overwhelming depth that we can allow a couple OL draft picks to go elsewhere because we have cheaper excellent options.... it creates a skewed stat.

One would have to be taking a few blows to the head to not see that Winnipeg has been drafting and retaining players, not just NATS, at a very high level....probably the best out of all teams in the CFL over the past 4-5 years.

Edited March 16, 2023 by GCn20

[Noeller]

Pretty much everyone that was on that Als OL in the 2000s should be in the HOF eventually. That was a ridiculous line in front of AC for awhile there...

[JuranBoldenRules]

14 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Pretty much everyone that was on that Als OL in the 2000s should be in the HOF eventually. That was a ridiculous line in front of AC for awhile there...

Okeke, Flory and Chiu are the only ones who were ever best at their position for a significant period IMO…but the Hall of Fames tend to just be acknowledgement of guys who have longevity.

That line started getting exposed pretty bad in the back half of that decade when Calvillo lost mobility.  A lot of the most sacks given up in a game and season on them 06-08.

Edited March 16, 2023 by JuranBoldenRules

[MOBomberFan]

Bowman was a hell of a player, I always admired his game. He deserves to get in on his first ballot for sure. Both he and Soly look like they could suit up today if they wanted to

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

3 hours ago, Geebrr said:

We are happy with Dru Brown and Evans isn’t doing short yardage (at least not the type of guy we want) so if doesn’t really make sense. 

Is Dru > Dane?  I think I would rest easier if <GOD FORBID!!!!> Zach goes down for any length of time. 

As for short yardage- I would have someone else other than Evans handling those duties. 

 

 

[Noeller]

I just rewatched the Home Opener from last year, where Dru came in for the final series and essentially won us that game. He's just going to get better and better with any playing time, so I can understand why they're fine rolling with him...

[JCon]

2 minutes ago, Wanna-B-Fanboy said:

Is Dru > Dane?  I think I would rest easier if <GOD FORBID!!!!> Zach goes down for any length of time. 

As for short yardage- I would have someone else other than Evans handling those duties. 

 

 

There's no path for Dane to become the starter here. In BC, he has a very, very good chance of starting. 

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

23 minutes ago, JCon said:

There's no path for Dane to become the starter here. In BC, he has a very, very good chance of starting. 

Agreed, but I care more for what's best for the club than the wants of individual players. 

It is his best shot to be a starter ( I think he will be the starter by Labour Day) - but selfish me would want him here as a solid back up.

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2023-03-15 at 1:04 PM, wbbfan said:

Tda was mostly rough rider fans though let’s be honest. If it had been bc and ott they wouldn’t have had half the people in town. 
 I just don’t see it. Maybe I’m blind to the potential out there but I just don’t see it. 

 

 

Hiow can anyone say 12,000 people to a one game event is a success? I mean, if they were able to fill a temporary 25,000 seat stadium made up of bleacher seats I could understand it. But like you, I don't get it. There was no hype. Except TSN. Football fans in Atlantic Canada are so used to going to New England or New York to watch the NFL. There's no CFL tradition there. No one cares. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by SpeedFlex27

[Geebrr]

2 hours ago, Wanna-B-Fanboy said:

Is Dru > Dane?  I think I would rest easier if <GOD FORBID!!!!> Zach goes down for any length of time. 

As for short yardage- I would have someone else other than Evans handling those duties. 

 

 

Is Dru worse than Dane? 2019 was his lone good year. 

I would say Brown is better right now, yes. 

The Bombers know enough about both and made their choice. 
 

2 hours ago, MOBomberFan said:

Bowman was a hell of a player, I always admired his game. He deserves to get in on his first ballot for sure. Both he and Soly look like they could suit up today if they wanted to

I respected him until he bitched about Harris.

I’m indifferent now. Good player though. 

 

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

22 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

Is Dru worse than Dane? 2019 was his lone good year. 

Dru hasn't even had an entire year yet. I would be more inclined to agree with you if Dru had more film on him and experience. 

 

22 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

I would say Brown is better right now, yes. 

I respectfully disagree- very limited reps to make such an assessment. 

22 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

The Bombers know enough about both and made their choice. 

Not sure if they had a choice really, as Dane was traded and not acquired through FA. 

[Mark H.]

5 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Okeke, Flory and Chiu are the only ones who were ever best at their position for a significant period IMO…but the Hall of Fames tend to just be acknowledgement of guys who have longevity.

That line started getting exposed pretty bad in the back half of that decade when Calvillo lost mobility.  A lot of the most sacks given up in a game and season on them 06-08.

I agree with that assessment. Our DL of that era feasted on those guys regularly

I still remember Tom Canada sacking Calvillo on a 2 point convert attempt - to end the game

[SpeedFlex27]

2 hours ago, Mark H. said:

I agree with that assessment. Our DL of that era feasted on those guys regularly

I still remember Tom Canada sacking Calvillo on a 2 point convert attempt - to end the game

Lloyd Fairbanks was a great OL for a long time. He should have been in the Hall years ago. He was a CFL Western Conference All Star in 1978, 79, 82 & 90. As well as a CFL Eastern Conference All Star in 1984, 85 & 86, He was an All Canadian in 1979 & 82.

Edited March 17, 2023 by SpeedFlex27

[Mark H.]

15 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Lloyd Fairbanks was a great OL for a long time. He should have been in the Hall years ago. He was a CFL Western Conference All Star in 1978, 79, 82 & 90. As well as a CFL Eastern Conference All Star in 1984, 85 & 86, He was an All Canadian in 1979 & 82.

That's fair. I'm referring to the issues the Als OL had, circa '07-'08

[Noeller]

and, to my original point about the Als OL, I think I'm mostly remembering the line from the early 00s, moreso than the late 00s....

[wbbfan]

19 hours ago, Geebrr said:

Is Dru worse than Dane? 2019 was his lone good year. 

I would say Brown is better right now, yes. 

The Bombers know enough about both and made their choice. 
 

I respected him until he bitched about Harris.

I’m indifferent now. Good player though. 

 

Dru is still a great unknown. He grew a lot last year and offers about as much hope as a guy can with so few reps. 
 Dane is trying to show he still has a great deal to show. He’s a good guy and better than the average qb2. But man it’s looking like jonathon Jennings 2.0

[GCn20]

21 hours ago, Noeller said:

I just rewatched the Home Opener from last year, where Dru came in for the final series and essentially won us that game. He's just going to get better and better with any playing time, so I can understand why they're fine rolling with him...

Short term Evans would be far better in a backup role for us at that price point, however, chances are Evans only plays for that price for one year. His experience and any kind of positive play this year will have some team looking at him with either bigger bucks or maybe even a starting role. If he played for us, guaranteed he would play well with our weapons and OL. He would be a hot commodity come next offseason and we would effectively have lost Brown for one year of Evans.

That being said, I still might have made that trade if it was there. Very tempting. I think Evans could do well with our OL and receivers if we needed him.

Edited March 17, 2023 by GCn20

[Noeller]

we're splitting hairs at this point, but I'm not sure Jennings ever showed as much as Evans.... 

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

and, to my original point about the Als OL, I think I'm mostly remembering the line from the early 00s, moreso than the late 00s....

The ALs had a very dominant all NAT OL. They aged out eventually but man they were good for a number of years. Similar to our OL now, but all NAT. They started showing cracks in their last couple years because AC wasn't in his prime anymore, and neither were they, but sure can't take away from what they did for many years before that.

13 minutes ago, Noeller said:

we're splitting hairs at this point, but I'm not sure Jennings ever showed as much as Evans.... 

Not even remotely close. Evans led his team to back 2 back Grey Cup appearances. I still believe Evans will be a starter in this league again before long....more than likely this year at some point. He got a bad rap last year imo. He put up some pretty decent numbers really except turnovers, and that was more a function of having to push the ball downfield playing from behind. Don't care what kind of QB you are if you are perpetually forced to abandon the run, push down the field because the clock is the enemy, you are going to rack up yardage and turn over the ball at a much higher pace.

Jennings just threw 50/50 balls up all over like Fajardo and hoped his receivers would come down with it. Worked for a while until teams took everything underneath away and dared him to put balls down field. Then he was exposed. Evans has every throw in the book. Guys like Fajardo and Jennings were one trick ponies.

Edited March 17, 2023 by GCn20

[MOBomberFan]

HAM abandons the run before the game even starts

[17to85]

Dane Evans is Drew Willy. Change my mind.