Blue Bombers - 2023 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[Pepper_Brooks]

It comes as no great surprise to me that Shawn Lemon chose the team likely offering him the most substantial paycheck and the best opportunity to be the #1 guy. He seems to prioritize his own interests over his team's, but that's not necessarily a negative trait in this league.

I suppose you could say my opinion of Lemon is rather sour...

[WinnipegGordo]

Interesting numbers:

 

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, WinnipegGordo said:

Interesting numbers:

 

Not surprising, a lot of his success has come with a super heavy set late in games. Out side of that he’s been getting creamed in the back field with regularity.  

[Jesse]

5 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Because they need future value and depth. A soon to be 30yo dl isnt what you build around. And Chris jones believes he can go through dl like nfl teams go through RBs. That’s why he let go of Willy j for nothing. He doesn’t value imp dl. Or ni dl for that matter. 

He’s actually traded defence for offense a bunch of times. Just not at positions he values highly. 

Yet your proposed offer cantered around Prukop and Kola? 30+ year old marginal players for the Elks best player and a young talent in Ford? Your trade makes them older and worse, lol. It’s laughable.

[wbbfan]

39 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Yet your proposed offer cantered around Prukop and Kola? 30+ year old marginal players for the Elks best player and a young talent in Ford? Your trade makes them older and worse, lol. It’s laughable.

They don’t value ford. Prukop isn’t 30+ lol. Both are low wear and tear guys. They need qb protection more than any thing as well. 

[Jesse]

43 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

They don’t value ford. Prukop isn’t 30+ lol. Both are low wear and tear guys. They need qb protection more than any thing as well. 

He will be in a couple of months, lol.

 

doesn’t change the point that you said they need to get younger and are offering them old crap for their good players. Classic fan trade.

[JuranBoldenRules]

Ford is junk and as a QB brings no value to a CFL roster.  If he wants to play DB I’d be interested.

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2023-07-23 at 1:31 PM, Mike said:

Lol what the hell? What’s your vendetta with Lemon? He’s a selfish jerk because he didn’t sign here? Because he wants money?

Just look at how many teams Lemon's played for. I get the money part but if anyone has used the one year deals to get the best deal as he can, it's him. Also, he's a guy that moves around every season. Is he going to be a team guy doing the grunt work needed to stop the run or going after the big stats that pay the most money on his next contract? Like qb sacks. I guess short term he may have done fine but he isn't my first choice.

.

Edited July 25, 2023 by SpeedFlex27

[Eternal optimist]

Prukop to EDM? Dude was already there, they moved on...

[GCn20]

9 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Ford is junk and as a QB brings no value to a CFL roster.  If he wants to play DB I’d be interested.

I agree. When even Chris Jones Magical Mystery Tour of QBs passes you over start boning up on another position group's playbook ASAP.

[GCn20]

15 hours ago, WinnipegGordo said:

Interesting numbers:

 

This is more an indication of teams not overlooking him in their game plan anymore. Really says bupkus about anything else.

[Jesse]

1 minute ago, GCn20 said:

This is more an indication of teams not overlooking him in their game plan anymore. Really says bupkus about anything else.

I mentioned this in the other thread; but this, combined with the amount of hits Zach is taking, says more than teams aren’t over looking Brady.

[Mark H.]

6 minutes ago, Jesse said:

I mentioned this in the other thread; but this, combined with the amount of hits Zach is taking, says more than teams aren’t over looking Brady.

But we have seen two solid examples...of teams not being able to stop our running attack...in the 4th quarter

This team is a real head scratcher.

[rebusrankin]

Zach facing more pressure and taking more hits this season is concerning. So is some of the inconsistency with the run game (ie struggling at times and then having two 4th Qs where they run at will).

[GCn20]

17 minutes ago, Jesse said:

I mentioned this in the other thread; but this, combined with the amount of hits Zach is taking, says more than teams aren’t over looking Brady.

I don't think it does, and I think the amount of hits Zach is taking is being wildly overblown imo. Just my opinion.

9 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

But we have seen two solid examples...of teams not being able to stop our running attack...in the 4th quarter

This team is a real head scratcher.

Yes...in the 4th we are running very well and have for many years. Defences get worn out and if you are in the position to run that is what you do.

5 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Zach facing more pressure and taking more hits this season is concerning. So is some of the inconsistency with the run game (ie struggling at times and then having two 4th Qs where they run at will).

Again, does anyone have any numbers to back up the claim that ZC is facing more pressure and taking more hits? I think sometimes we build up our legendary OL to the point that we expect too much out of them.

Edited July 25, 2023 by GCn20

[Booch]

there no issue with our run game as it's one tops in the league, and save for the Ott game usually takes over in the 4th quarter...which you want...and 9 times out of 10 thats a direct result of your oline when you dont have a burner scat back who gets gobs of yards on 2..3 plays a game...and middling yardage on the majority

Brady compliments things well...as longer drives kills defenses...and keeps offences off the field.....which is key....ZC got hit lots at times last yr too....and this yr is what...1/3rd complete...lets see how it looks after 2/3rds....but he also hasnt been moving the pocket or launch point like he has in past...and we also havnt been using much misdirection and jet sweep type stuff to pull defenses away from the intended play and have him roll out and nail those receivers like last yr....scheme this yr for most part has been weird and not doing that as much....and will have a ripple effect on how the oline and offence as a whole looks....in games when we went to our bread and butter for periods of time....lately in late 3rd/4th quarters...all facets looked fine...I expect more the same all game now coming out of the bye with Lawler back...likely a healthy Schoen and the O-line with some much needed rest and recovery

[GCn20]

2 minutes ago, Booch said:

there no issue with our run game as it's one tops in the league, and save for the Ott game usually takes over in the 4th quarter...which you want...and 9 times out of 10 thats a direct result of your oline when you dont have a burner scat back who gets gobs of yards on 2..3 plays a game...and middling yardage on the majority

Brady compliments things well...as longer drives kills defenses...and keeps offences off the field.....which is key....ZC got hit lots at times last yr too....and this yr is what...1/3rd complete...lets see how it looks after 2/3rds....but he also hasnt been moving the pocket or launch point like he has in past...and we also havnt been using much misdirection and jet sweep type stuff to pull defenses away from the intended play and have him roll out and nail those receivers like last yr....scheme this yr for most part has been weird and not doing that as much....and will have a ripple effect on how the oline and offence as a whole looks....in games when we went to our bread and butter for periods of time....lately in late 3rd/4th quarters...all facets looked fine...I expect more the same all game now coming out of the bye with Lawler back...likely a healthy Schoen and the O-line with some much needed rest and recovery

I agree that we haven't seen much in the way of launch point changes. I want some succession planning on our OL to occur throughout the year but I am not willing to buy into the theory that our OL is struggling. Our offence has looked pretty good for most of the season. We have other issues to iron out that are bigger and must be addressed before playoffs.

[rebusrankin]

26 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I don't think it does, and I think the amount of hits Zach is taking is being wildly overblown imo. Just my opinion.

Yes...in the 4th we are running very well and have for many years. Defences get worn out and if you are in the position to run that is what you do.

Again, does anyone have any numbers to back up the claim that ZC is facing more pressure and taking more hits? I think sometimes we build up our legendary OL to the point that we expect too much out of them.

Last year, we gave up 29 sacks. This season in 7 games we've given up 18 or 19. I would need somebody like @DTonOB to verify the sacks numbers and he might have pressure numbers for this year and last season.

[Bubba Zanetti]

Our o-line has been worse this season, in both pass protection and run blocking. No one with a set of eyes can deny it.

[Booch]

I curios as to what and who we line up as first teamers on both sides of the ball the first practice after the bye.....and if we make any transactions of any kind over the bye

[JuranBoldenRules]

I’d like to see about 20 designed run plays a game, Oliviera about 12-14 times, McCrae/Demski/Bailey about 6-8 times.

Oliviera is a great player but you need to work in the other guys both out of backfield and with Jet/Orbit motions other misdirection to widen out the D.  Olivieira can’t effectively run the stretch plays, you need him going straight north-south you don’t want him going wide and then trying to hit vertical.

48 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I agree that we haven't seen much in the way of launch point changes. I want some succession planning on our OL to occur throughout the year but I am not willing to buy into the theory that our OL is struggling. Our offence has looked pretty good for most of the season. We have other issues to iron out that are bigger and must be addressed before playoffs.

The problem with moving the pocket is to you can’t let the D set the edge, you need your tackles to win.  That’s been rare this year.  You see against a team like Edmonton more of an interior rush issue that they moved Collaros around a lot.  BC, Calgary, Ottawa just killed our tackles and ability to get Collaros out by design and his ability to scramble.  Calgary and Ottawa had guys our interior couldn’t handle too…Rose and Wakefield.

[Bigblue204]

1 hour ago, Mark H. said:

But we have seen two solid examples...of teams not being able to stop our running attack...in the 4th quarter

This team is a real head scratcher.

no really. people get tired. Brady isn't a small guy and hits like a linebacker. We just wear the opposition down and smack them in the face in the fourth.

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Our o-line has been worse this season, in both pass protection and run blocking. No one with a set of eyes can deny it.

Run blocking? Our numbers are virtually identical to last year in rushing yards, YPC, and YPG. Therefore, I will categorically deny that. Also, our passing numbers are up almost across the board this year. We have surrendered a lot of sacks compared to years past but that isn't always the best indicator of overall pass pro. Or at least shouldn't be viewed as a stand alone statistic. If the passing numbers show no real discernable difference, then it is just a matter of isolated plays and not an over all performance issue.  I agree we gotta get those sack numbers down tho but it really isn't having a dramatic effect on our offensive efficiency. Could very well be that ZC has decided to eat a lot more ball this year and take the sack trying to extend plays. 

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

Last year, we gave up 29 sacks. This season in 7 games we've given up 18 or 19. I would need somebody like @DTonOB to verify the sacks numbers and he might have pressure numbers for this year and last season.

The sack numbers look right. I hesitate to look at them in iso though. Our overall pressures could still be relatively the same just with a worse outcome than years past. Its time for Zach to start chucking more into the 2nd row and see if that gets it in line.

Edited July 25, 2023 by GCn20

[Mark H.]

43 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

The problem with moving the pocket is to you can’t let the D set the edge, you need your tackles to win.  That’s been rare this year. 

Yes, that's actually quite noticeable,  ZC rolls out, but the DE is already there.

[Piggy 1]

8 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Yes, that's actually quite noticeable,  ZC rolls out, but the DE is already there.

And more often than not, on Yosh's side........