Blue Bombers - 2023 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[Booch]

14 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Could be true, but Piggy made more exciting plays in one quarter than Dru Brown has in two full years with the team, and  even the dumbest of fans instantly recognise excitement.  What are the team's real priorities?  Is it winning, entertaining or selling tickets and putting butts in seats?  

I'm not super high on Brown, I see him as a place holder that if ever given the chance to become a starter will likely pan out well below Arbuckle.  

Consider Charles Roberts probably didn't look or behave much like a pro RB in practice either, O'Shea probably would have cut him too.

HE actually practiced well....his off-field training, prep and general commitment to his craft off the football field was severely lacking tho....

Edited June 27, 2023 by Booch

[Noeller]

Bobby Knucks approves: 

 

@BobIrvingCJOB

·

2m

 

Getting 3rd string QB Dakota Prukop back from the USFL is a big deal for the Blue Bombers. Made a lot of key 3rd down plays last year.

[johnzo]

here's some midweek fun that everyone can enjoy.  Youtube CFL hero Waders27 has uploaded the big Mike Sellers game from 2002. 

move *****, get out the way!
 

Waders has also uploaded a video of all Dakota Prukop's TDs from 2022 so you can see the nice pair of TD passes he threw during the regular season.

Edited June 27, 2023 by johnzo

[Super Duper Negatron]

Sellers was so much fun.

[Geebrr]

3 hours ago, Booch said:

he's not here for his potential tho...he's here for a specific role...and thats is it.

 

I know 

[17to85]

I don't like cutting pigrome. Guy was arguably the most exciting recruit they had in training camp. Seems a shame to toss that aside for Prukop who will never be more than a short yardage specialist.

Good qbs are so valuable in this league, why use a position on a guy like prukop before you really know if you have anything or not.

[wbbfan]

4 hours ago, CodyT said:

Take it for what it's worth but pigrome did not look like a pro qb in the training camp sessions I attended... frankly I was surprised he made the team even with the pre season effort

Rookie QBs seldom do. Dru brown didn’t look like he belonged in the pros his whole first year. 
 

3 hours ago, Fatty Liver said:

Could be true, but Piggy made more exciting plays in one quarter than Dru Brown has in two full years with the team, and  even the dumbest of fans instantly recognise excitement.  What are the team's real priorities?  Is it winning, entertaining or selling tickets and putting butts in seats?  

I'm not super high on Brown, I see him as a place holder that if ever given the chance to become a starter will likely pan out well below Arbuckle.  

Consider Charles Roberts probably didn't look or behave much like a pro RB in practice either, O'Shea probably would have cut him too.

Edited June 28, 2023 by wbbfan

[TrueBlue4ever]

4 hours ago, Booch said:

we tend to favor a player who has been here a while...over a guy brought in later who is better....why...I dunno...sure it's nice to show loyalty and all...but it's also a business of wins and what have you done for me lately...

Like who?

[wbbfan]

3 hours ago, Booch said:

HE actually practiced well....his off-field training, prep and general commitment to his craft off the football field was severely lacking tho....

Blink always had amazing drive with the pads on. 
 I still think mos would cut blink. Soo many times over travelling on his own, late for film study, out partying right before games etc. 

 

 

[wbbfan]

1 minute ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Like who?

Thomas was our best dl before the season he was cut for walker. Swaray over Mohammed. Mccrae over salima. Soo many guys over machino it’s not even funny.  How many names you want? A hundred? How far back to do you want go? Lbers in the kuale hurl era? Des last year? 

27 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

I don't like cutting pigrome. Guy was arguably the most exciting recruit they had in training camp. Seems a shame to toss that aside for Prukop who will never be more than a short yardage specialist.

Good qbs are so valuable in this league, why use a position on a guy like prukop before you really know if you have anything or not.

Dynamic play makers are always valuable. Doesn’t matter if they fit the current dynamic or system. At qb, it’s only more valuable. The league has a bunch of turds still floating around most teams. 
 It’s the job of coaches to develop those guys and put them in a position to develop. Sadly we fail at that frequently. 
michael vick isn’t waking in the door in the cfl and he wasn’t a great passer. Manning isn’t either. If fajardo can be made to float in this league pigrome can be a useful weapon. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

2 hours ago, 17to85 said:

I don't like cutting pigrome. Guy was arguably the most exciting recruit they had in training camp. Seems a shame to toss that aside for Prukop who will never be more than a short yardage specialist.

Good qbs are so valuable in this league, why use a position on a guy like prukop before you really know if you have anything or not.

But they are all in to win for this season and the next two.  There’s not really a point in holding a roster spot for a developmental QB that if they pan out will be ready just in time to sign their third contract with another team.  If they aren’t willing to play him there’s not much point in keeping him.  I mean if someone is willing to stay on PR and put in the time, sure.  But Pigrome has a baby and can probably make more working a real job or pursuing arena ball/spring leagues next year.

I don’t get all the people shitting on Brown.  He’s been a great backup coming in and playing well against actual pros when needed.  Can’t get too far ahead of yourself watching a guy tear up a bunch of small conference FCS guys with the odd actual prospect mixed in.

[17to85]

i got lots of time for Brown too, but we see it all the time in the CFL, qbs get hurt and it's a carousel at backup. always gotta be looking for a guy that you can develop. Collaros ain't exactly young.

[Booch]

3 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Thomas was our best dl before the season he was cut for walker. Swaray over Mohammed. Mccrae over salima. Soo many guys over machino it’s not even funny.  How many names you want? A hundred? How far back to do you want go? Lbers in the kuale hurl era? Des last year? 

Dynamic play makers are always valuable. Doesn’t matter if they fit the current dynamic or system. At qb, it’s only more valuable. The league has a bunch of turds still floating around most teams. 
 It’s the job of coaches to develop those guys and put them in a position to develop. Sadly we fail at that frequently. 
michael vick isn’t waking in the door in the cfl and he wasn’t a great passer. Manning isn’t either. If fajardo can be made to float in this league pigrome can be a useful weapon. 

Thanks for following with answer for me...and yeah those are just some of the examples

Guys like Bouno...Cal Murphy...Mathews..didn't think twice or bat an eye dumping even an established vet ..or a current starter for some new stud they discovered...or a player aging out..heck I even remember Cal cutting a guy one game at halftime for just not getting it and messing up repeatedly...and they have a buttload of wins and rings to show for it

Edited June 28, 2023 by Booch

[Geebrr]

11 hours ago, 17to85 said:

I don't like cutting pigrome. Guy was arguably the most exciting recruit they had in training camp. Seems a shame to toss that aside for Prukop who will never be more than a short yardage specialist.

Good qbs are so valuable in this league, why use a position on a guy like prukop before you really know if you have anything or not.

Don’t say that. You have totally discounted his short yardage prowess. 
 

Even though you didn’t - and will have 10 people tell you something that literally everybody knows is the reason Prukop is being brought back for. 

[Jesse]

10 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Thomas was our best dl before the season he was cut for walker. Swaray over Mohammed. Mccrae over salima. Soo many guys over machino it’s not even funny.  How many names you want? A hundred? How far back to do you want go? Lbers in the kuale hurl era? Des last year? 

I don't know if I accept those answers. We watch a few snaps of a preseason game and "declare" certain guys are better then guys the coaching staff has seen for a couple years?

I wasn't as impressed with Salima as some of you, certainly not enough to say he's better than McCrae when they're two different types of runner. Mohammad has been here a week, it's still possible he get in once he gets his feet wet. I have no problems with him needing to prove himself in the room before he gets on the field. 

I have a problem with the team's roster management, no question. But when we find better players, they get on the field. But it can't just be one flashy play in a preseason game like a sack or big run, it needs to be how they play every snap. Everyone loves to tout FIFO as our teams success, but this part of how it works too.

[TrueBlue4ever]

11 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Thomas was our best dl before the season he was cut for walker. Swaray over Mohammed. Mccrae over salima. Soo many guys over machino it’s not even funny.  How many names you want? A hundred? How far back to do you want go? Lbers in the kuale hurl era? Des last year? 

When Thomas gets picked up by another team and starts and stars we can re-visit “he is better”. He had a good pre-season game, and Tyrell Pigrome showed that this is not the litmus test for “he is better”. Mohammad just got here, so I’ll hold off on “the better player is not starting” for now. No evidence Salima is better than last year’s favourite new flavour McCrae. And who exactly or our current starters on the o-line is worse than Machino and should be replaced by him?  Not even sure who you are referring to as “Des”. Bottom line, all this carping about “roster management” is kind of silly given how little it has impacted our actual success the last 3+ years. We didn’t lose last week because the number 40-45 spots on our active roster were worse than the guys at 46-58 on the practice roster, and we dressed the wrong guys and second and third back-up. We lost because our top 2 o-linemen could not handle the speedy BC outside pass rush and forced Zach to stay in the pocket, and got turnstiled much of the game. We lost because our best receiver had an off-game and may be playing hurt, which affected his breakaway speed and likely cost us a long bomb TD pass he could not catch up to. We lost because our game wrecker Willie J was not, that Bighill was not a difference maker at MLB, that Alexander was not breaking up passes and making BC receivers fear making the catch over the middle. That our front 7 got little pressure and our co-ordinator on D decided to play a soft zone coverage that got picked apart. That our offensive co-ordinator made no adjustments to handle the blitz like hitch screens, jet sweeps, or short passes, or even sticking with a running game that was working early. It was the starters, not the back-ups to the back-ups, who cost us the game. Now if you want to debate that the big name starters should go (starting with Jefferson, Bighill, Hardrick, and Bryant) then let’s debate that, but don’t tell me Machino is the next coming and is clearly getting screwed by not replacing them, and O’Shea is blind to not see it. Plus, if the talent is inadequate, is that not a GM and scouting fail as opposed to coach (I may be splitting hairs, but I’d call that a “personnel” issue, and not “roster management”, meaning who we bring in and keep as opposed to how we use those we have here, which was the original complaint - the argument seems to have shifted)? Where are our cuts excelling elsewhere in this league, outside of Liegghio (and I don’t hear many gripes that we opted for Castillo over him)?

8 hours ago, Booch said:

Thanks for following with answer for me...and yeah those are just some of the examples

Guys like Bouno...Cal Murphy...Mathews..didn't think twice or bat an eye dumping even an established vet ..or a current starter for some new stud they discovered...or a player aging out..heck I even remember Cal cutting a guy one game at halftime for just not getting it and messing up repeatedly...and they have a buttload of wins and rings to show for it

You know who else has a buttload of rings and wins? Mike O’Shea. 

Edited June 28, 2023 by TrueBlue4ever

[Stickem]

12 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Blink always had amazing drive with the pads on. 
 I still think mos would cut blink. Soo many times over travelling on his own, late for film study, out partying right before games etc. 

 

 

never mind the pack of smokes he had hidden in the training room......The guy was a mystery......AND one helluva back

[Bigblue204]

yeah for all the hype around Piggy (my own included). He's not on a roster yet. And there are imo 2 teams that need help in that area immediately. And a few more that should be looking at developing the future there.

[The Zipp]

Just now, Bigblue204 said:

yeah for all the hype around Piggy (my own included). He's not on a roster yet. And there are imo 2 teams that need help in that area immediately. And a few more that should be looking at developing the future there.

Every team has their version of Piggy..

[Stickem]

2 minutes ago, The Zipp said:

Every team has their version of Piggy..

This Doege kid in deadmonton is one.......Seems Jones is willing to consider starting him......Is this a great move orrrrrrrrr an 'oh boy' .....Considering the coach ....hmmmmmmmmmm

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Jesse said:

I don't know if I accept those answers. We watch a few snaps of a preseason game and "declare" certain guys are better then guys the coaching staff has seen for a couple years?

I wasn't as impressed with Salima as some of you, certainly not enough to say he's better than McCrae when they're two different types of runner. Mohammad has been here a week, it's still possible he get in once he gets his feet wet. I have no problems with him needing to prove himself in the room before he gets on the field. 

I have a problem with the team's roster management, no question. But when we find better players, they get on the field. But it can't just be one flashy play in a preseason game like a sack or big run, it needs to be how they play every snap. Everyone loves to tout FIFO as our teams success, but this part of how it works too.

 

The coaching staff has turned around and cut the year previous guys frequently for rookies with no reps as well though. 

Mohammed is not a rookie and dbs don’t need a lot of time to get the system. 
 

preseason is the evaluation tool. Live action against other teams with full contact. You could argue the strength of camp years ago but in todays modern no tackle practices you can’t.

 

Idk what you watched with salima to miss it.

Again this isn’t a short listed. Fredrick at db cut for a green rookie then started for two other teams. Montgomery cut after being a force in pre season and one mid season appearance. Then we run through a couple other solid des last year only too cut them as well and deploy a human waste of a roster space we plucked from the ssk waste bin. 
 

How about this, Macleod bethel Thompson. Cut for Sean McGuire Dru brown on the active roster then cut for another rookie who was also cut and never saw camp. 

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

When Thomas gets picked up by another team and starts and stars we can re-visit “he is better”. He had a good pre-season game, and Tyrell Pigrome showed that this is not the litmus test for “he is better”. Mohammad just got here, so I’ll hold off on “the better player is not starting” for now. No evidence Salima is better than last year’s favourite new flavour McCrae. And who exactly or our current starters on the o-line is worse than Machino and should be replaced by him?  Not even sure who you are referring to as “Des”. Bottom line, all this carping about “roster management” is kind of silly given how little it has impacted our actual success the last 3+ years. We didn’t lose last week because the number 40-45 spots on our active roster were worse than the guys at 46-58 on the practice roster, and we dressed the wrong guys and second and third back-up. We lost because our top 2 o-linemen could not handle the speedy BC outside pass rush and forced Zach to stay in the pocket, and got turnstiled much of the game. We lost because our best receiver had an off-game and may be playing hurt, which affected his breakaway speed and likely cost us a long bomb TD pass he could not catch up to. We lost because our game wrecker Willie J was not, that Bighill was not a difference maker at MLB, that Alexander was not breaking up passes and making BC receivers fear making the catch over the middle. That our front 7 got little pressure and our co-ordinator on D decided to play a soft zone coverage that got picked apart. That our offensive co-ordinator made no adjustments to handle the blitz like hitch screens, jet sweeps, or short passes, or even sticking with a running game that was working early. It was the starters, not the back-ups to the back-ups, who cost us the game. Now if you want to debate that the big name starters should go (starting with Jefferson, Bighill, Hardrick, and Bryant) then let’s debate that, but don’t tell me Machino is the next coming and is clearly getting screwed by not replacing them, and O’Shea is blind to not see it. Plus, if the talent is inadequate, is that not a GM and scouting fail as opposed to coach (I may be splitting hairs, but I’d call that a “personnel” issue, and not “roster management”, meaning who we bring in and keep as opposed to how we use those we have here, which was the original complaint - the argument seems to have shifted)? Where are our cuts excelling elsewhere in this league, outside of Liegghio (and I don’t hear many gripes that we opted for Castillo over him)?

You know who else has a buttload of rings and wins? Mike O’Shea. 

Doesn’t work like that often any more. The cap on front offices has crushed teams scouting each others pr and tc. No one actively plucks guys based on tc any more. It’s just not the cfl of 20 years ago sorry. 
 

how do you miss the point that machino is here and shouldn’t be? Lol. Cmon man. 
 

defensive ends. 
 

Our last 3 years haven’t been based on roster management. We had a great enough level of talent that it didn’t really matter. But we haven’t replaced that depth and have lost it. It matters much more now. Failure to realize and seize the next man up over old vets is what sinks franchises back to 3 win seasons. 
 

the terrible secondary, lack of use of fox etc was a factor in the loss. We also had 1 viable back up dl, no back up cover dbs, or WRs. 
 

the cuts and rosters are made by the coach not the gm. Doesn’t matter who you bring in, if they don’t get a chance. That’s the point. People lampooned the wr core talent here with lawler and Bailey Demski and woli. Lo and behold it wasn’t the problem people thought it was. 
 

You know how many rings and wins don matthews has? Better fire mos for him. The raptors just canned the only coach the had win them a tittle. And mos was getting close to the axe before the 19 win. No one is beyond questioning. Especially when they repeatedly make questionable decisions and bad rosters. 

[Bigblue204]

acting like the Bombers are the only team to cut quality players only to see them reappear on other teams is weird. It's football. Some players just fit better with other teams/playbooks/schemes/needs etc etc etc. This isn't a problem and it certainly isn't a MOS only problem. It happens in every sport, in every league.

 

10 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

The coaching staff has turned around and cut the year previous guys frequently for rookies with no reps as well though. 

Mohammed is not a rookie and dbs don’t need a lot of time to get the system. 
preseason is the evaluation tool. Live action against other teams with full contact. You could argue the strength of camp years ago but in todays modern no tackle practices you can’t.

Idk what you watched with salima to miss it.

Again this isn’t a short listed. Fredrick at db cut for a green rookie then started for two other teams. Montgomery cut after being a force in pre season and one mid season appearance. Then we run through a couple other solid des last year only too cut them as well and deploy a human waste of a roster space we plucked from the ssk waste bin. 
How about this, Macleod bethel Thompson. Cut for Sean McGuire Dru brown on the active roster then cut for another rookie who was also cut and never saw camp. 

Our DB depth has never really been an issue, so great for Fredrick. Montogomery has done absolutely nothing in the CFL along with a bunch of DEs the bombers have cut. So what are we actually complaining about? If Mohammed was the player some on here seem to think he is, he would be starting. We have plenty of examples in the past of new DBs coming in and starting shortly after. That's the curse of being a good team, you're are eventually going to have to cut good players.

[wbbfan]

18 minutes ago, The Zipp said:

Every team has their version of Piggy..

A poor man’s version. Every team has their version of Kenny lawler too. 
 

20 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

yeah for all the hype around Piggy (my own included). He's not on a roster yet. And there are imo 2 teams that need help in that area immediately. And a few more that should be looking at developing the future there.

The paper work didn’t go through to the league till late last night. We still don’t know if they are trying to pr him or if lawler is back despite a lot of reports. 

[Bigblue204]

1 minute ago, wbbfan said:

A poor man’s version. Every team has their version of Kenny lawler too. 
 

The paper work didn’t go through to the league till late last night. We still don’t know if they are trying to pr him or if lawler is back despite a lot of reports. 

fair enough