2024 Blue Bomber Training Camp

[GCn20]

8 hours ago, Mike said:

If Bighill gets replaced by Gauthier in our starting lineup, that’s borderline fireable 

I completely and 100% agree. IF Bighill has an injury that will keep him out any length of time there is still time to get on the horn and bring in a dozen IMPs that would do better than Gauthier.

52 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Gauthier will start until Bighill is back. Its been done in the past, they'll do it again. The way Bighill played last season its not even that much of a downgrade which is very sad to say.

It is a massive downgrade, let's not pretend it isn't. Bighill wasn't at the top of his game last year, and probably never will be again, but suggesting that Bighill/Gauthier is a wash is a gross exaggeration.

[rebusrankin]

I'm going to be hopeful that the team does one of the following:

-Cole to Wil and Kyrie to MLB

-Cole to MLB

-Rookie starter at MLB

 

[Booch]

11 hours ago, Noeller said:

I generally am Team Booch on everything but the one place we disagree is that I'd watch a 100% Canadian CFL before I'd watch all American. I'm here for the Canadiana of it all. 

go watch university then...when you factor in filling out a roster...PR an injury lists with all Canadian talent...roughly 675 guys will be needed minimum to fullfill that....so basically you would be watching a glorified semi pro league...40 percent of guys would be top notch...rest....would b=never had made an active roster...I wouldnt pay 2024 money to watch that

 

8 hours ago, Mike said:

If Bighill gets replaced by Gauthier in our starting lineup, that’s borderline fireable 

yeah....that be brutal and major step backward

 

15 minutes ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

Like @Mike said. If a 32 year old career STer becomes the starting middle linebacker for 6 weeks or more, somebody ****** up really bad. 

and for ratio reasons we dont need but 1 Canadian on defence anyway...so yeah...thats a major fail...no knock on Gauthier as he fills a key role....it not being prolonged starter tho

[Bubba Zanetti]

13 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I completely and 100% agree. IF Bighill has an injury that will keep him out any length of time there is still time to get on the horn and bring in a dozen IMPs that would do better than Gauthier.

It is a massive downgrade, let's not pretend it isn't. Bighill wasn't at the top of his game last year, and probably never will be again, but suggesting that Bighill/Gauthier is a wash is a gross exaggeration.

Clearly i was being facetious, my point being Bighill was borderline awful at times last year, whiffing on tackles all over the field and repeatedly being two steps behind plays. He was impactful in the wrong kind of way last season.

[Booch]

need to finally treat the last hold over of the loyalty/reward system like a band aid and rip er off and let stuff heal in open air....Bring in a guy with the skill set for the position...and let him grow and learn on the fly in the early part of the season and see if he takes the job and runs..Much like we did with that SAM a few years back...once he kinda flatlined and gassed out...we made a deal for Darby.....keep Biggie on the 6 game for now and so he gets paid...and is here as a defacto coach/mentor and if we need him for spot duty....he is good coverage as you know he can play....I just think full time reps now for him is a big ask

[Mike]

Between Moses, Ayers and Gemmel if there’s not a replacement in there, there needs to be more competition brought in 

[Bubba Zanetti]

Its a good thing our offense is going to be bonkers. With Jeffcoat gone/new DE, Bighill hurt/clearly in decline, BA's play suspect/decline, Cole moving positions, new guy at DB, i can foresee alot of 37-34 games this season. The days of our soul crushing D are long gone me thinks.

Edited May 16 by Bubba Zanetti

[JohnnyAbonny]

This all makes me really hope Dylan Moses can play up here. 

[Bubba Zanetti]

2 minutes ago, Mike said:

Between Moses, Ayers and Gemmel if there’s not a replacement in there, there needs to be more competition brought in 

Whats Avery Williams up to? Still a FA as far as i can tell.

[Mark H.]

7 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Its a good thing our offense is going to be bonkers. With Jeffcoat gone/new DE, Bighill hurt/clearly in decline, BA's play suspect/decline, Cole moving positions, new guy at DB, i can foresee alot of 37-34 games this season. The days of our soul crushing D are gone me thinks.

It hasn't been much different the past two seasons.  When the O is off & the D needs to pick up the slack and make some stops...they usually don't. As far as I'm concerned, the only good games from the D happened when the Jeffs were able to crank it up to another level. The West final was one of those games. 

[wbbfan]

12 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Its a good thing our offense is going to be bonkers. With Jeffcoat gone/new DE, Bighill hurt/clearly in decline, BA's play suspect/decline, Cole moving positions, new guy at DB, i can foresee alot of 37-34 games this season. The days of our soul crushing D are gone me thinks.

 

2 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

It hasn't been much different the past two seasons.  When the O is off & the D needs to pick up the slack and make some stops...they usually don't. As far as I'm concerned, the only good games from the D happened when the Jeffs were able to crank it up to another level. The West final was one of those games. 

I actually think by ldc our D will be the best it’s been since the end of 21. We need the fresh blood and we’ve got some studs in camp.  
 

15 minutes ago, Mike said:

Between Moses, Ayers and Gemmel if there’s not a replacement in there, there needs to be more competition brought in 

Ayers is a gooder too. It’s not a huge group of imp lbers (either in size or number of bodies) but it’s really talented. 

[Booch]

I actually like our prospects at LB this yr...Moses and Ayers to me look like legit CFL LB types....and this camp guys will actually get a legit look and opportunity. I fully expect Wilson to be Wilson so no real concerns there, and with Cole and what he brings, and his motor and sideline to sideline pursuit skills...I not concerned where we put him, Just put him in the starting lineup!!

Not too worried about the DB's one bit to be honest, and the loss of Jeffcoat I truly think will be an addition by subtraction thing....If he was 1 16 to 18 game a yr guy, then be a bit concerning, but he wasn't and with the jettison of Jackson cause we made an actual smart draft pick, we are going to likely have 2 import ends opposite WJ as well as a disruptive DT this yr....who attacks plays....not recieves them, and hopefully (knock on wood) minimal Thomas in the middle and let Lawson grow into the premiere Canadian DT...which he likely will be...

Like mentioned...I bet by game 6 with no injuries, we will have a better defence than we seen last few yrs, and almost 2019 esque....This is the most legit and real talent with a shot to make an impact on the Dline and LB crew that I have seen here pretty much since 2018

[3rdand1.5]

We had an issue with Jeffcoat, he was a good guy all indications were he was a great teammate and when healthy a force, but.......he was in and out enough that we didn't really develop a replacement "rip the bandaid off" as someone above mentioned and overall, it hurst us. We are seeing the same with Biggie. I get he was hurst most of last year, but he was not good enough. Biggie is a perennial all-star, one of the best MLB to play and we got many great years out of him, unfortunately if we keep him in and out we will do the same thing we did with Jeffcoat. 

IMO at this point Biggie should be insurance only, park him on the 6 game and have a true open competition for MLB. If the guy we roll with falters Gauthier is a very serviceable stop gap, but I don't want him to be the main day one starter, and I really like the guy......

[Booch]

a play making DT and 2 legit ends rotating opposite WJ...and we will see WJ have a career yr this yr....he played way too many reps last 2 yrs and it hurts his impact...Kudos for him doing it...but shave off 10 or so reps a game at minimum for him...and watch him dominate

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

I'm going to be hopeful that the team does one of the following:

-Cole to Wil and Kyrie to MLB

-Cole to MLB

-Rookie starter at MLB

 

Or even take a look a FA's if Biggie is going to miss significant time. Kyrie at MLB has served us well in the past though. 

1 hour ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Clearly i was being facetious, my point being Bighill was borderline awful at times last year, whiffing on tackles all over the field and repeatedly being two steps behind plays. He was impactful in the wrong kind of way last season.

He wasn't awful, he just wasn't MOP calibre anymore.

1 hour ago, Booch said:

need to finally treat the last hold over of the loyalty/reward system like a band aid and rip er off and let stuff heal in open air....Bring in a guy with the skill set for the position...and let him grow and learn on the fly in the early part of the season and see if he takes the job and runs..Much like we did with that SAM a few years back...once he kinda flatlined and gassed out...we made a deal for Darby.....keep Biggie on the 6 game for now and so he gets paid...and is here as a defacto coach/mentor and if we need him for spot duty....he is good coverage as you know he can play....I just think full time reps now for him is a big ask

Biggie still excels in aspects of his game, but he is no longer an every situation dominant MLB anymore. 

[Bubba Zanetti]

5 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Or even take a look a FA's if Biggie is going to miss significant time. Kyrie at MLB has served us well in the past though. 

He wasn't awful, he just wasn't MOP calibre anymore.

Biggie still excels in aspects of his game, but he is no longer an every situation dominant MLB anymore. 

Thats being very polite. He wasnt in the same solar system as MOP calibre.

[rebusrankin]

3 weeks to the home opener.

[Fatty Liver]

36 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Or even take a look a FA's if Biggie is going to miss significant time. Kyrie at MLB has served us well in the past though. 

He wasn't awful, he just wasn't MOP calibre anymore.

Biggie still excels in aspects of his game, but he is no longer an every situation dominant MLB anymore. 

Walters doesn't have 2 nickels left to bring in FA's from the cold, what you see is what you're going to get. 

Agree Bighill played reasonably well last season and stayed healthy up until the last game, some people are exaggerating his liability. If Kyrie can take on the leadership role, he's the logical successor.

[JCon]

2 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Walters doesn't have 2 nickels left to bring in FA's from the cold, what you see is what you're going to get. 

Agree Bighill played reasonably well last season and stayed healthy up until the last game, some people are exaggerating his liability. If Kyrie can take on the leadership role, he's the logical successor.

If Biggie is injured for at least 6 games he does. 

[bigg jay]

6 minutes ago, JCon said:

If Biggie is injured for at least 6 games he does. 

The cap also doesn't matter right now.  There's lots of time to find savings (cuts, 6 game IR, contract restructuring) if they really needed to.

[JCon]

I'm not certain Biggie was a top 10 LB last year in a 9 team league. 

[GCn20]

45 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Walters doesn't have 2 nickels left to bring in FA's from the cold, what you see is what you're going to get. 

Agree Bighill played reasonably well last season and stayed healthy up until the last game, some people are exaggerating his liability. If Kyrie can take on the leadership role, he's the logical successor.

If Biggie is off the books long term he most certainly does have the cap space.

30 minutes ago, JCon said:

I'm not certain Biggie was a top 10 LB last year in a 9 team league. 

Yes, that pesky all star award was a mirage. Even though it wasn't his best ever season or anything, the guy is easily still in the top half of the league as a MLBer. EASILY. Don't believe that...fine...but the guys he plays against think enough of him to name him the CFLPA all star. That may have been somewhat a reputation accolade but I am 100% certain they didn't vote a guy outside the top 10 as their choice of all star.

Edited May 16 by GCn20

[blue85gold]

42 minutes ago, JCon said:

I'm not certain Biggie was a top 10 LB last year in a 9 team league. 

Agree with that. He can be a useful role player now but his top salary is likely not worth it. 

https://3downnation.com/2024/05/12/the-cfls-10-highest-paid-linebackers-for-the-2024-season/

 

[Atomic]

Bighill shouldn't have been on the team last season and definitely shouldn't be this season. Massively wasted money. He was washed up 2 years ago.

[Pete]

It was Kramdl's turn yesterday, today Bighill. You'd think our defense was the worst in the league ly, oh wait no one gave up less points than us

Hard to do if your lbs arent performing