2024 Blue Bomber Training Camp

[17to85]

Anyone who thought Thomas wasn't going to be in the plans was only fooling themselves.  The second he was brought back he was in the plans. 

I actually think this year there has been a lot of the moving on and won't be as bad as last year.

[Mike]

2 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Anyone who thought Thomas wasn't going to be in the plans was only fooling themselves.  The second he was brought back he was in the plans. 

I actually think this year there has been a lot of the moving on and won't be as bad as last year.

I’m hopeful. There’s a lot of guys on D that I would like to see them keep around and I’m hoping we don’t just hand the spot over to the second-year guy because they’re a “veteran” (see: Tyrique McGhee) when there are better options in the rookie class (see: Marquise Bridges)

Between Bridges, D’Abreu, Thomas, Moses and a few other guys, I see a lot of talent on the recruiting class on D this year and I hope it sticks around 

[wbbfan]

25 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Anyone who thought Thomas wasn't going to be in the plans was only fooling themselves.  The second he was brought back he was in the plans. 

I actually think this year there has been a lot of the moving on and won't be as bad as last year.

It’s all going to depend on how healthy Jake is. And if they are finally over the old boys club. or how far over it they are. 

[17to85]

30 minutes ago, Mike said:

Between Bridges, D’Abreu, Thomas, Moses and a few other guys, I see a lot of talent on the recruiting class on D this year and I hope it sticks around 

I think this is a big part of it too... based purely on one preseason game, this years crop of recruits looks way better than last year

[Fatty Liver]

3 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Anyone who thought Thomas wasn't going to be in the plans was only fooling themselves.  The second he was brought back he was in the plans. 

I actually think this year there has been a lot of the moving on and won't be as bad as last year.

One man's perspective.

 

[TrueBlue4ever]

So in the last 5 years, which newbie player cut in training camp by the Bombers has gone elsewhere and become an impact player?

[GCn20]

17 hours ago, Booch said:

how does playing 2 import DT's negate continuity?...with whom?....You play WJ/HABA/lets say Garbutt..Fox/Lets say Woods....and toss in Schmeckle as he the only viable Canadian available to us now who has possible upside and isnt a dead weight with none (Jake) how is that not continuity if you roll with that?

There is no reason for us to possibly start 3 Nats on defence now, with 6 on offence when we dont...or wont roster anyone to take advantage of the flexibility?...We should not start any more than 8 Canadians at most right now....even that isn't really doing anything to make us better in all truthfuness

I can't think of one player in this regime in last 4..5 yrs who came in and pushed a vet out of his starting spot, and off the roster...even our pluggers who only saw work on teams were never really ousted either....corret me if I am wrong, but save for when there was absolutely nobody returning at a position nobody new has ever been rewarded with a spot...

well...that right there is reason enough to use his and Biggies cashola on Kongbo....fits a need...can play inside in certain sets....we all know he can play....and I bet a return here would totally be the thing that gets him back to where he was....Throw Jakes salary at him too and park his fat buttocks on the PR just in case....and let Schemck see if he can amount to anything against other teams starters while in rotation...Jake will offer us nothing next yr...so why even go down that road...Kingbo and possibly Schmeck could tho....so the time is now to find out...forward thinking and planning is what keeps you on top of the mountain....not relying on past glory and players in their golden yrs

Not sure if we go the Kongbo route or not, but we can't stay status quo on Thomas/Schmekel. Walters will need to add some NAT talent to our DL. Whether that is at DE or a FA DT...not sure. I would advocate for Kongbo but word in Hamilton is that he won't budge off of starting NAT DE money and that is why he remains unsigned. David Menard may be another stop gap guy that comes to mind as a possibility. KW may wait until cut downs around the league to see who shakes loose as well.

Edited May 23 by GCn20

[Mike]

David Menard would be intriguing although wouldn’t thrill me. We definitely would have the money to spend now. I’d rather just go all American but whatever 

[Booch]

2 hours ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

So in the last 5 years, which newbie player cut in training camp by the Bombers has gone elsewhere and become an impact player?

It's more a matter of giving guys a legit chance....real opportunity...Other teams have done thjeir own recruiting and you see new guys in starters roles...or legit talent earning their chops on the roster on teams....and PR's.....not so much here...only time a new guy gets a shot  is if there is a total void and nobody comig back...example Schoen...Strev...Nichols and Alford....That being said....a lot of our cuts and guys we do release get scooped up....

Also...You dont know truly what you hav if you dont give a guy a shot...Example again..Strev...Alfors/Nichols....Stove.....but you do what your scrubs offer...and cant offer

3 minutes ago, Mike said:

David Menard would be intriguing although wouldn’t thrill me. We definitely would have the money to spend now. I’d rather just go all American but whatever 

Menard at this point would offer more than Thomas...Scmecks...Bennett....hopefuly he not back..Kornelson.....and he brings vet presence....what a lot of posters lobby for why Thomas is key...even tho he offers nothing other than a warm body now

Edited May 23 by Booch

[Noeller]

 

 

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, Mike said:

David Menard would be intriguing although wouldn’t thrill me. We definitely would have the money to spend now. I’d rather just go all American but whatever 

I would as well, but if for whatever reason they want NAT depth on the DL, Menard wouldn't be the worst choice. Although just looking around the league there might be some intriguing NAT DL that shake loose as well.

1 hour ago, Booch said:

It's more a matter of giving guys a legit chance....real opportunity...Other teams have done thjeir own recruiting and you see new guys in starters roles...or legit talent earning their chops on the roster on teams....and PR's.....not so much here...only time a new guy gets a shot  is if there is a total void and nobody comig back...example Schoen...Strev...Nichols and Alford....That being said....a lot of our cuts and guys we do release get scooped up....

Also...You dont know truly what you hav if you dont give a guy a shot...Example again..Strev...Alfors/Nichols....Stove.....but you do what your scrubs offer...and cant offer

Menard at this point would offer more than Thomas...Scmecks...Bennett....hopefuly he not back..Kornelson.....and he brings vet presence....what a lot of posters lobby for why Thomas is key...even tho he offers nothing other than a warm body now

I'm not super stoked about signing a 33 year old guy as a stop gap, however, he is a plug and play guy that still should have a year of balling left in him and has the passport we might need for depth.

[Booch]

5 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I would as well, but if for whatever reason they want NAT depth on the DL, Menard wouldn't be the worst choice. Although just looking around the league there might be some intriguing NAT DL that shake loose as well.

I'm not super stoked about signing a 33 year old guy as a stop gap, however, he is a plug and play guy that still should have a year of balling left in him and has the passport we might need for depth.

offers more than our 33 yr old guy...who is limited now in his plugging and playing

[GCn20]

28 minutes ago, Booch said:

offers more than our 33 yr old guy...who is limited now in his plugging and playing

Agreed. 

[wbbfan]

13 hours ago, Fatty Liver said:

One man's perspective.

 

I’d love to ask mos why he cut Jake early on in his time here then 

[Fatty Liver]

Just now, wbbfan said:

I’d love to ask mos why he cut Jake early on in his time here then 

When was that?

[Booch]

1 minute ago, wbbfan said:

I’d love to ask mos why he cut Jake early on in his time here then 

yeah that was my happy day...then someone got hurt in camp I believe....and back he came as opposed to new blood

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Not sure if we go the Kongbo route or not, but we can't stay status quo on Thomas/Schmekel. Walters will need to add some NAT talent to our DL. Whether that is at DE or a FA DT...not sure. I would advocate for Kongbo but word in Hamilton is that he won't budge off of starting NAT DE money and that is why he remains unsigned. David Menard may be another stop gap guy that comes to mind as a possibility. KW may wait until cut downs around the league to see who shakes loose as well.

Problem is at this point basically the only chance is to trade a real asset away to get that. Other wise we will wait for cuts and take a shot on a guy who is a fringe talent at best. not saying we shouldn’t do that, but I don’t think we will. 
Could be that one of the global DL from this year gets cut or put on a pr which would be solid too. 

44 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I would as well, but if for whatever reason they want NAT depth on the DL, Menard wouldn't be the worst choice. Although just looking around the league there might be some intriguing NAT DL that shake loose as well.

I'm not super stoked about signing a 33 year old guy as a stop gap, however, he is a plug and play guy that still should have a year of balling left in him and has the passport we might need for depth.

I think menard is the Thomas of ends at this point. 
 
I don’t think we need a ni dl though it would be a big value to add. I think with Kramdi we have the ability to use that ratio flexibility else where. 
 

If our 6 game is going to save serious bucks, which it looks like, I’d consider giving a call to grant. 

5 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

When was that?

I believe it was mos 2nd tc. They cut him in the off season and only brought him back a few weeks into the season. 
 

4 minutes ago, Booch said:

yeah that was my happy day...then someone got hurt in camp I believe....and back he came as opposed to new blood

pretty much. I thought he had more to offer back then and was a reasonable back up / back end roster guy. But we always over play nis like that. 

[Arnold_Palmer]

Jake Thomas was a solid rotational player for us for many years, the issue is there’s a difference between a 28 year old Jake Thomas playing on a  heavy rotational DL line up in 2019 and a 32 year old Jake Thomas starting almost every game for us. With Cam Lawsons injury I’m hoping that doesn’t mean status quo this year I would still go with an all American DL and If that means Jake Thomas rotates in, that’s something I could live with, but I would be extremely disappointed if he plays as often as he did in 2023..

[bigg jay]

26 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I believe it was mos 2nd tc. They cut him in the off season and only brought him back a few weeks into the season. 

Not cut per se, his contract was up and wasn't brough back (at least initially).  They re-signed him in late May 2018 so we hadn't even had our first pre-season game yet.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2018/05/23/training-camp-day-3-recap-2/

Edited May 23 by bigg jay
added link

[Booch]

11 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

Jake Thomas was a solid rotational player for us for many years, the issue is there’s a difference between a 28 year old Jake Thomas playing on a  heavy rotational DL line up in 2019 and a 32 year old Jake Thomas starting almost every game for us. With Cam Lawsons injury I’m hoping that doesn’t mean status quo this year I would still go with an all American DL and If that means Jake Thomas rotates in, that’s something I could live with, but I would be extremely disappointed if he plays as often as he did in 2023..

as much as I still dont think Schmeck amounts to much (hope I wrong) I would rather he gets rostered, and just spells guys off as well from an all Import Dline starting group....He at least can move around well, pursue and move laterally to try and impede a play...Thomas can't....and tired of watching him backside of a play lolly gaging and jogging up to the pile...if the play isnt funnelled right to him...he basically has zero impact...

 

[rebusrankin]

I'm going to predict right now that Jake starts week 1 at DT. Hope I am wrong.

[HardCoreBlue]

25 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

Jake Thomas was a solid rotational player for us for many years, the issue is there’s a difference between a 28 year old Jake Thomas playing on a  heavy rotational DL line up in 2019 and a 32 year old Jake Thomas starting almost every game for us. With Cam Lawsons injury I’m hoping that doesn’t mean status quo this year I would still go with an all American DL and If that means Jake Thomas rotates in, that’s something I could live with, but I would be extremely disappointed if he plays as often as he did in 2023..

Sorry for stating the extreme obvious from the couch here but JT's conditioning is very worrisome where his performance level drops very quickly after just a few reps.

Hands on hips happens very quickly for him.  That can't be good and not sure what other intangibles he brings to the field can override this. 

[Jesse]

8 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

I'm going to predict right now that Jake starts week 1 at DT. Hope I am wrong.

Starting is such a dumb term for DT though. It doesn’t matter how he’s listed on the DC, it’s what percentage of snaps he gets.

[Booch]

6 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Starting is such a dumb term for DT though. It doesn’t matter how he’s listed on the DC, it’s what percentage of snaps he gets.

which is still too many....I will say that I am more than confident to predict that Jake will be the starting DT...backed by Schmeckle and we will rarely if at all see any sets without one or other on field....Gauthier in the middle, Ford on the corner (which I like) tho Cole will man SAM....we will start 9 Nationals for no other reason than thats how Osh operates and he will give a smug non informative reason for it other than "they are all number 1's" or something along those lines...but wont roster anything DI wise or other to take advantage of free rotation with no ratio juggling

We will dress FOX and WJ as imports on the D-line and 1 rotational guy likely as an end...and we only get that privledge because Bennett wasn't good to go and cut....Only one of moses or Gemmel/Petrishen will dress if we are lucky.....thats home opener defensive lineup .....and that is pretty sad...Prove me wrong Osh....please...just once

9 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Sorry for stating the extreme obvious from the couch here but JT's conditioning is very worrisome where his performance level drops very quickly after just a few reps.

Hands on hips happens very quickly for him.  That can't be good and not sure what other intangibles he brings to the field can override this. 

just watch him jogging around behind plays all tippy toed with zero impact...happens way too often

Edited May 23 by Booch

[3rdand1.5]

An inside DL of Fox and Lawson with Jake and Schmekle rotating in and the next best Imp. on the PR or active as needed growing and learning is a fairly solid rotation that is budget friendly and all indications are responsibility sound and has developed chemistry. 

Unfortunately, we lost Lawson to what seems like a serious injury. No doubt Jake and Schmekle are not as great a rotation as it was with Lawson in. Maybe one of the other IMP. interior d-line not named Fox is better than Jake and Schmekle, and maybe one can get into the rotation but assignment responsibility and chemistry and personality etc. plays into the equation, it's not just about pure talent. How many times do we see sports teams with ridiculous high end talent lose out to teams with far inferior talent.

It's not like Jake is terrible give him some benefit of the doubt. If we have Jake and Fox starting with Schmekle rotating to start the year it is what it is. Let's try to look at it glass half full.....with the injury to Lawson, one of the other interior D-lineman will get an extended look and more development time then they may have otherwise had, and because of that it may make our overall roster better.....