Blue Bombers - 2024 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[M.O.A.B.]

Kolo is still at the centre. That' still a problem. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

That's a tiny receiving corps with basically no reliable targets.  Clercius is headed that way, but sometimes a QB just needs a relatively easy throw.  Going to have to work screen game with this crew, the intermediate stuff is largely out the window IMO.  These guys need to get open, no one who will win a contested ball.

[Goalie]

43 minutes ago, BomberBall. said:

Did they realize that though?  I thought he was replaced due to injury.

He’s on the 6 game so injury is correct 

[Jpan85]

 

Pretty impressive for a 2-6 team

[Colin Unger]

From PFF this week.

8. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (No Change)

LT Stanley Bryant
LG Liam Dobson
C Chris Kolankowski
RG Asotui Eli
RT Eric Lofton

• The Blue Bombers' pass-blocking struggles continued. This unit ranked as the worst pass-blocking group of Week 8, earning a 40.3 pass-blocking grade. The pair of right guards was the main culprit for the poor grade. Neufeld (5.5) started but was replaced in the third quarter by Eli (18.2), who did not perform much better.

• Right tackle Eric Lofton had his best game of the season. He finished with a 73.6 overall grade, a 60.1 pass-blocking grade and a 79.2 run-blocking grade, making him the third highest-graded run-blocking offensive lineman of the week. 

[bigg jay]

3 minutes ago, Jpan85 said:

 

Pretty impressive for a 2-6 team

Having a solid base of season ticket holders definitely helps. 

[Super Duper Negatron]

9 minutes ago, Jpan85 said:

 

Pretty impressive for a 2-6 team

That's amazing.

[wbbfan]

52 minutes ago, BomberBall. said:

Did they realize that though?  I thought he was replaced due to injury.

I don’t believe he was actually injured. They pulled him after two sacks in a row and I didn’t see him get any attention from the trainers. 
 A lot of these no contact injuries where guys walk off with no injury stoppage are suspicious as hell. Previously we would’ve had to scrape guys like nuef off the field. 
 He may well still have issues with a previous injury they will blame, but I think it’s clear he’s toast and I’m hopeful he won’t be back. 

40 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

That's a tiny receiving corps with basically no reliable targets.  Clercius is headed that way, but sometimes a QB just needs a relatively easy throw.  Going to have to work screen game with this crew, the intermediate stuff is largely out the window IMO.  These guys need to get open, no one who will win a contested ball.

This. We need to be looking for our prototype wr, not an army of tweener guys. 
Should’ve brought in Bailey already. 

12 minutes ago, Jpan85 said:

 

Pretty impressive for a 2-6 team

The mafia should be ashamed of the product on the field this year for all the crowd support they’ve gotten. 
 

 

5 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

From PFF this week.

8. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (No Change)

LT Stanley Bryant
LG Liam Dobson
C Chris Kolankowski
RG Asotui Eli
RT Eric Lofton

• The Blue Bombers' pass-blocking struggles continued. This unit ranked as the worst pass-blocking group of Week 8, earning a 40.3 pass-blocking grade. The pair of right guards was the main culprit for the poor grade. Neufeld (5.5) started but was replaced in the third quarter by Eli (18.2), who did not perform much better.

• Right tackle Eric Lofton had his best game of the season. He finished with a 73.6 overall grade, a 60.1 pass-blocking grade and a 79.2 run-blocking grade, making him the third highest-graded run-blocking offensive lineman of the week. 

I put zero stock in the pff grades in general. But I do think this is reasonably close to what transpired. 

[Colin Unger]

PFF on the argos offensive line last week. 
 

• Left tackle Isiah Cage had a stellar week against the Blue Bombers last week. His 84.4 run-blocking grade was the fourth-highest single-week mark of any offensive lineman in the CFL this season. 

• The usually uber-reliable Dejon Allen had by far his worst pass-blocking game of the season. Coming into the week, he had not earned a pass-blocking game grade below 77.0. He finished with a 28.4 mark in Week 8.

• The left side of the offensive line played solidly in pass protection. Cage (75.5), Hunter (70.3) and Nicastro (78.2) earned 70.0-plus pass-blocking grades on 29 snaps.

 

If i'm reading this correctly Hubert/Garbutt dominated their guy who underperformed his typical level whereas Thomas and Jefferson were dominated. 

Its somewhat not surprising that Jefferson and Garbutt switched ends on the depth chart. I'm hoping that the easier assignments will have squeeze a little bit more juice out of Jefferson. 

----------------------------

I think PFF does a very reasonable job. Its impossible for anyone outside their own team to grade 100% accurately because other teams or PFF ect need to predict what a player's assignment was. 

Edited July 31 by Colin Unger

[Colin Unger]

I have the same analysis of Nuefeld as wbbfan.  After the game the coach was asked point blank if it was injury or performance related and he said "we'll see"... Why the heck didn't he say he was injured if that was the case. 

I think he's basically been cut in the nicest possible way. He avoids embarrassment and still gets paid until the end of the season while the team frees up some cap space as if he was cut. I wonder if we do the same for Bighill all of next season to avoid the cap hit of his guaranteed money?

[bigg jay]

8 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

I have the same analysis of Nuefeld as wbbfan.  After the game the coach was asked point blank if it was injury or performance related and he said "we'll see"... Why the heck didn't he say he was injured if that was the case. 

I think he's basically been cut in the nicest possible way. He avoids embarrassment and still gets paid until the end of the season while the team frees up some cap space as if he was cut. I wonder if we do the same for Bighill all of next season to avoid the cap hit of his guaranteed money?

His contract ends after this season IIRC. He signed a new 2 year deal in 2022 (through the 2024 season) that had some guaranteed money.

3DN shows that only 15% of his contract is guaranteed (or about 25k). 

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

Edited July 31 by bigg jay
additional info added

[BomberBall.]

19 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I don’t believe he was actually injured. They pulled him after two sacks in a row and I didn’t see him get any attention from the trainers. 
 A lot of these no contact injuries where guys walk off with no injury stoppage are suspicious as hell. Previously we would’ve had to scrape guys like nuef off the field. 
 He may well still have issues with a previous injury they will blame, but I think it’s clear he’s toast and I’m hopeful he won’t be back. 

Yeah, I wondered if it was an injury of convenience.  He’s been a turnstile and being next to Kola it’s like a dam bursting.

[Atomic]

Honestly PFF's CFL content is much better than anything we get out of the old men and clueless bloggers who cover the CFL in Canada

[JCon]

1 minute ago, Atomic said:

Honestly PFF's CFL content is much better than anything we get out of the old men and clueless bloggers who cover the CFL in Canada

When Friesen wakes up from his nap, he's going to shake his fist at you, and then write a piece about Bighill's resurgence. 

[wbbfan]

52 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

PFF on the argos offensive line last week. 
 

• Left tackle Isiah Cage had a stellar week against the Blue Bombers last week. His 84.4 run-blocking grade was the fourth-highest single-week mark of any offensive lineman in the CFL this season. 

• The usually uber-reliable Dejon Allen had by far his worst pass-blocking game of the season. Coming into the week, he had not earned a pass-blocking game grade below 77.0. He finished with a 28.4 mark in Week 8.

• The left side of the offensive line played solidly in pass protection. Cage (75.5), Hunter (70.3) and Nicastro (78.2) earned 70.0-plus pass-blocking grades on 29 snaps.

 

If i'm reading this correctly Hubert/Garbutt dominated their guy who underperformed his typical level whereas Thomas and Jefferson were dominated. 

Its somewhat not surprising that Jefferson and Garbutt switched ends on the depth chart. I'm hoping that the easier assignments will have squeeze a little bit more juice out of Jefferson. 

----------------------------

I think PFF does a very reasonable job. Its impossible for anyone outside their own team to grade 100% accurately because other teams or PFF ect need to predict what a player's assignment was. 

 

35 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Honestly PFF's CFL content is much better than anything we get out of the old men and clueless bloggers who cover the CFL in Canada

My biggest problem with pff is their stat weights and not using any advanced gathering metrics. Using conventional stats to create advanced stats seldom works out. You need further quantification, especially on the lines. 
 

I have no doubt it’s better than the relative drivel we get from the usual talking heads. We have a handful of posters here who know more about football and Xs n Os than the upper level of reporting around the cfl. (Basically all the none players) 

I’m sure in order to take a step forward and really provide a quality product they’d need much more money. I bet that’s the goal, but with no actual plan as to how to get there. 
 

52 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

I have the same analysis of Nuefeld as wbbfan.  After the game the coach was asked point blank if it was injury or performance related and he said "we'll see"... Why the heck didn't he say he was injured if that was the case. 

I think he's basically been cut in the nicest possible way. He avoids embarrassment and still gets paid until the end of the season while the team frees up some cap space as if he was cut. I wonder if we do the same for Bighill all of next season to avoid the cap hit of his guaranteed money?

I could see him riding a 6 Game then maybe coming back to be “eased in” as a 6th man, or maybe getting a goodbye start in a meaningless final game. 
 

42 minutes ago, BomberBall. said:

Yeah, I wondered if it was an injury of convenience.  He’s been a turnstile and being next to Kola it’s like a dam bursting.

Exactly.  And an import guard might be able to cover for Kola more. If he has the mobility he can get over to help on a nose. Neufs mobility at this point is hoping the gravity of his mass can pull guys to him. 
 

 

[CrazyCanuck89]

1 hour ago, Colin Unger said:

PFF on the argos offensive line last week. 
 

• Left tackle Isiah Cage had a stellar week against the Blue Bombers last week. His 84.4 run-blocking grade was the fourth-highest single-week mark of any offensive lineman in the CFL this season. 

• The usually uber-reliable Dejon Allen had by far his worst pass-blocking game of the season. Coming into the week, he had not earned a pass-blocking game grade below 77.0. He finished with a 28.4 mark in Week 8.

• The left side of the offensive line played solidly in pass protection. Cage (75.5), Hunter (70.3) and Nicastro (78.2) earned 70.0-plus pass-blocking grades on 29 snaps.

 

If i'm reading this correctly Hubert/Garbutt dominated their guy who underperformed his typical level whereas Thomas and Jefferson were dominated. 

Its somewhat not surprising that Jefferson and Garbutt switched ends on the depth chart. I'm hoping that the easier assignments will have squeeze a little bit more juice out of Jefferson. 

----------------------------

I think PFF does a very reasonable job. Its impossible for anyone outside their own team to grade 100% accurately because other teams or PFF ect need to predict what a player's assignment was. 

Not really how it works.  I believe Hubert and Garbutt lined up as the strong side defensive end.  That means they would've gone up against both tackles.

[Colin Unger]

I just feel like we see a lot of Jefferson going up against the starting left tackle of opposing teams. Might just be a selective memory. 

[wbbfan]

21 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

I just feel like we see a lot of Jefferson going up against the starting left tackle of opposing teams. Might just be a selective memory. 

He does move around a lot. Our D front in general moves more than it has in a long time. 

[BBlink]

My take on Neufeld is that he got old, he's never been a supremely athletic guy, and he's been relatively injured since the start of the season. Did he get hurt in that game? Even just a small aggravation is going to turn someone who was just getting by into a complete liability. So I think that's where we're at. He's on the 6 game and I don't particularly think he's coming back barring massive injuries on the line.

[ddanger]

6 hours ago, BomberBall. said:

I’m guessing Randolph starting at G is so Wallace and Eli can stick with their sub packages and short yardage situations, which they are obviously familiar with.

As much as I like Eli I didn't think he played that well in TO. Him and Wallace are very good at the short yardage stuff.

[rebusrankin]

Amazing how we have gone from an above average line in 2023 to this so quickly.

[17to85]

2 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Amazing how we have gone from an above average line in 2023 to this so quickly.

Age is a mother ******... that and not changing out the replacement level piece for one of the draft picks you made sure to hold onto throughout the years...

[BomberBall.]

6 minutes ago, ddanger said:

As much as I like Eli I didn't think he played that well in TO. Him and Wallace are very good at the short yardage stuff.

Eli had a bit of a rough go in pass pro, but he was playing out of position and getting his first meaningful reps... Let’s give him a chance.  He’s way too good to not find his groove if given a real opportunity. 

[wbbfan]

51 minutes ago, BBlink said:

My take on Neufeld is that he got old, he's never been a supremely athletic guy, and he's been relatively injured since the start of the season. Did he get hurt in that game? Even just a small aggravation is going to turn someone who was just getting by into a complete liability. So I think that's where we're at. He's on the 6 game and I don't particularly think he's coming back barring massive injuries on the line.

His missing the whole tc and pre season tells me he never recovered from injuries last year. He was pretty beat up late in the year. 
 

 Nuef had fought all kinds of injuries over the years. The riders used to think he was a tackle in his early days. I’ve been as vocal as any one about his flaws, guys a tough ass warrior. I wish a bunch of other guys had his heat and toughness. 

51 minutes ago, ddanger said:

As much as I like Eli I didn't think he played that well in TO. Him and Wallace are very good at the short yardage stuff.

He is not the answer at guard, maybe he could become the answer but he isn’t a turn key solution. I’m happy we are going imp, I also hope we give Wallace a game or more if we end up playing meaningless games. 

[Mark H.]

Adding more imports to a struggling OL - makes the Canadians at other positions that much more valuable. ZC played decent last game - hope to see better pass pro going forward.

And I'd say it's about time. A good OL has been a hallmark of this management group.