Blue Bombers - 2024 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[Mark H.]

This one is more up to date - dude comes with a pretty athletic pedigree.  Played RT/RG in 2023

 

CAREER: Lettered four years at Stanford University (2019-20-21-22) and one season at Duke (2023) … played in 48 career games, 35 starts … Academic All-ACC honoree (2023) and two-time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll recipient (2020 & 2021) … played 2,848 career snaps.
 
2023: Academic All-ACC honoree … started and played in 12 games at right tackle and right guard, missing the Birmingham Bowl against Troy due to injury … helped the offense accumulate 2,174 rushing and 2,351 passing yards as well as 26 rushing TDs, which was tied for the fifth-most in program history … part of an offensive line that ranked third in the ACC and tied for 24th nationally in sacks allowed per game (1.31) and second in the league and tied for 31st nationally in TFL allowed per outing (4.77) … helped Duke only relinquish 171 rushing yards on the year, the fewest in the ACC … on the field for 778 snaps.

PRIOR TO DUKE: Four-year member of the football program at Stanford (2019-20-21-22) ... saw action in 36 career games (23 starts) with the Cardinal … two-time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll honoree (2020 & 2021) … helped Stanford finish second in the Pac-12 in red zone offense with a mark of 87.1 percent in 2022 … earned first career start against UCLA in 2019 … on the field for 2,070 snaps … attended Malvern Prep and played for coach Dave Gueriera … three-star prospect by ESPN.com, Rivals.com and 247Sports.com ... ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 10 prospect from the state of Pennsylvania and the No. 16 offensive guard in the nation … helped Malvern Prep to three league championships … two-time first team All-Southeastern Pennsylvania and two-time first team all-league pick … tabbed first team All-USA Pennsylvania and first yeam All-City in 2018 … also competed in basketball.

PERSONAL: Born September 6, 2000 ... graduated from Stanford in December 2022, with a degree in science, technology, and society ... currently pursuing a master’s in management studies from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business ... son of Jeff and Dawn Hornibrook … brother, Alex, lettered in football three years at Wisconsin (2016-17-18) and one season at Florida State (2019), graduated from Wisconsin ranking first all-time in quarterback winning percentage (.813, 26-6) in Badger history, tied for third in passing touchdowns (47), fourth in pass completions (426), fifth in career passing (5,438), tied for fifth in career wins by a quarterback (26), sixth in career starts by a quarterback (32), earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2016 and 2017, helped lead the Badgers to wins in the 2016 Cotton Bowl and 2017 Orange Bowl and was tabbed the MVP of the Orange Bowl … sister, Mackenzie, lettered four seasons in swimming and diving at Penn State University (2014-15-16-17), earning Academic All-Big Ten honors and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award  in 2015, 2016, and 2017 … uncle, Ben Davis, was a first round pick (No. 2 overall) in the 1995 Major League Baseball draft by the San Diego Padres out of Malvern Prep, and played seven MLB seasons with the San Diego Padres (1998-2001), Seattle Mariners (2002-04), and Chicago White Sox (2004).

 

https://goduke.com/sports/football/roster/jake-hornibrook/19300

 

[Bubba Zanetti]

2 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Forgetting how ******* good schoen was in his first 2 seasons.... you don't just let guys like that walk because of some shiny new toys who may not ever be as good as schoen is.

I get its not a popular take, and i love me some Dalton Schoen, but he is a luxury at this point and the injuries are starting to pile up. From September of last year all the way through to the Grey Cup he was injured and in and out of the lineup, putting up 36 limpy yards in the big game. And now has missed the entire 2024 season going down week 3. Thats 1.5 out of 3 seasons injured now. May be a pattern forming. Save the money and go and get some legit proven interior and exterior pass rush/run stuff linemen. Thats really our glaring weakness. Having said all that, if he's willing to take a haircut to stick around then great, but having two receivers taking up 500K+ is a luxury and likely not needed with the young talent in our receiving corps. Wilson is quietly likely to break 1000 yards which doesnt happen very often for a rookie, and Wheatfall has been awesome when in the lineup. These guys are legit.

Edited September 30 by Bubba Zanetti

[M.O.A.B.]

1 hour ago, blueingreenland said:

These 3 Bomber rookie receivers really excite me - Wheatfall, Wilson, & Clercius (makes you wonder what will happen when Shoen comes back next year). I don't remember a year when we had 3 great rookie receivers like this. Our offense might be hard to stop!

Whoever price themself high (between Lawler and Schoen) will be out of the team next year. I think it will be Lawler though. He has the history of chasing the money. 

Edited September 30 by M.O.A.B.

[Bubba Zanetti]

8 minutes ago, M.O.A.B. said:

Whoever price themself high (between Lawler and Schoen) will be out of the team next year. I think it will be Lawler though. He has the history of chasing the money. 

Except he took less to come back here.....

I dont think Kenny is going anywhere.

Edited September 30 by Bubba Zanetti

[johnzo]

Schoen has had some rough luck with injuries for sure ... I would hesitate to call him fragile because he made a ton of fearless but vulnerable catches in heavy traffic last year.  Safeties and LBs were teeing up on him.  I doubt that anyone would have come through that pounding unscathed.

[M.O.A.B.]

3 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Except he took less to come back here.....

I dont think Kenny is going anywhere.

You can't keep them all though. Something has to give. 

Just now, johnzo said:

Schoen has had some rough luck with injuries for sure ... I would hesitate to call him fragile because he made a ton of fearless but vulnerable catches in heavy traffic last year.  Safeties and LBs were teeing up on him.  I doubt that anyone would have come through that pounding unscathed.

Lawler has been more injured of the two. 

[Bubba Zanetti]

16 minutes ago, M.O.A.B. said:

You can't keep them all though. Something has to give. 

Lawler has been more injured of the two. 

Agreed, thats why i feel Schoen is the odd man out.

Lawler has had an injury history too but Schoen seems to have more lingering issues like from Sept of last year on. Also, Lawler's injury this season was of the freak variety with an arm fracture bracing himself after a catch. Schoen had a non-contact knee injury, while also somewhat freak is more concerning.

Edited September 30 by Bubba Zanetti

[Booch]

Lawler will be here...and at a good price. Schoen will too...he will come at a discount due to injury and likely won't even be on the books until game 7.

You can never have enough WR depth and we saw how it hampered us the first 8..to 10 games.

Also...flash in the pan is a real thing...seen it with several teams. If there may be an odd man out..and as much as I hate even saying it but could be Woli. Tenure...birth certificate are against him but that being said I can see him doing the Bailey and playing for cheap as he loves it hear..and is a here or nowhere guy like Jeffcoat.

Wr salaries have been corrected from the stupidity of 2021/2022 and for 2025 can easily see us getting Lawler and Schoen for 450k tops...and part of it not being on the books anyway.

[rebusrankin]

In terms of injury, Lawler has played 19 games and missed 14 since his return. That said he has 78 receptions, 1372 yards and 10 Tds in those games. Wait, what was my point again? Oh yeah, keep both Dalton and Kenny

[bearpants]

48 minutes ago, Booch said:

Lawler will be here...and at a good price. Schoen will too...he will come at a discount due to injury and likely won't even be on the books until game 7.

You can never have enough WR depth and we saw how it hampered us the first 8..to 10 games.

Also...flash in the pan is a real thing...seen it with several teams. If there may be an odd man out..and as much as I hate even saying it but could be Woli. Tenure...birth certificate are against him but that being said I can see him doing the Bailey and playing for cheap as he loves it hear..and is a here or nowhere guy like Jeffcoat.

Wr salaries have been corrected from the stupidity of 2021/2022 and for 2025 can easily see us getting Lawler and Schoen for 450k tops...and part of it not being on the books anyway.

I think you mean that tenure and birth certificate are both in Woli's favour... 

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, Mark H. said:

This one is more up to date - dude comes with a pretty athletic pedigree.  Played RT/RG in 2023

 

CAREER: Lettered four years at Stanford University (2019-20-21-22) and one season at Duke (2023) … played in 48 career games, 35 starts … Academic All-ACC honoree (2023) and two-time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll recipient (2020 & 2021) … played 2,848 career snaps.
 
2023: Academic All-ACC honoree … started and played in 12 games at right tackle and right guard, missing the Birmingham Bowl against Troy due to injury … helped the offense accumulate 2,174 rushing and 2,351 passing yards as well as 26 rushing TDs, which was tied for the fifth-most in program history … part of an offensive line that ranked third in the ACC and tied for 24th nationally in sacks allowed per game (1.31) and second in the league and tied for 31st nationally in TFL allowed per outing (4.77) … helped Duke only relinquish 171 rushing yards on the year, the fewest in the ACC … on the field for 778 snaps.

PRIOR TO DUKE: Four-year member of the football program at Stanford (2019-20-21-22) ... saw action in 36 career games (23 starts) with the Cardinal … two-time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll honoree (2020 & 2021) … helped Stanford finish second in the Pac-12 in red zone offense with a mark of 87.1 percent in 2022 … earned first career start against UCLA in 2019 … on the field for 2,070 snaps … attended Malvern Prep and played for coach Dave Gueriera … three-star prospect by ESPN.com, Rivals.com and 247Sports.com ... ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 10 prospect from the state of Pennsylvania and the No. 16 offensive guard in the nation … helped Malvern Prep to three league championships … two-time first team All-Southeastern Pennsylvania and two-time first team all-league pick … tabbed first team All-USA Pennsylvania and first yeam All-City in 2018 … also competed in basketball.

PERSONAL: Born September 6, 2000 ... graduated from Stanford in December 2022, with a degree in science, technology, and society ... currently pursuing a master’s in management studies from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business ... son of Jeff and Dawn Hornibrook … brother, Alex, lettered in football three years at Wisconsin (2016-17-18) and one season at Florida State (2019), graduated from Wisconsin ranking first all-time in quarterback winning percentage (.813, 26-6) in Badger history, tied for third in passing touchdowns (47), fourth in pass completions (426), fifth in career passing (5,438), tied for fifth in career wins by a quarterback (26), sixth in career starts by a quarterback (32), earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2016 and 2017, helped lead the Badgers to wins in the 2016 Cotton Bowl and 2017 Orange Bowl and was tabbed the MVP of the Orange Bowl … sister, Mackenzie, lettered four seasons in swimming and diving at Penn State University (2014-15-16-17), earning Academic All-Big Ten honors and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award  in 2015, 2016, and 2017 … uncle, Ben Davis, was a first round pick (No. 2 overall) in the 1995 Major League Baseball draft by the San Diego Padres out of Malvern Prep, and played seven MLB seasons with the San Diego Padres (1998-2001), Seattle Mariners (2002-04), and Chicago White Sox (2004).

 

https://goduke.com/sports/football/roster/jake-hornibrook/19300

 

What’s crazy is there’s even more. His mom played d1 basketball and his dad played football at temple lol. 
 Clearly a deep strong lineage of excelling both academically and athletically. Very impressive family. 

[17to85]

1 hour ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

but Schoen seems to have more lingering issues

What you mean catching suicide passes from his qb? Neither Wilson or wheatfall can do what schoen can and honestly those two are more likely to make Lawler expendable.  

[Booch]

32 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

In terms of injury, Lawler has played 19 games and missed 14 since his return. That said he has 78 receptions, 1372 yards and 10 Tds in those games. Wait, what was my point again? Oh yeah, keep both Dalton and Kenny

AHHA...YUP....U just convinced yourself!

20 minutes ago, bearpants said:

I think you mean that tenure and birth certificate are both in Woli's favour... 

they are...but also aren't in terms of SMS hit....

Thats why I a proponent that if you have a Canadian on your roster for 5 yrs or more, you can have 50% of his salary exempt from cap hit...would help with continuity and keeping guys in the community and the team long term...would have all kinds of benefits for the team...community an league for that matter

Edited September 30 by Booch

[Mark H.]

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

What’s crazy is there’s even more. His mom played d1 basketball and his dad played football at temple lol. 
 Clearly a deep strong lineage of excelling both academically and athletically. Very impressive family. 

Just nuts.  Good for them. Takes hard work to excel at those levels, regardless of your pedigree.

[Rod Black]

44 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Just nuts.  Good for them. Takes hard work to excel at those levels, regardless of your pedigree.

Agreed. Gotta be smart to attend Stanford, basketball teaches good footwork, has notable size, and having a coffee with the Colts means he likes coffee. 

[Nolby]

3 hours ago, johnzo said:

Schoen has had some rough luck with injuries for sure ... I would hesitate to call him fragile because he made a ton of fearless but vulnerable catches in heavy traffic last year.  Safeties and LBs were teeing up on him.  I doubt that anyone would have come through that pounding unscathed.

I know hes out with a knee injury, did they ever say what his injury was? Is there a chance hes back for playoffs? I honestly missed the actual diagnosis.

[Mike]

21 minutes ago, Nolby said:

I know hes out with a knee injury, did they ever say what his injury was? Is there a chance hes back for playoffs? I honestly missed the actual diagnosis.

He won’t be back for the start of the next season

 

if there’s a CL in the name, he tore it 

[Nolby]

54 minutes ago, Mike said:

He won’t be back for the start of the next season

 

if there’s a CL in the name, he tore it 

Like a 2nd funeral, fack.

[SpeedFlex27]

10 hours ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Played RT and RG in college. Lacks ideal foot speed for a tackle so likely a guard at the pro level according to DraftDiamonds. Here is a summary from them:

Jake Hornibrook graduated from Stanford after four years with the Cardinals and looks to play his 5th season for Duke as a graduate student. Hornibrook has started at both guard spots during his time at Stanford, but started all 12 games last year on the left side of the ball. He possesses an elite frame for a guard, albeit underweight for the position. Hornibrook utilizes sufficient get off with above-average leg drive at the snap. He shows his intelligence by keeping his punch between the shoulders in pass pro and accurately targeting the inside shoulder to create holes in the run game. However, he lacks high-level foot quickness and lateral COD, allowing him to get caught flat footed in pass pro by speed rushers trying to go around him. Hornibrook does not play with the desired violence for the position, which can be seen in his struggles securing 2nd level blocks or a lack of explosive play strength, but his elite frame and knowledge of the position make him a perfect target for a team’s reserve offensive line unit.

Yeah all 3 of those guys have really looked good. I think we likely let Schoen walk after this season because of this.

Schoen is pushing 30 & his body is beat up. I think we only keep one of Lawler/Schoen next season. We need to spend the money elsewhere. 

[WinnipegGordo]

If Lawler and or Schoen do come back next year I think Walters should be looking at the signing bonuses he is giving out to them.

This year there was minimal cap savings with these guys out of of the line-up due to the size of their signing bonuses (Lawler 150k, Schoen 105k).

The bonuses help keep the overall contract totals lower but the team would be better off if they decreased the bonuses incase the players get injured again. Especially in Schoen's case if he needs to start next season on the 6 game.

 

[Nolby]

19 minutes ago, WinnipegGordo said:

If Lawler and or Schoen do come back next year I think Walters should be looking at the signing bonuses he is giving out to them.

This year there was minimal cap savings with these guys out of of the line-up due to the size of their signing bonuses (Lawler 150k, Schoen 105k).

The bonuses help keep the overall contract totals lower but the team would be better off if they decreased the bonuses incase the players get injured again. Especially in Schoen's case if he needs to start next season on the 6 game.

 

Walters is gonna be in tough paying that receiving corp

[SpeedFlex27]

27 minutes ago, Nolby said:

Walters is gonna be in tough paying that receiving corp

Chancess are Clercius, Wilson & Wheatfall are on 2 year rookie deals. So, they'd have one more year left. We keep one of Schoen or Lawler & save there as well. 

[Brandon]

I wonder what our salary situation is this season?  I wonder "if" we can do some creative math and use this years money to lower the salaries for the next few seasons for those 2 guys.  

[bigg jay]

7 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Chancess are Clercius, Wilson & Wheatfall are on 2 year rookie deals. So, they'd have one more year left. We keep one of Schoen or Lawler & save there as well. 

Clercius would be on a 3 year rookie deal (2 years plus a team option for the 3rd year) since he's a national.

[Bigblue204]

6 hours ago, Brandon said:

I wonder what our salary situation is this season?  I wonder "if" we can do some creative math and use this years money to lower the salaries for the next few seasons for those 2 guys.  

Most of Schoen is off the books, Lawler had a good chunk on the six game. No Lawson. Biggie off now too. I have a hard time believing they are up against it. I honestly think things look good to bring a lot of guys back and pay them what they're worth. Renegotiate this year and use that 6 game money as signing bonuses