Blue Bombers - 2024 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[wbbfan]

17 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Both Kolo and Dobson are undersized and have to stuff themselves continually to maintain adequate playing weight, time to find some bigger athletic bodies like Gray with natural musculature that can handle the demands of the position better.  Wallace is a good first step but they need to find two more big bodies to sustain the transition as it looks like Eli is being bypassed.

Dobson is not undersized lol. He was one of the most athletic OL in d1 football as well. Gray was over height for a guard, with more of a tackles build. 
 Dobson has not had to stuff him self to maintain weight ever.  He had to cut 20-25 lbs to play in the cfl. He was playing football at Texas state at 340lbs. And he could dunk a basketball on a regulation rim at that weight. 

 Centre is often an undersized position. Kolo used to be undersized, but hasn’t been since his first year. Hes sloppy, but he doesn’t force weight on either. 
Couture was 276lbs when we drafted him. He’s up to a bit over 300 now and a bit smaller than kolo. Mathias goosen was smaller and bulked up to 290-300 before retiring early. Neither of those guys were fat. 

[Booch]

Undersized centers are great...and very effective when they are very athletic and mobile, and used as such...Kolo is neither...and is still undersized....adding more gut to give him more mass has made him even less effective now as he just cant handle any motion in front of him now, and getting off his initial block to next level, has been next to invisible now....worst center in the league...bar none

 

[JuranBoldenRules]

32 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Both Kolo and Dobson are undersized and have to stuff themselves continually to maintain adequate playing weight, time to find some bigger athletic bodies like Gray with natural musculature that can handle the demands of the position better.  Wallace is a good first step but they need to find two more big bodies to sustain the transition as it looks like Eli is being bypassed.

Gray is already down 70 pounds and he hasn't even been out for a full year.

By your definition every lineman in the league is undersized.  All of them when they start eating normally will lose weight.  If they keep eating they'll get even bigger and die young.

[wbbfan]

1 minute ago, Booch said:

Undersized centers are great...and very effective when they are very athletic and mobile, and used as such...Kolo is neither...and is still undersized....adding more gut to give him more mass has made him even less effective now as he just cant handle any motion in front of him now, and getting off his initial block to next level, has been next to invisible now....worst center in the league...bar none

 

Smaller more athletic Cs have been the go to in the cfl for a while. Especially if you’re running a zone run scheme, that’s a guy whose often doubling a going to the next level. 
 In general that’s what linemen look like now too. Gone are the days of guys like Matt Sheridan. Even the nfl has moved down from the 330+ guards for the most part. Now they look like defensive linemen. Fairly trim, and thick. Big athletic humans. Ol used to be an after thought for talent. If they can’t play high level dl athletically they stuck at ol. You put the big slow kids there. Not any more. Teams build at all levels around big athletic kids in the trenches. And of course QBs.  

You’re bang on. Kolo is skinny fat. Not quick fast or strong. 

The average nfl guard this year is 6’2 and change, and 315. Exactly the same as Dobson. 

5 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Gray is already down 70 pounds and he hasn't even been out for a full year.

By your definition every lineman in the league is undersized.  All of them when they start eating normally will lose weight.  If they keep eating they'll get even bigger and die young.

I don’t remember the stat, but it was some thing to the effect of if you hit 30 and are over 300lbs, life expectancy drops by 20 years. And it’s even more at 40. 
 Few guys are as sloppy as they used to be, and few keep a football build longer than needed. I could see weight pushing down more on both lines across pro football to the point 275-290 is normal again. 

[Booch]

3 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Smaller more athletic Cs have been the go to in the cfl for a while. Especially if you’re running a zone run scheme, that’s a guy whose often doubling a going to the next level. 
 In general that’s what linemen look like now too. Gone are the days of guys like Matt Sheridan. Even the nfl has moved down from the 330+ guards for the most part. Now they look like defensive linemen. Fairly trim, and thick. Big athletic humans. Ol used to be an after thought for talent. If they can’t play high level dl athletically they stuck at ol. You put the big slow kids there. Not any more. Teams build at all levels around big athletic kids in the trenches. And of course QBs.  

You’re bang on. Kolo is skinny fat. Not quick fast or strong. 

The average nfl guard this year is 6’2 and change, and 315. Exactly the same as Dobson. 

yup...watch Kolo on a chip or 50 block...where he supposed to get to next level or engage a stunting lineman...he's horrible...either lisses his 50 or does nothing with it...misses the nextguy as he isnt athletic enough...or is caught looking around for who it is to be...as they flow in and disrupt ZC or just take him down...infuriating as heck to watch...and then a lot of times Dobson and Neuf get crapped on by posters here as it looks like they did the Ole Ole or missed a guy as they are trying to drop their man and at the least slow up they guy kolo missed...or are caught up dealing with a block they expected help on...

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

Dobson is not undersized lol. He was one of the most athletic OL in d1 football as well. Gray was over height for a guard, with more of a tackles build. 
 Dobson has not had to stuff him self to maintain weight ever.  He had to cut 20-25 lbs to play in the cfl. He was playing football at Texas state at 340lbs. And he could dunk a basketball on a regulation rim at that weight. 

 Centre is often an undersized position. Kolo used to be undersized, but hasn’t been since his first year. Hes sloppy, but he doesn’t force weight on either. 
Couture was 276lbs when we drafted him. He’s up to a bit over 300 now and a bit smaller than kolo. Mathias goosen was smaller and bulked up to 290-300 before retiring early. Neither of those guys were fat. 

Yea, Dobson was the very definition of a throwback OL. Had the beer belly and everything like those guys in the 70s

1 hour ago, Booch said:

Undersized centers are great...and very effective when they are very athletic and mobile, and used as such...Kolo is neither...and is still undersized....adding more gut to give him more mass has made him even less effective now as he just cant handle any motion in front of him now, and getting off his initial block to next level, has been next to invisible now....worst center in the league...bar none

 

Dominic Picard was not very big at all and he was a dominant centre for many years.

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

Dobson is not undersized lol. He was one of the most athletic OL in d1 football as well. Gray was over height for a guard, with more of a tackles build. 
 Dobson has not had to stuff him self to maintain weight ever.  He had to cut 20-25 lbs to play in the cfl. He was playing football at Texas state at 340lbs. And he could dunk a basketball on a regulation rim at that weight. 

 Centre is often an undersized position. Kolo used to be undersized, but hasn’t been since his first year. Hes sloppy, but he doesn’t force weight on either. 
Couture was 276lbs when we drafted him. He’s up to a bit over 300 now and a bit smaller than kolo. Mathias goosen was smaller and bulked up to 290-300 before retiring early. Neither of those guys were fat. 

Picard played his entire career around 270 I believe. He was 235 coming out of college and then went up to like 260 for several years, was optimal around 270ish, the bulked up to 300 for his last couple years in Toronto BUT was a pylon at that weight.

Edited November 1 by GCn20

[Noeller]

Not sure about Picard bur I remember Dan Gyetvai was always called Skinny Dan for playing at ~290 back in the day...

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, Booch said:

Ideally next yr I would like to see us go 3 import on oline with Randolph being one the guards...preferably right beside Stan....be cost effective and we can go after the best interior Canadian on the market...preferably a center

Run Big Stan....Randolph....any center but Kolo...Be it Eli or a FA....Wallace and I am fine with Lofton....Neuf as the 6th and if we retain Dobson then he is 6b.....or we draft the best mauler in the draft and let him be 2025 Wallace

Ratio wise we will have BO...Demski...2 olineman and a Clercius/Woli duo for 5 Nat's on offence, and with Lawson back next yr, we can easily put 2 Nationals at any give time on defence between him....Ford and Kramdi. I can also see MCI next yr as well getting some offensive looks too...so ratio wise we are in a good spot

And thats without even picking up anyone in free agency to get legit defensive snaps, or factoring in possibly Kelly taking reps....as looking at what we have as it is now...thats the only National I would want to see given the chance to get a lot of defensive snaps in a game

I would normally be big on letting Dobson progress and throwing Wallace into the fray and let him get the kinks out. However, in a Grey Cup hosting year we NEED a dominant OL. To me that means parting with Kola and or Dobson. We can't have an interior of Dobson/Kola/Wallace (if Neuf retires) and in my mind our best combination would be Wallace/New Centre/Neufeld.

2 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Not sure about Picard bur I remember Dan Gyetvai was always called Skinny Dan for playing at ~290 back in the day...

Gyetvai was an OG though wasn't he?

[Booch]

3 hours ago, GCn20 said:

I would normally be big on letting Dobson progress and throwing Wallace into the fray and let him get the kinks out. However, in a Grey Cup hosting year we NEED a dominant OL. To me that means parting with Kola and or Dobson. We can't have an interior of Dobson/Kola/Wallace (if Neuf retires) and in my mind our best combination would be Wallace/New Centre/Neufeld.

Gyetvai was an OG though wasn't he?

yup we need to def fortify the oline....and with pieces we have...another good draft and maybe s free agent pickup...change center...we should be sitting good. Ws so glad Wallace injury was minor and not a surgery requiring sesson ender as that would have set him back pretty much well into mid 2025

Wallace to me just makes me think of mid 90's to early 2000's interior guard mauler types....kid's gonna be a solid perennial all-star if he doesn't get a serious injury to derail him...calling it now

Edited November 1 by Booch

[Stickem]

19 minutes ago, Booch said:

 

Wallace to me just makes me think of mic 90's to early 2000's interior guard mauler types....kid's gonna be a solid perennial all-star if he doesn't get a serious injury to derail him...calling it now

You got it.....this kid is going to be an allstar in this league in a very short period of time

[rebusrankin]

Sadly Kolo is under contract for 2025 so I bet we don't make a change.

[wbbfan]

16 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Sadly Kolo is under contract for 2025 so I bet we don't make a change.

Not via free agency but no one was gonna poach him any way. 

[Pete]

3 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Sadly Kolo is under contract for 2025 so I bet we don't make a change.

We\ve got Bryant who hopefully has one more year in him, Neufeld who is also aging, Dobson is a free agent..... Kolo is the least of our worries

[17to85]

1 minute ago, Pete said:

We\ve got Bryant who hopefully has one more year in him, Neufeld who is also aging, Dobson is a free agent..... Kolo is the least of our worries

Oh he is the biggest worry. Guy who isn't good enough should not be the stability on the line.

[rebusrankin]

12 minutes ago, Pete said:

We\ve got Bryant who hopefully has one more year in him, Neufeld who is also aging, Dobson is a free agent..... Kolo is the least of our worries

A guy who struggles and is consistently a weak point is a worry

[Pete]

I think its nothing that a strong guard wouldn't fix,  Dobson has been inconsistent and your right in that Kolo isn't strong enough to make up for it, but he's not as bad as some would make out.

[Goalie]

7 minutes ago, Pete said:

I think its nothing that a strong guard wouldn't fix,  Dobson has been inconsistent and your right in that Kolo isn't strong enough to make up for it, but he's not as bad as some would make out.

Dobson was named a cfl all star so was he as bad as some think or upon inspection is kolo the guy struggling the most. 

[Pete]

33 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Dobson was named a cfl all star so was he as bad as some think or upon inspection is kolo the guy struggling the most. 

Do you really think Dobson played at an all star level? Not asking what the voters thought btw. ( they both arent great but Kolo is under contract )

Edited November 2 by Pete

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

We\ve got Bryant who hopefully has one more year in him, Neufeld who is also aging, Dobson is a free agent..... Kolo is the least of our worries

Kolo is problem 1b with Jake 1a. Thing is, when Lawson is healthy I think Jake is a very minor thing. Even if he doesn’t retire I don’t think he plays a fraction of the snaps next year. 
 Kolo is the worst ol in the league. 
 

41 minutes ago, Pete said:

I think its nothing that a strong guard wouldn't fix,  Dobson has been inconsistent and your right in that Kolo isn't strong enough to make up for it, but he's not as bad as some would make out.

he is. He’s struggled next to all our guards. Neuf, Dobson, Eli, vanterpool, Randolph (this year,) then gray, desjarlais, even playing beside couture in one game. 
 I hate to break it to you, you aren’t going to improve on that guard group. And its the centres job to support the guards, NOT the guards job to support the C. 
 

41 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Dobson was named a cfl all star so was he as bad as some think or upon inspection is kolo the guy struggling the most. 

He’s not the best guard in the west, but he’d start on 5-6 teams with ease. Healthy neuf + Dobson is one of the better guard combos in the league. 

[Noeller]

3 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Kolo is the worst ol in the league. 

I desperately want to get rid of Koala but this just isn't even remotely true... Have you seen the line in The Gap???

I mean he's definitely one of the worst C's in the league...ill give you that. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

8 hours ago, Noeller said:

I desperately want to get rid of Koala but this just isn't even remotely true... Have you seen the line in The Gap???

I mean he's definitely one of the worst C's in the league...ill give you that. 

Worst 10 for sure.

[Booch]

14 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Oh he is the biggest worry. Guy who isn't good enough should not be the stability on the line.

yeah....he is the biggest worry...If we choose to not sign...o lose Dobson I more than fine going with Wallace or import Randolph there...ratio wise we have that luxury

 

12 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Kolo is problem 1b with Jake 1a. Thing is, when Lawson is healthy I think Jake is a very minor thing. Even if he doesn’t retire I don’t think he plays a fraction of the snaps next year. 
 Kolo is the worst ol in the league. 
 

he is. He’s struggled next to all our guards. Neuf, Dobson, Eli, vanterpool, Randolph (this year,) then gray, desjarlais, even playing beside couture in one game. 
 I hate to break it to you, you aren’t going to improve on that guard group. And its the centres job to support the guards, NOT the guards job to support the C. 
 

He’s not the best guard in the west, but he’d start on 5-6 teams with ease. Healthy neuf + Dobson is one of the better guard combos in the league. 

When Lawson's back...already having Samson, and hopefully we draft s stud....there no need or room for Thoas next yr blocking someone with upsides progress and growth another yr...Thomas ain't in the future....is only gonna get worse....and eats up vet salary....At best he stays where he at talent/use wise...and thats bottom of barrell....likely worst high rep Canadian DT in the league...hard pass....which should have occured last yr already at the latest

9 hours ago, Noeller said:

I desperately want to get rid of Koala but this just isn't even remotely true... Have you seen the line in The Gap???

I mean he's definitely one of the worst C's in the league...ill give you that. 

worst center bar none...or neck and neck with the worst....and probably the bottom of the barrel in the league over all for Oline (Starters)...and has no upsie ...none...is what he is

[rebusrankin]

Who do people feel the best center is?

[HardCoreBlue]

22 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Gray is already down 70 pounds and he hasn't even been out for a full year.

By your definition every lineman in the league is undersized.  All of them when they start eating normally will lose weight.  If they keep eating they'll get even bigger and die young.

A great reminder that sports is a far second to health being #1.

[wbbfan]

10 hours ago, Noeller said:

I desperately want to get rid of Koala but this just isn't even remotely true... Have you seen the line in The Gap???

I mean he's definitely one of the worst C's in the league...ill give you that. 

Godber is better, and Ferland as pressed into duty is better. Worse ol, but kola wouldn’t make their roster. 

 

59 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Who do people feel the best center is?

This is a good question. Justin Lawrence in Montreal, Sean mcewen in Calgary, and couture in bc are the class of the league. When healthy, couture is the guy I’d pick on game day. Lawrence is the guy I’d take to go into a season with. I’m a bit biased towards couture. He’s soo good at making guys around him better. Lawrence heads up vs a pass rusher is better.