Blue Bombers - 2024 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[Goalie]

I thought for a bit our Aussie was winning the Aussie punting battle last night then he had that line drive fast one and grace boomed one. 

[Blue28]

If Garbutt, Kelly and Parker back for next game (all should be eligible);

We could run:

 

Garbutt* Woods* Adams* Jefferson* with Schmekel/Samson backing up, Obevegoen#

Ayers* K.Wilson* Cole* with Cadallader/Gauthier/Khramdi backing up

Bonds* Nichols* Parker* Holm* Ford with Griffon*/Nick Hallet/Jake Kelly backing up

 

Bryant* Dobson Eli Neufeld Lofton*, with Kolokowski/Wallace backing up and subbing in either Randolph* or Vanterpool* to see them in game action (only roster 1)

O. Wilson* L Whitehead* Demski Wolitarsky and Josh Joshnson*  with Clercius backing up

Brady with Augustine & Chris-Ike backing up, Felmate for ST., Chris Smith* (for returns)

Collaros* Streveler* and Wilson*

Benson, Castillo* and Sheahan#

 

This gives us: 19 US, 21 CDN, 2 Global, 3 QBs. - with 8 CDN starters still giving us flexibility

Move Thomas, Bighill* and Alexander* to injured - and use them as coaches.

Or instead of the extra OT keep Bighill* on the roster - in a limited role

 

This may seem extreme - but the weakness in the Defense is all in the middle - shore that up - and we improve. Thoughts?

Edited July 13 by Blue28

[Slimy Sculpin]

12 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Well it was said by several but we have a problem in the middle with our D. Thomas Bighill Alexander are liabilities. I think if you tell them it’s time and replace them the D dramatically improves 

Although I think that all three should be replaced, it would be tricky to do all three at once. Do you think that the coaching/management staff see and think what a lot of us as mere fans do? Are there enough players in-house to at least start the process. Are there enough DBs hanging around to "ease" Alexander out? Do the Bombers make use of the "designated nationalized American" rule? Can they ease Bighill's (or Alexander's for that matter) workload by slotting him into this position? Is there replacement for Thomas (too many snaps per game) on the roster or PR? The Bombers started, I think I heard, 11 Canadians yesterday. Wow! Is that the wisest usage of personnel?

[blueingreenland]

As has been stated, Wilson's 13 receptions in a game was 2nd only to Eugene Goodlow's 15 in 1981. If any of you old timers remember Goodlow, he was quite a talent. He MAY have been the most talented receiver this team has ever seen - he went on to play in the NFL for the 1983 to 1986 seasons.

[Atomic]

I expect we'll see Garbutt come on for Myron Mitchell and otherwise have the exact same roster next week. O'Shea isn't making big changes after two wins in a row.

[kelownabomberfan]

5 minutes ago, blueingreenland said:

As has been stated, Wilson's 13 receptions in a game was 2nd only to Eugene Goodlow's 15 in 1981. If any of you old timers remember Goodlow, he was quite a talent. He MAY have been the most talented receiver this team has ever seen - he went on to play in the NFL for the 1983 to 1986 seasons.

Not really an "old timer" but I was there at the game where Goodlow and Brock hooked up for all of those receptions. I think it was against Calgary? They were unstoppable that night.

[Mark H.]

Just looking at the schedule, I would say any teams with a competent O will beat us - that about as optimistic as I can get:

Riders: we might beat them without Harris. Should win, but might not

Argos: they rely on scoring from their defense and special teams.  If the Bombers can minimize that, they might have a chance.  A very iffy chance

B.C. No...not without changes on defense

B.C. after the bye - still no

Hamilton: should be a win, similar to Calgary, the O has enough firepower to cover for the D

Labour Day: anybody's guess

Banjo Bowl: yes

[wbbfan]

39 minutes ago, Blue28 said:

If Garbutt, Kelly and Parker back for next game (all should be eligible);

We could run:

 

Garbutt* Woods* Adams* Jefferson* with Schmekel/Samson backing up, Obevegoen#

Ayers* K.Wilson* Cole* with Cadallader/Gauthier/Khramdi backing up

Bonds* Nichols* Parker* Holm* Ford with Griffon*/Nick Hallet/Jake Kelly backing up

 

Bryant* Dobson Eli Neufeld Lofton*, with Kolokowski/Wallace backing up and subbing in either Randolph* or Vanterpool* to see them in game action (only roster 1)

O. Wilson* L Whitehead* Demski Wolitarsky and Josh Joshnson*  with Clercius backing up

Brady with Augustine & Chris-Ike backing up, Felmate for ST., Chris Smith* (for returns)

Collaros* Streveler* and Wilson*

Benson, Castillo* and Sheahan#

 

This gives us: 19 US, 21 CDN, 2 Global, 3 QBs. - with 8 CDN starters still giving us flexibility

Move Thomas, Bighill* and Alexander* to injured - and use them as coaches.

Or instead of the extra OT keep Bighill* on the roster - in a limited role

 

This may seem extreme - but the weakness in the Defense is all in the middle - shore that up - and we improve. Thoughts?

Hubert is far above schmekel and Samson, lucky is only a kick cover guy if that. if fox is healthy dress the 3 dl woods and Adams can play edge as well any way. 

 Parker has played sam at a high level here before and Cole played S in pre season and camp Id make that switch.  

At this point I’d give Wallace a shot at neufs G spot. Even let neuf and Dobson fight for the lg spot. 
 

Id start clercius and naturalized American lucky. And id look at taking feltmate/augustine off for ni depth else where  

 

14 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Just looking at the schedule, I would say any teams with a competent O will beat us - that about as optimistic as I can get:

Riders: we might beat them without Harris. Should win, but might not

Argos: they rely on scoring from their defense and special teams.  If the Bombers can minimize that, they might have a chance.  A very iffy chance

B.C. No...not without changes on defense

B.C. after the bye - still no

Hamilton: should be a win, similar to Calgary, the O has enough firepower to cover for the D

Labour Day: anybody's guess

Banjo Bowl: yes

I don’t worry about our D as much as any team that is decent at rushing the qb or stopping the run. Any team that does either will have us 2 and out all day, and our D will wear out. No mater who we play. 

[Mark H.]

8 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I don’t worry about our D as much as any team that is decent at rushing the qb or stopping the run. Any team that does either will have us 2 and out all day, and our D will wear out. No mater who we play. 

Yes - but they give up points and yards at critical times - even when the O is decent.

Yesterday, the O answered. 

[wbbfan]

23 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Yes - but they give up points and yards at critical times - even when the O is decent.

Yesterday, the O answered. 

The O hasn’t been decent all year though. We’ve suffered from 2 and outs, red zone issues, and inability to keep drives going all year plus turn overs. 

the D gave us a Td, a turn over that prevented points and set up the offence in the red zone, plus tanners block.
We kicked 5 fg attempts, and threw two picks on the wrong side of the field. If our O played decent we would’ve won in a blow out. 
 Mean while our D has given up among the fewest points. Swap out jake ba and biggie, we get a guy or two back from injury and we have the best D in the league, and the best since late 21. 

[Mark H.]

40 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

 Swap out jake ba and biggie, we get a guy or two back from injury and we have the best D in the league, and the best since late 21. 

The D will be a concern until that happens. 

[rebusrankin]

The sad thing is, no way MOS benches Biggie, Thomas or Alexander.

[Goalie]

2 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

The sad thing is, no way MOS benches Biggie, Thomas or Alexander.

I agree. It’s not gonna happen. They have all been real bad for 5 6 games now. If they were gonna be replaced guys would be brought in first. Looking at the PR. Nope. 

[Fatty Liver]

5 hours ago, Blue28 said:

We could run:

Garbutt* Woods* Adams* Jefferson* with Schmekel/Samson backing up, Obevegoen#

Ayers* K.Wilson* Cole* with Cadallader/Gauthier/Khramdi backing up

Bonds* Nichols* Parker* Holm* Ford with Griffon*/Nick Hallet/Jake Kelly backing up. Thoughts?

How about....

Adams, Willie and Jake,
Adams, Willie, Garbutt and Jake
Jake, Willie, Garbutt and Jake
Jake, Adams, Jake, Willie and Jake
Jake, Garbutt, Jake, Jake, Jake, Willie, Jake, Woods and Jake
Jake, Jake, Jake, baked beans and Jake?
 

Edited July 13 by Fatty Liver

[17to85]

3 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

The sad thing is, no way MOS benches Biggie, Thomas or Alexander.

I just can't imagine how they watch film from last night and don't see bighill falling all over the field missing tackles...

[Pete]

3 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

The sad thing is, no way MOS benches Biggie, Thomas or Alexander.

For Biggie. Ayers isnt big enough we could try  Tony Jones, and we haven't got much in the way of current replacements for Thomas, 

The other issue is that we don't give much in the way of reps to see what we have that is an improvement. ie could Griffen plqy  safety? When parker returns could we move Ford to safety (with his speed could be another DeQuoy)  I would suggest we spell off |Biggie with  Jones, (replace  Cole perhaps who for whatever reason isn't getting many reps anyway) especially on such a hot day as Friday, Why Ayers doesn't get more reps as well is a mystery.

I also agree that the not having adequate replacements on the dline is a big fail. By the 4th qtr our starters were completely exhausted cause we couldn't afford to use Smeckle or, Lucky Ogbevoen. Willie is also getting to many reps to be effective consistently

 

 

Edited July 13 by Pete

[JohnnyAbonny]

Cole/Wilson/Kramdi would be a small LB group but probably more effective than what we run now. Probably the most realistic option to get Biggie off the field. 

[rebusrankin]

16 minutes ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

Cole/Wilson/Kramdi would be a small LB group but probably more effective than what we run now. Probably the most realistic option to get Biggie off the field. 

This group with say Ayers rotating in for Cole and Wilson would be faster and more mobile imo. Likely would help.

[wbbfan]

100% healthy Wilson, which he seems to be finally, is capable of shedding blocks and tackling backs one on one in the hole as we saw a few times vs the stamps. He can play Mac easily. Most teams don’t run big lber cores any more.  

[Noeller]

21 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

100% healthy Wilson, which he seems to be finally, is capable of shedding blocks and tackling backs one on one in the hole as we saw a few times vs the stamps. He can play Mac easily. Most teams don’t run big lber cores any more.  

I was gonna say... It seems like speed is more important than size. 

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

I was gonna say... It seems like speed is more important than size. 

Speed is every thing for lbers these days. The later quicks to get gap to gap with out having to turn and run, and to be able to burst into the tackle. Getting off blocks is upper strength to an extent, but also technique and desire to get to the run. Even some of the good rookies struggled with getting washed out at time in pre season. And the thing is 205-215lbs guys can be real outliers. Clercius is a bit bigger but really really strong. When the job is to get off blocks rather than try to drive a block you don’t need de size. 

[Pete]

speed is good, but we are already last in the league against the run, Jones in Edmonton was a tackling beast. Perhaps a combo of Ayers/Jones and wilson would be best.

 

[Atomic]

Quote

The Blue Bombers seem high on TyJuan Garbutt, who is expected to return from injury next week, but they need to find a way to get more out of their front four. It also seems notable that Anthony Bennett, who was cut after suffering an injury during training camp, was in the locker room after the game.

Thought the above quote from John Hodge was interesting.

https://3downnation.com/2024/07/13/winnipeg-blue-bombers-win-game-season-series-against-stampeders-13-other-thoughts/

[17to85]

25 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Thought the above quote from John Hodge was interesting.

https://3downnation.com/2024/07/13/winnipeg-blue-bombers-win-game-season-series-against-stampeders-13-other-thoughts/

And by interesting you mean ******* terrifying right?

[Bigblue204]

18 hours ago, 17to85 said:

I just can't imagine how they watch film from last night and don't see bighill falling all over the field missing tackles...

Last night? It's a damn pattern now. Every game. I don't understand how he can watch himself and think, "ya I'm still our best option." Nevermind what others must be thinking