2024/2025 Blue Bombers Off-Season Thread

[rebusrankin]

Neufeld worries me as he looked cooked during the season.

[Fatty Liver]

20 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Neufeld worries me as he looked cooked during the season.

More likely suffering from a nagging injury, if healthy no reason he can't play a few more years.

[Goalie]

I’d sign neufeld on 2 conditions. 1. He has to come to camp and compete. No taking all of camp off really , that’s likely an organizational decision tho and 2. Either the same pay or a smidge less. What’s he at? 140? 180? 

[17to85]

I thought neufeld played pretty well in the playoffs... 

[Goalie]

Bring neufeld and Dobson back I think along with Stan. Wallace can apprentice for another season. Draft a guy this draft and yeah. Gotta get younger there eventually. Gotta groom a few. Wallace is one. Other option. Go 3 US ol 

[wbbfan]

17 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

I thought neufeld played pretty well in the playoffs... 

he played well since he came back from injury. Our ol struggled in the gc with some run blocking assignments, but it was an over all problem with the spread of the dl and the way they played gaps. If we doubled and skipped to the second level properly on 2-3 plays Brady probably has another 50 yards maybe one more big bust. Crazy as that is. The Argos fought off our run game by the skin of their teeth. 
 

before injury paddy was as bad as he’s ever been. Which one shows up next year? No clue. But the chances of the best version showing up and playing a whole season plus off season is slim and none. It’s a gamble with him. 
 

Definitely needs to be an open competition in camp. 
 

 

[Booch]

Definitely bring Neuf back....cant have too much experience and leadership on the oline....and he played well...was a walking wounded all yr, but when was healthy played well...better than well

Dobson is a bit of mystery....got better as the yr went on and definitely still worth the time put into him....but dos still needs some work...I can see Wallace stealing his spot next yr actually. I would think 2025 will be the Big Stan final yr...so imperative we either sign his heir apparent this yr and put in Lofton's spot for now....tho Lofton as yr went on was very serviceable....and truly if ratio allows would like to find a RT to allow him...Wallace...Neuf and Randolph to battle it out for the 2 guards spots....and if an import takes a spot...work that ratio then....don't be tied to carved in stone ratio positions as it effects the roster elsewhere with not getting your best talent on the field....play your best wherever they fit. And we still have Eli and Kolo....whom I hope we move on from. Regardless of what we do in free-agency and draft....if that group is brought back we have a good starting point.

We definitely tho need to construct our roster with real players outside the 24 starters....guys who can actually step in and play if need be....even tho Osh says they all number 1's anyone with half a brain knows thats utter BS...Our roster past the top 30...35 guys or so is a collection of pluggers and slugs....and shouldn't be...Change your draft philosophy toward picking best guys...and ones who project to possible starter, or at worst rotational rep guys....not just this ST only mentality we seemed to have favored.....But I guess when your GM and HC only have/had ST back grounds as coaches....maybe they don't have a keen eye for talent past that.....allow your assistants and Co-ordinators to coach em into real players

 

 

[JuranBoldenRules]

Neufeld is getting worse and worse in pass pro.  Lots of chicken wings and shoulder checks.  Doesn't get his hands on many people these days.  Toronto ate him alive.  Montreal ate us alive on the whole, we played 1 good quarter against them out of 8 this season.  That's the kind of team you need to be able to handle to win the whole thing.

If a guy like that is on the team next year we're not serious about winning.

Dobson is terribly slow to get his feet moving in both run and pass.  He's ok, and a bit more physically engaged, might be as good as anyone they can get in free agency.

Should be pretty easy decision to focus on building out 3 Americans on the OL for next year short of Desjarlais being cut loose by Ottawa due to his salary or something.

[wbbfan]

50 minutes ago, Booch said:

Definitely bring Neuf back....cant have too much experience and leadership on the oline....and he played well...was a walking wounded all yr, but when was healthy played well...better than well

Dobson is a bit of mystery....got better as the yr went on and definitely still worth the time put into him....but dos still needs some work...I can see Wallace stealing his spot next yr actually. I would think 2025 will be the Big Stan final yr...so imperative we either sign his heir apparent this yr and put in Lofton's spot for now....tho Lofton as yr went on was very serviceable....and truly if ratio allows would like to find a RT to allow him...Wallace...Neuf and Randolph to battle it out for the 2 guards spots....and if an import takes a spot...work that ratio then....don't be tied to carved in stone ratio positions as it effects the roster elsewhere with not getting your best talent on the field....play your best wherever they fit. And we still have Eli and Kolo....whom I hope we move on from. Regardless of what we do in free-agency and draft....if that group is brought back we have a good starting point.

We definitely tho need to construct our roster with real players outside the 24 starters....guys who can actually step in and play if need be....even tho Osh says they all number 1's anyone with half a brain knows thats utter BS...Our roster past the top 30...35 guys or so is a collection of pluggers and slugs....and shouldn't be...Change your draft philosophy toward picking best guys...and ones who project to possible starter, or at worst rotational rep guys....not just this ST only mentality we seemed to have favored.....But I guess when your GM and HC only have/had ST back grounds as coaches....maybe they don't have a keen eye for talent past that.....allow your assistants and Co-ordinators to coach em into real players

 

 

It’s been said 10,000 times and it probably won’t happen, but kola is the big problem. Every guard we’ve had has struggled next to him. Change him and what we see from the rest will improve drastically.  
 Honestly, I’d be open to trying Dobson or Neuf at C, or going imp, or ofc Eli. The guards struggle covering and working with kola soo much. Everyone will improve with that change  

Wallace is gonna steal some ones job imo. If he takes half the step forward next year took this year he’s gonna be our best interior ol. 
 

We really need to bring in multiple legit imp tackles and more Canadian interior ol depth. We can’t keep hoping a former guard is gonna become the next big thing at T for us. 
 

 

[17to85]

Was going to ask you gents about your thoughts on Dobson at C. I know they've tried him there in preseason a bit... honestly I'd give serious consideration to 3 Americans on the OL.

[rebusrankin]

I'd be good with 3 American OL. we could go 2 WR, 1RB, 2OL, LB, S and then a fake canadian like Nichols, Willie etc.

Agree we need some real tackles in camp.

[Mark H.]

1 hour ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Neufeld is getting worse and worse in pass pro.  Lots of chicken wings and shoulder checks.  Doesn't get his hands on many people these days.  Toronto ate him alive.  Montreal ate us alive on the whole, we played 1 good quarter against them out of 8 this season.  That's the kind of team you need to be able to handle to win the whole thing.

If a guy like that is on the team next year we're not serious about winning.

Dobson is terribly slow to get his feet moving in both run and pass.  He's ok, and a bit more physically engaged, might be as good as anyone they can get in free agency.

Should be pretty easy decision to focus on building out 3 Americans on the OL for next year short of Desjarlais being cut loose by Ottawa due to his salary or something.

My thoughts exactly - this was mostly the reason I wasn't expecting the Bombers to win the GC.

 

[Pete]

23 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

My thoughts exactly - this was mostly the reason I wasn't expecting the Bombers to win the GC.

 

Neufeld wasn't even close to being a reason that we lost the grey cup. The offensive line was fine that game

[SpeedFlex27]

4 hours ago, Goalie said:

I’d sign neufeld on 2 conditions. 1. He has to come to camp and compete. No taking all of camp off really , that’s likely an organizational decision tho and 2. Either the same pay or a smidge less. What’s he at? 140? 180? 

No player should be allowed to take all of training camp off. If anyone can't compete physically then they shouldn't be here anymore. We all talk about the culture that Osh has brought to the team such as FIFO. But he's also brought a culture of entitlement & even laziness when he has older veterans who want time off. Is it any wonder we started at 0-4? 

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

Was going to ask you gents about your thoughts on Dobson at C. I know they've tried him there in preseason a bit... honestly I'd give serious consideration to 3 Americans on the OL.

Ideally you want your most mobile ol to be the C. A lot of what I see with him is hesitation. He isn’t actually plodding, he just isn’t sure enough to commit early and hard to his assignment. 
 He looked real good in his 2nd game at C in ps. If he could get to a legit playing weight of 295-305 it would probably be a good fit. 

Neuf is taller than I like Cs generally to be. And he isn’t the most mobile. But his decisiveness and instincts plus patience would be big. And if he’s gonna play another year, he might have an easier time holding up at C than G. Not nearly as many guys lining up on the nose, especially with him there. It up and down is a lot though. Really depends on what bothers him physically. 
 
Wallace is too damn big in every direction. 
 

A sleeper pick is drafting a rookie. We have a tremendous knack for finding undersized Cs who are able to contribute very quickly. And at developing that type of ol. We haven’t really had much success developing ol who are over sized. Which is no surprise given the heavy zone scheme we run. Smaller more athletic ol with nasty attitudes we’ve churned into all stars with ease. 

[Tracker]

13 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Was going to ask you gents about your thoughts on Dobson at C. I know they've tried him there in preseason a bit... honestly I'd give serious consideration to 3 Americans on the OL.

Why the heck not Tui at center? He was highly touted as such when in college- that has been a sore spot with me for several years because whatever Kolankowski is getting paid, he ain't worth it and he affects the whole interior of the line.

[wbbfan]

1 minute ago, Tracker said:

Why the heck not Tui at center? He was highly touted as such when in college- that has been a sore spot with me for several years because whatever Kolankowski is getting paid, he ain't worth it and he affects the whole interior of the line.

I believe a big part of it is they highly prized his role as the 6th ol and back up centre, strange as it sounds they are crazy about our back up being a C, which is why we double switched twice at guard in games we suffered injuries and ran with rookies. Eli isn’t a great guard either, but you can go back to previous ols and they put great importance on having 7 and the 6th guy who comes in for package work is a big deal for them. 
 
Eli would be plan A for me. Then sliding over Dobson, then neuf, but then also depending on what we find in the draft we’ve found good ones all over. 
 

Also worth considering is bringing back Cody speller. Who I think is only 30. He got derailed by injuries after he left here and went to the Argos but he was a gooder. 

[Booch]

Eli is our best center option....but like @wbbfan said they seem to really like him at that 6th/jumbo/guard fill in guy who is versatile for us....and he has excelled there and is been a big part of our run success so no fault in that ...But we have just stood pat and status quo with Kolo....Why I dont know....maybe Osh liked the fact he was a 2 yr scrap heap reclamation that nobody wanted and liked his hard work ethic when he got here knowing it was his last shot...who knows but he is the weak link on the line and has affected a lot of the guards play....he's just not good enough...adequate for spot duty.....but we need better

I hope we draft center specific at oline this yr.....or trade/FA pick up one....Ratio wise we can easily use an import at guard if we want and there are so many brute brawlers down south who can step right in and be a force it be an easy solution...and very SMS friendly too

 

Edited November 28 by Booch

[GCn20]

14 minutes ago, Booch said:

Eli is our best center option....but like @wbbfan said they seem to really like him at that 6th/jumbo/guard fill in guy who is versatile for us....and he has excelled there and is been a big part of our run success so no fault in that ...But we have just stood pat and status quo with Kolo....Why I dont know....maybe Osh liked the fact he was a 2 yr scrap heap reclamation that nobody wanted and liked his hard work ethic when he got here knowing it was his last shot...who knows but he is the weak link on the line and has affected a lot of the guards play....he's just not good enough...adequate for spot duty.....but we need better

I hope we draft center specific at oline this yr.....or trade/FA pick up one....Ratio wise we can easily use an import at guard if we want and there are so many brute brawlers down south who can step right in and be a force it be an easy solution...and very SMS friendly too

 

I personally believe Dobson is our weakest link, but that is in no way an endorsement of Kola. We can do better at both positions.

[Booch]

20 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I personally believe Dobson is our weakest link, but that is in no way an endorsement of Kola. We can do better at both positions.

Dobson definitely needs work for sure...he's improved but not sure what his ceiling is yet and if he's at or near it.....Worst case a good depth piece

[GCn20]

36 minutes ago, Booch said:

Dobson definitely needs work for sure...he's improved but not sure what his ceiling is yet and if he's at or near it.....Worst case a good depth piece

For sure. I think if he takes the offseason to really work hard on his foot work he could improve.

[Booch]

37 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

For sure. I think if he takes the offseason to really work hard on his foot work he could improve.

yup...physically and athletically he has exctly what yu want inside...technique wise he needs grooming....as an oline guy he still young and his athleticism alone leads me to believe he can be coached up...I think more reps...and him not having to think to recognize things will help him out a lot too....coming with reps and growing pains....when he was at fault a lot of times looked more like he just wasnt in sync with others, and his recognition of stuff was a bit behind the others...I think time will sort that out for him

[Noeller]

Change always concerns me on the OL. So much of their success is dependent on cohesiveness. Whenever you start mixing in new parts, and then it takes awhile for them to get to know each other, it can be a **** show for awhile. But there's no question out OL has been deteriorating for a few years now and needs to be rebuilt to the old standard. 

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

I personally believe Dobson is our weakest link, but that is in no way an endorsement of Kola. We can do better at both positions.

For 10 plus games Dobson was in the top 2 best performers on our ol.  
 Kola is in a tier by him self. After that, at worst Dobson is better than most all of nuefs games this year, and 2nd worst is handily Lofton. Lofton has no idea how to gauge the distance he needs to cover. Hes repeatedly kick stepped him self out of plays and right into zach butt tackling him. He struggles greatly with speed off the edge, and only wins pass pro battles if some one bull rushes directly into his frame. And that’s despite the fact that holding calls have been out on a shelf. 
 In run pro, he doesn’t have the ability to drive ends, get to the next level or wall guys into his double partner so he or they can secure the gap and one can get up to the lber. 
 He has all of the physical tools to play line very well. But seemingly none of the cerebral ones. When you can’t win locked up one on ones consistently against guys 70lbs lighter than you you just don’t have any where to go. 
 It’s hard to find develop and upgrade Canadian spots. As jbr said, it’s not likely that we will be able to find a FA NI guard who will be better. But for imps, we can find better at T with our too much effort or money. 
 

Imo, if any one wants a bidding war on Dobson you let them take him. Then you flip to an imp guard, maybe slide Lofton back to his natural spot. Bring in a real RT and replace kola. If Dobson comes back, I’d still favour that change and slide Dobson/eli in for Lofton unless we hit on a rookie C like we have in the past. 

[17to85]

3 hours ago, Tracker said:

Why the heck not Tui at center? 

Been wondering that for 2 seasons now, no answers. They seem to not want to make that move.