2024/2025 Blue Bombers Off-Season Thread

[wbbfan]

https://www.cfl.ca/2025/03/24/mmqb-ranking-the-cfls-top-3-defensive-ends/

 

Another craptastic cfl article, this time from cfl.ca The only one on the list I agree with is Flo. He is the best end in the league. WJ, as we saw in the GC game, can turn it on and play at that level. But he can't nearly maintain that level of play. He's just turned 34, and is far removed from his best days. He makes 200k, and when it comes to maintaining contain, run stopping, motor, finishing tackles and being read he's the worst in the league. 

 He can still jump passing lanes and get a knockdown every other game, and when he turns it on he can really blow your hair back with his pass-rush ability. If we run a decent nose in lawson/woods and severely limit the reps for jake, and don't have a free spot for the opposition OL on the other side of him he can still be really effective. Even more so if we actually rotate willy and keep him to between 40-50% of snaps. But he's a lost step and or an injury away from being done, and he plays a lot now like late stages Elfrid payton. 

 

Mauldin hasn't put up the same sacks since his career year, but he is always around the ball making plays. He covers as much ground as any DE, and is always generating pressures. He makes the guys around him better. My all cfl DL would be flo, ceresna, sayles, and mauldin. 

A lot of guys could be in contention for a 2nd team. A lot of guys struggled last year with the holding that was allowed, and with their teams schemes/talent. Toronto constantly pumps out extremely productive DL because they always put guys together who fit well, and who have extremely high potential. Who ever they plug in you can expect to be near the top of the league every year. 

 

[wbbfan]

https://3downnation.com/2025/03/24/seven-risers-and-fallers-from-the-2025-cfl-combine/
 

one of the guys on that list I like the most is haie. 5’11.5 199 4.65 40  14 reps 36” vert 10’6.5” broad 3.92 shuttle 6.62 3 cone. His relative athletic score is 9.27 out of 10 which is elite by nfl standards. The 4.65 40 is the only hold up. If he ran a 4.49 he’d get a late pick in the nfl. 
 Hes a prodigious teams guy as well. Instantly contributes there, and has sky high potential especially in a system like ours. 
 

I like Pyle too, he’s not a great athlete or an ideal body by any means. But he’s a nasty piece of work with enough tangibles to make it work in the pros. Especially if he can clean up his build while adding a few pounds. 

[rebusrankin]

Very curious to see what we do in the draft. Reports are that there are a lot of good DBs in this draft and that would be a nice place to add.

[wbbfan]

47 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Very curious to see what we do in the draft. Reports are that there are a lot of good DBs in this draft and that would be a nice place to add.

Couple really good, really athletic big dbs which is a rarity. Bunch of dl with good size d1 pedigree and questionable measurable. Good chuck of athletic tweeners at de/lber. Some good inside dl who I think will translate well but maybe not high upside.  
 A surprising amount of strong athletes at many positions too actually. 
 

can’t wait to see what we do either. Hoping for 1-2 ol, 1-2 dl, 1 db, 1 wr, maybe a rb. Maybe grab one of the athletic freaks no matter their position who we like best. We are gonna be very well poised to grab a couple guys who can make the roster this year. 

[3rdand1.5]

With the "weaker" o-line group and some really athletic guys across multiple positions I am curious to see who/what is available to us with our first couple picks. Depending on our draft board, we may be able to get one or two of our top o-line choices. I really feel we need to draft a couple guys along the o-line, being considered a "weaker" class this may be a tall task, but after Wallace our pipeline is pretty dry..........

Outside of o-line I think we can look at best athlete

[Booch]

we need to draft guys with potential/ability to take regular snaps and actually push to be a starter...or are a legit back-up and guy we groom...no more of this special team only guys...as its part of the reason why our depth eroded and we had issues fielding healthy guys when it mattered most

Depth as in guys on your roster, as opposed to depth in guys who can contribute on offense/defence with minimal to no drop off are 2 different things....and ours for the latter was trash....hence injured guys played over the "everyone is a starter" back-up and our propensity to play lesser talented guys...(Thomas..Schmeck..Hallets..etc) because...essentially our roster was built poorly and was teamer only heavy in depth

[wbbfan]

58 minutes ago, 3rdand1.5 said:

With the "weaker" o-line group and some really athletic guys across multiple positions I am curious to see who/what is available to us with our first couple picks. Depending on our draft board, we may be able to get one or two of our top o-line choices. I really feel we need to draft a couple guys along the o-line, being considered a "weaker" class this may be a tall task, but after Wallace our pipeline is pretty dry..........

Outside of o-line I think we can look at best athlete

I don't know that it's weaker, I think we don't have those top tier stars, but I think the 2nd and 3rd tier have a lot of depth. It's the kind of OL draft that your scouts earn their money on IMO. You're only gonna take 1, maybe 2 guys for each team, every single team needs to hit an OL. A few teams are going to. I hope we are one of them. 

Yeah, we need it for sure. I agree, I don't think we are locked in to other positions. We don't really have a huge need other wise. PBA / best projectable athlete picks should be our method. But you never know with us. Dl, DB, OL are what I see a lot of value in this draft, that also fits our system. 

29 minutes ago, Booch said:

we need to draft guys with potential/ability to take regular snaps and actually push to be a starter...or are a legit back-up and guy we groom...no more of this special team only guys...as its part of the reason why our depth eroded and we had issues fielding healthy guys when it mattered most

Depth as in guys on your roster, as opposed to depth in guys who can contribute on offense/defence with minimal to no drop off are 2 different things....and ours for the latter was trash....hence injured guys played over the "everyone is a starter" back-up and our propensity to play lesser talented guys...(Thomas..Schmeck..Hallets..etc) because...essentially our roster was built poorly and was teamer only heavy in depth

Yeah, we don't need high floor no ceiling guys. We don't need to be drafting for teams with out the ability to take positional snaps with improvement. 

That is a good point. Maybe our biggest need with NI talent, is guys who can push filler off the roster. I think Canadian depth will be a really good scrap in TC, if they are given the chance to take jobs. 

[GCn20]

58 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I don't know that it's weaker, I think we don't have those top tier stars, but I think the 2nd and 3rd tier have a lot of depth. It's the kind of OL draft that your scouts earn their money on IMO. You're only gonna take 1, maybe 2 guys for each team, every single team needs to hit an OL. A few teams are going to. I hope we are one of them. 

Yeah, we need it for sure. I agree, I don't think we are locked in to other positions. We don't really have a huge need other wise. PBA / best projectable athlete picks should be our method. But you never know with us. Dl, DB, OL are what I see a lot of value in this draft, that also fits our system. 

Yeah, we don't need high floor no ceiling guys. We don't need to be drafting for teams with out the ability to take positional snaps with improvement. 

That is a good point. Maybe our biggest need with NI talent, is guys who can push filler off the roster. I think Canadian depth will be a really good scrap in TC, if they are given the chance to take jobs. 

We definitely need to get an OL that is capable of being a 6th. After that quality depth would be acceptable.

[Fatty Liver]

16 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Couple really good, really athletic big dbs which is a rarity. Bunch of dl with good size d1 pedigree and questionable measurable. Good chuck of athletic tweeners at de/lber. Some good inside dl who I think will translate well but maybe not high upside.  
 A surprising amount of strong athletes at many positions too actually. 
 

can’t wait to see what we do either. Hoping for 1-2 ol, 1-2 dl, 1 db, 1 wr, maybe a rb. Maybe grab one of the athletic freaks no matter their position who we like best. We are gonna be very well poised to grab a couple guys who can make the roster this year. 

I wonder if they bring back Bret MacDougall for his 3rd TC with the Bombers, 6'-3" 205 lb DB that returned to Windsor Lancers the last 2 seasons, good size and he's still only 23.

https://golancers.ca/sports/football/roster/breton-macdougall/8503

[Booch]

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

I don't know that it's weaker, I think we don't have those top tier stars, but I think the 2nd and 3rd tier have a lot of depth. It's the kind of OL draft that your scouts earn their money on IMO. You're only gonna take 1, maybe 2 guys for each team, every single team needs to hit an OL. A few teams are going to. I hope we are one of them. 

Yeah, we need it for sure. I agree, I don't think we are locked in to other positions. We don't really have a huge need other wise. PBA / best projectable athlete picks should be our method. But you never know with us. Dl, DB, OL are what I see a lot of value in this draft, that also fits our system. 

Yeah, we don't need high floor no ceiling guys. We don't need to be drafting for teams with out the ability to take positional snaps with improvement. 

That is a good point. Maybe our biggest need with NI talent, is guys who can push filler off the roster. I think Canadian depth will be a really good scrap in TC, if they are given the chance to take jobs. 

it's hurt our depth....guys who can play legit reps...can also play teams....and some better than these teams only guys we got so fixated on

[WinnipegGordo]

 

 

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, Booch said:

it's hurt our depth....guys who can play legit reps...can also play teams....and some better than these teams only guys we got so fixated on

Certainly, and imagine the upper-level talent we could've hit on after the 19 gc if we hadn't focused on high floor, ceiling teams guys? Especially since many of those guys didn't get much of a look even with in their niche. 

3 hours ago, Fatty Liver said:

I wonder if they bring back Bret MacDougall for his 3rd TC with the Bombers, 6'-3" 205 lb DB that returned to Windsor Lancers the last 2 seasons, good size and he's still only 23.

https://golancers.ca/sports/football/roster/breton-macdougall/8503

Wouldn't be surprised. Also don't particularly have any expectations for him. 

[Goalie]

51 minutes ago, WinnipegGordo said:

 

 

Beside Spencers last time. The old gangster clothes store. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

7 hours ago, 3rdand1.5 said:

With the "weaker" o-line group and some really athletic guys across multiple positions I am curious to see who/what is available to us with our first couple picks. Depending on our draft board, we may be able to get one or two of our top o-line choices. I really feel we need to draft a couple guys along the o-line, being considered a "weaker" class this may be a tall task, but after Wallace our pipeline is pretty dry..........

Outside of o-line I think we can look at best athlete

I'd expect to get 3-4 guys who can play this year.  The OL group is probably the deepest since 2019.  Talking about guys who will end up in the CFL.  There's a **** load of good edge/3 technique guys for DL.  Including the BYU guy who has potential to drop into a spot where he'd be a real steal based on how he's turned off the personnel guys in both leagues.  There's a ton of very good DB's.  There's a solid receiver group, although some guys in both receiver/DB group might get a good look in the NFL.

I kind of wonder what other teams are prioritizing.  There's a chance for the Bombers in the first round, remembering BC's pick is off the board and added back to the end of the 1st round to Calgary, to grab a real impactful DL, a OL who could play this year, or a starting receiver IMO.  Like if I'm Walters and our pick comes around, Ethan Jordan still on the board, don't think I could pass on him.  That guy is a star.

[rebusrankin]

16 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

I'd expect to get 3-4 guys who can play this year.  The OL group is probably the deepest since 2019.  Talking about guys who will end up in the CFL.  There's a **** load of good edge/3 technique guys for DL.  Including the BYU guy who has potential to drop into a spot where he'd be a real steal based on how he's turned off the personnel guys in both leagues.  There's a ton of very good DB's.  There's a solid receiver group, although some guys in both receiver/DB group might get a good look in the NFL.

I kind of wonder what other teams are prioritizing.  There's a chance for the Bombers in the first round, remembering BC's pick is off the board and added back to the end of the 1st round to Calgary, to grab a real impactful DL, a OL who could play this year, or a starting receiver IMO.  Like if I'm Walters and our pick comes around, Ethan Jordan still on the board, don't think I could pass on him.  That guy is a star.

So you feel he's the next star Canadian WR?

Interesting choice, Demski is aging and I like Clercius but he seems more solid Canadian than future superstar (not that there's anything wrong with that)

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

So you feel he's the next star Canadian WR?

Interesting choice, Demski is aging and I like Clercius but he seems more solid Canadian than future superstar (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Could be Cory Watsonish, but hopefully more durable.