2024/2025 CFL (non-Bomber) Off-Season Thread

[WinnipegGordo]

I see that the Riders reworked hardrick's contract. 

They also re-signed Trevon Tate earlier in the day.

[Mark H.]

2 hours ago, WinnipegGordo said:

I see that the Riders reworked hardrick's contract. 

Probably a good move for them.  His replacements weren't better than he was, after he got hurt

[Fatty Liver]

Riders paid AJ Ouellette $160k last season, to reward him for the 550 yds. gained and his 4.2 yd. average carry, they will pay him $170k this season.

[SpeedFlex27]

2 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Riders paid AJ Ouellette $160k last season, to reward him for the 550 yds. gained and his 4.2 yd. average carry, they will pay him $170k this season.

I hope he starts again. Talk about an overrated back. 

[17to85]

2 hours ago, WinnipegGordo said:

 

He's tall! Good enough for NFL scouts I guess.

[Noeller]

I don't know what to make of this but apparently it's a big deal...

 

 

[rebusrankin]

1 hour ago, Fatty Liver said:

Riders paid AJ Ouellette $160k last season, to reward him for the 550 yds. gained and his 4.2 yd. average carry, they will pay him $170k this season.

I need that man's agent.

[greenrider55]

49 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I don't know what to make of this but apparently it's a big deal...

 

 

Extremely rare for a Canadian university talent to play in the senior bowl, and he’s the first QB to ever do so from a Canadian university.

[SpeedFlex27]

12 hours ago, 17to85 said:

He's tall! Good enough for NFL scouts I guess.

Only CFL teams celebrate when NFL teams raid their rosters. I guess we really are nothing but a developmental league. 

Edited Thursday at 01:32 PM by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

10 hours ago, greenrider55 said:

Extremely rare for a Canadian university talent to play in the senior bowl, and he’s the first QB to ever do so from a Canadian university.

It'll be interesting to see how he does. Adapting to the American game should be easier than an American college qb adapting to Canadian football but he'll only get a week of practice & it depends on how may reps he gets in practice. 

[wbbfan]

15 hours ago, WinnipegGordo said:

 

So the dude runs like Matt Sheridan at the combine with a full battery of test results in that range, he catches 20/32 for 300 yards, hurts his knee in week 16 and misses the rest of the year, then gets an nfl deal. 
 That is insane. Big Kev had better production and went like 32/40 with out missing a pass attempt for like 14 ish weeks, tested exceptionally well and blocks like it’s his full time job. Hope they don’t come for him. 

[Booch]

13 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

So the dude runs like Matt Sheridan at the combine with a full battery of test results in that range, he catches 20/32 for 300 yards, hurts his knee in week 16 and misses the rest of the year, then gets an nfl deal. 
 That is insane. Big Kev had better production and went like 32/40 with out missing a pass attempt for like 14 ish weeks, tested exceptionally well and blocks like it’s his full time job. Hope they don’t come for him. 

he getting the KBS and Lenius courtesy look only based on physique.....and will be back in no time like they were as they are sub par route runners and pass catchers....and frankly....not nearly good enouh compared to what comes out of the NCAA every yr

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

So the dude runs like Matt Sheridan at the combine with a full battery of test results in that range, he catches 20/32 for 300 yards, hurts his knee in week 16 and misses the rest of the year, then gets an nfl deal. 
 That is insane. Big Kev had better production and went like 32/40 with out missing a pass attempt for like 14 ish weeks, tested exceptionally well and blocks like it’s his full time job. Hope they don’t come for him. 

He's 23 years old and is considered very raw. He's an NFL project with a great deal of youth to roll the dice on. If he's 26 he doesn't get a sniff.

1 hour ago, Booch said:

he getting the KBS and Lenius courtesy look only based on physique.....and will be back in no time like they were as they are sub par route runners and pass catchers....and frankly....not nearly good enouh compared to what comes out of the NCAA every yr

He's tall, lanky, has flashed good hands and most importantly, and I can't stress this enough, he is only 23 with an excellent development curve so far.

[wbbfan]

23 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

He's 23 years old and is considered very raw. He's an NFL project with a great deal of youth to roll the dice on. If he's 26 he doesn't get a sniff.

He's tall, lanky, has flashed good hands and most importantly, and I can't stress this enough, he is only 23 with an excellent development curve so far.

Raw, intimates high potential. He’s instantly the least athletic guy in the nfl. His cfl numbers were embarrassing. 
 Average height of a wr in the nfl is a tiny shade under 6’1, ajou ajou was 6’2 at the combine here. Hes slightly above average for a wr down south, not even close to a tall lanky guy in the NFL. And he flashed average hands. Aside from his best game he caught about 40% of targets. 
 

It’s not his fault by any means. And I don’t blame him for taking the deal. This is a capitol case of the nfl can get really really stupid when it comes to signing guys. It’s pure 80s eye test stuff. 
 He over achieved here and could well turn him self into a good cfl pro. Jamie stoddard and plenty of other guys have done it. If he’s smart he will soak in everything down south and use it to propel him self in his career. 
 I think we have an easy 100 players in the cfl who would be way more worth the look. 

[GCn20]

40 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Raw, intimates high potential. He’s instantly the least athletic guy in the nfl. His cfl numbers were embarrassing. 
 Average height of a wr in the nfl is a tiny shade under 6’1, ajou ajou was 6’2 at the combine here. Hes slightly above average for a wr down south, not even close to a tall lanky guy in the NFL. And he flashed average hands. Aside from his best game he caught about 40% of targets. 
 

It’s not his fault by any means. And I don’t blame him for taking the deal. This is a capitol case of the nfl can get really really stupid when it comes to signing guys. It’s pure 80s eye test stuff. 
 He over achieved here and could well turn him self into a good cfl pro. Jamie stoddard and plenty of other guys have done it. If he’s smart he will soak in everything down south and use it to propel him self in his career. 
 I think we have an easy 100 players in the cfl who would be way more worth the look. 

He did have a couple highlight reel plays on film. I didn't mean to suggest he could stick in the NFL, just offering my 2 cents on why they would look at him over say a guy like Clercius. Age being a big factor and he demonstrated some big play ability.

[wbbfan]

39 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

He did have a couple highlight reel plays on film. I didn't mean to suggest he could stick in the NFL, just offering my 2 cents on why they would look at him over say a guy like Clercius. Age being a big factor and he demonstrated some big play ability.

Yeah I get that. He’s pretty much tcf. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

He's 23 years old and is considered very raw. He's an NFL project with a great deal of youth to roll the dice on. If he's 26 he doesn't get a sniff.

He's tall, lanky, has flashed good hands and most importantly, and I can't stress this enough, he is only 23 with an excellent development curve so far.

Again though, this is where the NFL is insane in how it evaluates guys.  There's 30 receivers in the CFL today that would be more useful to them in 2025 or 2026 even.  But they totally pass on the higher floor guys and waste time on guys that have done almost nothing on a football field for years because they looked really good when they were 17.  Ajou will probably blow out his knee or something and they'll end up paying him six figures USD to do nothing for 2 years.

One day some NFL GM will realize there's actual useful players sitting right here that they can plug into roles almost immediately.

[greenrider55]

26 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Yeah I get that. He’s pretty much tcf. 

Also doesn’t hurt that he went to Clemson, that likely boosted his resume above other guys similar to him.

[Booch]

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

Yeah I get that. He’s pretty much tcf. 

if he even gets out of a mini camp

[GCn20]

2 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Again though, this is where the NFL is insane in how it evaluates guys.  There's 30 receivers in the CFL today that would be more useful to them in 2025 or 2026 even.  But they totally pass on the higher floor guys and waste time on guys that have done almost nothing on a football field for years because they looked really good when they were 17.  Ajou will probably blow out his knee or something and they'll end up paying him six figures USD to do nothing for 2 years.

One day some NFL GM will realize there's actual useful players sitting right here that they can plug into roles almost immediately.

Yep, it is really weird how they do it over there. Might be because of the immense size of their roster/PRs. Most teams already have 1-3rd string already in the system or will be drafting to get them. CFL guys are brought in as camp bodies and legit surprise if they stick. They bring in guys like Ajou who is about a 1% chance of making it but they see some tiny glimmer of upside they hope will surprise them while ignoring a guy like Schoen who can likely push hard for a ST/backup spot but that's where he tops out.

[bearpants]

Ajou clearly got this opportunity based on physical traits... and good for him... why wouldn't he take the opportunity given to him... he'll be back in the CFL by June. 

[wbbfan]

8 hours ago, bearpants said:

Ajou clearly got this opportunity based on physical traits... and good for him... why wouldn't he take the opportunity given to him... he'll be back in the CFL by June. 

And it could very well be a big aid for him in progression. For for Canada and the league. But just dumb at the same time. 

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2025-01-23 at 7:42 AM, Booch said:

he getting the KBS and Lenius courtesy look only based on physique.....and will be back in no time like they were as they are sub par route runners and pass catchers....and frankly....not nearly good enouh compared to what comes out of the NCAA every yr

Yeah but he's got that big smile according to Suitor. 

[SpeedFlex27]

35 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

And it could very well be a big aid for him in progression. For for Canada and the league. But just dumb at the same time. 

Just curious, why is the Ajou signing great for Canada & the league? I don't get my fellow Canadians. We have a President attacking us everyday, threatening tariffs, wants our resources at the same time saying we have nothing his country needs which is so much **** & wants us to be the 51st State. We say we hate him as well as being part of the US. We don't like being bullied by a big mouth American. You'd think we would be proud of everything Canadian including the CFL. But we can't as a Nation get enough NFL, MLB & NBA because it's American. We burst with pride everytime a CFL player gets a sniff from the NFL. Like it's supposed to validate simehow that the CFL is a great league when we already know that it is. My attitude is **** off NFL. You want to sign our players under contract then PAY US when you do!!! A hundred thousand dollars per player minimum or stay away.

Edited Saturday at 12:27 AM by SpeedFlex27

[Tracker]

2 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Just curious, why is the Ajou signing great for Canada & the league? I don't get my fellow Canadians. We have a President attacking us everyday, threatens tariffs, want our resources at the same time saying we have nothing his country needs, wants us to be the 51st State. We hate him & being part of the US. Don't like being bullied by a big mouth American. You'd think we would b proud of everything Canadian including the CFL. But we burst with pride every time a Canadian gets a sniff from the NFL. Like it's supposed to validate somehow that the CFL is a great league when we already know that it is. My attitude is **** off NFL. You want to sign our players then PAY US!!!

The upside that I see is if players from the CFL go to the Excited States and do well, American players who get passed over in the NFL draft may be more likely to consider coming North and getting noticed by US teams.