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

[Mark H.]

3 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

If you follow qbmotion on Instagram, then you could have watched Rourke work out every day since New Years Day. The guy has put in the work this off season & he looks ready to go.

Which is why I want to see how Buck utilizes Rourke.  It'll be a good indicator of how much of the Bombers' offensive decline was his fault.

[17to85]

18 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Which is why I want to see how Buck utilizes Rourke.  It'll be a good indicator of how much of the Bombers' offensive decline was his fault.

buck got stupid vs. collaros got old.... this season will tell the tale. 

[Tracker]

On 2024-11-19 at 1:10 PM, WinnipegGordo said:

 

One giant leap backwards for  Elk-kind..

Edited April 4 by Tracker

[Fatty Liver]

10 minutes ago, Tracker said:

One giant leap backwards for  Elk-kind..

OMG, will they never learn?

[Brandon]

So how long before Chris Jones returns as HC of the Elks?   

Do they have a thing against trying new people out in positions? It feels like it's a constant recycling of has beens with them.   

[rebusrankin]

12 minutes ago, Brandon said:

So how long before Chris Jones returns as HC of the Elks?   

Do they have a thing against trying new people out in positions? It feels like it's a constant recycling of has beens with them.   

Coming soon to Edmonton, the return of Ricky Ray as QB. 🤣

[Booch]

On 2025-04-03 at 8:00 AM, GCn20 said:

Look, I'm not sitting here trying to give Zac a free pass. He needed to be, and needs to be better. I am simply stating the obvious that in the past 3 Grey Cups he has gone up against juggernaut defences while our defence allowed late game heroics by opposing QBs. Should Kelly ever have been able to come off the bench and beat us? Fajardo take it to us in the 4th Q? Arbuckle actually do anything productive let alone beat us? There is more to these losses than Zac's play that's for sure.

I would take Dru or Rourke over Zac now too. Sadly, that option is not available to us. Vaj...nope...I'll stick with Zac thank you.

At this point now...he won't be better...adequately capable? I think on a consistent basis that's a stretch now too..the succession and or plan in place should have been in place last yr already..and if that meant letting guys like Biggie..Thomas...even a demski go last yr to keep Brown..then so be it tho I still not 100 percent sold he is the guy yet either

18 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Which is why I want to see how Buck utilizes Rourke.  It'll be a good indicator of how much of the Bombers' offensive decline was his fault.

Buck will have him duck and chuck and go 70 percent deep to intermediate vertical all game...does he have the oline there to not get him killed?? TBD

 

17 hours ago, 17to85 said:

buck got stupid vs. collaros got old.... this season will tell the tale. 

Buck had hard time deviating from a game plan if it wasn't working

[SpeedFlex27]

1 hour ago, Booch said:

At this point now...he won't be better...adequately capable? I think on a consistent basis that's a stretch now too..the succession and or plan in place should have been in place last yr already..and if that meant letting guys like Biggie..Thomas...even a demski go last yr to keep Brown..then so be it tho I still not 100 percent sold he is the guy yet either

Buck will have him duck and chuck and go 70 percent deep to intermediate vertical all game...does he have the oline there to not get him killed?? TBD

 

Buck had hard time deviating from a game plan if it wasn't working

Not convinced Dru Brown is the guy long term either. Buck as OC may have felt the same. He struggled at times in Ottawa & was benched at one point. Brown may develop into an elite starter but he has a ways to go yet. This will be a very important season for Brown to be sure. It may not be make or break but if he doesn't show growth as a qb then he may be another Nick Arbuckle.

[Brandon]

Dru Brown played much better then Zach did last season,  Zach was really subpar in the first half of the season.    

I am going to assume next season is his last with us?  

[Tracker]

16 hours ago, Brandon said:

So how long before Chris Jones returns as HC of the Elks?   

Do they have a thing against trying new people out in positions? It feels like it's a constant recycling of has beens with them.   

Because it worked so well before.

14 hours ago, Brandon said:

Dru Brown played much better then Zach did last season,  Zach was really subpar in the first half of the season.    

I am going to assume next season is his last with us?  

Don't bet the farm on that.

[Fatty Liver]

Zach can go one of two ways, he can try to reinvigorate his career and hang on as long as possible as Trevor Harris and BLM are desperately attempting to do by staying in top physical condition and adjusting their games as needed, or he can allow time to take it's toll and pack in his career within the next year or 2 without breaking a sweat.  If he reinvigorated, he might be able to stretch out his career another 3-5 years, eventually ending up as a backup QB on some perpetual bottomfeeder, which hopefully is not the Blue Bombers.

[Noeller]

I think a lot about Calvillo's resurgence at the end after people thought he was done. I still think Collaros can be that with the right team around him. 

[Goalie]

18 hours ago, Brandon said:

Dru Brown played much better then Zach did last season,  Zach was really subpar in the first half of the season.    

I am going to assume next season is his last with us?  

What are you basing that on exactly. Yards thrown cuz Ottawa didn’t really use a RB the last several weeks. 
 

I mean I like dru also but just cuz he put up numbers doesn’t mean much. Bo Levi did also and Hamilton was the 3rd worst team in the league maybe 2nd worst in the end. 
 

I like Dru but it appears he started off very strong got hurt and maybe figured out a bit then kinda was just average. 

Edited April 5 by Goalie

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Fatty Liver said:

Zach can go one of two ways, he can try to reinvigorate his career and hang on as long as possible as Trevor Harris and BLM are desperately attempting to do by staying in top physical condition and adjusting their games as needed, or he can allow time to take it's toll and pack in his career within the next year or 2 without breaking a sweat.  If he reinvigorated, he might be able to stretch out his career another 3-5 years, eventually ending up as a backup QB on some perpetual bottomfeeder, which hopefully is not the Blue Bombers.

 

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

I think a lot about Calvillo's resurgence at the end after people thought he was done. I still think Collaros can be that with the right team around him. 

With calvillo in comparison, the difference is healthy. I’m not sure Zach is remotely capable of either continuing his norm or revamping due to physical limitations. 
 Harris didn’t actually change, he just got out of the red hot dumpster fire. Even when he went edm to mtl from getting destroyed by us to besting us he wasn’t different or doing things different. 
 

Now blm was sitting in some serious injury stuff for a few years. Then he also played on a team where he got to pad stats with out the need to play to win the game last year. But that is a better comparison. But, he needed to bounce around and recover. Zach has no such luxury with time. 
 

31 minutes ago, Goalie said:

What are you basing that on exactly. Yards thrown cuz Ottawa didn’t really use a RB the last several weeks. 
 

I mean I like dru also but just cuz he put up numbers doesn’t mean much. Bo Levi did also and Hamilton was the 3rd worst team in the league maybe 2nd worst in the end. 
 

I like Dru but it appears he started off very strong got hurt and maybe figured out a bit then kinda was just average. 

Dru was carrying a pretty underwhelming offensive squad with a bad system/roster. Dru lead his offence and team last year. Blm, padded stats on a team with out a chance, zach was carried almost the entire year. 
 You have to go off play on the field as every ones stats are pretty similar but they all got there a different way. 

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2025-04-04 at 5:25 PM, Brandon said:

Dru Brown played much better then Zach did last season,  Zach was really subpar in the first half of the season.    

I am going to assume next season is his last with us?  

Last season, Zach struggled at first when Schoen & Lawler were gone but finished with over 4,000 yards passing. Most qbs would be happy to get to that number. He had more TDs than interceptions. So, I'd say from the seventh or 8th game of the season on, Collaros  played well. Not exceptional but good enough. As far as losing the GC, when he injured his finger we were toast. Not so much offensively but hooped defensively. No pass rush. Jake Thomas & Schmeckle were absoutely useless. Arbuckle could autograph each football he threw. We needed to stop the Argos & couldn't. And guess what??? We're doing the same thing again this year. Jordan Younger, Ritchie Hall & Mike O'Shea keep making the same mistakes with our Cheetos Defense. We lost to Nick Farking Arbuckle. They haven't learned. 

Edited April 6 by SpeedFlex27

[Tracker]

On 2025-04-04 at 6:14 PM, SpeedFlex27 said:

Not convinced Dru Brown is the guy long term either. Buck as OC may have felt the same. He struggled at times in Ottawa & was benched at one point. Brown may develop into an elite starter but he has a ways to go yet. This will be a very important season for Brown to be sure. It may not be make or break but if he doesn't show growth as a qb then he may be another Nick Arbuckle.

The explanation for Dru Brown's struggles in Ottawa was likely more than just inexperience. The whole team was thin on talent and depth. even in coaching.

[pw13]

22 minutes ago, Tracker said:

The explanation for Dru Brown's struggles in Ottawa was likely more than just inexperience. The whole team was thin on talent and depth. even in coaching.

Yes, they were far behind for most of the game (and ultimately lost by 20), but Brown torched the Argo defence for more than 400 yards in the Eastern Semifinal. He looked very legit to me. 

[Goalie]

2 hours ago, Tracker said:

The explanation for Dru Brown's struggles in Ottawa was likely more than just inexperience. The whole team was thin on talent and depth. even in coaching.

Bullshit. 
 

they got a ton of vets and Dyce been around longer than O’Shea in the coaching ranks. What I see is excuses for Dru but completely ignoring all the injuries early for Zach. 

Not saying Zach was great either. He was average with a few well above and a few welll below average games. But it was obvious early with the oline struggles and the injuries to Brady Schoen lawler etc, demski was banged up, lack of vets getting reps in camp, that struggles were coming but they got by them. Dru and Zach had similar years I’d say. Numbers don’t mean lots here cuz 2 different teams and O. But both were very good at times very bad and just ok. 

Edited April 6 by Goalie

[17to85]

Didn't Ottawa play a bunch of games with no running back? Doesn't sound like a stacked team

[Goalie]

Ottawas O runs through brown and the passing game. Ours ideally runs through Brady and the run game. 2 different O’s. 

That’s why Brady won MOP and the runner up threw for 10000 yards and won 6 games maybe. 

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

Bullshit. 
 

they got a ton of vets and Dyce been around longer than O’Shea in the coaching ranks. What I see is excuses for Dru but completely ignoring all the injuries early for Zach. 

Not saying Zach was great either. He was average with a few well above and a few welll below average games. But it was obvious early with the oline struggles and the injuries to Brady Schoen lawler etc, demski was banged up, lack of vets getting reps in camp, that struggles were coming but they got by them. Dru and Zach had similar years I’d say. Numbers don’t mean lots here cuz 2 different teams and O. But both were very good at times very bad and just ok. 

 Vets other teams don’t much want, dyce has been around as a position coach. Hes been awful as a hc, which is a real disappointment. He’s a great guy. 
 Not at all similar years. Brown didn’t have one awful game like Zach did for the first half of the season plus. Brown deserved to win his play off game too. Brown was exceptional far more times as well. 
 

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

Ottawas O runs through brown and the passing game. Ours ideally runs through Brady and the run game. 2 different O’s. 

That’s why Brady won MOP and the runner up threw for 10000 yards and won 6 games maybe. 

ottawas offence is brown. It doesn’t even run through him, it’s entirely dependent on him dominating. 
 If they traded places Zach wouldn’t have finished the year and his career would likely be over. With brown, we win a couple more games easy. Very good chance we win the gc with brown. 
 

[rebusrankin]

Brown was in his first year starting, ZC is a vet.

ZC had the best running back in the league. Brown had Armstead who was ok and Laborn who was meh.

Lawler/Demski/Wilson/Woli or Hardy/Rhymes/Acklin/Pimpleton? I'd go with the former.

Winnipeg had the better defense.

I'd argue Brown was better.

[Goalie]

I was In the camp of keeping Dru also. I just don’t think comparing the 2 is really fair. 

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

I was In the camp of keeping Dru also. I just don’t think comparing the 2 is really fair. 

You’re right, it isn’t. Unfortunately, football and pro sports aren’t fair. And qb is one of the least fair positions in all of sports. Comparison is also hard, but in this case I think it’s true. 

[Fatty Liver]

2 hours ago, wbbfan said:

 Vets other teams don’t much want, dyce has been around as a position coach. Hes been awful as a hc, which is a real disappointment. He’s a great guy. 
 Not at all similar years. Brown didn’t have one awful game like Zach did for the first half of the season plus. Brown deserved to win his play off game too. Brown was exceptional far more times as well.

You'll be happy to hear Bob Dyce has been extended again!  Richly rewarded for pushing his team past .500. for the first time evverrrr!

https://www.cfl.ca/2025/04/03/redblacks-extend-head-coach-bob-dyce-through-2026/

 

Rick Campbell is lurking, pretending he cares about kickers and punt returns and trying to look innocuous, but it's difficult for an innocuous personality to pretend he's truly innocuous.