Keepers For 2015

[Jpan85]

All it takes is the ability to make a couple moves in the offseason FA or trade to get the Oline to a point where the offense wont be bogged down because of them.

[Blueandgold]

We all knew that Canadian depth and the O-line were a work in progress and was at least a two or three year job. It's the lack of American depth that is particularly troubling to me. 

[Goalie]

All it takes is the ability to make a couple moves in the offseason FA or trade to get the Oline to a point where the offense wont be bogged down because of them.

 

I agree, and i feel by just adding 2 solid american tackles, that would make a difference. Gotta be honest here, January has had a pretty brutal season, really bad actually, way more bad than good, him sucking has probably lead to a guy like greaves, who january plays beside not playing that great either, when your buddy beside you is sucking, you are probably going to try to over compensate a bit and try to do more than you should. I think if we can find 2 american tackles, and one canadian (guard) we should be ok.

 

Holmes is a guy i'd go after, he's a starter immediately, Draft a guy too. Reality is, if we get some luck.. and some growth and actually get a guy in the draft who can play right now..

 

That oline can be significantly changed in one off season, need some luck there tho. 

[Jpan85]

Walters needs to take the proactive approach like he did last year. If there is a olinemen that is going to go to free agency make a trade like he did for Randle and Willy and get exclusive negotiation rights with him and pony up the cash.

[Fraser]

I'm going to freak if Swiston isn't with the team next year.

[Goalie]

I'm going to freak if Swiston isn't with the team next year.

 

My question on Swiston is, how bad is he? I mean, he hasn't played all year, he's on our PR. I'm not so sure he's that great actually, if he was one would assume he would be playing instead of one of our 3 import oline. Him being on the PR right now and not getting a chance at all this year says to me that 1. he isn't good enough or 2. he's still hurt a bit. 

[Jpan85]

I really think they are giving Swiston the year to get his body right. He never had a chance to train properly for several off season due to recovery from injuries.

[mbrg]

All it takes is the ability to make a couple moves in the offseason FA or trade to get the Oline to a point where the offense wont be bogged down because of them.

 

An Oline does not need to be 5 all star players, although I'd gladly take 5.

 

If you have a couple of A's and B+'s on your Oline, a guy who's probably not better than a C can fit in and do a fine job - he's surrounded by players who make him look better.  They have enough talent and cohesion as a unit to do the job.  The best Olines in the league, the A+ crews, are not made up of 5 A+ guys.  Their play as a group is elevated by the presence of a few superior individuals.

 

We have a couple of B's surrounded by C's.  As a unit, they play like a D.  No one is surrounded by enough talent that their flaws can be masked.  Instead they all manage to make each other look a little worse.  Their play as a group is torpedoed by the presence of a few average individuals and zero superior ones.

 

Whoever did the colour commentary on CJOB Monday made a telling statement - he said he couldn't figure out why the Bombers let Justin Sorenson go, he looked fine in Edmonton this year.

 

Justin Sorenson could have looked "fine" in Winnipeg too, if he'd been surrounded by better players, like he is in Edmonton.  He is completely average, and playing here would probably have looked anywhere from unspectacular to awful.

 

So yes, I agree, we only need to make a couple of changes to get greatly improved play from our Oline.  We don't have to upgrade every spot, but the spots we upgrade have to be with premium players.  Replacing Morley with Neufeld and Sorenson with Morley might technically mean 2 spots were slightly upgraded from the year before, but without at least 2 powerful swimmers anchoring this line, this unit will continue to drown.

[17to85]

 

All it takes is the ability to make a couple moves in the offseason FA or trade to get the Oline to a point where the offense wont be bogged down because of them.

 

An Oline does not need to be 5 all star players, although I'd gladly take 5.

 

If you have a couple of A's and B+'s on your Oline, a guy who's probably not better than a C can fit in and do a fine job - he's surrounded by players who make him look better.  They have enough talent and cohesion as a unit to do the job.  The best Olines in the league, the A+ crews, are not made up of 5 A+ guys.  Their play as a group is elevated by the presence of a few superior individuals.

 

We have a couple of B's surrounded by C's.  As a unit, they play like a D.  No one is surrounded by enough talent that their flaws can be masked.  Instead they all manage to make each other look a little worse.  Their play as a group is torpedoed by the presence of a few average individuals and zero superior ones.

 

Whoever did the colour commentary on CJOB Monday made a telling statement - he said he couldn't figure out why the Bombers let Justin Sorenson go, he looked fine in Edmonton this year.

 

Justin Sorenson could have looked "fine" in Winnipeg too, if he'd been surrounded by better players, like he is in Edmonton.  He is completely average, and playing here would probably have looked anywhere from unspectacular to awful.

 

So yes, I agree, we only need to make a couple of changes to get greatly improved play from our Oline.  We don't have to upgrade every spot, but the spots we upgrade have to be with premium players.  Replacing Morley with Neufeld and Sorenson with Morley might technically mean 2 spots were slightly upgraded from the year before, but without at least 2 powerful swimmers anchoring this line, this unit will continue to drown.

 

Well part of it is that Sorenson and Morley are basically the same guy. They are servicable centres but anywhere else they're not doing you a whole lot of good. The idea I am sure was having a solid left side with January and Greaves with a solid Morley at centre, then you just need to figure out the RT and RG, Walters obviously had a lot of faith in Neufeld being one of those guys, then find the other guy from all the options you have around. The problem though is that the guys on the left side have had pretty poor seasons by their standards and Neufeld has spent more time on the IR than the roster it seems like and the other guys they've used on the right side haven't been up to par. A lot of things going wrong. When the guys you expected to be solid for you aren't playing or aren't playing well and the new people just aren't very good the whole thing goes to hell in a hand basket. 

 

To be completely honest I thought the OL started the year servicably, but in the last little while it's fallen apart completely. 

[blitzmore]

I think our Oline last year actually played somewhat better than this year. I also think Ottawa's Oline plays better than ours which is pathetic. I don't know if it is the schemes, someone more familiar with Olines may be better to say. All I know is that they were supposed to get better with the Oline Coach Guru and they're worse. For me we need two new import tackles, as far as I'm concerned the ones we have and that includes January are not good enough. A new center is in order as well, also one guard position. Where we get them is Walter's job, but it needs to be done.

[pigseye]

When Marcel was in Montreal in 2007, he changed AC's drop from a 5 to 3 step, which resulted in a record number of sacks and almost ended AC's career, eerily similar to what has happened to WIlly. The point, unless Marcel goes, doesn't matter who is back next season but I'd bring them all back to camp and go from there, hopefully with a new OC. I'd even show Wylie the door as he can't escape blame here either.

 

Same goes for the defence, Etch must go before anyone else, bring them all back for camp but just add what you need for a 4-3 defence, which is only a MLB and a tackle or two.

 

Hopefully we can add some more missing pieces through free agency and the draft but realistically, we are still at least 2 years away from making any noise.