Assuming were done with FA, whats left on the shopping list?

[wbbfan]

Need depth at NI rb, some one who can carry the ball and back up. To start a ratio breaking nuck you gotta have another ready to start in case of injury.

 Aside from that, Depth at OL and a guy or two to push for a starters job, high up side QB to groom, Couple tall Wrs who can push or grow under the guys we have. Think we could still use more competition and depth at returner. Guys who can cover and guys who can pass rush to push guys we have. Pretty happy with our roster so far, not done but certainly shaping up very nicely. 

[Mr. Perfect]

2 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Need depth at NI rb, some one who can carry the ball and back up. To start a ratio breaking nuck you gotta have another ready to start in case of injury.

 Aside from that, Depth at OL and a guy or two to push for a starters job, high up side QB to groom, Couple tall Wrs who can push or grow under the guys we have. Think we could still use more competition and depth at returner. Guys who can cover and guys who can pass rush to push guys we have. Pretty happy with our roster so far, not done but certainly shaping up very nicely. 

That's what Pascal Lochard is for.

[wbbfan]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Perfect said:

That's what Pascal Lochard is for.

Yeah thats the hope. He was an excellent runner with laval which is a great system. But he's had like 3 touches as a pro. Id still like to bring in another guy to compete for that back up spot. Maybe a couple. 

[Taynted_Fayth]

Interesting Lochard is listed as a FB, with the departure of Pontbriand i wonder if he'll be looked upon as the incumbent for that position

Edited February 11, 2016 by Taynted_Fayth

[SPuDS]

1 minute ago, wbbfan said:

Yeah thats the hope. He was an excellent runner with laval which is a great system. But he's had like 3 touches as a pro. Id still like to bring in another guy to compete for that back up spot. Maybe a couple. 

do we really need to be grooming a backup RB though?  as long as their serviceable..  plus Lochard was highly regarded if memory serves.  Id maybe try to find a volny or woodson.. but bout it lol.

[Taynted_Fayth]

We dont need to necessarily have a NI RB backup if we can plug a NI somewhere else (Maybe 2 NI receivers if Harris is hurt) We still have cotton, but i guess that might be a "for now" type of deal until the ax starts swinging round here

[wbbfan]

1 minute ago, SPuDS said:

do we really need to be grooming a backup RB though?  as long as their serviceable..  plus Lochard was highly regarded if memory serves.  Id maybe try to find a volny or woodson.. but bout it lol.

We have to have a canadian to that can take the spot if Harris goes down mid game. Ideally its some one that can keep filling the role so it doesnt cause large shifts in ratio else where.  I allways like volny but idk how his knee is. Lochard had a strong college career running behind an incredible line at laval. He was slower then expected, and wasnt that big for a powerback. 

 I wonder what itd take to get anthony coombs in a trade. Dare to dream lol.

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

14 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Need depth at NI rb, some one who can carry the ball and back up. To start a ratio breaking nuck you gotta have another ready to start in case of injury.

 Aside from that, Depth at OL and a guy or two to push for a starters job, high up side QB to groom, Couple tall Wrs who can push or grow under the guys we have. Think we could still use more competition and depth at returner. Guys who can cover and guys who can pass rush to push guys we have. Pretty happy with our roster so far, not done but certainly shaping up very nicely. 

Yup, need another serviceable back up in case our NI-RB goes down- but it does not need to be at the same position. 

Edited February 11, 2016 by wanna-b-fanboy

[wbbfan]

4 minutes ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

Interesting Lochard is listed as a FB, with the departure of Pontbriand i wonder if he'll be looked upon as the incumbent for that poisition

Im not too surprised at that given his time playing teams and lack of touches. I wonder if hes gotten bigger since college. 

 

[wbbfan]

Just now, wanna-b-fanboy said:

Yup, need another serviceable back up in case our ratio buster goes down- but it does not need to be at the same position. 

We can run it else where, but given then we have to DI a back up imp RB. And then we'd have to shift a starting import out else where. While we seem to be saddled with IMps on the OL and 3 atm for wrs it wouldnt be easy. With the number of roster spots and how cheap we'd find a canadian rb i think its well worth while to try. Mid to late draft pic maybe some one else like lochard whose been sitting in the cfl.

[Taynted_Fayth]

6 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Im not too surprised at that given his time playing teams and lack of touches. I wonder if hes gotten bigger since college. 

 

I think when i checked wiki after we signed him,  he was listed at 6' 215lbs, i dont know what an ideal size is for a FB i still have images of Wade Miller bowling downfield

[wbbfan]

3 minutes ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

I think when i checked wiki after we signed him,  he was listed at 6' 215lbs, i dont know what an ideal size is for a FB i still have images of Wade Miller bowling downfield

Lol most arent 5'9 tall and 5'9 wide. Id say 635-650 range. Isnt cam marshall 215 just shorter and more compact?

[Blueballz]

We have a young cheaper backup with Lochard, good enough. You start thinking in terms of "what if he gets hurt" you don't always make sound decisions.

[wbbfan]

5 minutes ago, Blueballz said:

We have a young cheaper backup with Lochard, good enough. You start thinking in terms of "what if he gets hurt" you don't always make sound decisions.

A big part of the off season is getting depth guys for training camp. Lochard has carried 3 times in 2+ years, hes more of a Ster.

[nate007]

Not a CFL FA, but as a likely US college UDFA, we should take a look at Zach Vraa out of NDSU. In 2013 he had almost 500 more reception yards than Ryan Smith: http://www.gobison.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=6271&path=football 

It would be nice to get a WR out of North Dakota before the Riders do.

 

[JCon]

1 minute ago, nate007 said:

Not a CFL FA, but as a likely US college UDFA, we should take a look at Zach Vraa out of NDSU. In 2013 he had almost 500 more reception yards than Ryan Smith: http://www.gobison.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=6271&path=football 

It would be nice to get a WR out of North Dakota before the Riders do.

 

I thought the entire state was on their neg list!

 

[Brandon]

5 hours ago, do or die said:

My hope is that someone like Dressler could be a role model for Darvin (who has some talent) and show him the right way to do things......

Sign Nik Lewis as a WR coach  /  back up receiver /  6th OL guy?

[Dascow]

As it stands right now, the Bombers biggest hole on their roster is in the secondary. They need to do something in the coming months to fix that or their pass defence is going to be their achilles heel. 

If they can shore that up, then on paper the Bombers would have a really solid team.

[17to85]

34 minutes ago, Dascow said:

As it stands right now, the Bombers biggest hole on their roster is in the secondary. They need to do something in the coming months to fix that or their pass defence is going to be their achilles heel. 

If they can shore that up, then on paper the Bombers would have a really solid team.

really? You really think the secondary is the biggest hole? We got lots of dbs who can play even with the loss of Washington. Plus it's the one area this regime has seemed to been able to find players at pretty consistently.  It's probably my last worry about this team. 

[SPuDS]

21 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

really? You really think the secondary is the biggest hole? We got lots of dbs who can play even with the loss of Washington. Plus it's the one area this regime has seemed to been able to find players at pretty consistently.  It's probably my last worry about this team. 

yea me too tbh.  kind of a weird angle here.

[bearpants]

1 hour ago, Dascow said:

As it stands right now, the Bombers biggest hole on their roster is in the secondary. They need to do something in the coming months to fix that or their pass defence is going to be their achilles heel. 

If they can shore that up, then on paper the Bombers would have a really solid team.

Couldn't disagree more.... coming into free agency I would have said our 2 biggest strengths are secondary and QB depth...

[do or die]

Our OL as a unit....is still in the completely unproven category......

[Bigblue204]

18 minutes ago, bearpants said:

Couldn't disagree more.... coming into free agency I would have said our 2 biggest strengths are secondary and QB depth...

I'm not sure I'd say our secondary is our biggest strength, but its certainly up there. I think our LB's and Qb depth is top two. But our secondary really depends on if Randle comes back. I've heard he's not going to be ready for TC, though that's not from a reliable source. If he does, our secondary is going to be very strong.

 

[Dascow]

24 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

really? You really think the secondary is the biggest hole? We got lots of dbs who can play even with the loss of Washington. Plus it's the one area this regime has seemed to been able to find players at pretty consistently.  It's probably my last worry about this team. 

First of all let me just say that I hope you are right, because if you are, the Bombers are going to have a good team this year.

Here is how I see it or how I break it down:

We are solid at QB with Willy as the starter and Nichols as the back up.

We are solid at RB with Harris as the starter. If he can get close to 1000 yards and aprox. a 5.0 yard per carry avg. that will go a long way to solidify the offence. As you know, a good run game helps the passing game.

We are solid at WR with Adams, Smith, Dressler, Denmark and Kohlhert.  In terms of production all of those receivers with the exception of Kohlert were very close to getting 1000 yards last year.  Even Adams, who was seen by many here to be lazy last year, could have done it.

The o-line is a little more of a question. I think we are solid at the tackle position with Bryant and Daniels holding down those spots.  Chung at RG is very solid.  Goossen at center will be an improvement over Picard, but is that a high bar? I think the combination of Goossen, Neufeld and Keeping will be at least average.  It depends on how much Goossen has developed.  With the right scheme and a little bit of luck in the injury department, I think they will be ok there. They could use some improvement at the other guard position, but I think Neufeld and Keeping should be serviceable.

The D-line is very solid with the additions of Shologan and Cummings.  As it stands right now, their d-line will be very good and if they add one more pass rusher, or if they find a new recruit that can play at a higher lever than one of our current guys, then that D-line will be scary good.

The LB corps is also solid, with the likes of Bass as WILL, Wild as MACK and Leggett on the strong side.  If they decide to go with Hurl because he is a non-import then that corps get significantly weaker.  According to Kirk Penton, the Bombers are hinting that they are going to move Randle back to the corner which would bump out Bucknor. 

The secondary is the question for me.  Here is why: The Bombers have only 3 of 5 spots filled back there.

Adams at one corner, who is very good. Randle at the other corner, if you believe Penton.  Randle should be very good there, but he is coming off of reconstructive knee surgery.  Johnson will start at one of the HB spots.  The other HB spot and the safety position are both open. Who will fill those 2 spots? It's possible that a new recruit could come in and fill that spot and play well.  However, it's also very possible that a new recruit could come in and not play very well.  The Bombers would be putting a lot of faith in their scouting to produce 2 new players for the secondary. That would be banking a lot on something that is unknown.

That's why it's the biggest concern to me.  I know what we have at the other positions. I have no idea what we have to fill in at HB and safety. Who will fill those spots?

[Bigblue204]

There was a player who played in place of Washington last year that looked fairly good. Posey or something I think. I believe the coaches were pretty high on him. And then there's Waggoner who is built to be a safety in the CFL. SO really we might not need any new comers in the secondary at all. Or they could put Legget back to Safety, Randle back to Sam and Bucknor or some rookie at Field corner. Again no need for 2 rookies there.