Kyle Walters interview in the WPG. SUN.

[Guest J5V]

Wow! I'm sure glad and relieved to know none of the following headlines and commentary on Willy are real! Whew! Don't we all feel much better now? I know I do. Heck, 131 sacks in two years is nothing. These wicked folks are just exaggerating. What a relief!

From 2015 ...

"Drew Willy, Blue Bombers QB, out 6-8 weeks with right knee injury" "Starting pivot suffers tibial fracture, partial PCL tear"

"Willy's injury filled season began in Winnipeg's home opener versus Hamilton on July 2 when he absorbed a head shot from defensive lineman Adrian Tracy." "Bombers quarterback Drew Willy is helped off the field after suffering a suspected head injury Thursday night at IGF in a 52-26 loss to the Tiger-Cats."

"Heading into Friday’s game against the visiting Toronto Argonauts (4-2), Willy is on the sidelines with a serious knee injury and Winnipeg (3-4) has allowed a league-high 23 sacks through seven games – the same number after seven games last season."

"Drew Willy injury spells doom for Winnipeg Blue Bombers in loss to Edmonton Eskimos"

2014 ...

"Winnipeg quarterback Drew Willy’s injured shoulder could make him miss the Blue Bombers’ next game almost two weeks from now, and his future after that is unclear based on what the team said Monday." "Willy’s throwing shoulder was injured on what looked like a hit from Alex Bazzie and Khreem Smith, as Willy was sacked late in the second quarter in their 25-9 loss to the B.C. Lions Saturday."

"This season he has hardly missed a snap let alone a game, despite hits that have left him bruised and limping off the field at times."

"He had a hurt thumb, a bad shoulder, a twisted ankle and surely countless other injuries that never leaked out of the training room. Damaged because he was sacked more this season than any other Bombers quarterback ever has been."

"The close losses, the blowout losses, the championship drought, the expectations of a 5-1 start, the changes and things defences took away from him once they had a catalogue of film on him, and of course, how his play, confidence and decisiveness regressed as he got pummeled in every conceivable fashion."

"For some time now Willy has been shell-shocked and withdrawn on the field, not unlike the fallout of an abusive relationship. He had nothing left to learn or be taught by a football season where his last two starts were blowout losses and the team hadn't won in over two months. It's disappointing it took 10 more sacks and a chorus of boos from frustrated fans for this conclusion to become the near consensus on his playing status."

[sweep the leg]

6 hours ago, J5V said:

Having watched Willy get pounded into a broken, bloody, pulp mercilessly for the last two seasons I thought a little compassion from the GM might have afforded him a better O-line. I admit I don't know much about football but it seems like the teams with the better O-lines don't get their QBs beaten up on like ours do.

I guess I just thought an upgraded O-line would have done more to protect our franchise QB than to suggest he simply needs to throw the ball away more and quit taking hits. Who knew we could be successful with such a strategy? I'm really looking forward to seeing us turn it around that way and learning something from KW and the football experts here in this forum that agree with him.

Sarcastic jackass is a bad look for a guy who admittedly doesn't know what he's talking about. 

[Bigblue204]

16 hours ago, J5V said:

Having watched Willy get pounded into a broken, bloody, pulp mercilessly for the last two seasons I thought a little compassion from the GM might have afforded him a better O-line. I admit I don't know much about football but it seems like the teams with the better O-lines don't get their QBs beaten up on like ours do.

I guess I just thought an upgraded O-line would have done more to protect our franchise QB than to suggest he simply needs to throw the ball away more and quit taking hits. Who knew we could be successful with such a strategy? I'm really looking forward to seeing us turn it around that way and learning something from KW and the football experts here in this forum that agree with him.

at least you admit you don't know much about football. now try coming to terms with your lack of reading comprehension. 

Speaking of Drew Willy, he says he’s healthy and raring to go for mini-camp, training camp and the season. What will it mean to you to have that No. 1 quarterback back?

The question was about Drew, and what it means to have him back. It wasn’t about how the oline could improve. Everyone knows a better Oline would help. But there are other things to discuss about this team besides the poor oline play.

[Guest J5V]

Sarcasm was introduced to this thread by other than me, as was the name calling and personal attacks. We even have a quote from the king of sarcasm himself, Mike O'Shea. If anyone is offended I suggest you take the issue up with them.

Speaking of reading comprehension, the interviewer's question was actually about Drew's health, and what it means to have him back. Whilst not the football expert some of you pretend to be, I know nonsense when I hear it, and to blame Drew and Drew alone for his injury woes is just that. 

 

[Mr Dee]

The question was not about Drew's health, just the fact that he is healthy.

Even though you're trying very hard to steer the topic to where you want it to go, you're not succeeding. The question was about what it is to have Willy back, and was answered within the boundaries of that question. Walters, is making it known that the club is aware of concerns that go beyond the O-Line. They already know about the O-line. And he is not piling the blame on his #1 asset. He is simply letting everybody know that Drew has to be more aware of the game situations. And what he says is true. Drew does have to be more aware. It's not necessary for him to take all those hits. That's all he is saying. Every football fan can see that. It been spoken of many times. 

Read it again, they are not blaming it on Drew and Drew alone. The essence of the answer is in the answer.

[Mike]

55 minutes ago, J5V said:

Sarcasm was introduced to this thread by other than me, as was the name calling and personal attacks. We even have a quote from the king of sarcasm himself, Mike O'Shea. If anyone is offended I suggest you take the issue up with them.

Speaking of reading comprehension, the interviewer's question was actually about Drew's health, and what it means to have him back. Whilst not the football expert some of you pretend to be, I know nonsense when I hear it, and to blame Drew and Drew alone for his injury woes is just that. 

 

This isn't so much a "football" discussion as it is a discussion on your inability to understand that when Kyle Walters is asking a question about the sky being blue, he's not going to answer by talking about how grass is green.

[Bigblue204]

54 minutes ago, J5V said:

Sarcasm was introduced to this thread by other than me, as was the name calling and personal attacks. We even have a quote from the king of sarcasm himself, Mike O'Shea. If anyone is offended I suggest you take the issue up with them.

Speaking of reading comprehension, the interviewer's question was actually about Drew's health, and what it means to have him back. Whilst not the football expert some of you pretend to be, I know nonsense when I hear it, and to blame Drew and Drew alone for his injury woes is just that. 

 

fair enough about the sarcasm. But again, the question wasn't about his health. 

Speaking of Drew Willy, he says he’s healthy and raring to go for mini-camp, training camp and the season. What will it mean to you to have that No. 1 quarterback back?

There's no question about his health in that sentence. There's a statement about him being healthy. And then the interviewer goes on to ask - What will it mean to you to have that No.1 quarterback back? - That's the question. I know that, because that sentence ends in a "?" that's how the bizarre English language works. The part about his health, isn't a question, as it ends in a period "." 

I'm also not sure where he "blames" drew willy alone for all his injury woes. But I'm getting the feeling it's pointless to try to explain anything to you.

[Guest J5V]

We are going into year three with KW as GM. While I do think he has done a good job in some areas, his work with the Oline isn't one of them, IMHO.

If you're a KW fan you should be concerned for his job security because if he does get gassed this year, it will be primarily because of his failure to seriously upgrade the Oline, an Oline that has given up QB-killing sacks in record proportions during KW's tenure. If KW had one job priority, one mandate, to me, it was to build a mammoth Oline.

There is still time. Maybe KW can work some magic with the draft to get some big bodies in here. Here's to hoping. But his failure to use the interviewer's question concerning the return of his star QB as a segue to discussing the importance of upgrading said Oline speaks volumes. If KW really believes that throwing the ball away more is going to keep his QB safe he deserves to be fired. Maybe the next GM will do what it takes to keep his best player HEALTHY, upright, and productive. Maybe then we can start winning some ball games.

[Mike]

43 minutes ago, J5V said:

We are going into year three with KW as GM. While I do think he has done a good job in some areas, his work with the Oline isn't one of them, IMHO.

If you're a KW fan you should be concerned for his job security because if he does get gassed this year, it will be primarily because of his failure to seriously upgrade the Oline, an Oline that has given up QB-killing sacks in record proportions during KW's tenure. If KW had one job priority, one mandate, to me, it was to build a mammoth Oline.

There is still time. Maybe KW can work some magic with the draft to get some big bodies in here. Here's to hoping. But his failure to use the interviewer's question concerning the return of his star QB as a segue to discussing the importance of upgrading said Oline speaks volumes. If KW really believes that throwing the ball away more is going to keep his QB safe he deserves to be fired. Maybe the next GM will do what it takes to keep his best player HEALTHY, upright, and productive. Maybe then we can start winning some ball games.

That's quite honestly the most unreasonable thing anyone has said on this forum in a long time. It doesn't speak volumes, you're just looking for something that isn't there and stomping your feet about it.

[comedygeek]

You act like Kyle Walters hasn't talked about the need to continue to improve the Oline this offseason. He has. Just because in one interview he didn't answer a question about Drew Willy with a detour into where he thinks the Oline has improved, doesn't mean he isn't thinking about it and doesn't even mean he hasn't talked about it. He has. It's clearly a concern.

[Bigblue204]

Adding to the two points already made. There's also significant evidence available that suggests throwing the ball away or making quicker decisions helps ones career even while playing behind a poor Oline - see AC and RR as well as Khari (though lots of that was toss up prayers to MR.85)

[iso_55]

Holding onto the ball could also be interpreted as Willy not giving up on the play waiting for a receiver to get open. Having said that Willy does have to throw the ball away more & live to fight next series. Or next game.

[Guest J5V]

1 hour ago, iso_55 said:

Holding onto the ball could also be interpreted as Willy not giving up on the play waiting for a receiver to get open. Having said that Willy does have to throw the ball away more & live to fight next series. Or next game.

Or you just have to give him a fighting chance to make the throw and complete the play. Is he there to win or just to survive? I know if you asked him what his answer would be.

[iso_55]

20 minutes ago, J5V said:

Or you just have to give him a fighting chance to make the throw and complete the play. Is he there to win or just to survive? I know if you asked him what his answer would be.

He'd say he's there to win. The problem with the sacks the Bombers had in 2015 before Willy got hurt was that a lot of the time he did hang onto the ball too long. When Nicholls played I thought he got rid of the ball quicker than Willy did. We still didn't win though so it just shows the problems inherent on offense last season.

Edited April 17, 2016 by iso_55

[Guest J5V]

31 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

He'd say he's there to win. The problem with the sacks the Bombers had in 2015 before Willy got hurt was that a lot of the time he did hang onto the ball too long. When Nicholls played I thought he got rid of the ball quicker than Willy did. We still didn't win though so it just shows the problems inherent on offense last season.

Agreed. Sometimes he needs to get the ball out quicker and sometimes he needs more time to make a play. Ideally, the latter. An extra steamboat or two and better Oline play will do wonders for both the passing and running game. Happy feet and hurried throws due to weak/no protection are a recipe for disaster.

[iso_55]

I actually think that Nicholls processes things faster than Willy but he just doesn't have the ability to be an impactful long term starter for some reason. He is a capable & valuable back up.

[Fatty Liver]

48 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

I actually think that Nicholls processes things faster than Willy but he just doesn't have the ability to be an impactful long term starter for some reason. He is a capable & valuable back up.

I would agree with this, he is very quick to decide whether something is there or not and he has  better self preservation instincts than Willy.  What he lacks is the physical skills that Willy possesses.

[Guest J5V]

46 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

I would agree with this, he is very quick to decide whether something is there or not and he has  better self preservation instincts than Willy.  What he lacks is the physical skills that Willy possesses.

I seem to remember Nichols footwork being just awful. They both get the happy feet going at times. 

[LeBird]

On 15/04/2016 at 5:23 PM, mbrg said:

But we might finally get that wall built around Saskatchewan.

And have them pay for it too!

[JuranBoldenRules]

3 hours ago, iso_55 said:

I actually think that Nicholls processes things faster than Willy but he just doesn't have the ability to be an impactful long term starter for some reason. He is a capable & valuable back up.

Nichols makes horrible decisions far too often to ever keep himself on the field.  He's a good option relative to many other horrible ones like Marve etc, but if he's starting half our games or more we are far below .500 after 18 games.

Edited April 18, 2016 by JuranBoldenRules

[iso_55]

36 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Nichols makes horrible decisions far too often to ever keep himself on the field.  He's a good option relative to many other horrible ones like Marve etc, but if he's starting half our games or more we are far below .500 after 18 games.

You described it better than I did. Yes, he does make bad choices under pressure.

[GCn20]

On ‎2016‎-‎04‎-‎15 at 2:47 PM, TBURGESS said:

Don't stick my name on your jokes and we'll get along better. 

Don't take extreme positions and they won't be satire afterwards. Just saying....

[bb1]

Well you can tell football is a coming cause the fans they are a  getting restless lol....

[TBURGESS]

1 hour ago, gcn11 said:

Don't take extreme positions and they won't be satire afterwards. Just saying....

Don't make statements that I didn't make then add my name to them, then see if I'll complain then say 'just joking' then call it satire. That's douch-bagery. Just saying...

[Guest J5V]

On 4/16/2016 at 1:57 PM, Bigblue204 said:

I'm also not sure where he "blames" drew willy alone for all his injury woes. 

"He so desperately wants to make a play every single snap that he puts himself in jeopardy from time to time. He needs to understand that sometimes punting on third down is not a bad thing." -- KW