OT: Winnipeg Blue Bombers 2024 Season Thread (7-6) - No notes needed. - Next at EDM Sept 21 600pm

[snowkiddin]

I personally got the Riders, Stamps, and Argos missing the playoffs this year myself in pre-season predictions. I posted them in the CFL thread on the football board.

Argos bled too much talent then lost the guy they spent all their money on for at least 9 games and I'm hearing it'll be more.

Stamps don't have a QB.

I think Riders spent their money unwisely in FA. Ouellette is in for a huge surprise running behind Riders leaky OL, a 34 year old Jermarcus Hardrick isn't saving them.

Pretty much my exact thoughts, I just have the Argos making the playoffs because Hamilton and Ottawa are f***ing terrible

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Pretty much my exact thoughts, I just have the Argos making the playoffs because Hamilton and Ottawa are f***ing terrible

It may be wishful thinking but I'm hoping Dru Brown can stabilize that Redblacks O. If he can provide even a Matt Nichols level of QBing I think Ott has a chance to win that division. Their D is pretty good, or was last couple of years.

 

[SSCBLUEJET]

That's an interesting one. I don't think Sayles has ever played CB at the CFL level though. However most think HB is a harder position than CB so maybe he could move over.

I'm really shocked that BC released him with TJ Lee still out from his Achilles in West Final. Lions going with a REALLY young DB corps. I think they'll be starting 2nd year Canadian Siriman Bagayogo at CB with former Bombers prospect Patrice Rene as his backup (if Rene wasnt released i havent done a deep dive on the cuts yet), now they need 2 new HBs as well.

EDIT: Bagayogo was released and not Rene apparently haha

I think the Lions signed Ciante Evans. That might of pushed him out.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Tait seems to be indicating it's Ontaria Wilson working with the 1's at WR today

I'm guessing that means Myron Mitchell is the backup WR/Returner

EDIT: And confirmed...

 

[SUX2BU]

Nowhere. Bombers won't be signing him, IMO. He's no longer a fit on this roster as Strevy is handling 3rd down duties. Bombers need a prospect in the #3 role. Prukop isn't a QB, he's a 3rd down plunger.

We have a winner ……

Edmonton Elks sign veteran short-yardage quarterback Dakota Prukop | TSN

The Edmonton Elks have signed quarterback Dakota Prukop, the CFL club announced Sunday. The veteran returns for a second stint with Edmonton after being released by the B.C. Lions in late May.

www.tsn.ca

 

[bustamente]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1797727088746578120

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Garbutt and Kelly will not play. Bighill, Parker, and Lawson as well obviously as all 3 on 6 game IR.

Think this means will only dress 2 natural ends in Willie Jefferson and Celestin Haba. They have I believe 6 nautral DTs on the roster though, so expect some of those guys to be used outside at times (and a couple to end up 1 game injured lists as scratches).

Als are down veteran DB Wesley Sutton and prize free agent DT Dylan Wynn. Also out for Als are projected starters OL Jesse Gibbons and WR Reggie White.

 

[snowkiddin]

Garbutt and Kelly will not play. Bighill, Parker, and Lawson as well obviously as all 3 on 6 game IR.

Think this means will only dress 2 natural ends in Willie Jefferson and Celestin Haba. They have I believe 6 nautral DTs on the roster though, so expect some of those guys to be used outside at times (and a couple to end up 1 game injured lists as scratches).

Als are down veteran DB Wesley Sutton and prize free agent DT Dylan Wynn. Also out for Als are projected starters OL Jesse Gibbons and WR Reggie White.

I’m expecting a .500 season out of the Als. Hope the Bombers can make them look like that kinda team after Week 1.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

TEN Canadian Starters tmw! The is probably easily the best Canadian talent a Bombers team has had in my lifetime, maybe essentially ever for the Bombers, at least since the early days of the CFL.

O: RB Brady Oliveira, WR Drew Wolitarsky, SB Nic Demski, LG Liam Dobson, C Chris Kolankowski, RG Patrick Neufeld

D: DT Jake Thomas, MLB Shayne Gauthier, SLB Redha Kramdhi, CB Tyrell Ford

Minimum number of Canadian starters required is 7.

EDIT: I had posted the depth chart but the Bombers deleted it since they screwed up a bunch of players on it listing Alexander as a Canadian while having Dobson+Demski listed as Americans. I'm guessing it'll be reposted soon.


Global Souleymane Karamoko makes his first opening day roster after spending nearly the entire 2022 and 2023 seasons on the PR. The French player played at Laval in college and has appeared sparingly over the past two seasons in a depth role.

CFL rookies CB Terrell Bonds and WR Ontaria Wilson will start in their first career CFL games. Also making CFL debuts in depth roles will be 2024 draft picks G Gabe Wallace, RB/FB Michael Chris-Ike , WR Kevens Clercius, along with 2023 picks DT Tanner Schmekel and LB Max Charbonneau. Among the Americans making their CFL debut are depth players DB Marquise Bridges, WR/RET Myron Mitchell, DL Devin Adams, DT Jamal Woods and QB Terry Wilson.

This kind of crazy Canadian talent will give the Bombers lots of freedom to rotate guys around. They do not need to worry at all about ratio as they can basically freely move players in and out. Along the DL and LB corps I expect to see a ton of rotation of personnel at all times.

 

[Jets 31]

TEN Canadian Starters tmw! The is probably easily the best Canadian talent a Bombers team has had in my lifetime, maybe essentially ever for the Bombers, at least since the early days of the CFL.

O: RB Brady Oliveira, WR Drew Wolitarsky, SB Nic Demski, LG Liam Dobson, C Chris Kolankowski, RG Patrick Neufeld

D: DT Jake Thomas, MLB Shayne Gauthier, SLB Redha Kramdhi, CB Tyrell Ford

Minimum number of Canadian starters required is 7.

EDIT: I had posted the depth chart but the Bombers deleted it since they screwed up a bunch of players on it listing Alexander as a Canadian while having Dobson+Demski listed as Americans. I'm guessing it'll be reposted soon.


Global Souleymane Karamoko makes his first opening day roster after spending nearly the entire 2022 and 2023 seasons on the PR. The French player played at Laval in college and has appeared sparingly over the past two seasons in a depth role.

CFL rookies CB Terrell Bonds and WR Ontaria Wilson will start in their first career CFL games. Also making CFL debuts in depth roles will be 2024 draft picks G Gabe Wallace, RB/FB Michael Chris-Ike , WR Kevens Clercius, along with 2023 picks DT Tanner Schmekel and LB Max Charbonneau. Among the Americans making their CFL debut are depth players DB Marquise Bridges, WR/RET Myron Mitchell, DL Devin Adams, DT Jamal Woods and QB Terry Wilson.

This kind of crazy Canadian talent will give the Bombers lots of freedom to rotate guys around. They do not need to worry at all about ratio as they can basically freely move players in and out. Along the DL and LB corps I expect to see a ton of rotation of personnel at all times.

Ya the Bombers have very good Canadian talent, maybe that's what the Jets need, more Canadian talent.

 

[Benny27]

Winnipeg Blue Bomber Talk

 

[snowkiddin]

Figured I'd throw some quick standings predictions together for the year, so everyone can come back and laugh at me in November.

East
1. Montreal Alouettes (10-8)
2. Toronto Argonauts (7-11)
3. Ottawa Redblacks (7-11)
4. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-14)

I think Montreal is the top team in the East, but more as a consequence of that division being so weak more than anything else. Their defence is solid, but I think their offence will struggle without Austin Mack (and William Stanback, although he was less effective last year IMO). The Argos, I've said countless times, have lost a lot of star power to pay Chad Kelly. Even if we assume Kelly comes back after nine games, I don't think he's going to save their season or anything. He's an above average QB who was propped up by his team as they feasted on a weak schedule last season. With a weaker roster this time around, I am not predicting great success. Ottawa should be better. It will be interesting to see how Brown does. I don't think he'll light the world on fire, but it won't take much to get into the top half of QBs in the CFL. I think Rhymes is a good addition, and I like their defence. I think they make the playoffs. The main reason being, is I think the Tiger-Cats are in for a very poor season. Bo Levi Mitchell's arm is complete toast. I'm not a Taylor Powell believer. They've lost productive pieces on both sides of the ball. It's going to be a tough season for them.

West
1. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (13-5)
2. BC Lions (12-6)
3. Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-10)
4. Edmonton Elks (5-13)
5. Calgary Stampeders (5-13)

So, a lot of people are taking BC to win the division (and the Grey Cup), but the homer in me still says the Bombers. Our offence is going to be a problem for teams. The offensive line should still be able to get the job done, Oliveira and Streveler are gonna kill linebackers all year, and the Collaros-Schoen-Lawler-Demski connection will be lethal. And then you've still got a dependable Wolitarsky out there and I think we'll be happy with the new American receiver, whether Ontaria Wilson keeps that spot, or not. Defensively, my concerns are mostly in the linebacking corps. Bighill is older, slower, and already injured. TSN ranked him as the 48th best player in the league this season, so they obviously think he still has juice left but I'm wary of a big drop-off from him. Kyrie Wilson hasn't been very good IMO since 2021ish. Some guys never recover from Achilles injuries; it's looking like he might be another. Redha Kramdi also struggled throughout most of last year. He's not great in coverage, and he's a poor tackler. I think if Brian Cole was worth anything, he'd have been in the lineup more often the past couple seasons. So that's my big concern. Defensive line, I'm not actually that concerned. Willie is Willie. Much has been made about the Jeffcoat loss, and yeah, there's no replacing him, but Haba was solid in limited action last season and I think he will breakout. On the inside, it sucks to lose Cameron Lawson. Hope he's back this season. I was impressed with Miles Fox in the pre-season. I think he's going to have a great season. Casey Sayles and what's-his-face from last year weren't world beaters, anyway — I'm hoping Fox is closer to the Stove Richardson tier. Jake Thomas is a steady Canadian. But hopefully we get Lawson back. There are questions in the secondary, too, but I'm not too concerned. Deatrick Nichols, Evan Holm, and Brandon Alexander are all back. Nichols is quietly one of the best players in the league, Holm was an electric all-star last season (who had NFL looks IIRC), and Brandon Alexander is a smart, hard-hitting veteran and a great leader of this defence. Elsewhere, there's question marks. Tyrell Ford is intriguing, and he has the NFL aura with him, but he hasn't played much (believe he has just one pro game to his name) and it's not like he hung around the NFL all season last year. He was released by the Packers in training camp. I don't know anything about Terrell Bonds but McGhee didn't show me anything in pre-season so I'm okay with not going with him. Special teams are hard to get a gauge on, and it doesn't look like we have a punter, but I'm hoping it isn't as putrid as last year.

BC is good — the second best team IMO, but the hype for Vernon Adams has been overblown a bit lately IMO. He's always been inconsistent and I'm not banking on an MOP season out of him. Their receivers are stellar, but they lost some talent there. Defence lost talent too. I think it'll be them and the Bombers as the top two teams in the league, and I wouldn't be surprised if they do win the division, but my homer vote says Winnipeg.

I have Saskatchewan in a playoff spot because I think Edmonton and Calgary are worse. They still have no offensive line — Hardrick isn't gonna change that, despite what the Riders forum will tell you. Like Holden, I think Ouelette will struggle a bit behind that line. Trevor Harris is also one hit away from the IR, and much like last year, if they don't have a QB, they will sink. I do like their receivers a lot, though. Their defence has had quite a bit of turnover, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing for them. The Sask D got a lot of praise last season, but it wasn't that great IMO. I think they may have just trimmed the fat. I think they'll stumble into a playoff spot.

The Elks are improving, but not yet there. McLeod Bethel-Thompson is basically McAverage QB. He isn't going to save the franchise, but overall I think Edmonton will be better. Hard to be much worse. I think Calgary is the worst team in the West and misses the playoffs for the first time in 19 years. Jake Maier sucks. They're offensive line sucks. They're running backs are alright, as is Reggie Begelton, but it won't be enough, especially not with Malik Henry already out.

---

So excited to get the season going tomorrow! Go Bombers!

 

[10Ducky10]

East
1. Montreal Alouettes (10-8)
2. Toronto Argonauts (7-11)
3. Ottawa Redblacks (7-11)
4. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-14)

West
1. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (13-5)
2. BC Lions (12-6)
3. Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-10)
4. Edmonton Elks (5-13)
5. Calgary Stampeders (5-13)

Shouldn't the amount of wins equal the amount of losses?

 

[snowkiddin]

Shouldn't the amount of wins equal the amount of losses?

Very superficial level haha. I wasn't even gonna do records. Let's say some wacky stuff happens, haha

 

[The Blue Baron]

Blue Bombers FOOTBALL coming our way tonight!
Enjoy it super fans! This guy is…

 

[bustamente]

Not really on board with starting 10 Canadians, I get it Osh loves to see the Canadian player succeed in the CFL but it could backfire terribly. Don't get me wrong we have some real good Canadian talent but a couple should not be starting. Maybe injuries are playing a part in the starting lineup tonight.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Not really on board with starting 10 Canadians, I get it Osh loves to see the Canadian player succeed in the CFL but it could backfire terribly. Don't get me wrong we have some real good Canadian talent but a couple should not be starting. Maybe injuries are playing a part in the starting lineup tonight.

The only one starting due to injury is Gauthier. And don't expect Gauthier to play that much. He'll likely be in on running downs with Kyrie Wilson, but expect Brian Cole and Kyrie Wilson to be the primary LB's that are playing.

Bombers will be starting 9 Canadians regularly as of right now though. But to be honest, I don't see many weaknesses in the Canadians they have. Other than Gauthier, none of the rest are really out of place. I'm not a huge fan of Redha Kramdi at SLB, but in the Bombers minds he's beaten out several American competitors at that spot over the past couple of years, so I don't expect that one to change. The rest are established starters that I doubt any American would be overtaking even if we eliminated the ratio today. Other than Tyrell Ford, but it's been obvious for quite a while now that he was the guy they were going to a strong side CB. He's the guy there.

 

[snowkiddin]

The only one starting due to injury is Gauthier. And don't expect Gauthier to play that much. He'll likely be in on running downs with Kyrie Wilson, but expect Brian Cole and Kyrie Wilson to be the primary LB's that are playing.

Bombers will be starting 9 Canadians regularly as of right now though. But to be honest, I don't see many weaknesses in the Canadians they have. Other than Gauthier, none of the rest are really out of place. I'm not a huge fan of Redha Kramdi at SLB, but in the Bombers minds he's beaten out several American competitors at that spot over the past couple of years, so I don't expect that one to change. The rest are established starters that I doubt any American would be overtaking even if we eliminated the ratio today other than Tyrell Ford, but it's been obvious for quite a while now that he was the guy they were going to a strong side CB. He's the guy there.

I suppose Thomas is “starting” due to injury too, but there’s probably gonna be a heavy rotation on the DL.

I don’t have any gripes with any of their Canadian starters.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

I suppose Thomas is “starting” due to injury too, but there’s probably gonna be a heavy rotation on the DL.

I don’t have any gripes with any of their Canadian starters.

Forgot about that one. Honestly based on what I've heard I am not expecting Lawson to return this season so my mind had kinda moved on already haha. Thomas and Schmekel are the guys inside for the year. Hopefully Lawson can get healthy for next year as Thomas HAS to be thinking about retirement at this point, he'll be 34 next year with alot of miles on that body after 12 seasons. He hasn't missed a single game since 2016 and has missed only 7 games in 11 seasons (4 of which were in his rookie year of 2012 when he might have just been a healthy scratch? Not sure).

Yeah along the DL you can mix and match the 7 names there any way you really want. Willie probably gets the most snaps of them all, but outside of that nothing is really guaranteed. The big focus I'm hearing from Jordan Younger is versatility. Which I love, the Bombers DL was best when they had Willie, JJ, Stove, Thomas, Roh, Hansen, Nevis, Kongbo back in 2019. That year all of those guys played all over the line. Willie lined up inside, outside, at LB at times, hell they all did. I'm expecting them to bring that back this year. Mix and match. You might have a line with 4 natural DT's at points, you might have Kyrie Wilson, Gauthier, or Kramdi lining up along the line. It should be interesting at least from what I am hearing from the team.

 

[ThinIce61]

Shouldn't the amount of wins equal the amount of losses?

It's the new math lol. There will be at least one more team with a winning record for sure, likely in the East and Sask you could flip them to 10-8.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Shouldn't the amount of wins equal the amount of losses?

Given the times we live in, it's natural to expect that several teams will have wins removed due to betting-related infractions

 

[Holden Caulfield]

https://3downnation.com/2024/06/06/...l-saturday-games-playoffs-including-grey-cup/

People on twitter that follow the CFL seem to think this a huge deal. I'm not as convinced it is.

However one little nugget in there is that ratings overall were up 12% last year. Really shoots down that "CFL is dying" narrative that so many try to spin. If anything it's only getting bigger. All of TV, including sports, is seeing huge year after year losses in terms of ratings. The CFL is one of the only properties out there going the other way. I expect the next TV deal the CFL signs to be a real solid one for the CFL.

 

[snowkiddin]

Given the times we live in, it's natural to expect that several teams will have wins removed due to betting-related infractions

Just ask Shawn Lemon

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Just ask Shawn Lemon

They had like 3 weeks to set up a mediator for him, not sure why this is dragging out. We all know his ban is going to be upheld, he bet on a game he played in. He admits that. It's like he wants to play 2/3 games before retiring and that's it. Cause that's all he's gonna get. It's ridiculous.

 

[snowkiddin]

They had like 3 weeks to set up a mediator for him, not sure why this is dragging out. We all know his ban is going to be upheld, he bet on a game he played in. He admits that. It's like he wants to play 2/3 games before retiring and that's it. Cause that's all he's gonna get. It's ridiculous.

So I think I read somewhere that he isn’t disputing that he did it, he’s disputing the CFL wasn’t clear on the penalties of sports betting.

In any case, gonna be annoying if he gets a sack tonight haha