Winnipeg Blue Bomber Thread

[jerrym]

Below Ed Tait gives a preview of the Bombers' mini-camp, which starts tomorrow, including five players new to the league who may well have an impact on the team, as well as another National from a Canadian parent, WR Drew Wolitarsky, who was a supplemental draft choice last year.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2018/04/...amp-preview-2/

[jerrym]

Bombers have added to their roster Internationals WR Marcus Leak and DB Antoine Johnson.

Leak (6’0, 210, University of Maryland, November 19, 1992 in Charlotte, NC) played three seasons with the Maryland Terrapins, finishing with 55 receptions, 775 yards receiving and six touchdowns. In 2016, Leak signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent, playing in one NFL preseason game.

Johnson (5’10, 175, Eastern Illinois University, Greenbelt, Maryland) played two seasons with the Eastern Illinois Panthers, making 14 starts, 56 tackles and 21 pass break-ups. In 2015, Johnson led his team in pass breakups with 12, the third highest single-season total by any Panthers player in the team’s history.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2018/04/...ohnson-roster/

[jerrym]

GM Kyle Walters and HC Mike O'Shea are expecting to go with two National receivers, leading to strong competition between free agent signings Nic Demski, Matt Coates, and Mitchell Baines as well as 2017 draftees Drew Wolitarsky, Tylor Henry and Brendon Thera-Plamondon, at the mini-camp.

[jerrym]

Ed Tait makes ten observations on the Bombers mini-camp below.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2018/04/...ays-mini-camp/

[jerrym]

HC Mike O'Shea discusses the Bombers' mini-camp including their free agent signings performance.

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/winnipeg-12...n-do-1.1069283

[jerrym]

The Bombers have signed National WR Brett Blaszko, who was drafted by BC in 2016, signed as a free agent by Winnipeg and later traded to the Riders for a draft pick in 2017, then re-signed and cut by the Riders this year. So far he has played in two games with no receptions.

[jerrym]

GM Kyle Walters, yesterday morning before trading away their first round draft choice, indicated why the trade was made.

This year, they’re in such a position of strength and patience — not to mention in a salary cap crunch — they don’t even feel they need a first-rounder.
The Bombers traded their first pick (seventh overall) in Thursday’s draft to the B.C. Lions on Wednesday afternoon. They also sent the Lions their second-round pick (16th overall).
In exchange, the Bombers get the Lions first pick in the 2019 CFL draft and their second-round pick (12th overall) this year. That 12thpick will be their first selection of this draft unless more trades are in the offing. Bombers general manager Kyle Walters said nothing about the pending trade in his media availability Wednesday morning but, upon reflection, his words made it clear the team was not interested in paying a lot of money to a first-round pick this year.

“It’s adding a player at seven that you have to ask ‘Where does he fit in and what are you going to have to pay him at seven?’” Walters said. “These are all discussions we’re having as a group right now.”
Clearly those discussions led to action later in the day and it’s obvious the Bombers will be looking for depth players, not potential starters with hefty salaries, when they start drafting on Thursday.
“The discussion now is where do these draft picks fit in?” Walters said. “The draft guys, how do they beat out the back end of our roster? We’re not talking about drafting guys and bringing them in as starters. It’s about how we add depth and how we create competition for all players.”

Last year, the Bombers had the first overall pick in the draft and grabbed Iowa defensive lineman Faith Ekakitie. He had very little impact in his first professional season, despite being highly paid as a first-overall pick, and the Bombers are hoping for bigger things from him this season. They also had the eighth pick and they grabbed the best offensive lineman in the draft class, Geoff Gray from the Manitoba Bisons. They did it knowing that Gray was going to have NFL opportunities, and knowing they would not likely see him — or have to pay him — in Winnipeg for quite some time.

It seems they might look at going down that road again, although even the top prospects who have already signed NFL deals may not fall as low as the 12th pick. Two of the best offensive linemen in this year’s draft are Dakoda Shepley from UBC and Ryan Hunter from Bowling Green. Hunter is the top-ranked player by the CFL scouting bureau and Shepley is ranked third. For any team wanting to stash another “futures” player, either of those might fit the bill. Shepley signed a priority free agent deal with the New York Jets, while Hunter signed one with the Kansas City Chiefs.

http://winnipegsun.com/sports/footba...k-in-cfl-draft

[jerrym]

Ed Tait analyzes and GM Kyle Walters comments on the Bombers draft choices in the following article and video.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2018/05/...8-draft-class/

[jerrym]

The Bombers have signed a fifth QB, All-American Chris Streveler, who passed for 6,000+ yards at South Dakota, was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, and bypassed the chance to participate in several NFL TCs.

https://www.argusleader.com/story/sp...cfl/580858002/

[jerrym]

Winnipeg has added International DB Marcus Sayles, who went to TC with Buffalo and was on the Rams PR in 2017, to its roster.

[jerrym]

The Bombers took a risk in drafting WR Rashaun Simonise after he had a postive drug test at the Cincinnati Bengal TC, an academically ineligible 2016 season, and repeated questions previously about his fitness. However, the fact he had attended a NFL camp two years before being drafted in the CFL, plus a 6'5" 200 lb, part of a season in the Arena League and impressive Combine scores, made Winnipeg feel he was worth the risk.

The talented receiver with a bit of a checkered past was the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ first pick, 12th overall, in Thursday’s Canadian Football League Draft. Simonise, a 6-4, 202-pound receiver from Vancouver, saw the shine come off his star over the last two years, going from a can’t-miss prospect at the University of Calgary to academically ineligible, to the Cincinnati Bengals, to serving a suspension for a weight gain performance-enhancing drug.
Since then, he’s been working to salvage his career with the first real steps coming with the opening of Bombers rookie camp on May 16th.
“I just wanted an opportunity. It didn’t matter where it came from,” began Simonise Friday in a media conference call from Maryland, where he is working out with the Arena Football League’s Baltimore Brigade. “I was just listening to the names (on draft night) and as soon as my phone lit up, my face lit up right away. It was almost a euphoric feeling. It was amazing. ...

The Bombers had rated Simonise as the top receiver in the draft because of his combination of size and skills. As GM Kyle Walters explained on Friday, it’s unusual – if not a complete rarity – for a CFL Draft prospect’s highlight tape to include footage from an NFL preseason game. ...


But the club also did its homework, including chatting with Simonise’s junior coach as well as interviewing him during the National Combine in Winnipeg last month.
“I felt like the Bombers really caught on that it was just genuine… it wasn’t about convincing, it was about being honest with them and straight up with them and telling them I had made a mistake, but was willing to move forward from that and put it in the past,” said Simonise. “I felt like they really felt it was genuine when they met with me face to face.”

https://www.bluebombers.com/2018/05/...second-chance/

[jerrym]

In the draft, the Bombers added another Canadian WR, Daniel Petermann, because of his university and Combine performance, but also in response to WR Matt Coate's broken foot, which means he will miss TC at a minimum and leave a hole at WR meant to be filled by two Nationals, most likely Nic Demski and Matt Coates. For further insurance they added a third WR in Tyrone Pierre in the fifth round.

By the time the Bombers were back on the clock for the final pick of the third round — 26th overall — there, too, was Petermann. Walters said it was as pleasant a surprise as it was an easy decision to select the 5-11, 205-pounder from Stoney Creek, Ont.
"He was an athletic, very productive college player, hard-working kid," Walters said of Petermann, who posted the fastest 40-yard dash at 4.54 seconds. "He did very well for himself at the combine with his testing numbers. He tracks the ball well. He’s a good, solid prospect." ...

"Hearing about Matt made us realize that it solidifies our decision to go receiver-receiver if the board falls like that. When Daniel Petermann was there at No. 26, it was a no-brainer for us," said Walters, who noted Petermann led the Marauders with 36 catches for 517 yards and two touchdowns. ...

To further the point that building Canadian receiver depth was of most importance, Winnipeg took a third pass-catcher in the fifth round, selecting Laval University’s Tyrone Pierre with the No. 41 pick. Pierre, 23, played four seasons with the Laval Rouge et Or, winning the Vanier Cup in 2016.
"It came down to that point in the draft where he was the highest-rated guy on our board," Walters said. "He had some productivity at Laval early in his career, and then kind of tailed off at the tail-end of his career. But a 6-2, 200-pound receiver that can run… he brings a physicality that you don’t really see out of a receiver very often."

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sp...481793953.html

[jerrym]

As the team opens Rookie Camp and preps for TC, here's a review of the Winnipeg's ST players.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2018/05/...specialists-2/

[jerrym]

Following the retirement of Darian Durant, the Bombers have added another QB, Zack Mahoney, who qualified as a National just before the CFL draft due to Canadian parentage, but he was not drafted.

Each team can bring two Canadian players, often draft-eligible athletes that were passed over, to training camp as long as they have not played a down in the CFL. Just like CFL draft picks those players do not count as part of the team’s 75-man roster. However, draft-eligible free agents like Mahoney do count towards the roster number.
The 6-foot-2, 192 pounder is originally from LaGrange Park, Illinois played one season of junior college ball before transferring to Syracuse and making the team as a walk-on. He began as the fifth-stringer but started four games, then served as the back up his last two seasons. Overall, Mahoney played in 25 career games, starting nine, and threw for 1,949 yards and 18 touchdowns against 10 interceptions with a 53 percent completion percentage. He added 100 carries for 242 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

http://3downnation.com/2018/05/11/bo...-zack-mahoney/

[doubleblue]

Following the retirement of Darian Durant, the Bombers have added another QB, Zack Mahoney, who qualified as a National just before the CFL draft due to Canadian parentage, but he was not drafted.



http://3downnation.com/2018/05/11/bo...-zack-mahoney/

First I had heard this about Mahoney being listed as a National. Played Div I ball. Played behind a Eric Dungey (who was rated 16th best Junior QB last year). Could become useful if the League allows Canadian QB's to be counted as one of the 21 Nationals. He was listed at 6'2 222 in a College year book.

[R.J]

Bombers still have Alex Ross on the roster as well. With their cap issues I think the Bombers stand pat with the backup QB situation until late in Training Camp (after cuts are made).

[gilthethrill]

Bombers still have Alex Ross on the roster as well. With their cap issues I think the Bombers stand pat with the backup QB situation until late in Training Camp (after cuts are made).

Is Drew Tate not a viable option?

[jerrym]

Is Drew Tate not a viable option?

According to Calgary HC Dickenson, the Stamps have already contacted Tate as they need a decent backup after the retirement of Andrew Buckley. Tate said he is more interested in getting into coaching according to Dickenson, although Tate did not totally rule out coming back. At this late date near the beginning of TC, the Stampeders are going to be competing with the Bombers for a backup as Ricky Stanzi showed he definitely not the answer last year and they cut former Argo QB Mitchell Gale in 2017.

[jerrym]

The following article reviews the linebackers heading to Bomber TC.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2018/05/...linebackers-3/

[jerrym]

#Bombers have released National receiver Matt Coates. Following a 100-yard game in the playoffs, Coates was just short of being a stone cold lock as the starting X receiver for 2018. But after breaking his foot while training during the offseason, Winnipeg has decided to move on.

— Darrin Bauming (@DarrinBauming) May 14, 2018