GCn20

I think this may be a worsening of the same injury he fought through at times last season as well. I am not sure the RIder's brass did their due diligence on Hardrick's health. Totally get Yosh taking the payday, but last year he was having a real tough time on that leg as well. In their desperation to make a splash, I think O'Day may have been guilty of ignoring some real telling signs that Hardrick was not 100.

None of these guys hold a candle to having a Biggie or Alexander to learn from both on and maybe more importantly off the field. Look the results haven't been what was hoped for, but the thought process to bring these guys in for leadership is not some big whopping mistake like others here would try to sell. Honestly, just a bunch of piling on of every decision the Bombers make over the past 3 years. I don't mind the valid criticisms at all, or looking at things that didn't work out and critiquing them, but the level some posters here are going to make everything the Bombers management and coaching does appear to be without thought or the result of bias is just plain and simply an agenda. An agenda that has taken over this forum for a couple years now trying to whip people into a frenzy. Look I get the panic of an 0-4 start, but we got guys who have been banging this drum in 15-3 and 14-4 seasons. We all need to step back from the ledge a little. This is not nearly as bad as we are being led to believe. Is it great...nope....do I hope for some changes...yep. The season is still very recoverable, and our management and coaching is near or at the top of the league.

Biggie, BA, and Thomas can all still play and contribute on the field. What needs to change is how often they are on the field. Their leadership is very much needed as we go for a reload into 2025. Walters and OShea gambled they could get another decent season as starters out of BA and Biggie while keeping their leadership as they rebuilt other aspects of the team and locker room. It appears they lost that gamble somewhat. Time to pivot and put these guys in roles where the MUCH needed leadership can still be used, while limiting their exposure on the field.

Lawson was re-signed and widely believed to be our starting NAT DT. That was widely reported.

Disagree if you want, but we have seen a bunch of roster turnover already and will see more next year as well. It can't all be done in one year. Not to the scale that it needs to be done. Vet leadership was kept on this year to transition the first phase of youth through, and then will likely be replaced towards the end of this year and next year almost definitely. One can argue whether this approach is the right one, but it definitely is the plan put in place by the mafia, ALL of them. Agreed. Show me an OL around pro football in general that doesn't average out over 30. It's kind of when they hit their stride really.

Yes

Current starters. Obviously QB as well but that particular starting group is one guy. Reliability has been a bigger factor than age for sure. Age plays a part in that.

Average age of our current starters? 28.2 years old. Two position groups Lber and OL have an avg age of 30 or higher. They have arguably been our two worst this season. However all other position groups and backups have gotten considerably younger this season.

Walters took the high road and didn't sewer Grant's reliability on his way out the door. Nothing more. Salary and ability had nothing to do with us not resigning Grant. That shouldn't even be a discussion. It's as obvious as the sky is blue.

We needed to get younger. Still do. The plan is to be a contender for our home cup. The growing pains suck but another year of Grant or JJ and a few others would have made that goal be further away than now. Our 2-4 record sucks but in a transition year it was going to be tougher to win. Injuries made it even tougher. At the end of the day we could have run it back again and contended this year or started the build for next year and learn to live with a butt load of rookie mistakes until cohesiveness is built. I will take the latter. I will even argue we didn't go far enough. Your KR/PR needs to be reliably healthy in this league. Smith isn't chopped liver either, and is a rookie getting better week to week.

Grant is always a great player when healthy. He hadn't given us a full season in 2 years. We all talked about the impact of his injuries all offseason. I will wait to see if he gives the Argos a full season before deciding whether or not he was a missed opportunity. Others may want to dissect it now but Grey Cups aren't won or lost in July.

Brady and Nic are not comparable imo. Brady plays a position that a comparable back could be had for a third of the cost. Nick is getting slightly higher than many just over a 1000 yard receivers get but not by a large margin and because of his passport. Brady has to be a game changer EVERY week to justify his salary. So far he has been a game changer once through 5 games. Not all of that is his fault but that is the reality. If we go back to Brady ball he has a good chance of justifying his contract through the remainder of the season. If we don't, or he can't, his salary becomes an albatross to our SMS. That was always going to be the risk of signing a RB to a big cheddar contract and why it is not often done.

Let's hope he is still in our plans and on Walters speed dial.

Yea...I thought he had a really good pre-season game where he made a lot of good plays. I don't remember which game but I remember he stood out to me.

Forgot about Gemmel and I was on his bandwagon...lol.

Really liked Ayers in camp, and Thomas was good as well. Petrishen I don't recall one way or the other, Moses was a mix of both good and bad at various times.

I agree. Every QB needs an OL. Strev and maybe a couple other highly mobile guys can mask the problem somewhat but it exists and if we want to go back to being a well balanced offence the buck stops at the OL and not QB.

Strev still needs work in the passing game. That is not to say that when he has the timing down, comfort with his receivers etc that won't come. It certainly might but it would be foolish to think there isn't going to be some rough games from now to them. Hence, the dilemma the coaches are in. IF the OL continues to play sub par Strev might be our best bet, but if they continue to show improvement as they have the past couple games and can provide Zac the protection then our best chance to win right now is Zac. At the end of the day though, it is quite apparent that we definitely need to see more Streveler than what was initially planned and I think a strong rotation can be had between the two guys and provide our team with a tandem that will really make it tough for opposing defences to prepare for.

It is to be expected given the unreasonable run of injuries we have sustained thus far to very key players. It is not an excuse for losing, and the Bombers have to find a way to continue to win, but it certainly does make it much tougher for sure. Schoen/Lawler is a ton of passing yards and big plays lost.

One can only speculate as to a million things that may be causing this unexpected down turn in his career. Personal issues? Maybe. Personnel issues? Maybe. Conflict of personalities? Maybe. Could add another hundred to the list probably. I guess to sum it up....hard to say what is going on with him. I agree. Lawler made a mistake, owned it, did all the right things in the dressing room to make up for his selfish act of stupidity. Kelly has a long history of boneheaded moves like this, and a history of less than acceptable behavior towards women. He has learned nothing, and there is no indication that he is willing to do so.

I agree. However, we NEED good OL play or Strev will end up looking like dog poo as well. Strev making our OL look better is not a good solution either. He will need a good game by the OL and he most certainly could do just that.

Yes, at least imo. Certainly, and that is why I could see it happening. It will be a choice of success now or success down the road long term. It is a tough choice. Zach is not cooked. He has been getting creamed and has been subject to playing behind an OL that is having growing pains from all the transition this year. I don't think there is a QB in this league that excels with our OL through the first few games.

As of right now, Zac is still our best chance at turning this around. Whether we would have kept Brown, or if were to turn to Strev as our starter....Zac is our best chance. Decisions may need to made after this season or next, but for this year neither Brown or Strev are better options. An argument could be made about starting a transition for the future with Strev...but it would come with the growing pains and losses that such a decision would inevitably yield. Perhaps, if we cannot get back on our horse that's what we do, but for right now we gotta roll with Zac.

Right on. Lucky will be a great add for us.

Yep...I like Fatboi more than most but at most he should get 25% reps.