http://www.dictionary.com/browse/prognosticator?s=t

I think every poster here is a prognosticator ... but not too many of us like to be proven "wrong" by the facts later in the year .... too many say "I need more evidence, more data, can't do it now, ask me after the season is over", and all that

So time to pluck up our courage and put on our man pants. Back up your forecast with some good reasoning and see who's ego gets battered the most ... and who gets bragging rights by playoff time

Tell us what is what, really!

 

 

Edited June 1, 20178 yr by BigBlue

That was the easiest poll I've ever taken.

Top in West could be us BC or Calgary but I'll go with the homer pick.

Calgary 14-4
Winnipeg 12-6
BC 11-7
Saskatchewan 6-12
Edmonton 4-14

Toronto 11-7
Ottawa 10-8
Hamilton 8-10
Montreal 5-13

The boys in Calgary say Winnipeg is the team to beat; these are the top two teams in the league and I concur

In the east Montreal is turning into a gong show ... Durant won't be enough to keep them out of the basement

Toronto will be much improved with the dynamic duo back in place but need time ... they will contend in 2018 but will just get reorganized this year

Ottawa is in let down mode and they say they are better but QB Harris just isn't a Henry Burris .... they are NOT going to be winning the close ones like before

I believe Kent Austin finally gets it all put together but its going to depend on the glass QB protecting himself enough to put in a full season.

Jones in Regina is NOT going to pleasantly surprise; in fact his true colors come out into full bloom .... I smell mutiny amongst the fans

Edmonton has too much upheaval to be top notch but they should have their moments this year, perhaps not enough to cross over this time .... Toronto might out perform Edmonton this year .... management is everything

Bo Levi Mitchell might be tested more this year than ever before but he has the best surrounding cast in the league, still .... sigh .... but we are coming up from the rear

BC is going to be giving both Calgary & Winnipeg a hard time but they have not got enough veteran replacements to get by us and neither do they have the heart of a MOS team. The team spirit being built here will count for a lot.

 

Calgary will still be a good team, but I think they hit their ceiling and will come back down to earth.  They can't keep losing their star Oline to FA and retirement and expect it to be stellar year after year. I think a catch phrase for Mitchell this season will be Bo knows Turf.

I also think they are suspect in depth. They have been a team in recent memory that has stayed relatively healthy compared, it would take more of that for them not to be exposed.

I think BC will finish 1st. their offense is redonkulous. The bombers and Stamps fight for 2,  the riders and esk fight for a cross over.

In the east I think Ottawa still has enough talent to finish 2nd, I see the argos actually taking 1st with better coaching and some decent offseason acquisitions. Hamilton took a **** kicking this year both in FA and the draft.  

The Als might be fighting off the cross over IF DD stays healthy. But so many changes this offseason,  would take a small miracle to gel before it might be too late

My take at the moment:

East

Hamilton - Gotta assume they won't have the huge injury problems they had last year.

Ottawa - Losing Burris, Jackson, Kenneh, Williams will hurt them. Might even fall farther.

Montreal - Fixed their 2 biggest problems, Popp as HC and QB. Will go as far as Durant takes them.

Toronto - Love Trestman, but they got started too late which cost them in FA. Will go as far as Ray takes them.

 

West

Calgary - Won't win as many as last year, but still the best team in the league.

BC - Don't bet against Wally B. Jennings has a full year as a starter and will get better this year a few less TO's = a few more W's.

Edmonton - Went 5-1 to end the season last year, 1-1 in the playoffs. Walker wasn't their only play maker.

Winnipeg - Doubt the gaudy turnover stats are repeatable so we'll have to find new ways to win and we stood pat in the offseason.

Regina - More wins, but not enough to get out of the basement.

2 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

My take at the moment:

East

Hamilton - Gotta assume they won't have the huge injury problems they had last year.

Ottawa - Losing Burris, Jackson, Kenneh, Williams will hurt them. Might even fall farther.

Montreal - Fixed their 2 biggest problems, Popp as HC and QB. Will go as far as Durant takes them.

Toronto - Love Trestman, but they got started too late which cost them in FA. Will go as far as Ray takes them.

 

West

Calgary - Won't win as many as last year, but still the best team in the league.

BC - Don't bet against Wally B. Jennings has a full year as a starter and will get better this year a few less TO's = a few more W's.

Edmonton - Went 5-1 to end the season last year, 1-1 in the playoffs. Walker wasn't their only play maker.

Winnipeg - Doubt the gaudy turnover stats are repeatable so we'll have to find new ways to win and we stood pat in the offseason.

Regina - More wins, but not enough to get out of the basement.

I'm going to disagree on that one, our secondary didn't need any real fine tuning so the same ball hawks are there, as well as Leggett at SAM. The addition of Nevis and Okpalaugo are going to be night and day better then the line we had last year. On top of what I observed on Nevis,  I watched some of the contests between Okpalaugo vs Bryant, and you can tell Okp plays with an edge and will be a terror for opposing players blind side.

Only real concern I have right now on D is MLB

I actually think its going to be a log jam for first in the West with us, BC, and Calgary. Calgary is the most polished team, BC has the most lethal offense, and we have the best defense and special teams. 

8 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

 

Winnipeg - Doubt the gaudy turnover stats are repeatable so we'll have to find new ways to win and we stood pat in the offseason.

 

We stood pat because most of the pieces are in place ... the biggest change: a much improved D-Line .... we will stop the run and we will regularly get pressure on the QB .....  the turnover stats are going up not down

It's still Hall's defence after all. I expect the DL to look much the same as last year.

We got rid of the 2 high priced FA's we brought in to fix the DL last year and replaced them with 2 high priced FA's to fix the DL this year. Cummings and Nevis are a wash IMO. Both had good stats coming to the Bombers. Okpalaugo's a definite upgrade. Shologan's being replaced with a draft pick from this year and one from last. I expect that to be a downgrade especially at the beginning of the year.

16 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

I actually think its going to be a log jam for first in the West with us, BC, and Calgary. Calgary is the most polished team, BC has the most lethal offense, and we have the best defense and special teams. 

I agree about Calgary and BC and about our special teams, but we had one of the worst defenses in the league last year, except for the turnovers. 

55 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Calgary 14-4
Winnipeg 12-6
BC 11-7
Saskatchewan 6-12
Edmonton 4-14

Toronto 11-7
Ottawa 10-8
Hamilton 8-10
Montreal 5-13

only way i see edmonton going 4-14 is if some thing really awful happens to reily. For the league, i hope it doesnt.

calgary 14-4 bc 11-7 wpg 11-7 edm 11-7 sask 5-13

ott 10-8 ham 9-9 mtl 6-13 to 5-13

The east is really hard to peg. MTL and TO have made some good moves. But are glass cannons at best with their qbs. And still shaky over all. One of these teams will probably make the play offs next year and have a really good season. But i dont think it happens this year. Ott im really underwhelmed with. Another glass cannon qb. Lost a bit more then they gained in the off season imop. Hamm is in a similar boat. If i had to pick one team as most likely to disappoint its them. I dont see them getting better, but i do see them getting older, longer in the tooth, and more fragile.

Some day calgary will fall on hard times. Idk if it will be in my life time at this rate though. If jennings matures more in BC and becomes more steady and reliable he could push into the elite qb territory. Buono gonna buono. I expect we will be more consistent this year. Not soo streaky, more hard fought ground out wins.  Edm could be the riser in the west. The secondary is getting better and better. The riders will have some fire works with glenn and all those WRs. But a line that has no consistency built up and still a weak D, probably among the worst in the league again this year. I think itll be new management for the riders this year. With all those Wrs and some good young OL though a good young qb could turn the fortunes of that franchise around in a hurry. 

 

Id personally put Montreal at an 8-10 to  9-9. They solved their qb problems but did lose a couple key receivers. With their stingy d Durant should help keep them out of the basement in the east and maybe challenge for 2nd.

1 hour ago, IC Khari said:

Why do you think this is even remotely funny? TBurgess gave his opinion. At least he stuck his neck out. Why don't you?

19 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Why do you think this is even remotely funny? TBurgess gave his opinion. At least he stuck his neck out. Why don't you?

Giving an opinion on an internet forum is sticking one's neck out...?

It's guessing standings in a poll thread. Relax.

27 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Why do you think this is even remotely funny? TBurgess gave his opinion. At least he stuck his neck out. Why don't you?

As Barney likes to say ... "Chill Dude" or something like that. Plus TBurg always strikes me funny for some reason . My Guess? Bombers 18 - 0 ...

Edited June 2, 20178 yr by IC Khari

19 minutes ago, IC Khari said:

As Barney likes to say ... "Chill Dude" or something like that. Plus TBurg always strikes me funny for some reason . My Guess? Bombers 18 - 0 ...

Sure.

Bombers 18-0 

Rest who cares

26 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Bombers 18-0 

Rest who cares

 

26 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Bombers 18-0 

Rest who cares

15-2-1 & they don't choke in the Grey Cup.

If Nichols and the rest of the team continues to progress, I think 12 and 6 is realistic. The jokers in the deck are whether or not we will have a solid MLB and a couple of receivers who can stretch the field.

Just when I thought our MLB was solved as I had heard the pictures had become so faded you could no longer recognize the people in them along comes Photoshop V.45.5 with its feature to restore bad pictures to HD quality. 

2 hours ago, tracker said:

If Nichols and the rest of the team continues to progress, I think 12 and 6 is realistic. The jokers in the deck are whether or not we will have a solid MLB and a couple of receivers who can stretch the field.

I think the receiving corps should be okay, barring any injuries. Adams was on a torrid pace last season before getting injured and Denmark had some incredible chemistry with Nichols last season, too.

MLB is the question mark and major concern at this point, IMO.

13 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Why do you think this is even remotely funny? TBurgess gave his opinion. At least he stuck his neck out. Why don't you?

4 minutes ago, blue_gold_84 said:

I think the receiving corps should be okay, barring any injuries. Adams was on a torrid pace last season before getting injured and Denmark had some incredible chemistry with Nichols last season, too.

MLB is the question mark and major concern at this point, IMO.

Yes and Stafford has a good history with Nichols as well. I'm hoping our REC surprise everyone this year!

10 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

Yes and Stafford has a good history with Nichols as well. I'm hoping our REC surprise everyone this year!

If they stay healthy, I think we have a talented enough corps of receivers to do well (or well enough).

But they have to stay healthy...

I think the DL is upgraded and the receivers are upgraded. Some of the factors that started the team badly will not be present (Willy) or not be missing (Denmark). If we can have more than one receiver that clicks with the QB then offence should be plenty better.

I know the turnovers don't seem repeatable but maybe my glasses are rose coloured. I seem to remember that it was defensive smarts and effort that drove those turnovers not lucky bounces. Nevis seemed scary last year and if he can pressure himself or hold double teaming then there will be pressure. If there's pressure there will be turn overs. 

I agree with Atomic except switch Eskies and Riders and the east will have TO fighting it out with Montreal for draft position (before a Bomber trade of course).