Lets start with 3 decent NIMPS starters.

seemed like Pencer did well too me. They were up against one of the better dlines in the league too.

Not bad considering he started at guard, then moved to RT with Jake Thomas standing next to him...

thought pencer did better then expected... was always engaged.with a d-lineman from.what i was seeing, got caught.up in a twist or two.. didnt notice how he played at RT tho.. we HAVE to find someone better then boatman.. i mean Jermese Jones was better at this point!

Not sure that Thomas-Pencer on the right side really hurt us...  Yes, Max Hall's quick release really helped but honestly, our OL was just as good if not better in the second half.

Thought Pencer was solid. Any of our OL experts want to chime in?

He was infinitely better than Boatman.

So, second mate then?

Injuries aside.

 

You determine who your best 5 are and then figure out where they play best together. Their status of I or NI shouldn't enter the equation. Until the brain trust gets back to doing the basics first, nothing is going to improve with the sink or swim mentality. All that does is confirm that the guys in charge, shouldn't be.

Have to agree with the comments on here on Pencer doing a credible job in a tough situation.

I'm guardedly optimistic about him.

 

But special kudos should go to Jake Thomas for stepping in, untrained, and doing a pretty good job of blocking.

An amazing feat. We should have him tutoring Boatman.

Better yet, let's release Boatman and just stuff ANYBODY else in there.

Not much is ever going to change until we get rid of DelMonaco.

Not sure that Thomas-Pencer on the right side really hurt us...  Yes, Max Hall's quick release really helped but honestly, our OL was just as good if not better in the second half.

Boatman was getting KILLED on the left side tackle...

Is it not absolutely pathetic that a Canadian defensive lineman performed better on our line than our starting IMPORT tackle?

 

Not sure that Thomas-Pencer on the right side really hurt us...  Yes, Max Hall's quick release really helped but honestly, our OL was just as good if not better in the second half.

Boatman was getting KILLED on the left side tackle...

 

 

No argument there... just saying the line looked better, I mean he was getting torched at RT for the first half too. 

Boatman is right on the top of the list......of guys who just have to leave, right off the top.....     

Apparently two American tackles are coming in this week

Is it not absolutely pathetic that a Canadian defensive lineman performed better on our line than our starting IMPORT tackle?

its insanely pathetic.. but i mean, as plentiful as the imp tackle pool must be, they are not used to the yard off AND are not used to having to move that quickly.. if they can play.ball they are in NFL or on PRs..

its not like we can sign any amerk o-liner and plug him in with expectations of stellar play...

but it is very sad that boatman is the best we.can stumble across at this point..

Maybe Thomas should work on converting to OL over the off-season.  Could extend his career.

Maybe Thomas should work on converting to OL over the off-season.  Could extend his career.

Probably not a bad idea.

 

It's funny though how Coach Burke conceded that maybe the Officials 'allowed' a little more holding on Thomas's part than normal.

Whatever normal is.

In somewhat of a defense of Boatmen, I've read he's been playing through several injuries this season. He wasn't nearly this terrible last season so it sound reasonable to me.

In somewhat of a defense of Boatmen, I've read he's been playing through several injuries this season. He wasn't nearly this terrible last season so it sound reasonable to me.

 

So then find someone else to play the position - a healthy Boatman isn't exactly shooting out the lights either.

Need guys that are smart enough to hold and get away with it, kudos to Thomas for figuring that out, now if only the rest of them could get some brains.

in the article this morning Burke listed "Everything" as what was injured on Boatman....

Interesting words from Burke in todays Freep.  I don't disagree but it sure sounds like Burke is defecting blame to anyone and everyone:

"You have to be consistent in the draft," said Burke. "You've got to say to yourself there's certain positions that it's easier to find Canadian players at. Offensive line is an example, so you just have to keep drafting every year at those positions and not try to draft a fullback or something like that.

"When you draft a lot of offensive linemen, you're not only drafting for your starters, you're drafting for your backups so that when that starter goes down you have a legitimately good backup. We haven't done that."

 

 

I remember Cal Murphy saying that NI O-lineman are worth their weight in gold.  I know it's a simplistic statement but it does demonstrate the mess we're in right now.

 

The cupboards are bare and it could take up to a few years to really fix the problem.  And free agency is going to be the first avenue that we'll need to aggressively pursue.  

Interesting words from Burke in todays Freep.  I don't disagree but it sure sounds like Burke is defecting blame to anyone and everyone:

"You have to be consistent in the draft," said Burke. "You've got to say to yourself there's certain positions that it's easier to find Canadian players at. Offensive line is an example, so you just have to keep drafting every year at those positions and not try to draft a fullback or something like that.

"When you draft a lot of offensive linemen, you're not only drafting for your starters, you're drafting for your backups so that when that starter goes down you have a legitimately good backup. We haven't done that."

 

 

I remember Cal Murphy saying that NI O-lineman are worth their weight in gold.  I know it's a simplistic statement but it does demonstrate the mess we're in right now.

 

The cupboards are bare and it could take up to a few years to really fix the problem.  And free agency is going to be the first avenue that we'll need to aggressively pursue.  

 

Totally agree here.

 

I've said it before but one of the keys to allowing your draft picks to develop (and season as it were) is to have bridge players in place.  Unfortunately for the Bombers, we don't have starting linemen playing at a high enough level to act as that bridge.   We have to be active in free agency, overpay in some cases (if you have to) but we simply need to put whomever we lineup behind centre in the best possible position to succeed.  From there, you draft linemen .. year after year after year.  You push the veterans you've signed.  You push the practice roster guys.  You keep hunting for that diamond in the rough and eventually, the overall depth and quality at the key non-import positions will have improved dramatically.