‘Zach is our guy’

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This article was published 24/07/2024 (421 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Despite some issues with Zach Collaros’ arm through the first third of the CFL season, Buck Pierce made it clear he still has his No. 1 pivot’s back.

Pierce talked for first time since the Bombers fell to the Saskatchewan Roughriders over the weekend, in a game Collaros and the offence mustered only nine points and 322 yards, as the Bombers dropped to 2-5 on the year. Collaros had a particularly rough game behind centre, completing 65 per cent of his passes for 266 yards and a costly interception.

The performance has only added to the narrative Collaros has taken a step back. The Bombers offensive co-ordinator was quick to pour cold water on the idea, arguing it will take a team effort to get back on track.

“Zach’s our guy and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Pierce following practice Tuesday. “Does he have to play better? Yes, and he’ll tell you that. Does he need to be more consistent? Sure. But it’s also everybody. It’s a team game and we need to make sure we’re clean for him as well.”

Collaros has struggled mightily this season after years of being among the most dominant players in the league, including winning the most outstanding player award in 2021 and 2022. The 35-year-old entered the 2024 campaign 39-8 as starter for Winnipeg in the regular season and 7-2 in the playoffs, winning the Grey Cup twice.

In six starts this season, Collaros has one win, while throwing for two touchdowns compared to seven interceptions. Once the leader in almost every meaningful offensive statistical category, Collaros is currently eighth in passing yards (1,406), 10th in touchdown passes (two), 10th in QB efficiency rating (77.4) and has thrown the most interceptions (seven).

Pierce noted the quarterback often faces the most criticism when things aren’t going right, adding that’s part of the job for a player that touches the ball on nearly every play. He was steadfast in his defence of Collaros, who has been operating behind an offensive line with a couple of new pieces and without his two best receivers in Kenny Lawler and Dalton Schoen.

“He understands the big picture of everything as well,” Pierce said. “His job is to run our offence and that’s what’s lost in a lot of this — he doesn’t have to be somebody he’s not and go out there and play football. He is as competitive and as driven as I’ve ever seen him and that’s where you’ll probably see some of the fieriness a little bit. His expectations are high, no matter who’s in there and whether it’s a practice or a game or whether it’s Week 1 or Grey Cup. His expectations are high and that’s where they should be.”

Lawler will be back sometime next month, perhaps as early as Aug. 1, when the Bombers welcome the B.C. Lions to town. Schoen tore his ACL and is expected to miss the remainder of the season.

Lawler and Schoen have been replaced by younger, less experienced players. While the Bombers like a lot of the new guys they’ve brought in, Pierce said it takes time to build that chemistry to a point where you’re playing fast and thinking less.

“Part of offensive football is we all need to be on the same page and we all need to be seeing things the same way,” Pierce said. “When you get to that point then it looks pretty good, it’s pretty cool. That’s our message still, and we’re going to continue to put pieces in place to help our offence as a whole.

While Collaros hasn’t been at the top of his game, among the other notable issues is a lack of execution and attention to detail. Costly mistakes, particularly late in games, have prevented the Bombers from holding a lead or mounting a comeback.

There has been some progress. Prior to the loss against the Riders, the Bombers had won two games in a row. The three previous games, all of which were losses, were decided by a combined nine points.

Running back Brady Oliveira said it was somewhat of a learning lesson through the first month, trying to figure out who they were as a team. He feels like they’ve been getting a better idea of the style they want to play, even with a hiccup in Saskatchewan last week.

“We’re at a stage now where we know what this team can be,” Oliveira said. “You have young guys coming into this organization, seen how dominant we’ve been the last couple of years and the message is the same: whatever it takes and it’s going to be different every week. It’s definitely a different team.”

GROUNDING GRANT

The Bombers will have their hands full this week trying to contain dynamic returner Janarion Grant.

Grant played four seasons in Winnipeg before signing with the Toronto Argonauts over the winter. The Bombers and Argos play each other at BMO Field Saturday night.

Grant has been a force this season, recording a CFL-best three return touchdowns in six games, including two from punts and one from a kickoff. He also leads the CFL in “big plays” with six, with three punt returns of at least 30 yards and three kickoffs returns of more than 40.

“He’s got very good vision and he’s not afraid to squeeze up there in tight areas and it catches a lot of guys off guard when they’re running down in coverage,” special teams co-ordinator Mike Miller said. “For him being like only 157 pounds, he plays like he’s 250 and he’s still moving at a fair clip.”

The painful part for Miller and the Bombers is they could have re-signed Grant. But that plan was abandoned by the Bombers, who believed they could replace Grant with one of their new guys.

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The Bombers have used three returners this year, none of whom has taken control of the job. Winnipeg will go another week with Kody Case, who averaged 9.7 yards on seven punts and 29 yards on three kickoffs in the loss to Saskatchewan.

“We have a few young guys back there that have never done it before (in the CFL),” Miller said. “It always takes reps to get those guys used to it. We got to do our jobs of giving them better opportunities to be successful.”

The Bombers currently rank last in the CFL with a punt-return average of 8.6 yards and are eighth out of nine teams with a kickoff return average of 20.3 yards.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.