Answering for their faults: Bombers GM says ‘we all are frustrated’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/11/2015 (3615 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers general manager Kyle Walters hoped to talk about his team’s winning record when he addressed the media at the conclusion of the 2015 CFL season.

Instead, he was once again hit head-on with questions surrounding the problems that have riddled his football club, one that has won half as many games as it has lost the past two seasons, including a record of 5-13 this year, and has now missed the playoffs in consecutive campaigns with him at the controls.

“We all are frustrated, the fans, the organization, everybody is,” said Walters, who spoke for 27 minutes in what was his final press conference of the season Friday at Investors Group Field. “Trying to focus on the positives, there were some things we can build on.”

In an attempt to explain why he felt he deserved to be back as GM for a third season, Walters listed off a few of those positives. Of those were the additions of defensive players Khalil Bass, Johnny Adams and Jamaal Westerman; a breakout year from import receiver Darvin Adams and the growth of offensive lineman Sukh Chungh — the team’s first-round pick this past May.

But not even Walters could spin the good enough to overshadow the bad — and there was plenty of bad. On offence, the Bombers allowed the second most sacks in the league with 59, put up the fewest points, had no real downfield threat thanks to a receiver group poor in Canadian talent and — perhaps most glaring — what proved to be an unreliable contingent of backup quarterbacks in Brian Brohm and Robert Marve — a duo that was nothing short of awful when called upon after starter Drew Willy went down in Week 7 with a season-ending knee injury. With that in mind, Walters was asked what he was thinking having two very unproven pivots as his backup plan in such an important year in which his team is hosting the Grey Cup in the final week of November?

“When you have instability or injuries at that quarterback position and you’re not deep enough organizationally to overcome those and figure out ways to win, you’re exposed,” said Walters. “And we were.”

As for the defence, though strong at times, it still wasn’t enough to hold off the league’s best teams and were ranked in the bottom half in almost every defensive category.

“When you’re struggling like we did offensively this year, it puts more stress on the defence,” added Walters. “But you can make the case the defence needs to step up and get off the field and give your offence field position. I don’t think our defence did a good enough job of that at times this year.”

With offensive co-ordinator Marcel Bellefeuille acting as the scapegoat — he was relieved of his duties earlier this week — the next order of business will be finding his replacement, something Walters said will be the major focus in the coming weeks. But the list doesn’t stop there, not even close. The Bombers still need to find a reliable running back, a backup QB, a dominant defensive tackle, as well as a boost in the defensive secondary. Oh, then there’s deciding whether or not to re-sign a number of pending free agents, a list that has as many as 12 players including receiver Nick Moore and quarterback Matt Nichols. Needless to say, it will be a busy winter for Walters and his staff.

“We need to be better and when I talk about the scouting department it’s let’s focus on what we can control — and that has nothing to do with offence or defence co-ordinators, or offence or defensive systems — let’s keep getting better football players in here,” Walters said when asked to give a final synopsis of his players. “Do I believe we made strides in our overall talent of our roster in the last couple of years? Yes. But that’s not translating to wins and that’s the bottom line and that’s all that matters.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton

wfpvideo:4611750227001:wfpvideo