Lots of room to improve

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This article was published 14/06/2016 (3400 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — The curtain has officially closed on the 2016 CFL pre-season for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

With two exhibition games in six days — and two weeks of training camp practices, sometimes with multiple workouts in a day, mixed in between — the Blue and Gold marched out of the gate with a 36-13 win over the Montreal Alouettes in last week’s opener before wrapping up Monday night in Ottawa with an 18-14 loss to the Redblacks at TD Place.

As is often the case in the pre-season, where teams are forced to shuffle as many as 70-plus players in and out of a game in order to properly evaluate the overall talent, the negatives almost always outweigh the positives.

The Bombers certainly proved that theory, showing in their two exhibition games a need for improvement in almost every area by the time the season begins in earnest June 24 against Montreal at Investors Group Field.

With that, a look at what we’ve learned from the past two weeks:

❚ ‘O’ a work in progress: Head coach Mike O’Shea said after Monday’s game he had no concerns with the Bombers’ first-team offence despite the unit combining for just 10 points in more than three quarters of play in the pre-season.

But that confidence will do little to ease Bomber fans, who were expecting big things with the additions of offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice, running back Andrew Harris, and receivers Ryan Smith and Weston Dressler, who was limited to holding duties on field goals in the first game and didn’t play against Ottawa.

Drew Willy, the team’s starting quarterback, has also looked shaky, with a number of throws either missing the receiver or being thrown away. Additionally, the Bombers still have a relatively young and inexperienced offensive line, one that has allowed a concerning amount of pressure on Willy so far.

It’s true, the pre-season does offer a limited playbook, and the Bombers don’t do pre-game scouting on their opponent, but the fact is their competition is playing under the same circumstances.

Montreal may not have finished high in the standings last season, but one thing they do have is a formidable defence, making the regular season-opener not only the first real test, but a true one.

❚ Secondary a primary concern: Just how important is Johnny Adams, who tied for the league lead in interceptions last season with six, to the Bombers secondary? If the pre-season is any indication, the answer is he’s very important.

Adams, in his rookie season, was named a West Division all-star in 2015. And he was having another strong start to this year until a lower-body injury sidelined him just days into training camp.

Since then, Adams has yet to play a meaningful rep; his absence creating a major hit to a secondary that already had its fair share of question marks heading into the year, including running auditions for starting spots at safety and one of the halfback positions.

Pre-season has only exposed the last line of defence. Macho Harris, a hard hitter and the front-runner at safety, has yet to jump off the page. C.J. Roberts and Julian Posey, two guys in a fight for playing time this season, haven’t made a solid case just yet, while veterans Bruce Johnson and Matt Bucknor, who has started every game the past two seasons, have been underwhelming.

Both Montreal’s Kevin Glenn, who was 14-for-19 for 140 yards and a touchdown, and Henry Burris, who went 13-for-21, throwing for 158, while also finding the end zone once, finished with big nights.

It’s a good thing Chris Randle, coming off a season-ending knee injury when he tore an ACL during a game against Saskatchewan in Week 11, is showing no lasting effects. In fact, he showed why he’s among the best corners in the league Monday, displaying tight coverage through the first half, including two plays in the end zone.

It didn’t help the Bombers didn’t dress most of their starting D-line Monday, opting to leave at home the trio of Jamaal Westerman, Keith Shologan and Euclid Cummings. But excuses are worth little at this point, even if it is the pre-season.

❚ On the radar: It’s impossible at this point to predict who will stay and who will go once the Bombers make their final cuts for the regular season. They first must reduce to 65 players (not included in that list are the 10 non-counters) following the league-mandated first cut, which was rescheduled for this morning.

What’s easier to guess are the few names that looked to earn, at the very least, another look as Bombers brass continue to evaluate over the final week of camp. Right now, it’s safe to say Quincy McDuffie, the former receiver/kick returner who has spent the better part of the last two seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, will be at practice today.

McDuffie dazzled in the return game, breaking for a 59-yard run in his first return against the Redblacks. Had he broken one more tackle, Quincy said after the game, he’d likely have had a clear path for the score. He returned four punts for 112 yards, and one kick return for 11. He was also one of the team’s best receivers on the night, hauling in three passes for 28 yards, including a five-yard pass from Matt Nichols for the Bombers’ lone touchdown.

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Other notables included receiver Gerrard Sheppard, who paced the Bombers Monday with three catches for 45 yards, and running back Timothy Flanders, who followed up his 80-yard performance on the ground last week against the Als by carrying the ball six times for 29 yards against Ottawa — tied for the team high. Linebacker Tony Burnett finished with a team-high five tackles against Ottawa, while defensive end Trent Corney, the 10th-overall pick in May’s CFL Draft, continues to improve, finishing the night with two tackles while also showing some good speed on the edge.

❚ Kicker conundrum…kind of: Kicker Sergio Castillo could see the writing on the wall once the Bombers signed Justin Medlock, the CFL’s most accurate foot. But that hasn’t stopped his prospect of earning a job in the league, even if it won’t be in Winnipeg.

Castillo is now 5-for-7 on field goals in the pre-season, including some from beyond the 40-yard line. He’s been so solid not even his lone blemish Monday — a 35-yard attempt late in the fourth quarter that would have cut the Redblacks lead to one point with minutes left on the clock — would prevent other teams from looking his way.

It’s unlikely the Bombers will be able to hold onto Castillo for much longer, but he may just be trade bait. What’s the value of a reliable American kicker in the CFL? We may just find out.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.catwitter: @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.