Blowing a draft pick on the “need” to run 2-3 plays a game to a TE makes the Burt pick even harder to defend.
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Tend to agree, Ticats seem to go off board with some of their selections and don’t always take the guys in their ranked spots. This being the CFL draft I know there is probably a lot of dispute in these rankings especially when you throw in NCAA guys. We’ve always been told that Drew Allemang is a top evaluator of talent but I think most of us have been surprised at some of the picks over the years and we haven’t seemed to unearth any real difference makers like a Schaffer-Baker or Gittens. It doesn’t help that we’ve traded away a lot of upper draft picks the past two years at least.
Seems to be a focus to just bring in guys for special teams.
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And when you miss on draft picks and found US talent you have to overpay in free agency to be competitive.
I.e. JaGared Davis.
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They did use Kalinic a lot for pass protection and downfield blocking which he excelled at.
The problem was to me Burt looked like he didn’t like contact or could even handle it. Even worse is that he had some injury problems in college. So we ended up with a fragile TE who can’t block.
I would love to know who in that front office spearheaded that pick?
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I would just replace the whole front office and that would solve alot of problems.
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Responding to your question here as we’re miles off topic from Shawn Lemon or the Als. (Not your fault of course)
Could Shiltz do what Fajardo did on Sunday? Yes.
The issue I have with your scenario is that Shiltz signed for $125K to be a backup. If the Ticats move on from Bo and sign Shiltz with the intention of being the starter, he’s going to want starter money. Taylor Cornelius and Jake Maier make over $400K.
Even if you convinced him he’s unproven he’s going to want $350K.
So at that money I think we could do better.
Now if Shiltz was under contract for 2024 at $150K would I take a chance on that? Probably, however if Steinauer/Washington were capable of building a Championship defence, Masoli and Evans would likely both have Grey Cups. We had both Masoli and Evans at Fajardo money and still couldnt do it.
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Good, well thought out response, Crash.
Would you take that chance, on Shiltz, upping his base and max range to, say, $200K & $350K? I would, and expect he’d sign that deal.
Any names in mind on who, at $350K, “we could do better” with?
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Hell I 'd ride a whole season with a Shiltz , Powell combo at QB at this point. I mean let’s face it here…could we do any worse than we have done the last few seasons ?
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I am not saying Shiltz is the answer, but BLM definitely is not the answer.
Sign Shiltz for 350-400K and take the extra money and make this team better around him while continuing to develop Powell.
What do we think keeping BLM as our starter next year will get us?
I would love to be proven wrong and we win the cup in Vancouver 2024.
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My vote is:
BO is not the answer short or long term.
And Powell is fine if he is your 3rd string guy battling for 2nd string.
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I’m clouded by the idea that this organization wouldn’t know what to do with the extra cap room if they had it.
I loved the fact that we had Masoli on a 350K deal because Bo and Reilly were making $600+, I liked Dane at $400 or whatever it was. I could be talked into liking a Shiltz/Powell combo but frankly I don’t think our front office could make it successful.
For that reason i’d probably try Bo again at $350-$400K, not because I think he’s going to be the MOP of the league, but because Stein got us into this mess so i’d rather have another go at whatever their vision is. Under Steinauer we had 2 chances with cheaper QBs and did nothing with it. I think Bo’s injuries were fluke and not arm related, and we really didn’t get a good sample of what he still can do.
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BLM never got a fair shot this year. They played him in a couple of series in the preseason, not getting a chance to gel with the offense before the season started. The first 2 games were against the Argos and Bombers, playing with a substandard O line and a Condell play book. One game back against Ottawa and he was injured again due to another bone headed coaching decision. And the pièce de résistance, putting him in with 6 minutes left in the ESF.
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I hope you’re correct. I will be the first to admit when I’m wrong about BLM and will be the happiest person on the planet to be wrong.
His confidence and decision making seemed off, even when he was healthy.
I would love to see him succeed. He will need a great offensive line, a great OC and preferably an easy schedule to start the season to boost his confidence.
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I am not impressed with any of our QB’s . I would keep Shiltz as a backup and steal
Tre ford from the Elks if possible. Jones always likes to get rid of good players.
Ford in Hamilton would be amazing. A local guy from the Falls. I heard he had a lot of family and friends at THF when the Elks came to town and he would no doubt embrace the Cat’s uniform.
However, I don’t think even Chris Jones is that dumb to trade away a potential franchise QB.
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Give him Shiltz and our 2024 #1 pick.
I’m not sold on Ford yet. I think teams started to figure him out a bit later in the year. Tremendous athletic talent but what happens when the inevitable injuries start piling up after all the running? Eventually he’ll have to improve his passing accuracy and ability to read defences - still pretty raw in my books. The local angle is a draw though, for sure.
To me they need to give BLM a solid chance, the injuries he had aren’t the type to carry over to next year. Arm looks fine, just never was able to stay in the lineup and build any momentum or rapport with the offence. If they can get him to take a bit of a cut and keep Powell at least, then they can start to build from there. After figuring out the qb I’d say the next priority is to scout or bring in another solid offensive tackle, ditto for defensive end.
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Biggest request for ‘24, NO MORE SILLY HAMMER ALT UNIS. WE ARE BLACK AND GOLD. 
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General fan consensus, not that it holds any weight with those that count, is changes are needed from the top down.
Unfortunately, S Mitchell, Coach O and M Washington don’t see themselves as part of or the whole problem. As long as they cannot see or admit their role in failed team fortunes nothing will change next or in future years.
Einstein’s classic definition of insanity… “… doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. 
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Mike OShea does a weekly radio segment where he answers questions from fans submitted to the host. Did the last segment of the year Monday night. Could have easily just skipped it given the circumstances and everyone would have understood. But it its clear thats not how OShea conducts himself and how the Bummers do things. Professionalism in media relations, respecting customers (fans). that sort of thing.
Often it seems the current HTC operate on a completely different planet.
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