It’s not exactly business as usual, but despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers still have a draft to prepare for.
Bombers general manager Kyle Walters addressed fans questions on Friday via Instagram Live, two days after former Bombers quarterback Chris Streveler entertained the masses on social media. And Walters knew Streveler would be a hard act to follow.
“No, I will not be taking my shirt off, and no, there will be no shots of alcohol during this,” Walters said, referring to Streveler’s recent shenanigans. “So, I just wanted to get that out of the way early, and clear that up.
“I’m certainly less entertaining than Streveler, I get it.”
READ MORE: Shirtless, beer-chugging former Winnipeg Blue Bombers QB Chris Streveler entertains on livestream
Walters outlined the Bombers’ process for this month’s national draft.
“Once we get that 120 players approximately, we’ll go back and watch game film,” he said. “We’ll pull up their film. I’ll watch all the game film. I’ll make a cut up, which is a 20-25 plays that kinda describe that player — is what we do. And then I’ll put a draft grade on that player.”
The CFL was forced to cancel both their usual regional and national combines this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so general managers across the league have some extra homework this year.
“A lot of these players that have success at the U Sports level — we need to see their testing ability in person to see if that can translate to our game,” he said. “And without the regional combines, without the national combine, it’s gonna be tough.”
Winnipeg product and defensive end Mason Bennett of the University of North Dakota was the only Manitoban in the top 20 of the Winter Scouting Bureau Rankings. But Walters indicated that they are looking at a couple of other players from the Manitoba Bisons.
“There’s a couple really good Manitoba kids that were going to be at the national combine. Macho Bockru, the receiver, and Brock Gowanlock at D-line,” Walters said. “They’re good football players and you feel bad for these kids because they didn’t get a chance to show in front of all the scouts. It is tougher this year cause you’re going much more on the game film. which is a big piece of the puzzle anyways, but you’re just not going to be able to assign that height, weight, speed, and see them competing against each other.”
The CFL Draft is scheduled for April 30.
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Despite a huge number of free agents, Walters managed to mostly keep his roster intact over the winter.
“We focused on keeping the core group together that won the Grey Cup, and mixing in some young guys with that,” Walters said. “I don’t think there’s one specific position that we’ve dramatically improved on, on paper, but we are bringing the entire group back, and I think you’re gonna see the young guys really flourish as they grow into their second, third years.”
The club did lose two key players from their secondary to the NFL with the departures of defensive backs Winston Rose and Marcus Sayles. Walters indicated free agent signing Josh Johnson will be given an opportunity to earn the starting job at the boundary halfback position. And Walters has tabbed Mike Jones for their vacant spot at cornerback.
But Walters is looking forward to starting a season without having to answer any more questions about their lengthy Grey Cup drought.
“It’ll be real nice to start this season with how are we going to defend the Grey Cup,” he said. “That’ll be a nice hurdle that we can discuss.”
The biggest hurdle though is the ongoing pandemic with still many questions on how long it’ll be before professional sports can return.
“As soon as a date is set, we’ll hit the ground full speed,” Walters said. “From a football standpoint, we are operating full speed ahead. And luckily we’re in a line of work with all the film on the computer, and the video conferencing calls, and all that stuff we can do.”
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