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April 3, 2020

Kyle Walters Instagram Live

Winnipeg Blue Bombers general manager Kyle Walters during the game at New Mosaic Stadium in Regina, SK, Saturday, July 1st, 2017. (Photo: Johany Jutras)

Kyle Walters knows a thing or two about staying in his own lane.

And that, perhaps better than anything, explains why the Winnipeg Blue Bombers GM opened his Instagram chat with fans Friday afternoon with this honest and straightforward message:

“Unfortunately I drew the slot after Chris Streveler, which has certainly got some attention from friends and family busting my chops a little bit,” he began. “Yes, he is a tough act to follow. No, I will not be taking my shirt off and no, there will be no shots of alcohol during this. I just wanted to get that out of the way early and clear that up.”

In case you missed it, Streveler – the popular former Bombers quarterback now with the Arizona Cardinals – held his own Instagram chat with fans on Wednesday. That affair, an epic back and forth that lasted hours, naturally featured him taking his shirt off, chugging beers with fans and former teammates while his sister and his nana also made an appearance and imbibed along with him.

The session with Walters was much more subdued, but did offer some insight as the GM discussed plans for the upcoming Canadian Football League Draft on April 30th and the Bombers quest to repeat as Grey Cup champions.

Here are some of the highlights (note: some answers have been abridged or edited)…


Q: For the CFL Draft, how much extra value do you put on a player being from Manitoba?

Walters: “It’s no secret that the talk through our playoff run and to the Grey Cup was the strong hometown flavour on our roster. Andrew Harris, Nic Demski, Thomas Miles were guys that decided to leave their former teams and sign with us. I can’t speak for those guys, but certainly coming home was a big part of their decision to sign with us, which was great.

“As far as the draft goes, Geoff Gray and Brady Oliveira are two recent draft picks who are Winnipeg guys and, yes, when we do our evaluation of these guys we obviously make note of where they’re from. But we weren’t going to pick Geoff or Brady over a higher graded football player just because of where they’re from.

“In the case of Brady, we knew we wanted to add a Canadian running back – we had him very high – there were a couple of guys in the same draft grade range. The deciding point, 100 percent, was he’s from Manitoba with the thought that when it came time to re-sign him there’s a high likelihood. Same with Geoff Gray. When we drafted him we knew he was going to be in the NFL and have a shot and when he came back there would be a higher likelihood that he would want to sign and come back to his hometown team.

“It goes into the process and it’s a great story for our team that we have so much Winnipeg flavour on our team and it was a big part of the Grey Cup story, for sure.”

Q: The CFL Draft is always a crapshoot, but how much moreso is it this year?

Walters: “A lot of the players that have had success at the USports level, we need to see their testing ability in person to see if that translates to our game. Without the regional combines and without the national combine it’s going to be tough.

“It is tough this year because you’re going much more on the game film, which is a big piece of the puzzle, but you’re just not going to be able to assign that height, weight, speed (grade) and see them compete against each other.

“The agents have done a good job… we’re getting a ton of film where these players are testing themselves in their own environments. It’s a bigger challenge this year and a lot more work, actually, because we are doubling back on the film and still reaching out to these players and doing interviews over the phone. Mike (O’Shea), Ted (Goveia) and myself just had a four-five hour meeting yesterday to make sure nobody is falling through the cracks.

“The draft is full speed ahead on the 30th and we’ll be ready to call names, that’s for sure.”

Q; What position do you think was the most improved this offseason compared to the end of last season?

Walters: “We really focused on keeping the core group together. So, when I look at the roster we finished with, particularly on offence, everyone that played in the Grey Cup is all back.

“So, when I look at what group from the end of last year I see (the most) improvement of, I’ll say the young group of guys, particularly the receivers with Kenny Lawler, Rasheed Bailey, Lucky Whitehead. You saw that young group grow. Kenny Lawler grew into, down the stretch, one of our big playmakers down the field. You saw Lucky throughout the year flash big-play potential. And Rasheed didn’t get as many opportunities, but he was on the Grey Cup roster and brings a physical presence, which you like to see.

“I’ll say the same thing with our O-line, particularly our young group of Canadians. They’re all back and they’re going to grow. You saw Michael Couture, who was a Top 10 pick a few years ago, get a chance to play with Matthias (Goossen) retiring and he took the bull by the horns. He had a really great year… unfortunately he gets hurt right at the end of the year and Cody Speller, an undrafted player we added a couple of years ago, took over. Cody’s going to get better. You saw Drew Desjarlais, our first-round draft pick last year, step in and play… he started down the stretch and into the playoffs. He’s going to get better. Geoff Gray got to play early in the year and developed at a very high rate.

“And Tui Eli, who was drafted and came into the roster, was the 6th (O-linemen). I can’t wait to see the young guys improve, particularly in those areas.

Q; Did the promotion of Buck Pierce to offensive coordinator contribute to the re-signing of Zach Collaros, given the familiarity both have with one another and with the team’s offensive system?

Walters: “I can tell you the quarterbacks in that room, anybody in there, thinks highly of Buck. They respect him. Buck’s ready to take over and everybody in the organization is excited for him. He’s earned the right to be the OC. He works hard and he’s paid his dues.

“When I was talking to Zach’s agent through the whole process (of negotiating) he was excited to be back. He likes working with Buck. I don’t want to speak too much for Zach, but I can assure you Zach coming back in this system that we run that Paul (LaPolice) created and Buck’s going to tweak a little bit and put his own flair on things… we run the ball better than anybody in the league. We’re big and physical up front and we protect our quarterback, so the relationship that Buck has with Zach and the type of system we want, I think Zach was pretty excited to come back.”

Q; What about the holes in the secondary (with Winston Rose and Marcus Sayles having signed with Cincinnati and Minnesota, respectively) and what is your plan heading into this year?

Walters: “It’s tough, we had a lot of changes in the secondary throughout the year with different combinations and when guys get banged up you try different things.

“We were a little nervous when your boundary corner (Rose) and your boundary halfback (Sayles) both sign NFL deals. They’re going to be hard to replace, plain and simple. We focussed on re-signing the core group back that finished the year. Mercy Maston came on through the year and when he was healthy he was a very versatile player who went into that SAM or nickel spot and was a real good football player for us. When Nick Taylor got his chance to play he secured that field halfback spot. Brandon Alexander moved over to free safety… the way that group molded down the stretch we wanted to keep that core together.

“Josh Johnson was a guy we targeted in free agency… that was a big one for us because of his versatility. He can play anywhere in the secondary and will be given a shot to take over that boundary halfback spot because they’re much more difficult to find than the corners are from a scouting standpoint.

“And let’s not forget Mike Jones down the playoff stretch. When he got on the field… in the Grey Cup he had a helluva game and was making plays all over the field. He made plays all through the playoffs. There’s a young guy who paid his dues on the practice roster and had his chance on and off and when he got on the roster down the stretch he took full advantage of it. I think you’re going to see this young man really blossom in his second year and he’s going to be given every opportunity to compete for that boundary corner spot.

“Ted, Danny (McManus) and Ryan (Rigmaiden)… we have a good scouting staff down there and the reality is in the CFL is you need young American guys to come up and compete and we’ll be ready to go.

“We’ll some good football players like we do every year and there will be some good competition and in the secondary there will be a chance for some new young Americans to win jobs.”

Q: I know with the COVID-19 virus you have to take it day by day. Are the Bombers scouting, drafting, moving forward as if it’s a regular season or are you preparing for an 8-10 game season and drafting on that basis?

Walters: All you can do is operate with what you know and the facts we know are that training camp has been postponed. We know the draft is on the (April) 30th, we are preparing for that and will be ready to call names.

“I can tell you Al (Couture), our head therapist and his crew will be ready to go. Brad (Fotty) and his equipment guys will be ready to go. Colin (Thurston) and his video guys will be ready to go and Matt (Gulakow), my right-hand man who is in charge of everything, will be ready to go, too.

“As soon as a date is set, we will hit the ground full speed. Mike and his staff are non-stop meeting and getting ready. From a football standpoint, we are operating full speed ahead. We can’t wait to get our season going and defend our Grey Cup. That’s what the plan is.”