48 Hour Primer | The Build

VANCOUVER — It’s an expression we’ve used before but will bust out once more with the hours ticking down to Sunday’s 111th Grey Cup:

‘Any jackass can tear down a barn. It takes a carpenter to build one.’

We bring this up today in a closer examination of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers entire roster as it prepares to chase a third championship in five years against the Toronto Argonauts on Sunday.

It’s not easy to climb to the summit, as they say, and even more difficult to stay there. And, yes, we understand the Blue Bombers are O-fer their last two championship game appearances, losing in 2022 and 2023 by a combined total of five points after victories in 2019 and 2021.

But they have built something special here that has endured. And it’s taken a collection of carpenters and brick layers, electricians and architects to keep this team in the championship conversation in a league where free agency is often a talent feeding free-for-all, where drafting can be so hit and miss and finding American talent that can play — and fits the culture here — isn’t as simple as so many think.

To that point, a question to Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea from earlier this week: ‘It feels like the 99th Grey Cup in a row that the Blue Bombers have been here’ — to which O’Shea interrupted and said with a laugh, ‘that would be fun, wouldn’t it? — ‘but from the start of the streak to now, what’s gone into building that culture of winning in Winnipeg?’

“It’s pretty simple — I think you just bring in the right guys,” O’Shea said. “It’s a very talented group for the last pile of years and it’s guys that are excellent leaders, care so much and are great teammates. You fill a room with guys like that and… I don’t want to sound like this, but you sort of let them go. They run it. It’s their team and as long as you keep room full of guys who can play good football but are good guys then it’s going to be like that.”

HOW THE 2024 BLUE BOMBERS WERE BUILT

Trades

QB Zach Collaros, 2019, from Toronto
OL Pat Neufeld, 2013, from Saskatchewan
DT Cam Lawson, 2022, from Montreal

CFL free agents

OL Stanley Bryant, 2015 (Calgary)
Rec Nic Demski, 2018 (Saskatchewan)
LB Adam Bighill, 2018 (B.C.)
RB Johnny Augustine, 2018 (Edmonton)
DE Willie Jefferson, 2019 (Saskatchewan)
C Chris Kolankowski, 2020 (Toronto)
LS Mike Benson, 2021 (Montreal)
LB Brian Cole, 2022 (Edmonton
Rec Kenny Lawler, 2023 (Edmonton)
K Sergio Castillo, 2023 (Edmonton)
DT Miles Fox, 2023 (B.C.)
Rec Lucky Whitehead, 2024 (B.C.)
LB Tony Jones, 2024 (Edmonton)
DB Michael Griffin II, 2024 (Calgary)
QB Jake Dolegala, 2024 (B.C.)
FB Bailey Feltmate, 2024 (Hamilton)
DB Nick Taylor, 2024 (Calgary)
OL Eric Lofton, 2024 (Saskatchewan)
LB Bryce Notree, 2024 (Montreal)

CFL Draft

DT Jake Thomas — 2012, Rd 4, 29th overall
LB Shayne Gauthier — 2016, Rd 4, 28th overall
Rec Drew Wolitarsky — 2017 CFL Supplemental Draft
RB Brady Oliveira — 2019, Rd 2, 14th overall
OL Tui Eli — 2019, Rd 4, 34th overall
DB Nick Hallett — 2019, Rd 7, 61st overall
DB Noah Hallett — 2020, Rd 2, 18th overall
LB Tanner Cadwallader — 2020, Rd 7, 64th overall
OL Liam Dobson — 2021, Rd 1, 3rd overall
DB Redha Kramdi — 2021, Rd 2, 16th overall
CB Tyrell Ford — 2022, Rd 1, 13th overall
DB Jake Kelly — 2023, Rd 2, 15th overall
WR Jeremy Murphy — 2023, Rd 3, 26th overall
DT Tanner Schmekel — 2023, Rd 4, 35th overall
LB Max Charbonneau — 2023, Rd 8, 71st overall
Rec Kevens Clercius — 2024, Rd 2, 13th overall
FB Michael Chris-Ike — 2024, Rd 2, 14th overall
OL Gabe Wallace — 2024, Rd 2, 17th overall
DT Kyle Samson — 2024, Rd 2, 20th overall
DE Owen Hubert — 2024, Rd 8, 73rd overall

CFL Global Draft

LB Souleymane Karamoko — 2022, 13th overall
P Jamieson Sheahan — 2023, 8th overall
LB Fabian Weitz — 2024, 8th overall
DE Lucky Ogbevoen — 2024, 17th overall

U.S. Scouting

S Brandon Alexander, 2017
LB Kyrie Wilson, 2017
QB Chris Streveler, 2018; returned in 2024
DB Deatrick Nichols, 2021
DB Evan Holm, 2022
DB Jamal Parker, 2022
Rec Dalton Schoen, 2022
DE TyJuan Garbutt, 2023
DE Celestin Haba, 2023
DB Tyrique McGhee, 2023
CB Terrell Bonds, 2024
LB Michael Ayers, 2024
WR Keric Wheatfall, 2024
WR Ontaria Wilson, 2024
QB Terry Wilson, 2024
DT Devin Adams, 2024
DB Marquise Bridges, 2024
WR Kody Case, 2024
WR Myron Mitchell, 2024
DL Jason Person, 2024
OL Kendall Randolph, 2024
OL Micah Vanterpool, 2024
DT Jamal Woods, 2024
RB Chris Smith, 2024
OL Chris Walker, 2024

Still, when this team was 0-4 and 2-6 earlier this year so many critics were at full throat, declaring the Blue Bombers run of success to be over. Since then, this team has rattled off 10 wins in 11 games and is back with a shot at glory again this season.

And all this after losing mainstays like Jermarcus Hardrick, Jackson Jeffcoat, Rasheed Bailey, Janarion Grant and Geoff Gray in the offseason and then seeing Dalton Schoen, Adam Bighill, Jamal Parker and Cam Lawson all lost for the year through injuries at various stages of the campaign.

“It was a wild offseason. We knew this offseason was going to be a challenge,” said GM Kyle Walters in looking back at February and how this team began to change in free agency. “We knew there was going to be transition. We knew we had to get younger at certain spots and we knew we had to get cheaper at certain spots.

“And then you start talking with agents and you start hearing numbers, and you go, ‘Well, this is not going to work.’ Then it comes right down to the wire and somehow it comes together for Brady (Oliveira, to be signed), comes together with Dalton, which was very unexpected. And then Sergio (Castillo) late last minute. It was very, very interesting, that’s for sure, with how the roster came together. That eased it a little bit.

“We also had Plans B and Plans C in place but that was wild from year with how it all goes down in February.”

The work never stops there, of course.

The Blue Bombers have had solid drafts over the past few springs with three members of this year’s class — Clercius, Wallace and Owen Hubert — starting games this season. The roster is dotted with 20 selections from the CFL Draft to go along with some shrew trades, making aggressive runs at targeted players in free agency and then relying on the scouting staff of Ted Goveia, Danny McManus and Cyril Penn to find talent in the U.S.

What’s intriguing with this club is how players like Tony Jones, Lucky Whitehead and Michael Griffin II were all kicked to the curb by teams this season but found homes in Winnipeg and are thriving.

“It’s part of scouting and Ted, Danny and Cyril do a helluva job getting our training camp roster together and they work and work,” said Walters. Then throughout training camp their next big phase is exactly that — if we have some injuries, who are our guys? What’s our plan? And those guys were on the radar.

“I remember a Tony Jones discussion from two or three years ago when he was in Toronto but with our setup it just didn’t work before. Then we had some injuries, and he had been cut by Edmonton before he came on board here. Griffin from Calgary… Lucky… our guys do a great job of tracking players they like and who are available.

“It’s also about fit and you don’t really know until you get them in the building. And if they’re not a good fit then the coaches will get them out of here in about 48 hours regardless of their talent.”

Fit — FIFO — is a massive part of what the Blue Bombers have built here. The players have bought in one zillion percent to that concept. And with that, many have an appreciation with how this team doesn’t just find talent but finds those players who aren’t going to be s–t disturbers in the room.

“So much of that is up to Ted, Danny and Kyle,” said centre Chris Kolankowski. “The guys they bring in, the free agents they target, the guys they draft… however they find them, they find the right people that then grow.

“So many of our starters come to Winnipeg and then they stay. It says so much about them finding the right people who then grow and develop. So many of these guys — take Tony Jones, for example — they come in and they fit right away. That guy… I don’t know he came to us, but that guy’s a helluva player and he fits into this locker room, and we love him for it. We’ve got other guys like Griff and (Bryce) Notree who come in and it’s seamless. That’s good work by our front office.”

And now this, which might be the most significant part of this whole piece: Walters believes the transition this team has undergone this year — some of it by design, some forced due to injuries — means there might not be a drop off heading into 2026.

“Inevitably at this time of year you start looking at next season and free agents and things like that,” said Walters. “Some of the transition has already started to some of the younger players or rookies to the CFL. They’re contributing. I look at our group for next year and think, ‘Boy, we’re in a pretty good spot looking heading into an offseason contractually with guys that are under contract and have helped us win than in years past. We went through part of that transition this offseason and lost some good players for various reasons but now we’re younger and here we are.

“We’re going to have a good team next year. I’m pretty excited about that.”

OUCH REPORT: The final injury report of the season before the release of the depth chart Saturday morning:

Injury Report: November 15, 2024#ForTheW pic.twitter.com/VVD4R7Hm0Y

— y – Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) November 15, 2024

NOTABLE: Left over from CFL awards night on Thursday was this declaration from LB Adam Bighill, who won the prestigious Tom Pate Memorial Award but will miss the game on Sunday due to a knee injury:

“I’m not done playing,” said Bighill, who turned 36 this year. “This is the hardest injury I’ve ever had to deal with, for sure. But with that being said you look at it, guys are doing it all the time in coming back fro ACLs. If you tell me all it takes is work that’s, ‘Big deal.’ If all it takes is me putting in the time and the work to get back and be who I want to be, then I’m not worried one bit because that’s what I’ve done my whole life and that’s what I’m going to do. It’s not really a big deal.”