CFLstyle

I'll be shocked if it happens. I don't see any chance the Stamps give up his rights and I think it'd be better for his professional development to have another year starting in the CFL.

Semantics.. If someone says that, they're saying they know something and/or they have a source. Does that mean it's reliable? Not necessarily. Not every instance is the same but you can tell by someone's language. It's a journalism thing. He was dropping a hint for everyone. Some people didn't understand it and some chose not to believe it, which is fine.

Well, you're free to subscribe to that theory. Me, I'm thankful when people share info so I'm not going to accuse them of just trying to sound important and earn recognition. If he's friends with someone inside the organization, he'd want to avoid telling everyone anyway. He's not the media and he was probably told under secretive circumstances. If he wants info again, he wouldn't want to burn his source..

Not you, specifically. I meant to quote the person you were quoting too. I don't see anyone being reprimanded here either But yes, when someone says "let's just say a little birdie told me" and "what would you say if I told you" that translates to "I know something" or "I have a source." I'm not reprimanding anyone. I just felt bad for the way he was treated, and then I came here to see that people were blaming him for being mocked.

The second I saw it, I took it that this guy has inside knowledge. Not his fault you couldn't get the hint.... People were rude to him, and now that he was right, it's still his fault they were rude to him. Some people just don't get it.

Even if it's not in the CBA for both leagues, at the very least there's a professional courtesy involved.. Even when Chris Williams had a months-long legal battle with the CFL over the termination of his contract (he wanted it ended so he could go to the NFL), he remained unsigned until it was resolved. Definitely agree with you on that. Cheers!

This is no longer the case. The way it actually used to work was CFL players would have an option year in their contract. Once they reached their option year, they could pursue opportunities in the NFL. If they returned during the same season, their rights were retained by their CFL team. The next season, they'd be CFL free agents too. The option no longer exists, and players must be free agents to go to the NFL. The NFL becomes an option just like any CFL team in free agency.

I cover the CFL for a living so I've seen every one of his starts -- he's got upside. Not ready for the NFL yet but he's done things here no other QB has. First of all, he's younger than most QBs are when they start in the CFL. Because all QBs in the CFL are American, they don't usually end up starting until their mid to late 20s. It takes a long time for someone new to the league to understand the game -- the pre-snap motion, the extra receiver and defender on the field, the waggle, etc. Bo grasped all of this very quickly and within a couple of years took the starting job from an already-proven quarterback who is also relatively young and has high upside in Drew Tate (I personally think Tate is better than half the other starters in the league, so that's a pretty good accomplishment). While he plays for a great team, he made the Stampeders better this year and he was the biggest reason they won the Grey Cup. He set a record for consecutive wins to start a career in the CFL as a starting quarterback, and in the Grey Cup he played against one of the league's stingiest defences and was in the third quarter on track to break Doug Flutie's Grey Cup single-game completion percentage (somewhere in the high 70's, around 78%). At one point in the game, he had completed more than 20 straight passes (some were check-downs but many were on intermediate routes in the face of a tough Ticat pass rush). Bo has a strong arm. Not the most accurate and his completion percentage will need to improve, but I believe it will. He's fast, but more than that he's quick. He's like a magician in the pocket. Knows how to get out of a jam and senses the pressure. Took the fewest sacks in the CFL out of any starter. He can run when he needs to but he'll go through his progressions and find the open man first. Running the ball is a last resort. Can he be an NFL starter? Probably, if given a shot, but it doesn't usually work out that way. I think a couple more years of maturation in the CFL would be good for him, then I bet he takes his shot down south. I will say this: he has the wow factor that we haven't seen in this league since Flutie was here. Other quarterbacks have been better passers, like Calvillo and Ray, but Mitchell seems to have something extra in his game (I'm not a scout and I know people don't like to hear the whole 'it' thing, but Bo has it). A lot of former American college stars come here and fail miserably. To make it in the CFL, you have to have superb pocket awareness and complete passes with high efficiency. Remember, with only three downs, one incompletion often results in a punt. I don't imagine EJ making it in the CFL. The field is wider and a lot of the routes are even tougher to throw. The learning curve would be very steep. Troy Smith started all of about 10 games here. I think he completion percentage was below 60%. You've gotta be smart to play quarterback in the CFL (not that I'm saying EJ isn't smart)..

I think it's up for debate. I wouldn't say it's 'clear'...

Is this what it's gonna come to? Every week someone on either side of the fence saying 'told you so'? The Bills drafted EJ probably knowing he was going to be a three-year project. He probably shouldn't have even started last year. There's gonna be good and bad and we've seen some of each this season. I'm gonna wait until season 3 to start making a definitive judgment.

Yes, the Toronto media is a joke. I live in Toronto and work in this field and some of the mainstream sports reporters are embarrassing.

You wouldn't take Julio Jones or Torrey Smith?

I like to think there's something in between being a homer and thinking the world is crashing down because the team didn't blow its cap space during the first couple days of free agency. He's not being a homer, he's telling people to relax. Teams don't win championships through signing free agents, ask the past few winners. To me these look like responsible signings.

Actually saw him at the CFL combine last March, he looked good. We didn't expect to see him play pro in Canada any time soon.

I thought Hackett called a good game, nothing to complain about from me. Got a solid day of offence but Tuel made too many mistakes and the receivers dropped too many passes.

Was at the game last Thursday night an I saw Maybin walking the sidelines in warmups with the GM when they were trying to get him signed. He does have a lot of natural talent, he just wasn't physically capable to handle being an every-down NFL end. I think in the CFL it'll be a different story because a lot of the defensive linemen are the same size as NFL linebackers, in that league you need quickness more than size. He may even get a chance to play some meaningful football this season because the team finished first in the division and has a bye to the division final, but really struggled to get to the quarterback and finished near the bottom of the league in sacks. So the Argos will be looking for that pass rush in the playoffs and we'll see if Maybin can provide it. Anyway, that's the update from my end. I would anticipate you guys will get the playoff game on Nov. 17 on NBC Sports if you do want to watch.

Kelly and the Eagles spread their offence out which leaves McCoy with a lot of extra space in the middle of the field. Plus Vick is a much bigger threat to hit on the deep ball, so teams can't plug the middle of the field. Gailey spread things out last season too and that's why Spiller had plenty of room, Hackett doesn't seem to be doing that and with Manuel's inability to hit on a long ball teams are just keying in on Spiller, whether he runs inside or out. And I don't think people knocked Chan for his ability to put together an offensive game plan. The offence actually overachieved quite a bit for the talent it had, considering Stevie was a low draft pick and guys like Nelson and Jones were go-to players, while Fitz was the one throwing the ball. Chan knows offence and he probably would have been a winner here had he been given more talent. Come to think of it, had Pettine been here last season over Wannstedt it's possible they'd have been a playoff team.

One league I'm in values kick and punt return yards, so I picked Goodwin up yesterday. Not sure if I should start him or not though, he's not projected to do anything. I hate this league because a guy like Eddie Royal supposedly has more value than Mike Wallace.

Who cares. I've never understood why people get wrapped up in everyone else's grammar.

I don't know about that, TKO was at the top of his game and in his prime when he joined the Bills, one of the best in the league up until his injury.

I think that's a ridiculous thing to say. Smith has a much better skill-set, and I don't know if anyone could've coached up Fitz's game much better than Gailey. I actually thought that was one of Gailey's strengths -- getting what he did out of a total project like Fitzpatrick. If Fitz were starting in San Fran last year and this year, that team wouldn't be in the playoffs.

I agree with this, just listening to Kelly talk when they brought up the issue during the Fiesta Bowl, he never seemed interested in going to the NFL. It was more like you said, 'yeah I've heard teams are interested and after the game we'll talk', but he said he had no idea what interviews were setup or what teams were interested. I think for Kelly it was just a matter of seeing if any team could convince him to leave Oregon, but he probably had it in his head all along that he wanted to stay. Nothing wrong with that.

So a guy who calls Lambeau home says he'd rather play in a dome? Silly.

I'd want to keep him, yeah. Great attitude; loves Buffalo; unselfish -- and who are we kidding, most teams deploy two good running backs in their attack these days. People rave about his blocking skills and he's a great leader, too, not to mention a perfect fill-in if Spiller does get hurt.

Well, yeah a lot of people doubted him, but I've seen a lot of people at least admitting they were wrong. It was definitely frustrating being on here and seeing people say that he's a bust after one season. Spiller's superstar potential was always evident to me -- but like any other running back, he needed the opportunity to play.