The Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat the Ottawa RedBlacks in their last game, finally winning another game at home.
But what I found interesting in the lead up to the game was the quarterback depth chart.
You should notice the lack of Elgersma being listed. No, Elgersma is not on the practice roster. Instead the Bombers hid and protected him by putting him on the reserve roster. What is the CFL reserve roster? “To create the active game-day roster, teams place one or two players on the reserve list, meaning these players do not dress for the game and are temporarily inactive. This process is commonly called “scratching” a player, and the scratched players are considered part of the reserve roster for that game.”
Previously, teams would achieve the same result by putting players on the 1-Game Injured List…even if they were not injured. So by creating the reserve roster there is more clarity around a player’s condition.
A Decision To Make
In the previous two games, Dru Brown did not play all that well. He threw a bunch of interceptions and many other balls that could’ve been intercepted.
So I was interested to see who the Winnipeg Blue Bombers would list as their number two quarterback against Ottawa. Would it be Dru Brown or would it be Taylor Elgersma?
And this question became more than just a hypothetical of who would come in if Zach was injured. Because in fact, Zach did get injured. So the quarterback roster choices really did end up mattering.
I do not know if you were surprised or not but when the Bombers released their depth chart and it was not Taylor Elgersma in the second spot, but rather Dru Brown.
This tells me a couple of things. First, we should not think that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are not very high on Taylor Elgersma, they are. But they see him more as a future plan rather than a current plan.
Secondly, even though Brown did not have a great previous two games, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers believe that he is still the second best quarterback to give Winnipeg a chance to win. They went out and gave up a lot for Brown and previously I called that an Ottawa mismanagement and Winnipeg cashed in on it.
And while I was not overly excited with Brown’s last two performances, I actually think that Winnipeg Blue Bombers have this process right and here’s why.
Why The Bombers Got It Right
Before Brown ever took a snap for the Bombers, I asked a question. How will the Winnipeg Blue Bombers manage Dru Brown?
And I provided these Possible upsides and downfalls based on how Winnipeg might choose to manage this situation.
Worst Case Scenarios
Before I get into these scenarios, it should be noted that Zach is currently on the 1 Game Injured List, so none of these worst-case scenarios may actually happen.
1) Brown Struggles & The Bombers Leave Him In
Imagine this, the Bombers have Elgersma sitting on the bench, Brown struggles, the Bombers leave Brown in and the Bombers lose (and Collaros is out the next week also). Now what? Now who do the Bombers go to next week against Ottawa?
In that scenario, the Bombers would have to stick with Brown. If they went away from Brown, they have essentially burnt Brown. Tell me a scenario where the Bombers lose to Toronto with Brown, play Elgersma next week against Ottawa…and then find a way to start Brown again.
2) Brown Struggles & The Bombers Pull Him
This could be just as bad as the first scenario. Imagine this, the Bombers have Elgersma on the bench, Brown struggles, the Bombers pull Brown and Elgersma struggles and the Bombers lose to (and Collaros is out the next week also). In that scenario, who do the Bombers start next week?
If they go back to Brown against Ottawa, and Brown struggles again, they would have to pull him and put in Elgersma. And if Elgersma struggles again, and lose and if Collaros is not good to go on July 24th, then the Bombers would have to start Elgersma (arguing that he does better if he starts a game) and then they would have essentially burnt Brown.
I get it, there are a lot of if’s there. But as a coach that is how you have to think. You need to balance two things. First, how do we win this week. Second, if this goes sideways what do we do the next few weeks. The last thing the Bombers want to do is take a stable quarterback room and create a quarterback carousel.
Best -Case Scenario
But it is not all doom and gloom and the Bombers could win their next two games. So here is the best -case scenario for the Bombers. Brown plays great against Toronto and beats them. Zach is healthy for the game vs Ottawa and we do not have to ask the above questions again. In this case, the Bombers still have Brown as their immediate backup plan, and Elgersma as the succession plan.
Final Thoughts
Maybe fans are clamouring to see Elgersma be listed as number two since Brown’s last two outings were not great. And as much as this is a win now league Winnipeg can certainly take a lesson from Montreal.
For many years after Calvillo retired from the Montreal Alouettes Montreal was terrible. They did not have a quarterback.
In fact, here’s all the quarterbacks that dressed for Montreal after Calvillo, and their record:
2014: Crompton, Smith, Brink (9-9)
2015: Kato, Crompton, Glenn, Marsh, Bridge (6-12)
2016: Glenn, Kato, Adams (7-11)
2017: Durant, Willy, Shiltz (3-15)
2018: Manziel, Willy, Pipkin, Matthews, Adams (5-13)
2019: Adams, Pipkin, Shiltz (10-8)
2020: Season cancelled
2021: Adams, Shiltz, Harris (7-7) shortened season
2022: Harris Adams, Davis (9-9)
2023: Fajardo, Evans (11-7)
2024: Fajardo, Alexander, Evans (12-5)
2025: Bethel-Thompson, Alexander, Morgan, Evans (10-8)
2026: Davis, Crum, Wilson (8-1) season ongoing
Yes, Montreal did win the Grey Cup in 2023, and did lose the Grey Cup in 2025). They also made it to a bunch of semi-finals along the way. But from 2015-2019 they did not appear in any semi-finals. They were a team in constant transition, with very little continuity.
So I believe that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers would be smart to protect Elgersma, as I believe he is the future plan, the successor to Zach Collaros.
I would not rush Elgersma in. Why? If the Bombers rush him in and it goes terribly they will burn him – just like Montreal did to numerous quarterbacks. If the Bombers rush Elgersma in there is a strong likelihood he is just going to be another story of a CFL quarterback, with a lot of potential, on a team desperate to win that burnt a future star.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments section wherever you are reading this. Catch all my articles here.