2025-2026 Offseason thread

[popo]

https://youtu.be/XMcv6K3vd6Y?si=34PY0F8mNGHciXpy

Ford confirms Edmonton never considered restructuring or keeping him here.

Hope he can find success in Hamilton. Im shocked that BLM has stayed so healthy past two seasons. Not a bad bet this is Fords best opportunity.

[ben_the_eskimo]

https://youtu.be/XMcv6K3vd6Y?si=34PY0F8mNGHciXpy

Ford confirms Edmonton never considered restructuring or keeping him here.

Hope he can find success in Hamilton. Im shocked that BLM has stayed so healthy past two seasons. Not a bad bet this is Fords best opportunity.

Clearly he was never in the plans (although I think he should have been because on paper we have now downgraded our quarterbacking). I’m wondering if Ed had an agreement with Hamilton to hang onto Ford until the last day so that Hamilton could scoop him right after his release without other teams having a chance to run up the price in exchange for Hamilton letting Powell walk. A kind of trade where Hamilton isn't faced with the awkward decision of having to pay the bonus or cut their new acquisition.

[Looner]

Clearly he was never in the plans (although I think he should have been because on paper we have now downgraded our quarterbacking). I’m wondering if Ed had an agreement with Hamilton to hang onto Ford until the last day so that Hamilton could scoop him right after his release without other teams having a chance to run up the price in exchange for Hamilton letting Powell walk. A kind of trade where Hamilton isn't faced with the awkward decision of having to pay the bonus or cut their new acquisition.

interesting article on Ford

https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/f...-edmonton-elks

[adb]

Clearly he was never in the plans (although I think he should have been because on paper we have now downgraded our quarterbacking). I’m wondering if Ed had an agreement with Hamilton to hang onto Ford until the last day so that Hamilton could scoop him right after his release without other teams having a chance to run up the price in exchange for Hamilton letting Powell walk. A kind of trade where Hamilton isn't faced with the awkward decision of having to pay the bonus or cut their new acquisition.

Yeah probably best for all concerned that it worked out the way it did. Hopefully Powell works out here and Ford gets his career back on track in Hamilton.

[ben_the_eskimo]

Yeah probably best for all concerned that it worked out the way it did. Hopefully Powell works out here and Ford gets his career back on track in Hamilton.

Yeah for sure. I’m rooting for Powell, but there’s nothing about him at this point that has me very excited.

[ben_the_eskimo]

interesting article on Ford

https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/f...-edmonton-elks

It was obviously a huge overstep of boundaries for the president to be meddling in football ops decisions but at the same time I don’t blame them at all for pushing Tre. He was the one QB since Trevor Harris that actually won games for us, and he did it in a way that had people buzzing. People I know who never watch CFL football were coming up to me and talking about Tre Ford and how they were planning to watch (and in some cases go to) games because of him.

[adb]

It was obviously a huge overstep of boundaries for the president to be meddling in football ops decisions but at the same time I don’t blame them at all for pushing Tre. He was the one QB since Trevor Harris that actually won games for us, and he did it in a way that had people buzzing. People I know who never watch CFL football were coming up to me and talking about Tre Ford and how they were planning to watch (and in some cases go to) games because of him.

If he ever figures out how to throw from the pocket combined with his athletic ability he'll be something alright.

[Sectionq]

Clearly he was never in the plans (although I think he should have been because on paper we have now downgraded our quarterbacking). I’m wondering if Ed had an agreement with Hamilton to hang onto Ford until the last day so that Hamilton could scoop him right after his release without other teams having a chance to run up the price in exchange for Hamilton letting Powell walk. A kind of trade where Hamilton isn't faced with the awkward decision of having to pay the bonus or cut their new acquisition.

I know we debated Ford a little while ago but I see you are still saying losing Ford is a downgrade at QB. You are clearly a fan of Ford which is totally fine but are you able to explain how it's a downgrade to the Elks at the QB position without using the clear bias you have towards him?

From my perspective, I am struggling to understand your viewpoint because IMO, the point of having players on a roster is they are seen as useful options by the coach, assistants and GM to give the team the best chance of winning. There is no such player that is perfect IMO but whether they are starters or back ups, the entire team should be filled with players who check as many boxes as possible to make it so the coaching staff wants/believes/is comfortable playing them in whatever role they are in then the situation calls for them to play.

Football is IMO one of the ultimate team sports. In the case of the CFL, for every play you have 12 guys on the field that have a specific job to do. If even 1 guy doesn't do his job on a play, the likelihood that play will succeed drops off dramatically. This is definitely the case of the QB who controls the play because he has the ball in his hands first. You don't win football games very often based on paper talent or just a guy being more athletic than other guys.

The coaching staff is going to create an offensive scheme based how they want the game to be played, what works in the CFL and based on the players they have on the roster. They are also going to ask the GM to bring in guys who fit the style of player they want and think can execute the offense they want to run.

In the case of Ford, he's probably one of the most athletic guys in the CFL I would guess. He has the ability to get yardage straight up because he's faster than guys. That's great. We all saw that. Sometimes, the Elks won strictly because he out ran guys. But as we also saw, it's extremely difficult to have sustained success based on broken plays and a guy being really fast. You need a QB who can consistently go out onto the field and run the offense as it's called. He didn't show he could do that. In watching him play for 4 years, I am not sure he can excel under a specific offensive scheme that requires him to call certain plays and do certain things. He to me looks like a guy who in order to excel, it has to be adlib plays. He calls a play and if that play isn't wide open immediately after the ball is snapped to him, he abandons the play and looks to adlib which is him mostly running around waiting until some guy gets open or he takes off and runs. I don't think you can have a successful offense that way because you'd never know what's going to happen play to play. How do you stock a roster with guys that compliment him when you have no clue what will happen each play. Do you have a bunch of Olinemen that aren't big but super fast and athletic so they can run around with him all over the field? You probably don't want overly fast or great route running receivers, you probably just want really big guys that can block really well when he takes off and runs which will probably be a lot plus be really tall so he can fling up balls and they can go get them.

So based on what happened with Ford this year with Kilam and the OC, they clearly came to the conclusion they could not play Ford because they didn't trust him, didn't believe in his ability to run a consistent, successful offense and probably felt they couldn't come up with a scheme that would work for him but also one that the other 11 guys could execute on a consistent basis. So he never played after 5 games.

So back to my original question and I am sorry for being long winded but I really wanted to be clear where I was coming from. So if the team has a player who the coach staff doesn't believe can help the team win and isn't comfortable playing him, (I based this on the fact he didn't get a single snap after 5 games) how is to the teams benefit to keep that guy on the roster regardless of the paper talent he might have? I don't pretend to know Powell as well as Ford, I assume he is not as fast or athletic as Ford is, but they clearly feel he has other attributes other than running speed that fit better with the players they have on the roster, their offensive scheme and how they want the game to be played. So I don't see how replacing Ford with a QB that the coach actually might play and potentially is more comfortable with, can be seen as downgrading the position. Having Ford holding a clipboard on the sidelines every game but the coach unwilling to ever play him, doesn't help them win.

[ben_the_eskimo]

I know we debated Ford a little while ago but I see you are still saying losing Ford is a downgrade at QB. You are clearly a fan of Ford which is totally fine but are you able to explain how it's a downgrade to the Elks at the QB position without using the clear bias you have towards him?

From my perspective, I am struggling to understand your viewpoint because IMO, the point of having players on a roster is they are seen as useful options by the coach, assistants and GM to give the team the best chance of winning. There is no such player that is perfect IMO but whether they are starters or back ups, the entire team should be filled with players who check as many boxes as possible to make it so the coaching staff wants/believes/is comfortable playing them in whatever role they are in then the situation calls for them to play.

Football is IMO one of the ultimate team sports. In the case of the CFL, for every play you have 12 guys on the field that have a specific job to do. If even 1 guy doesn't do his job on a play, the likelihood that play will succeed drops off dramatically. This is definitely the case of the QB who controls the play because he has the ball in his hands first. You don't win football games very often based on paper talent or just a guy being more athletic than other guys.

The coaching staff is going to create an offensive scheme based how they want the game to be played, what works in the CFL and based on the players they have on the roster. They are also going to ask the GM to bring in guys who fit the style of player they want and think can execute the offense they want to run.

In the case of Ford, he's probably one of the most athletic guys in the CFL I would guess. He has the ability to get yardage straight up because he's faster than guys. That's great. We all saw that. Sometimes, the Elks won strictly because he out ran guys. But as we also saw, it's extremely difficult to have sustained success based on broken plays and a guy being really fast. You need a QB who can consistently go out onto the field and run the offense as it's called. He didn't show he could do that. In watching him play for 4 years, I am not sure he can excel under a specific offensive scheme that requires him to call certain plays and do certain things. He to me looks like a guy who in order to excel, it has to be adlib plays. He calls a play and if that play isn't wide open immediately after the ball is snapped to him, he abandons the play and looks to adlib which is him mostly running around waiting until some guy gets open or he takes off and runs. I don't think you can have a successful offense that way because you'd never know what's going to happen play to play. How do you stock a roster with guys that compliment him when you have no clue what will happen each play. Do you have a bunch of Olinemen that aren't big but super fast and athletic so they can run around with him all over the field? You probably don't want overly fast or great route running receivers, you probably just want really big guys that can block really well when he takes off and runs which will probably be a lot plus be really tall so he can fling up balls and they can go get them.

So based on what happened with Ford this year with Kilam and the OC, they clearly came to the conclusion they could not play Ford because they didn't trust him, didn't believe in his ability to run a consistent, successful offense and probably felt they couldn't come up with a scheme that would work for him but also one that the other 11 guys could execute on a consistent basis. So he never played after 5 games.

So back to my original question and I am sorry for being long winded but I really wanted to be clear where I was coming from. So if the team has a player who the coach staff doesn't believe can help the team win and isn't comfortable playing him, (I based this on the fact he didn't get a single snap after 5 games) how is to the teams benefit to keep that guy on the roster regardless of the paper talent he might have? I don't pretend to know Powell as well as Ford, I assume he is not as fast or athletic as Ford is, but they clearly feel he has other attributes other than running speed that fit better with the players they have on the roster, their offensive scheme and how they want the game to be played. So I don't see how replacing Ford with a QB that the coach actually might play and potentially is more comfortable with, can be seen as downgrading the position. Having Ford holding a clipboard on the sidelines every game but the coach unwilling to ever play him, doesn't help them win.

I’ve stated my reasons many times (which you must not have read seeing as you are trying to reduce my entire viewpoint to a simple fan bias) but essentially I’m basing it off simple logic. Mostly I see it as a function of production at the pro level vs level of training he has received. I think you have to reduce your thought process to something objectively quantifiable like that otherwise you risk getting pulled into the weeds.

I think we can all agree that as far as backup QBs that offer the best combination of experience AND youth who were available this off season, Ford and Powell were the top two options.

So if I’m comparing those two directly I see that Ford has put up better numbers with less development and possesses a more dynamic skillset than Powell more traditional one. So when you put that all together it would seem to suggest that Ford may have a higher ceiling than Powell.

So thats what my opinion is based on for now until we have more evidence.

If you want to debate organizational fit then that is a whole different topic entirely, hence why I would not include a guess on what Mark Kilam thinks of him personally in my calculation when discussing my opinion that Ford has more potential than Powell, because that would be purely speculative and therefore irrelevant.

So to summarize, the way I see it is Ford represents a slightly higher risk but potentially higher ceiling option, where as Powell presents a slightly lower risk with maybe a slightly lower potential ceiling. That being said, if I had to look into a crystal ball and tell you ten years from now which one will have had a bigger impact on the league I think it’s basically a coin flip right now. And if all else being equal I generally tend to prefer taking a shot on the home grown option vs clamouring for some other teams cast off.

[Sectionq]

I’ve stated my reasons many times (which you must not have read seeing as you are trying to reduce my entire viewpoint to a simple fan bias) but essentially I’m basing it off simple logic. Mostly I see it as a function of production at the pro level vs level of training he has received. I think you have to reduce your thought process to something objectively quantifiable like that otherwise you risk getting pulled into the weeds.

I think we can all agree that as far as backup QBs that offer the best combination of experience AND youth who were available this off season, Ford and Powell were the top two options.

So if I’m comparing those two directly I see that Ford has put up better numbers with less development and possesses a more dynamic skillset than Powell more traditional one. So when you put that all together it would seem to suggest that Ford may have a higher ceiling than Powell.

So thats what my opinion is based on for now until we have more evidence.

If you want to debate organizational fit then that is a whole different topic entirely, hence why I would not include a guess on what Mark Kilam thinks of him personally in my calculation when discussing my opinion that Ford has more potential than Powell, because that would be purely speculative and therefore irrelevant.

So to summarize, the way I see it is Ford represents a slightly higher risk but potentially higher ceiling option, where as Powell presents a slightly lower risk with maybe a slightly lower potential ceiling. That being said, if I had to look into a crystal ball and tell you ten years from now which one will have had a bigger impact on the league I think it’s basically a coin flip right now. And if all else being equal I generally tend to prefer taking a shot on the home grown option vs clamouring for some other teams cast off.

I would assume, you'd agree that a football team needs to stock their roster with players who the coach will actually play, do you not?

I read everything you said which is why I asked the question several times because your argument does not make any sense what so ever if you are basing it on what's best for the team which is having as many good players on the roster that the coach WILL PLAY. Which is why IMO, your argument is base on you personally liking the player. Which I get. He can be an exciting player to watch when he is running around adlibbing but the coach will not play him. He showed that by not playing him for months on end. He showed where Ford stood when it comes to the 2026 team by not playing him what so ever in the last game of the year where that was an opportunity to try guys out and see where they are at development wise. He said that by saying Ford would benefit from being on another team. Kilam doesn't want to play Ford.

Like I keep saying. If the coach won't play him, regardless of how talented that player might be, he brings no value to the team. Kilam and the OC have decided not playing Ford is better for the team. That's a fact. You don't have to like it or agree with it but that's the decision they have made. So by keeping Ford, even if they restructured his deal, they'd be paying a guy 200K or whatever the number is plus taking up a roster spot for a guy who unless there is no other guy available, he won't see the field. The coaches have established that and the GM is clearly on the same page if he was OK to release him and by the sounds of it, made zero attempt to restructure. So the only alternative would be to fire Kilam, probably the OC and maybe even Hervey and bring in other people who will play Ford.

[Looner]

I understand what Ben is trying to say and you're looking at it from a different angle. Both of which can be right. To put it in hockey terms McDavid is better then Panarin (Bens Ford view) but lets say the current coaching staff prefers Panarin, do you make that swap or do you ask the coaching staff to figure it out? The right answer, at least in my opinion, is to give the coach what he wants so that the team is formed the way he wants, which is what Hervey has done here.

[ben_the_eskimo]

I would assume, you'd agree that a football team needs to stock their roster with players who the coach will actually play, do you not?

Of course but that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m not talking about what I think Kilam might want or think. I’m talking strictly about which prospect I think has more upside long term.

And at this point in time I think Ford has a slight edge but only time will tell. Kilam has placed his bet on Powell so I hope it pans out.

[ben_the_eskimo]

I understand what Ben is trying to say and you're looking at it from a different angle. Both of which can be right. To put it in hockey terms McDavid is better then Panarin (Bens Ford view) but lets say the current coaching staff prefers Panarin, do you make that swap or do you ask the coaching staff to figure it out? The right answer, at least in my opinion, is to give the coach what he wants so that the team is formed the way he wants, which is what Hervey has done here.

Exactly. The potential of a given player in a vacuum vs player fit on a particular team are two different discussions as far as I’m concerned.

Clearly Ed and Mark have decided that Tre doesn’t fit with their long term vision for the club and that’s fine, but I still think he’s got a ton of upside. Milanovich might just be the guy to unlock that potential for him.

[Sectionq]

I understand what Ben is trying to say and you're looking at it from a different angle. Both of which can be right. To put it in hockey terms McDavid is better then Panarin (Bens Ford view) but lets say the current coaching staff prefers Panarin, do you make that swap or do you ask the coaching staff to figure it out? The right answer, at least in my opinion, is to give the coach what he wants so that the team is formed the way he wants, which is what Hervey has done here.

If the coach has made the decision they like Panarin better, regardless of what anyone else thinks or even if the other player is better, as you said, you have to give the coach what he wants. Having a player the coach either doesn't trust or doesn't like or won't play, is pointless. All the team is doing is paying money and using up a roster spot on a guy that will just sit on the bench and watch. It's better to put that money and roster spot towards a guy that the coach will actually use.

[Sectionq]

Exactly. The potential of a given player in a vacuum vs player fit on a particular team are two different discussions as far as I’m concerned.

Clearly Ed and Mark have decided that Tre doesn’t fit with their long term vision for the club and that’s fine, but I still think he’s got a ton of upside. Milanovich might just be the guy to unlock that potential for him.

This is exactly what I have been saying.

I agree Ford as a pure athlete is better than Powel. If Ford the athlete can turn into a better, more consistent QB, then he could be really good. Even better he's Canadian. But for the Elks, that doesn't matter. The coach, OC and GM have decided they don't see him as a useable player for whatever reason. So where I disagree with you is when you said they should have tried to restructure and kept him based on his potential. IMO that's a complete waste of money, practice time and a roster spot because the coaches and GM don't see him as an option to play. So he will either just sit on the bench or maybe not even dress doing nothing but earning a paycheck and taking away time and reps from a guy who the coach might actually play.

The GM has to give the coach players he wants period, regardless if another guy might be better.