2025-2026 Offseason thread

[dealerd]

https://x.com/dave_ched/status/2019554274339090864?s=46 A key Canadian resigning

[dealerd]

I think you're greatly overrating Dolegala. I think Hamilton is keeping him more for his short yardage abilities than as backup QB. He's going to be their version of Riders' Tommy Stevens albeit with more upside to be QB if Hamilton needs to call upon QB3. Much like the previous Farhan quote about Powell having a lower ceiling than Ford but higher floor same goes for Dolegala. Compared to Powell Dolegala has bother a lower ceiling and lower floor. Jake's ceiling is fringe QB2 or decent QB3.

Dolegala has a BIG arm and could throw a 70 plus yards , he is also very capable of being a solid number 2 , plus he is a big body

[dealerd]

We will let Powell’s play speak for itself ,unlike the other guy

[Looner]

Dolegala has a BIG arm and could throw a 70 plus yards , he is also very capable of being a solid number 2 , plus he is a big body

disagree, he's been in the league for 4 seasons and hasn't shown the ability to be anything other than a serviceable backup. He has 12 TDs vs 11 INT's and a career completion percentage of 62%, which aren't great numbers

[Looner]

https://x.com/dave_ched/status/2019554274339090864?s=46 A key Canadian resigning

Plamondon is a great dude and is versatile.

[Sectionq]

We will let Powell’s play speak for itself ,unlike the other guy

Tre Ford to me is the Elks Jesse Puljujarvi for the Oilers.

There were fans that it didn't matter what JP did on the ice or more correctly what he didn't do, they liked him. They thought he got a raw deal. They called for him to play more, play higher up than he was capable of and were pissed when it didn't happen. He had "potential". When the Oilers finally had enough and traded him away for nothing, they were pissed, called it a mistake, felt they should have kept him, because he had "potential". He just needed more time. 3 other NHL teams took at look at JP because he had potential. Those 3 NHL teams have give another combined 70 NHL games and 39 AHL games to see if there was anything there. He's in the Swiss league now. He got 387 NHL games, which is way more than 1000's of players ever get, to prove he could play in the NHL, he couldn't do it. IMO he got that many games based on where he was drafted because players drafted that high should make the NHL and be good players because of their "potential".

Could JP have been a better player, even a consistent bottom 6 guy, if the Oilers didn't bring him over right after the draft? Maybe. Could a complete year in the AHL year 1 of changed things? Maybe. But that's not what the player wanted so it didn't happen. Regardless, it's pretty clear to me the first mistake made was him being taken that high. The scouts got it wrong, not only the Oilers but every scout that rated him that high. He should have been taken way, way later, probably rounds later because he was so raw and needed a lot of time to develop to maybe reach the potential he had. If he was taken way later, then the pressure is off the team to validate the #3 overall. Guys taken that high are supposed to be NHL ready and be good players very quickly. They aren't supposed to take years just to be able to be a full time bottom 6 guy. The pressure would have also been off the player and he probably would have been more receptive to it taking longer to get to the NHL.

Back to Ford because I see him as very similar. He has tons of raw talent and "potential" that clearly needs a lot of time to refine. Ford got 60 games dressed with 23 starts. Considering there are young QB's who come up from the US every single year, coming from way better colleges than Waterloo, playing way higher level football, with better college stats than Ford, with skills more refined than Ford's, have better paper pedigree who don't even make it out of camps, let alone get 23 starts to prove you can do it, I think Ford got a fair chance to show the ELks if he could do it. Could he have been handled a little better early on like JP, sure. But he got 4 yrs of development to figure it out and he didn't. IMO he got as much rope as he did because of where he was drafted which is pretty high and because he's Canadian. In the CFL, every team NEEDS Canadians that can start and play. So when it comes to the draft, teams NEED those high draft picks to hit and hit quickly. If they don't, it can be crippling. Teams can't be spending first rounders on projects that take 4, 5, 6 yrs to become a consistent player if they do at all. Ford has lots of raw talent and there is flashes of a very good player but he's going to go into year 5 of his development where he probably won't play much which is what he needs. Then in year 6, maybe he can play more consistently, if it happens at all. So for the Elks, its pretty clear to me, just like JP for the Oilers, he never should have been taken that high because he's too big of a project. If he was taken in the way lower rounds as a flyer, probably different story. Then you don't have the pressure of him having to work out quickly to justify the pick. Realistically, he probably should have spent the first 2-3 yrs as the #3 who maybe gets short yardage snaps, then by year 4, maybe he's ready to be the back up for the next season or 2, then be a starter. But at 8th overall, it's pretty hard for a team to be looking at 4 yr project just to be a back up, then a 6 yr project to maybe become a starter.

So while I can agree with some in here that pure raw talent, Ford is probably better than Powell. I agree with letting Ford go because it was time and I agree with replacing him with a more stable, predictable player when you are trying to be a winning team again which has to happen if there is any chance to win back the fans and they have to start winning games right away. The Elks can't afford another losing season where the team is basically out of it by August because they got off to another slow start while their young, raw starter continues to try and figure it out.

[ben_the_eskimo]

Tre Ford to me is the Elks Jesse Puljujarvi for the Oilers.

There were fans that it didn't matter what JP did on the ice or more correctly what he didn't do, they liked him. They thought he got a raw deal. They called for him to play more, play higher up than he was capable of and were pissed when it didn't happen. He had "potential". When the Oilers finally had enough and traded him away for nothing, they were pissed, called it a mistake, felt they should have kept him, because he had "potential". He just needed more time. 3 other NHL teams took at look at JP because he had potential. Those 3 NHL teams have give another combined 70 NHL games and 39 AHL games to see if there was anything there. He's in the Swiss league now. He got 387 NHL games, which is way more than 1000's of players ever get, to prove he could play in the NHL, he couldn't do it. IMO he got that many games based on where he was drafted because players drafted that high should make the NHL and be good players because of their "potential".

Could JP have been a better player, even a consistent bottom 6 guy, if the Oilers didn't bring him over right after the draft? Maybe. Could a complete year in the AHL year 1 of changed things? Maybe. But that's not what the player wanted so it didn't happen. Regardless, it's pretty clear to me the first mistake made was him being taken that high. The scouts got it wrong, not only the Oilers but every scout that rated him that high. He should have been taken way, way later, probably rounds later because he was so raw and needed a lot of time to develop to maybe reach the potential he had. If he was taken way later, then the pressure is off the team to validate the #3 overall. Guys taken that high are supposed to be NHL ready and be good players very quickly. They aren't supposed to take years just to be able to be a full time bottom 6 guy. The pressure would have also been off the player and he probably would have been more receptive to it taking longer to get to the NHL.

Back to Ford because I see him as very similar. He has tons of raw talent and "potential" that clearly needs a lot of time to refine. Ford got 60 games dressed with 23 starts. Considering there are young QB's who come up from the US every single year, coming from way better colleges than Waterloo, playing way higher level football, with better college stats than Ford, with skills more refined than Ford's, have better paper pedigree who don't even make it out of camps, let alone get 23 starts to prove you can do it, I think Ford got a fair chance to show the ELks if he could do it. Could he have been handled a little better early on like JP, sure. But he got 4 yrs of development to figure it out and he didn't. IMO he got as much rope as he did because of where he was drafted which is pretty high and because he's Canadian. In the CFL, every team NEEDS Canadians that can start and play. So when it comes to the draft, teams NEED those high draft picks to hit and hit quickly. If they don't, it can be crippling. Teams can't be spending first rounders on projects that take 4, 5, 6 yrs to become a consistent player if they do at all. Ford has lots of raw talent and there is flashes of a very good player but he's going to go into year 5 of his development where he probably won't play much which is what he needs. Then in year 6, maybe he can play more consistently, if it happens at all. So for the Elks, its pretty clear to me, just like JP for the Oilers, he never should have been taken that high because he's too big of a project. If he was taken in the way lower rounds as a flyer, probably different story. Then you don't have the pressure of him having to work out quickly to justify the pick. Realistically, he probably should have spent the first 2-3 yrs as the #3 who maybe gets short yardage snaps, then by year 4, maybe he's ready to be the back up for the next season or 2, then be a starter. But at 8th overall, it's pretty hard for a team to be looking at 4 yr project just to be a back up, then a 6 yr project to maybe become a starter.

So while I can agree with some in here that pure raw talent, Ford is probably better than Powell. I agree with letting Ford go because it was time and I agree with replacing him with a more stable, predictable player when you are trying to be a winning team again which has to happen if there is any chance to win back the fans and they have to start winning games right away. The Elks can't afford another losing season where the team is basically out of it by August because they got off to another slow start while their young, raw starter continues to try and figure it out.

I can agree with a lot of this. The only instance I would consider it acceptable to give a first round pick 4 plus years to put it all together is in the case of a quarterback because that is more or less in line with the average timeline for legitimate starting QBs to become ready to take the reins in this league. And for that reason you don’t usually see QBs taken in the early rounds because they’re almost always a long term project at best. But Ford was able to climb up the board based on raw athleticism.

But yeah for the most part, I expect my first rounders to contribute essentially from day one in some way shape or form.

Milanovich is known as a QB whisperer so he might just be the guy for Ford, even though on paper they seem to clash stylistically. Unfortunately for Tre, he never had a coach in his time here who knew how to utilize his strengths while also developing his weaknesses, or a proper mentor to learn from (until Cody last season).

Not sure about Z until we see him in game action, but our top three QBs all seem to be game managers which can be pretty boring but can also win football games when effective.

[Looner]

Tre Ford to me is the Elks Jesse Puljujarvi for the Oilers.

There were fans that it didn't matter what JP did on the ice or more correctly what he didn't do, they liked him. They thought he got a raw deal. They called for him to play more, play higher up than he was capable of and were pissed when it didn't happen. He had "potential". When the Oilers finally had enough and traded him away for nothing, they were pissed, called it a mistake, felt they should have kept him, because he had "potential". He just needed more time. 3 other NHL teams took at look at JP because he had potential. Those 3 NHL teams have give another combined 70 NHL games and 39 AHL games to see if there was anything there. He's in the Swiss league now. He got 387 NHL games, which is way more than 1000's of players ever get, to prove he could play in the NHL, he couldn't do it. IMO he got that many games based on where he was drafted because players drafted that high should make the NHL and be good players because of their "potential".

Could JP have been a better player, even a consistent bottom 6 guy, if the Oilers didn't bring him over right after the draft? Maybe. Could a complete year in the AHL year 1 of changed things? Maybe. But that's not what the player wanted so it didn't happen. Regardless, it's pretty clear to me the first mistake made was him being taken that high. The scouts got it wrong, not only the Oilers but every scout that rated him that high. He should have been taken way, way later, probably rounds later because he was so raw and needed a lot of time to develop to maybe reach the potential he had. If he was taken way later, then the pressure is off the team to validate the #3 overall. Guys taken that high are supposed to be NHL ready and be good players very quickly. They aren't supposed to take years just to be able to be a full time bottom 6 guy. The pressure would have also been off the player and he probably would have been more receptive to it taking longer to get to the NHL.

Back to Ford because I see him as very similar. He has tons of raw talent and "potential" that clearly needs a lot of time to refine. Ford got 60 games dressed with 23 starts. Considering there are young QB's who come up from the US every single year, coming from way better colleges than Waterloo, playing way higher level football, with better college stats than Ford, with skills more refined than Ford's, have better paper pedigree who don't even make it out of camps, let alone get 23 starts to prove you can do it, I think Ford got a fair chance to show the ELks if he could do it. Could he have been handled a little better early on like JP, sure. But he got 4 yrs of development to figure it out and he didn't. IMO he got as much rope as he did because of where he was drafted which is pretty high and because he's Canadian. In the CFL, every team NEEDS Canadians that can start and play. So when it comes to the draft, teams NEED those high draft picks to hit and hit quickly. If they don't, it can be crippling. Teams can't be spending first rounders on projects that take 4, 5, 6 yrs to become a consistent player if they do at all. Ford has lots of raw talent and there is flashes of a very good player but he's going to go into year 5 of his development where he probably won't play much which is what he needs. Then in year 6, maybe he can play more consistently, if it happens at all. So for the Elks, its pretty clear to me, just like JP for the Oilers, he never should have been taken that high because he's too big of a project. If he was taken in the way lower rounds as a flyer, probably different story. Then you don't have the pressure of him having to work out quickly to justify the pick. Realistically, he probably should have spent the first 2-3 yrs as the #3 who maybe gets short yardage snaps, then by year 4, maybe he's ready to be the back up for the next season or 2, then be a starter. But at 8th overall, it's pretty hard for a team to be looking at 4 yr project just to be a back up, then a 6 yr project to maybe become a starter.

So while I can agree with some in here that pure raw talent, Ford is probably better than Powell. I agree with letting Ford go because it was time and I agree with replacing him with a more stable, predictable player when you are trying to be a winning team again which has to happen if there is any chance to win back the fans and they have to start winning games right away. The Elks can't afford another losing season where the team is basically out of it by August because they got off to another slow start while their young, raw starter continues to try and figure it out.

Agree with most of this as well. I think turning the keys over to him last year was his opportunity to take the ball and run with it but alas he didn't seize his opportunity. Removing him from the team was the right call, now that we have Powell, as there isn't the distraction of his raw talent enticing fans. My earlier concern was what would happen if Fajardo went down? They solved that with the addition of Powell, who has shown he can win games in the CFL.

[Hammer24]

Dolegala has a BIG arm and could throw a 70 plus yards , he is also very capable of being a solid number 2 , plus he is a big body

Dolegala's NFL.com draft profile lists one time Rider Paxton Lynch as his comparable. That makes sense as they are identical in size; both 6'7 242. As you say about Dolegala Lynch's top strengths in his draft profile were strong arm and his size/strength. Lynch was a 1st round pick by Denver in 2016. A decade later he's toiling in the National Arena League. Going into his 3rd training camp with Denver he was pencilled in as QB2 behind Case Keenum. By the end of camp Chad Kelly and Keith Hogan had passed him on the depth chart and he would be cut. After bouncing thru Seattle and Pittsburgh without playing a down he wound up in Saskatchewan in 2021 where he never played a down. After bouncing around with pit stops with 3 USFL/XFL clubs he's in the NAL at the ripe old age of 31.

Big arm is all fine and dandy but isn't much good if it isn't accurate. As for mobility Dolegala seems to be in Danny McManus's class. He ran a 5.04 40 on his pro day.

Dolegala's NFL draft profile. The weaknesses seem to outweigh the strengths:

Overview
Intriguing developmental quarterback with outstanding size, NFL arm talent and a profile that makes improvement easier to project. Dolegala's production is unimpressive in a vacuum, but he had very little talent surrounding him and was hurt by excessive drops. He needs to throw with better timing and placement as a pro and learning to read defenses will take time. He is a Day 3 talent with projectable upside, but the floor is also expected to be lower for him.

Strengths
Good size and overall durability. Numbers across the board saw an upswing this season. Natural and confident throwing from rollout in either direction. Squares shoulders to deliver throws on the move. Experienced working under center. Maintains a level of poise when pocket heats up. Smooth, quick feet in dropback and setup. NFL arm strength. Ball handling happens with good pace. Massive 11 1/8-inch hands.

Weaknesses
Had 23 fumbles over three years as starter. Accuracy and ball placement are below average. Needs to do a better job of throwing receivers open. Inconsistent timing to get the ball out. Lunges up and into front foot when driving the ball. Makes receivers break stride. Needs to hang in a tick longer against pressure. Not much feel for trajectory on deep throws. Rushes it out and underthrows target in face of pressure. Difficult transition against NFL speed and disguised coverages.

[Looner]

Dolegala's NFL.com draft profile lists one time Rider Paxton Lynch as his comparable. That makes sense as they are identical in size; both 6'7 242. As you say about Dolegala Lynch's top strengths in his draft profile were strong arm and his size/strength. Lynch was a 1st round pick by Denver in 2016. A decade later he's toiling in the National Arena League. Going into his 3rd training camp with Denver he was pencilled in as QB2 behind Case Keenum. By the end of camp Chad Kelly and Keith Hogan had passed him on the depth chart and he would be cut. After bouncing thru Seattle and Pittsburgh without playing a down he wound up in Saskatchewan in 2021 where he never played a down. After bouncing around with pit stops with 3 USFL/XFL clubs he's in the NAL at the ripe old age of 31.

Big arm is all fine and dandy but isn't much good if it isn't accurate. As for mobility Dolegala seems to be in Danny McManus's class. He ran a 5.04 40 on his pro day.

Dolegala's NFL draft profile. The weaknesses seem to outweigh the strengths:

Overview
Intriguing developmental quarterback with outstanding size, NFL arm talent and a profile that makes improvement easier to project. Dolegala's production is unimpressive in a vacuum, but he had very little talent surrounding him and was hurt by excessive drops. He needs to throw with better timing and placement as a pro and learning to read defenses will take time. He is a Day 3 talent with projectable upside, but the floor is also expected to be lower for him.

Strengths
Good size and overall durability. Numbers across the board saw an upswing this season. Natural and confident throwing from rollout in either direction. Squares shoulders to deliver throws on the move. Experienced working under center. Maintains a level of poise when pocket heats up. Smooth, quick feet in dropback and setup. NFL arm strength. Ball handling happens with good pace. Massive 11 1/8-inch hands.

Weaknesses
Had 23 fumbles over three years as starter. Accuracy and ball placement are below average. Needs to do a better job of throwing receivers open. Inconsistent timing to get the ball out. Lunges up and into front foot when driving the ball. Makes receivers break stride. Needs to hang in a tick longer against pressure. Not much feel for trajectory on deep throws. Rushes it out and underthrows target in face of pressure. Difficult transition against NFL speed and disguised coverages.

That could be Cornelius's scouting report as well

[Hammer24]

That could be Cornelius's scouting report as well

Likely the list with similar scouting reports is a long one. Interesting that the report lauds him for having massive hands then criticizes him for 23 fumbles. You'd think it would be tough to force fumbles on a guy with such big mitts.

[dealerd]

Hey guys , who else would you like Hervey to focus on signing other than the guys we agreed to Terms with ? Reciever ? Other positions ?

[Brock my Rock]

Bring back Dunbar and Gittens on cheaper deals. I still feel it's our weak spot.

[Looner]

Bring back Dunbar and Gittens on cheaper deals. I still feel it's our weak spot.

wouldn't mind dunbar but I think the upside of the guys we had last year may make him expendable. Also heard an interview with Hervey where he mentioned that he would be filling the special teams holes with drafted players so they have a chance to develop. I thought this was a great approach.

[Sectionq]

Agree with most of this as well. I think turning the keys over to him last year was his opportunity to take the ball and run with it but alas he didn't seize his opportunity. Removing him from the team was the right call, now that we have Powell, as there isn't the distraction of his raw talent enticing fans. My earlier concern was what would happen if Fajardo went down? They solved that with the addition of Powell, who has shown he can win games in the CFL.

Just my opinion but I don't think Ford was ever going to live up to his draft status if he stay in Edmonton. Here's why I think that:

- Part of it is, there is a reason we don't see Canadian QB's come from Canadian University. The reason is, competition just isn't there in Canadian University. The coaching isn't as good, the talent they face isn't as good. That isn't to say Canadians aren't good football players, the development just isn't the same as it in the US where it starts way earlier before college. Plus all the best Canadians go to the US.
- Part of Ford's issues is he lost reps due to covid. So he had 1 less year of college development.
- Part of it is I don't think Ford is a "QB" in the truest sense of what you expect a QB to be in his size, and skillset. I think he is more of a pure athlete with a decent arm. So to turn the athlete into a QB IMO will take longer than a guy who's more of a traditional QB type of player.
- Like I said, I think he was taken too high for where he was at skill wise. Which increased the pressure the team would I assume put on him to turn into what they drafted him to be plus he would probably have extra pressure on himself to live up.
- I do think the team didn't handle him properly early on, I think they clearly rushed him. I also think there was some unwillingness from him to do all that was needed to improve on his home. That includes in practice and in the offseason. I don't have information to confirm that he wasn't putting in all the work he need but just things I have heard talked about, hearing him talk and just my own opinion on not seeing a ton of progression from one season to the next after he would have had multiple offseasons to work on his game.


So I do think being on a new team will do him good. Hamilton didn't draft him. They didn't invest years of time and money into him like the Elks did. So if he doesn't work out, all they lost was 1 yr of salary and a roster spot. They of course want every player they bring in to do well but if he doesn't, Oh well, they tried. So I do think he will be under less pressure than he would have ever been under in Edmonton.