June 19, 2017

Fantasy: Revealing the bye week Bombers

Johany Jutras/CFL.ca

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have the luxury, or annoyance of the first-week bye in the Canadian Football League.

That means you have no idea what their value is going into the 2017 season.

Here is a breakdown of the player values and how I see them to start the year.

QB – Matt Nichols ($10,242)

I’ll tell you again, Nichols is not my fourth-highest quarterback for this season. That value could be very, very accurate but because quarterbacks like Zach Collaros and Trevor Harris played fewer games than Nichols, they had a lower value and could be better plays early. But look out later in the season as Nichols’ value could become a bargain if those other QBs surpass him.


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RB – Andrew Harris ($7,156)

Harris is the fourth-rated running back because he could get into the end zone last year. His yards were fantastic and he is a big part of the offence. Against a Roughriders defence in Week 2 that may still have some questions about stopping the run, I think Harris is almost a must-play with a great bargain price tag.

RB – Timothy Flanders ($3,742)

Flanders’ value skyrockets if something were to happen to Andrew Harris like last year, when Flanders went over 100 yards combined (rush yards and receiving yards) in all three games he started. He also scored twice in those three games.

WR – Darvin Adams ($6,664)

What is with Winnipeg and fourth place? Adams is also the fourth-ranked receiver going into the season and while I think his value may hold steady at that mark, he won’t be the fourth-highest scoring receiver in the CFL this season. That’s why I’d be a lot happier with finding a Bomber receiver lower down the salary chart, at least at the start of the season.

WR – Clarence Denmark ($5,598)

Denmark’s value is high because he was a scoring machine last year, as he nearly had one touchdown for every game he played in. That is also a warning sign that he likely won’t have the same production he had in 2016. Plus, I think the next receiver on the list is going to be of great value early.

If you ask Nye, Denmark will be hard-pressed to match last year’s production (MontrealAlouettes.com)

WR – Weston Dressler ($4,673)

Weston Dressler was the leading receiver in Winnipeg last year, yet has only the third-highest cap hit among receivers. Why? Touchdowns. While Denmark and Adams were scoring them with relative ease, Dressler only caught two touchdown passes last year, despite being the team’s only 1,000-yard receiver. I think Dressler will take some of those TDs away from the aforementioned Adams and Denmark.

The rest of the Bombers receivers come in with a $2,500 value on them. Ryan Lankford or L’Damian Washington are the most likely to become the ultimate bargain bin win if they take snaps and targets away from the starting three international receivers.