Argofans

OV Argo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 19, 2026 4:44 pm Makonzo played very well i thought when first with the EE - and he played at S-OLB where Canadians often do not get a look; he's not going to beat out Pickett, but could be a very good back-up, plus maybe play other spots (extra LB or DB or, safety) in some D packages.

Nice to see the team pay attention to Canadian talent - signings of Kongbo, undrafted receiver Ready, and now Makonzo - and all in areas of need.

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 19, 2026 6:35 pm

OV Argo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 19, 2026 4:44 pm Makonzo played very well i thought when first with the EE - and he played at S-OLB where Canadians often do not get a look; he's not going to beat out Pickett, but could be a very good back-up, plus maybe play other spots (extra LB or DB or, safety) in some D packages.

Nice to see the team pay attention to Canadian talent - signings of Kongbo, undrafted receiver Ready, and now Makonzo - and all in areas of need.

Didn't you recently say the team should not draft any backup LBs? So that is an area of need after all?

OV Argo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 19, 2026 8:23 pm

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 19, 2026 6:35 pm

OV Argo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 19, 2026 4:44 pm Makonzo played very well i thought when first with the EE - and he played at S-OLB where Canadians often do not get a look; he's not going to beat out Pickett, but could be a very good back-up, plus maybe play other spots (extra LB or DB or, safety) in some D packages.

Nice to see the team pay attention to Canadian talent - signings of Kongbo, undrafted receiver Ready, and now Makonzo - and all in areas of need.

Didn't you recently say the team should not draft any backup LBs? So that is an area of need after all?

Makonzo was a hybrid LB/DB in Div I US college ball, and played S-OLB (really an extra DB) with the EE in the CFL. So, IMO, he might have the versatility to play S-OLB and other DB spots (like challenge for starting safety if need be) in certain packages.

The Argos do not need anymore bigger inside LB types when they already have veterans Judge, Varga, Cassar, Herdman_Reed, Harelimana there , plus drafted another (Rayam) last season and have let go a number of other of those LB types (Smith recently) they had drafted or signed in recent past.

However, GOB deep thinking says you can never have enough "Canadian depth", so maybe they should burn a few more draft picks on some more inside LB types (who are not going to get a chance to play MLB anyways), plus a few more "depth" O-lineman.

And in looking at Argo needs - with just 2 experienced Canadian receivers now (Ungerer & Mital), plus the signing of undrafted T. Ready (Carleton),- it is very frustrating to look back at last year's draft and see the Argo "war-room" passed on drafting a couple of outstanding U Sports receiver prospects who were there for the taking - Laurier's Ethan Jordan (who went on to win the Hec last season and ran a 4.4 range 40 at the CFL Combine) and Sask. Husky Daniel Wiebe (very productive big-play receiver with a superb set of Combine testing #s).

Oh well - back to the drawing board in the room this upcoming draft i guess.

ArgoRavi wrote: ↑Thu Feb 19, 2026 11:26 pm

OV Argo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 19, 2026 8:23 pm

paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 19, 2026 6:35 pm

Didn't you recently say the team should not draft any backup LBs? So that is an area of need after all?

Makonzo was a hybrid LB/DB in Div I US college ball, and played S-OLB (really an extra DB) with the EE in the CFL. So, IMO, he might have the versatility to play S-OLB and other DB spots (like challenge for starting safety if need be) in certain packages.

The Argos do not need anymore bigger inside LB types when they already have veterans Judge, Varga, Cassar, Herdman_Reed, Harelimana there , plus drafted another (Rayam) last season and have let go a number of other of those LB types (Smith recently) they had drafted or signed in recent past.

However, GOB deep thinking says you can never have enough "Canadian depth", so maybe they should burn a few more draft picks on some more inside LB types (who are not going to get a chance to play MLB anyways), plus a few more "depth" O-lineman.

And in looking at Argo needs - with just 2 experienced Canadian receivers now (Ungerer & Mital), plus the signing of undrafted T. Ready (Carleton),- it is very frustrating to look back at last year's draft and see the Argo "war-room" passed on drafting a couple of outstanding U Sports receiver prospects who were there for the taking - Laurier's Ethan Jordan (who went on to win the Hec last season and ran a 4.4 range 40 at the CFL Combine) and Sask. Husky Daniel Wiebe (very productive big-play receiver with a superb set of Combine testing #s).

Oh well - back to the drawing board in the room this upcoming draft i guess.

Well, there's an almost entirely new braintrust in place so we shall see what this draft brings. There is a lot of opportunity with 6 picks in the first 31.

I agree that they need more Canadian receiver depth for sure. They signed Tiede as well as Ready. Who are the best receiver prospects this year, OV?

shatto wrote: ↑Fri Feb 20, 2026 12:00 am Free agency is over and one can assume the teams are gearing up for the draft. Until teams know the degree of NFL interest in players and see how the players perform in the combine and in pro days down south, it is impossible to predict which players will be drafted. Hopefully the Argos will concentrate their first 3 selections (2nd, 11th and 16th) on players who will be in training camp. The Argos draft strategy might depend on whether Villain or Shand sign before the draft.

ArgoRavi wrote: ↑Fri Feb 20, 2026 11:03 pm It's only now, after the signings of Shand, Coates and Rayam, and Jeremiah Ojo being given a chance to sink or swim on the d-line, that we can start properly evaluating the 2025 draft for the Argos.