They did a forward somersault dive with a zillion rotations into the Canadian Football League free agent pool, made some dramatic changes to Mike O’Shea’s coaching staff, plucked some new homegrown talent in the draft and unearthed the usual collection of finds from south of the border.
Yet, it could be said the most important player for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as the lights go up on their 2026 season is the most obvious: quarterback Zach Collaros.
Now, no doubt some of you at this point are screaming aloud — ‘thanks for the brilliant insight, Eddie boy’ — but sometimes if the dots are that big, that fat and obviously staring you right in the mug, you simply go ahead and draw the straight lines to connect them all.
Kickoff: Friday, 8 p.m. CDT; McMahon Stadium, Winnipeg
TV/Streaming: TSN, CBS SportsNetwork; CFL+
Radio: 680 CJOB (pre-game: 6 p.m/. CDT); Play-by-play: Derek Taylor/analyst: Doug Brown
Calgary weather forecast: Sunny with a high of 22C; Clear overnight, low 10C
Preseason records: Wpg: 0-2; Cal.: 2-0
PlayNow odds: The Stampeders are favoured by 1.5.
So, let’s not complicate things here: if the Blue Bombers are to flex in the CFL’s West Division again, they’ll need their MIP — Most Important Player — to stay healthy and find his mojo again after his most difficult season in blue and gold a year ago.
And, sure, you could certainly say the same damn thing about every football team in every league, but as Collaros goes in 2026, so go the Blue Bombers.
To that end, they’ve parachuted in a familiar face to him in new offensive coordinator Tommy Condell, went out and snagged the best offensive tackle on the market in Jarell Broxton and added two quality starting receivers in Tim White and Tommy Nield.
The early returns through training camp have been nothing but positive and, with that, hope has again entered the Blue Bombers offensive huddle. And so, Nic Demski, what should we expect this season from Collaros, the veteran 37-year-old pivot who turns 38 in August?
“A lot,” began the veteran receiver this week. “Zach’s a competitor. He’s ready for a lot of big plays and he has a familiar face in Tommy, as well. That revamped him in a way, so I think it’s going to be a great year.
“Zach was very heavily involved in the offseason in making our playbook and installing everything and even when we’re in our meetings, he’s very vocal with what he wants from the receivers and when you delete the assumptions from the quarterback position as well it doesn’t leave a lot of room for error.
“As long as we perform for him, I know he’s going to deliver the ball to where it needs to be.”
This is a massive year for Collaros in so many ways as he enters the final year of his current contract. Over the last two years his touchdown-to-interception differential dipped to 34:31, including a career-high 16 picks last year. Just for context, from 2021 through 2023 that ratio of 90:34 as he won back-to-back CFL Most Outstanding Player Awards in 2021-22.
Yet, ask anyone who has been around him this winter through training camp and they’ll insist his competitive fire is still raging.
“He’s so competitive, man,” said White, one of the new targets. “He’s not just a competitor in the way you might think, he’s internally motivated and driven. If he makes a bad throw, he’s on himself hard. He’s such a leader. Being around him has already been a great experience.
“You see how many reps he takes in practice and you’re like, ‘Man, this guy is driven.’ It makes you want to take more reps as well.”
“He’s still got that fire and that high compete level,” added Nield. “He’s a veteran leader out there. Whatever people may be saying about him, I don’t know. I will say he’s still doing it at a high level.”
Collaros missed five starts last year and didn’t finish a couple other games due to injury. Yet, even with that there were still the flashes of the brilliance that has him now among the franchise QB greats, including a 334-yard/three touchdown effort in a win over Edmonton and 367-yard performance in a victory over Hamilton.
Critical now for the Blue Bombers is to see that more regularly. In short, it’s about fuelling his fire again. Or as Willie Jefferson has said often over the years, the club simply wants to see ‘Zach cook.’
“Even just going against our defence he always wants to win and that’s what makes Zach, Zach,” said Demski. “He very much pays attention to detail and always focussed on his craft. Sometimes I tell the quarterbacks I work with in the offseason to look at Zach’s film and his footwork — his attention to detail and how he hitches and gets the ball out. Everything he does, he’s going full throttle at it and wants to make sure he’s doing it perfect.
“Zach always comes out with something to prove. He’s competitor. I sound like a broken record saying that, but that’s just him. Every year is a new opportunity for him and he sees every year as his last year whether he has a contract in place or not.
“I think he’s going to come out here firing on all cylinders.”
OWN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD AGAIN
A telling number from 2025 that was a massive factor in the team tumbling from the high-rent district to 10-8 and on the road for the first round of the playoffs: Winnipeg was just 4-6 vs. West Division rivals last season, its first losing record in the division since 2018.
That record included three losses to the Stampeders, FYI.
Dating back to 2016 here is the Blue Bombers record vs. the West and overall:
2025 — vs. West: 4-6; overall: 10-8 — 4th in the West
2024 — vs. West: 7-3; overall: 11-7 — 1st in the West
2023 — vs. West: 10-2; overall: 14-4 — 1st in the West
2022 — vs. West: 10-1; overall: 15-3 — 1st in the West
2021 — vs. West: 8-1; overall: 11-3 — 1st in the West*
2019 — vs. West: 7-3; overall: 11-7 — 3rd in the West*
2018 — vs. West: 4-6; overall: 10-8 — 3rd in the West
2017 — vs. West: 6-4; overall: 12-6 — 2nd in the West
2016 — vs. West: 5-5; overall: 11-7 — 3rd in the West
* – Grey Cup champions
Flipping those totals back to a winning mark — especially in what looks again to be an ultra-competitive West Division — could be the difference between a home playoff date or venturing on the road again when the games are sudden victory/sudden death.
NEW FACES
The Blue Bombers have posted a franchise record nine consecutive double-digit win seasons since 2016 and with that run, which includes five straight Grey Cup appearances and two championships, comes a great deal of continuity.
That said, this team has undergone a significant facelift since losing to Montreal in the Eastern Semi-Final last November. There will be eight new starters taking to the field Friday in Calgary in White, Nield and Broxton mentioned above, along with centre Tyler Elsbury on offence and cornerbacks Jonathan Moxey and Major Williams, defensive tackle Jake Ceresna and defensive end Kydran Jenkins on defence.
ICYMI, here’s our piece from Wednesday on the Blue Bombers Fab Free Agent Five in Broxton, White, Nield, Ceresna and Moxey.
48-Hour Primer | Game 1: Blue Bombers at Stampeders
But also worth noting is this: there are also seven other players who are also making their Blue Bombers debuts on Friday including quarterbacks Taylor Elgersma and Bryce Perkins, defensive lineman De’Shaan Dixon and four members of the club’s 2026 CFL Canadian Draft class in defensive end Nuer Gatkuoth, tight end Dante Daniels, defensive back Ethan Stuart and linebacker Brody Clark.
THE CONDELL EFFECT
Each new face has had their ‘wow’ moment or moments in training camp and the two preseason games, but no one change has drawn more consistent praise than Condell, the new offensive coordinator.
Winnipeg’s passing attack has been in decline for a couple of seasons now while the run game with Brady Oliveira has been a mainstay. Consider that just three years ago Winnipeg ranked first in net offence (414.7), first in rushing (139.1), second in passing (292.4) and second in sacks allowed (33).
Last season the Blue Bombers finished second in rushing yards per game (124.1), but ninth in passing (235.0); fifth in net offence (345.7 yards per game) and sixth in sacks allowed (37).
What this attack looks like on Friday will be one of the game’s juicy subplots.
“We’re going to be able to do a lot of stuff here,” said Demski earlier this week. “Tommy has obviously been around this league for a while and that expertise that he brings and all that good stuff.
“With our O-line and the way we run the ball and the way we can pass the ball and attack teams, we’re going to have a lot of explosives in a lot of different ways. Our biggest thing is taking care of the football and we all know that. If we do that effectively I think we’ll be very effective going forward.
“With (Condell’s) expertise and what he’s seen around the league, what he can bring to this offence – and what we have here already – it’s a perfect match made in heaven.”
THE LINEUP: The Blue Bombers depth chart for tomorrow is here:
FULL DEPTH CHART
