Upon Further Review | Banjo Bowl | Wpg 19 Sask 6

The Blue Bombers had fallen in love with the film of the Universite de Montreal defensive back, saying he had the 'best special teams tape' of anyone in the draft that year and loved his versatility.

But it was during our chat that the first hints of what Blue Bombers would eventually get from the son of Algerian immigrants started to come into focus.

First, Kramdi conducted the interview while at his old school stating, "I wanted to come back here to thank my old head coach and some of the teachers and people who supported me, especially at a time like this.” He spoke of how thankful he was for his family and their sacrifices, too, and how honoured he was to have been chosen by the Blue Bombers.

And second, when asked at what position Kramdi was best suited, he paused for a moment before declaring this:

“My best position? My best position is defence. I said this during my (draft) interview with Winnipeg: ‘Whatever you need me to play I’m going to try and be the best.’ That’s my mentality. I just love football. I love to learn about football. I love to play football. And the more I learn and play, the happier I am.

“I’m studying business at U de M, but my goal is to stay around football. I’d love to be a coach, a scout or even a GM someday. I just want to stay in the game because I love it so much.”

Fast forward now to Saturday's 19-6 Blue Bombers win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 22nd annual Banjo Bowl and, really, could there have been a more accurate pre-draft scouting report or a more bang-on self-scout than what is listed above?

Kramdi showcased his immense value to the Blue Bombers on Saturday after missing the previous six games due to injury. He finished with three tackles, a forced fumble and an interception, but just as important was his presence in the defensive huddle.

As evidence, we serve up some post-game snippets from his own teammates:

Evan Holm: "He's a huge factor. He forced two turnovers. He makes sure we're on the right page. It's great having him back. He's a great player."

Willie Jefferson: "Redha means a lot to this defence. As soon as he went down and in the games following that game, we still needed Redha to be a voice in the meeting room and on the practice field and on the sidelines for the games he was able to travel to.

"But having him on the field with us and being able to communicate to the back end to the DBs and then being able to step into the box and let the linebackers and defensive line know how we want the defence to move on certain downs and distances... it played a huge role."

Mike O'Shea: "Guys know where to go to for the answers after hours when coaches are off planning, and they need to watch more film or text somebody, they go to Redha. And he’s usually sitting in the offensive meeting room with the quarterbacks. He’s not underrated in this building. I don’t think he’s underrated in the league, either. I think guys understand how good he is."

After Friday's win we asked O'Shea about Kramdi's toughness -- remember, the dude is listed at 5-10, 189 but plays about a foot taller and 50 pounds heavier -- and the Blue Bombers boss offered this:

"I think toughness is more something that you have in your own head. I don’t think anybody would tell Redha to his face that he isn’t tough. It doesn’t matter your size, your weight or anything like that. And it goes the other way. You can be tough, but if you don’t believe it, you aren’t. Redha is very mentally strong. Physically tough. He’s awesome."

And when he was asked if they thought this guy with the great special teams film and versatility in college could morph into what he is today, O'Shea grinned.

"You get him in the building, and you realize, like our quarterbacks, he’s a football junkie," he said. "He just has this thirst for knowledge and he retains it. He can put it out into practice and in a five second conversation, he can go execute that in practice. And he can get everybody else executing at a high level.

" Until you get him in the building you might not know that, but has it worked out? Absolutely."

ICYMI, the link to our Game Recap is here.

And what follows is the rest is this week's edition of UPON FURTHER REVIEW...

THREE NUMBERS WHICH JUMPED OUT AFTER A SECOND GLANCE AT THE STATS SHEET:

1. Brady Oliveira made history in Saturday's win, becoming the first Canadian to post a 1,000-yard rushing season for five straight seasons, surpassing Normie Kwong (Edmonton, 1955-58) to move into sole possession of this very cool record.

Oliveira also rushed 14 times for exactly 100 yards -- his sixth 100-yard effort this season and fifth in the last seven games. Remember when everyone in Bomberland was clamouring for him to get more touches -- and rightfully so?

Well, consider this: Oliveira now has 1,084 yards this season and is on pace to rush for the second-most yards in his career, behind the 1,534 he had in 2023. Using the pace he has set in the last seven games -- an average of 94.4 yards -- and he'll set a new career high.

A proud Winnipegger and Canadian, Oliveira keeps getting reminded of all these achievements and is always first to thank his offensive line.

It's all here in his post-game interview; in case you missed it:

2. There are a ton of numbers to like from the Blue Bombers defensive effort on Saturday, including limiting a potent Roughrider offence to just two field goals -- the lowest during the current regime of head coach Corey Mace and offensive coordinator Marc Mueller.

Winnipeg also forced five turnovers, registered a sack and also forced seven punts among Saskatchewan's 15 possessions. Inside all that was this gaudy number, too: Winnipeg limited the Roughriders to just four conversions in 22 second-down opportunities, or a paltry 18 per cent.

The Blue Bombers also finished with 10 pass knockdowns in an indication of how tight the coverage was on Saskatchewan's receivers.

"JY (defensive coordinator Jordan Younger) is unbelievably smart and a great teacher," said O'Shea. "Not to take anything away from this one, but I believe the guys have now more evidence that says if we execute at a higher level, we can make more plays

"So, that’s what it can look like if we execute at a higher level than we have been. In the last game, I don’t think we executed at a high enough level and it’s overtime. This one, we did, and we gave up six points."

3. We spoke a few weeks ago of nasty stretch of four games the Blue Bombers were heading into, calling the then upcoming games against Edmonton, Montreal and the back-to-back with Saskatchewan as 'The Gauntlet.'

The Blue Bombers went 2-2 over that stretch and the two losses featured a solid first half in Edmonton before losing on a walk-off field goal and a setback in overtime on Labour Day.

"It's good. I wish we could have gone 4-0, 3-1," said Willie Jefferson. "The game in Sask was a tough game, a close game, but that's football. We want to worry about the weeks ahead. We've got Toronto coming to our spot after the bye week. We're going to take this bye week to get our bodies right, our minds right because there's no more bye weeks after this for the rest of the season.

"We're going to take this one and enjoy it and then get ready to go to work."

KUDOS TO TOMMY NIELD... who has had some ups and downs through the first two thirds of the season but got into the end zone for the first time on a 31-pass from Zach Collaros.

"It's exciting to do it on the Banjo Bowl, but it's a play I'm supposed to make and a play I made, so... it felt good for sure, though. First one in blue and I just want to keep stacking good days," said Nield.

"It was a great play call and just dialled up at the right time."

Ask if the Banjo Bowl win could serve as a springboard, Nield added:

"The sky's the limit for this team. We can hang with anyone and we know that. It's just a matter of being consistent and playing team football and putting good days together, stacking days."