Essendon Line Coach Guy McKenna says some returning stars will provide an immediate boost to the Bombers midfield depth.

Several prime movers were cutdown by injury in 2015 as the Bombers season fell away after a promising start.

“There is a good 50% of the ‘A’ and the ‘B’ grade midfield that didn’t play a lot for Essendon last year, so the upside for them in a short period of time will be exciting,” McKenna told Crocmedia.

“Then you throw Craig Bird from the Sydney midfield cloth, it’s only tick, tick, tick from there too.”

The Dons other off-season signing was Matthew Leuenberger.

The ruckman played 108 games for the Brisbane Lions after joining the Club as a number four draft pick.

“His strength is he’s a very athletic ruckman.  He’s done well against some of the modern day rucks which is important,” McKenna said.

“You just want your ruckman to be competitive so that’s all I’ll be asking of our tall timber.”

Leuenberger and Tom Bellchambers will form the nucleus of that “tall timber”. 

Bellchambers played only 10 games last season, but at 26 years of age is entering the prime of his career.

Heath Hocking and David Myers played only seven games between them in 2015. 

While Captain Jobe Watson and Travis Colyer’s season’s were over at the halfway mark.

“You just saw (Hocking's) value doing a lot of grunt work and getting off and kicking goals. 

“Colyer – we know his leg speed and that’s something Essendon haven’t traditionally had a lot of. 

“He missed 10 games and Myers played one game and one quarter.

“His previous season was really encouraging.” 

The Dons midfield could also be boosted at the Draft table later this month, where the Bombers will utilise four picks inside the first 25 selections.