Young Bombers already feel like veterans

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/06/2012 (5188 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It is a monument to how young the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are as a team that among the key “veterans” who reported to 2012 training camp for the first time on Saturday were players who were nothing more than raw rookies just a year ago.

Take defensive end Jason Vega, for instance, who turned 25 years-old only this past Wednesday and yet will be the closest thing the Bombers have to a seasoned veteran on their defensive line heading into the 2012 CFL campaign.

Vega and another second-year Bomber — 24-year-old defensive tackle Bryant Turner — both evolved into bonafide starters over the course of the 2011 season and are the only linemen with even close to a lock on their positions after a winter that saw the Bombers defensive line blown up by the retirement of tackle Doug Brown, signing of tackle Don Oramasionwu by Edmonton and the trade of rush end Odell Willis to Saskatchewan.

So how does it feel, Vega was asked after getting a clean bill of health from doctors who put the veterans through a battery of physicals on Saturday, to go from baby-faced CFL rookie to wily veteran in the span of 12 months?

“I always liked to think that I was a little bit mature beyond my years,” Vega smiled, “so I’m kind of comfortable in my role right now. It’s different — not having the older guys around, especially Doug.

“I had a lot of interesting conversations with him and he always guided me along the way. We’re just going to make the best of it — me and Bryant Turner and the rest of the guys are just going to do the best we can.”

That crew of others guys will also include a large number of other second-year Bombers defenders who were mostly in backup roles in their rookie seasons but who the club is hoping can graduate to starting roles this season — including linebacker Henoc Muamba and yet another defensive lineman in Kenny Mainor.

“It will be different for sure. We all came in last year as rookies, just trying to figure things out and see how things worked,” said Mainor, 26. “But I think we picked up a lot of good things from those old guys — Doug and even Odell. And hopefully, we can help some of the young guys now so that we can still be productive and successful.”

Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice said he’s looking forward to the competition in camp for the defensive end and tackle positions this year.

“I think we’ve got some guys who haven’t played a ton of football, but (Rodney) Fritz and Vega certainly got some reps last year — Kenny Mainor, (Fernand) Kashama, so we’ve got some good guys on the edges. It’s open across the board.

“And on the interior, we’ve got some talent too. So I think we’ve got a lot of competition at those positions and we’ll see how it shakes out.”

The Bombers were the youngest team in the CFL in 2011 by a wide margin and all indications as the club holds it’s first full practice of their 2012 training camp at Canad Inns Stadium Sunday morning is that they will hold that distinction yet again this season.

And it’s not just on the defensive side of the ball where the Bombers will be young. Two of the five starting receiver positions in 2012 are also expected to be anchored by rookies from last year — 24-year-old Kito Poblah and 26-year-old Clarence Denmark.

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Denmark says he intends to use the same formula this season that won him a starting job last season.

“I want to go in with the same attitude — just to work hard,” Denmark said Saturday. “I want to work with that same intensity I had last year, knowing I had to fight for every inch. And I want to go in with that same attitude this year.”

He’ll have an important supporter on his side in LaPolice, who says he’s hoping to give Denmark — whose 65 catches, 818 yards and 5 TDs in 2011 earned him the club’s nomination as rookie of the year — an even larger role in the offence this season that will see Denmark used more than just down the field.

“I’d like to get him touches more different ways,” LaPolice said, citing screen plays as an example. ”I think he’s a dynamic player. He’s certainly a vertical threat, but we can also use him in other ways.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca