New crop of talent impresses at Bombers camp

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This article was published 26/04/2018 (2750 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the curtain closed on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ 2018 edition of mini-camp, head coach Mike O’Shea said he is happy with what he’s seen from the team’s new crop of talent.

“We have the right group of guys here that obviously have talent and a high compete level and they brought energy,” O’Shea said, speaking in the south end zone of Investors Group Field shortly after the final workout Thursday morning.

“If you run five practices in 2½ days, there’s going to be a practice that maybe doesn’t have as much energy, but this one had good energy for 8:30 in the morning, on a cooler morning, too.”

The camp, which ran Tuesday through Thursday, is designed to get those in attendance, most of whom are first- and second-year players from the U.S., up to speed with how the organization is run both on and off the field.

That’s why it was important to have a number of veterans from last year take part, including starting quarterback Matt Nichols, to help guide the newcomers and make sure that, when main camp opens in late May, everyone is on the same page and ready to get to work.

Other veterans at camp included linebacker/defensive back Maurice Leggett, wide receiver Darvin Adams and running back Andrew Harris.

“Having those voices around just kind of brings everyone along. We were here to kind of direct traffic on how our stretch-lines go, how practice goes,” Nichols said.

“When we feel a little low on the tempo, we were the ones expected to pick it up because the young guys don’t really understand how fast the (CFL) game is and getting in and out of the huddle. Having the veterans around here, even just the few of us, just helps bring those younger guys along quicker, which is obviously what you want your leadership group to do.”

Nichols said he was impressed with the new crop of quarterbacks, which is a good sign, especially considering he’s the lone man remaining from the top three on last year’s depth chart. Former second-stringer Dominique Davis is now with the Ottawa Redblacks and third-stringer Dan LeFevour decided to retire at the end of last season.

Veteran Darian Durant, who the Bombers signed in the off-season as a backup after he was released by the Montreal Alouettes, didn’t attend camp because of a family issue.

But it wasn’t just his fellow quarterbacks Nichols was keeping an eye on this week. Since he was given limited reps so the coaches could evaluate the other pass throwers, he got a front-row seat to evaluate the rest of the group, most of which consisted of receivers and defensive backs.

“You can tell there’s going to be a lot of depth out there, a lot of competition with these guys and our veterans,” Nichols said. “It’s nice that we get a little break here, so now, we can set our mind on training camp. I thought we had a great mini-camp and it’s setting up to be a good year for us.”

While it’s hard to evaluate just how much someone jumped off the page, there were a number of standouts on both sides of the ball. On defence, newly acquired defensive back/linebacker Chandler Fenner, who played with the B.C. Lions last season, definitely was one. Another was defensive back Zavian Bingham, who the Bombers hoped would be at mini-camp last season before he was scooped up by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

On the offensive side of the ball, there was receiver Corey Washington, who, at 6-4 and 215 pounds, looks and plays like he will compete for a spot in the starting rotation. Washington has been on the Bombers’ radar for years, but it was only after his grandmother died that he decided to ditch the NFL and try football in Canada.

Adarius Bowman, who returned to the Bombers after spending seven seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos, was also a standout at camp.

“There is a ton of great competition,” said receiver Ryan Lankford, back for his second year with the Bombers. “There are guys here from all different walks of life and backgrounds and all of them can play.”

Lankford knows first-hand you can’t take anything for granted, especially with new guys coming in each year, ready and able to take your spot. He was in that position last year, and though he was able to crack the roster, it wasn’t always easy staying in the lineup. Despite his versatility — he also returned kickoffs — he found himself unable to crack the 46-man game-day roster some weeks.

“We had a lot of first-year guys come out and make huge plays for us last year, so you can never say that because they’re new they won’t be good,” he said. “I got to come in every day and literally fight for my job, that’s how I look at it.”

The Bombers have close to 90 players under contract and must trim that number down to 75 by Monday.

“We’ll have a fairly lengthy meeting and talk about what the roster looks like, how do we get down to 75 on the 30th or whether or not we need to fill any holes come rookie camp,” O’Shea said.

“This was a very good group here, it really was.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @jeffkhamilton