Big Blue upgrade with new LB, receiver

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This article was published 14/07/2014 (4331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

No one on the Winnipeg Blue Bomber roster should get too comfy with the 3-0 start.

It is the nature of the business, after all, that management must always look to upgrade its lineup. And, in the wake of Friday’s win over the Montreal Alouettes the Bombers have already added a couple of pieces.

On Saturday they acquired import linebacker Abraham Kromah from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in exchange for future considerations. A day later import receiver Taveon Rogers, formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals, used his Twitter account to announce he had signed with the Bombers.

Kromah (6-0, 227, Duke) was on the Bomber radar screen in the winter as a possible free agent addition after two seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He instead signed with the Ticats and had been on the one-game injured list to start the season.

Bombers coach Mike O’Shea said Sunday the addition of Kromah was not at all an indictment of the play of veteran E.J. Kuale.

“E.J.’s doing everything we want him to do,” said O’Shea. “Abe’s a guy that we liked and liked in the off-season. He went to Hamilton and was unavailable. There’s nothing wrong with gaining depth to our roster. (GM) Kyle (Walters) has done a great job so far of acquiring depth and making sure we’re covered for whatever circumstances come up. But it’s no reflection (on Kuale).

“He plays football with a passion,” said O’Shea of Kromah. “He plays football hard and fast. (Linebackers coach) Cory McDiarmid knows him from Saskatchewan and when I watched film on him last year I always liked the way he played. How he fits in… he’s got to sit in a classroom and figure out how he fits in. As you can tell from what we’ve done so far, we use a lot of guys in a lot of different spots. So right now he fits in as a depth guy for us.”

Rogers (6-0, 188, New Mexico State) was a star receiver and kick returner in his college days and had turns at both receiver and corner with the Bengals.

OUCH UPDATE: O’Shea said SB Cory Watson, OL Chris Greaves, DB Maurice Leggett will all be out for this week’s home date against the Edmonton Eskimos, also unbeaten. DT Zach Anderson and LB Rene Stephan are both possibilities.

NEW BOSSES UNBEATEN: O’Shea and Eskimos head coach Chris Jones — both former Argonaut co-ordinators — are unbeaten in their first stints as head coaches. Here’s O’Shea on Jones:

“He’s got his defence playing extremely well and that’s what he’s done for his entire career — he’s had a defence that flies around and creates havoc and lots of turnovers. They’re an excitable bunch.

“He’s extremely focused, he certainly puts in a lot of time, works especially hard and loves doing what he’s doing.”

— Ed Tait