Kongbo set to kick-start career

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This article was published 30/07/2019 (2230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GUELPH, Ont. — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are six games into the 2019 season but only one man on the team stands alone as the rawest of rookies.

Jonathan Kongbo, the much-hyped 23-year-old defensive end, is preparing to play his first game as a pro Thursday in Toronto and it’s not an understatement to call his arrival a long time coming.

Kongbo was drafted fifth overall in the CFL Draft last spring after suffering a devastating injury to his right knee — a torn ACL and MCL, the result of an illegal chop-block in a game against Auburn — in the middle of his senior season at the University of Tennessee.

The injury dashed his hopes of being selected in the NFL Draft but the Blue Bombers were all too happy to exploit the opening. They waited patiently as Kongbo rehabbed his surgically repaired leg before he returned to practice last week.

“I’m real ready, real excited,” Kongbo said after practice at the University of Guelph’s Alumni Stadium Tuesday. “I’m just trying to stay in the moment and not try to get overwhelmed, just rely on my preparation and what not.”

The road back has been difficult for Kongbo, who was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo before immigrating to Canada as a five-year-old, settling with his family in Surrey, B.C.

“It’s been a gruelling eight months,” Kongbo said. “And whenever you feel like you’ve reached a milestone, there’s another milestone you have to reach. But ever since I got here, working with (head athletic therapist) Al (Couture), it’s been nothing but great. They’ve been working with me in the weight room, just getting me better and what not. It’s been good.”

The 6-5, 254-pounder started 17 of 30 games during his time at Tennessee, spending time as a linebacker and defensive end. In three seasons, he had 51 tackles, 5½ tackles for loss, 3½ sacks, two interceptions, including a 50-yard return for a pick-six, and two knockdowns.

Winnipeg was intrigued by Kongbo’s pedigree, his having played at a high-profile program such as Tennessee and in the SEC, college football’s premier conference.

“He’s done a little bit of everything,” Winnipeg GM Kyle Walters said this week. “He’s was kinda that rusher… he’s very versatile… We’re going to ease him along. The plan all along from the day we drafted him was put him on the six-game, let’s rehab him, let’s not put him in there too early. Let’s not rush the kid. He’s got a real big upside and it’s up to (defensive co-ordinator) Richie (Hall) and (defensive line and linebackers coach) Glen (Young) to figure out where does he fit into the defence.”

Kongbo’s exuberance in practice caused some concern last week, particularly with offensive linemen who prefer a more measured approach to workouts.

“I wouldn’t say tone it down,” Kongbo said of his exuberant start. “I just had to practise a little smarter. Those guys have been going for a little while. It’s just knowing when and when not to (go all out). It was the first week jitters. They understood and we talked it out afterward.”

Young warns not to expect too much right away. Kongbo is expected to see mostly special-teams duties to begin with.

“For him, he’s lost so much time based off of training, it’s Week 6, 7 now,” Young said. “Guys are kinda finding their groove and he’s coming off of his rehab. There’s no doubt (you have to be careful). I know in his mind, he thinks he’s ready to roll but to me, there’s going to be some rust. Because of the thinking involved with what we do, you’ve gotta use your brain quite a bit before your body can do what it needs to. That would be his challenge.”

Kongbo has high expectations for himself and believes he is also capable of playing linebacker in the CFL, though men of his size rarely play the position.

“I think he’s more suited off the edge (defensive end),” Young said. “When I watched his college tape, he’s a very natural guy coming off the edge. To me, that’s probably what he’s best suited for.”

Curiously, Kongbo will need to adjust to the Canadian game.

He gave up his first love, basketball, only taking up football in Grade 12 at Surrey’s Holy Cross Regional High School. His high school league played American rules.

Young isn’t concerned about that adjustment and neither is Kongbo.

“Honestly, Willie (Jefferson), Jackson (Jeffcoat) and Craig (Roh), all of the older guys on the D-line have been giving me tips because they played the American game,” Kongbo said. “The yard off (the ball), closing that distance and what not. It hasn’t been that hard. It’s just reminding yourself sometimes that you need to be a yard off. I catch myself forgetting.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14