Spare change for Buck, but who?

Goltz, Hall, Clement will fight for No. 2 job; Pencer is back and Renaud may be punted

By: Paul Wiecek Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Wednesday, May. 29, 2013

Here's a look at three storylines to watch over the next three days as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hold their rookie training camp at Investors Group Field:

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Here's a look at three storylines to watch over the next three days as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hold their rookie training camp at Investors Group Field:

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/05/2013 (4860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Here’s a look at three storylines to watch over the next three days as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hold their rookie training camp at Investors Group Field:

1. Who will emerge as the backup to Buck?

With the team having decided over the winter to once again roll the dice with the oft-injured but much-beloved Buck Pierce at starting quarterback, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out finding an effective and reliable backup for Pierce will be Job 1 this spring.

Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press ARCHIVES
Perhaps offensive lineman Tyson Pencer will actually get out of training camp intact this year. — Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press ARCHIVES Perhaps offensive lineman Tyson Pencer will actually get out of training camp intact this year.

Newcomers Chase Clement and, especially, Max Hall both looked good in Bombers mini-camp late last month. Hall proved he can fire strikes; this week, the coaching staff will want him to also show he’s a quick learner of the CFL game. And Clement will be looking to show off the mobility that is supposedly the strength of his game, but which he didn’t get much of a chance to put on display during mini-camp.

Goltz missed mini-camp awaiting the birth of a new baby, but the kid’s here now and so is Goltz. The coaching staff say they really like what Goltz showed in his very limited opportunities to play last year and vow they’re going to give him an honest chance to win the backup job after three seasons as the fourth-stringer.

Head coach Tim Burke said Tuesday Goltz will start training camp as the designated backup.

Pierce has two jobs beginning today — stay upright and learn what offensive co-ordinator Gary Crowton designed over the winter aimed specifically at keeping Pierce better protected.

2. Oh yeah, remember him?

The Bombers traded up last May to land behemoth offensive lineman Tyson Pencer with the third overall pick in the 2012 CFL draft.

And then the team talked up Pencer, with Bombers GM Joe Mack referring to the 6-8, 330-pounder out of Washington State as a potential ratio changer as a non-import tackle.

Alas, Pencer never even got out of training camp in 2012 before suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery and ended his rookie CFL season before it even began.

Flash forward to 2013 and Pencer is going to get a do-over as the second-year Bomber makes like a rookie all over again this week in the restart to a quest to prove he really can be the game-changer Mack thought he was when he invested so heavily in him last year.

3. A replacement for Renaud?

Remember last year’s Banjo Bowl when Bombers head coach Tim Burke elected to have Mike Renaud punt instead of having Justin Palardy attempt a 43-yard field that could have put the Bombers up by five points with less than a minute to play.

And then remember how Renaud, instead of pinning the Roughriders deep, punted through the Saskatchewan end zone, giving the Riders the ball on their 35 yard-line and setting up Saskatchewan’s game-winning field goal a couple plays later?

Yeah, well, Burke certainly does. While the Bombers boss again yesterday took the blame for what was an admittedly bone-headed call, in all likelihood none of us would still be talking about it if Renaud had simply done his job on the play.

Either way, neither Burke or the Bombers coaching staff generally were happy with the way Renaud punted last season — and not just in the Banjo Bowl. And the result is the Bombers have brought in three rookie punters this week: Brett Cameron — Bob’s son; Australian Tim Hutchison; and 2013 sixth-rounder Billy Pavlopoulos — to see if they can’t upgrade on Renaud, who will join the club for full camp on Sunday.

Cameron comes in off an excellent collegiate career and is no novelty act or nepotism appointment. Hutchison — a product of Aussie rules — can kick for miles Aussie-style but needs to work on his Canadian technique. And Pavlopoulos is a possible redemption story after a university career that saw him suspended for testing positive for steroids.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca