Bellefeuille confident of better pass protection

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This article was published 21/04/2015 (3815 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea figures he’s found 20 or so keepers among the 52 players the Bombers had on the roster for their annual three-day spring mini-camp.

The Bombers practised twice Monday and have now completed four of the five on-field sessions scheduled for this year’s camp, with one final session set for this morning.

Speaking after the conclusion of Monday’s sessions, O’Shea said he expects 20 or so players from this camp to be invited to Winnipeg in June to compete for jobs at main camp. That’s about the same number of invitations issued last year.

“We’re getting a really good picture,” said O’Shea. “It’s becoming more clear for sure.”

Meanwhile, offensive co-ordinator Marcel Bellefeuille thinks a dramatically upgraded offensive line should have the club’s offence in 2015 looking a lot more like it did during the first six weeks of last season than it did through the last 12.

That will come as great news for Bombers fans, who had high expectations for their club after a 5-1 start last season, only to see their hopes dashed as the Bombers limped to a 2-10 finish and missed the playoffs for the fifth time in six years.

Bellefeuille said Monday his review of last season found starting quarterback Drew Willy was at his most successful when his protection was at its best during the first six weeks of the year.

“When I looked at the first five wins of the year, when he was protected, we averaged 33 points a game on offence — 33-plus, actually, in those five wins. And we protected very well.

“And then we had a couple injuries to two Canadians at receiver and on the offensive line and things progressively got worse from there.”

Bellefeuille’s comments will in all likelihood be the only time Bombers fans hear from the man who will be running the offence for the third season. O’Shea does not allow his co-ordinators or assistants to speak to the media, but makes one exception during spring mini-camp.

Bellefeuille says the off-season additions of tackles Stanley Bryant and Marc Dile and centre Dominic Picard should both improve the protection of Willy and bolster the running game — two areas the Bombers are going to have to improve upon if they hope to get anywhere near the Grey Cup they’re hosting this November.

“A lot of it is clear — we need to be better at protecting the quarterback and better at running the ball and everything else will flow from there,” said Bellefeuille. “If you want to say, it’s 1a and 1b — protecting him better and being more efficient running the football.”

‘We had a couple injuries to two Canadians at receiver and on the offensive line and things progressively got worse from there’

Winnipeg gave up the most sacks in the CFL last season and was second-last in rushing yards.

While the Bombers are now deep in offensive linemen, they are not ruling out further adding to their talent pool with perhaps one or more of the three tackles they’ve been working out his week — David Mims (Virginia Union), Zebrie Sanders (Florida State) and Corey Lewis (Illinois).

All three men are monstrous specimens, but none is bigger than Mims, a former NFLer who is as much a sun blocker as a pass blocker at an eye-popping 6-8, 350.

O’Shea just grinned when he was asked if his team has room to bring in more offensive linemen.

“You mean actually in the facility?” O’Shea laughed.

“We’ve got some large men here. They are a good looking group of O-linemen. They are large and seem like very good guys. It will be tough… But yeah, we do have room.”

The Bombers are also hoping to find some receivers and some running backs among the players they brought to this camp, almost all of whom — with the exception of the club’s veteran contingent of four quarterbacks — are either CFL rookies or close to it.

All three of the non-import receivers had solid days on Monday: Jordan Reaves (Brandon), Ezra Millington (Ottawa) and Kris Bastien (Concordia).

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Bellefeuille said he’s been impressed with all three running backs the Bombers are working out: Bradley Randle (UNLV), Carlos Anderson (Northern Iowa) and Da’Rel Scott (Maryland).

“All three have shown great promise. They’re all quick, fast and can run routes coming out of the backfield and give you more dynamic on the offence.

“Those guys have been really good. And there’s probably three or four receivers we’re still evaluating that have an opportunity to come in and compete for legitimate jobs.”

O’Shea said the three running backs have also impressed him, but said incumbent Bombers tailback Paris Cotton — who started the last three games of 2014 — will probably still start off main training camp with an advantage as the incumbent.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @PaulWiecekã