Hamilton Tiger-Cats' Justin Medlock stands on the sideline during the second half of a CFL football game against the B.C. Lions in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday October 23, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
May 22, 2016
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers had a long and extensive ‘To-Do’ list at the end of 2015, ranging from massive projects to the tiniest of quick fixes.
And so, while addressing the issues on special teams might seem minor to some – like changing the floor mats on a car that has blown a couple of pistons – it was a high-priority for the club’s hierarchy this offseason.
After all, Kyle Walters, Mike O’Shea and Wade Miller have long held the work of the specialists and foot soldiers near and dear to their hearts, dating back to their playing days in the Canadian Football League.
That explains, in part, why we are opening our Bomber positional analysis series leading up to the opening of main training camp on May 29th by focusing on the special teams.
Yes, while it may be the smallest unit in terms of numbers, it has had a major impact (on many nights in a negative way) on the club’s fortunes over the last couple of years.
It’s also why the special teams will look considerably different when the curtain lifts on the 2016 campaign. Gone are placekicker/punter Lirim Hajrullahu and leading returner Troy Stoudermire, along with some of the regulars on the return and cover units like Graig Newman, Lin-J Shell and Michel Pontbriand, as part of a not-so subtle overhaul.
Now, as much as the free agent additions of running back Andrew Harris and receivers Weston Dressler and Ryan Smith garnered a lot of attention this winter, it could be said that no addition was bigger than the signing of kicker Justin Medlock.
Medlock is not only the best placekicker in the league, he is the most accurate in CFL history with a career field goal percentage of 87.5 – a number boosted by last year’s career-best 89.4 percent success rate as a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
That’s a massive improvement from the combined 70.3 percentage (32 of 45) of Hajrullahu and Sergio Castillo, a pair that also whiffed on six of 27 convert attempts from the new 32-yard distance.
More on the impact of those numbers: not only did opponents connect on 88.4 percent of their tries against Winnipeg, some of the Bomber misses were massive, particularly in two losses to the Calgary Stampeders (a 25-23 defeat in September and a 26-25 setback in July) and a one-point heartbreaker to the Edmonton Eskimos in October in which four field goals and a convert were wasted away.
It’s not fair to point the finger of blame solely at the kickers, but last year’s team had such a small margin of error that it needed its kickers to come up big, at least occasionally. Put it this way: if those three games against Calgary and Edmonton alone were wins, the Bombers would have finished 8-10; two points ahead of the third-place B.C. Lions and in the postseason.
Hajrullahu signed with the Toronto Argonauts over the winter while Castillo returns in an attempt to push Medlock – but let’s be serious here – while former draft pick Billy Pavlopoulos (seventh round; 54th overall in 2013) will try and crack the roster as a punter.
Medlock wants to handle all the kicking chores, however, and while his 40.3-yard average was the lowest among statistical qualifiers, it’s worth noting that 13 of his 66 punts were placed inside the 20-yard line, including seven inside the 10. The Bombers have signed him, essentially, to continue to be the best field-goal kicker in the league and a competent punter.
That’s also a long-winded, statistical-heavy way of saying this: Medlock can unpack his bags and look for a place to live the minute he arrives for training camp.
The other significant change will be in the return game, where Stoudermire was released (and has since signed with the Minnesota Vikings). It’s not that the Bombers were sour on Stoudermire – he led the team in kickoff and punt-return yards – but he did put the ball on the ground five times with fumbles (two of which were recovered by opponents) and the club does think it has some viable other options in Justin Veltung, who finished second to Stoudermire in both kickoff and punt return yardage, along with new faces Quincy McDuffie (ex of Hamilton), and former Florida star Solomon Patton, who was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ primary return man in 2014.
The other change doesn’t involve personnel, but is just as massive: O’Shea relieved special teams coordinator, Pat Tracey, of his duties during the season last year and the play of the units almost instantly spiked upwards. He’ll continue to be hands-on in that department, and has also brought aboard Paul Boudreau, who spent the last four years working with the St. Louis Rams special teams, to help.
Change can be good, as the old saying goes. And for the Bombers, the changes to special teams could be a major difference maker in 2016.
TRAINING CAMP CENTRAL
THIS IS THE FIRST IN A POSITION-BY-POSITION TRAINING CAMP PREVIEW SERIES BY BLUEBOMBERS.COM
The rest of our camp preview is scheduled as follows:
Defensive backs: May 23
Linebackers: May 24
Defensive line: May 25
Offensive line: May 26
Running backs: May 27
Receivers: May 28
Quarterbacks: May 29
