The Winnipeg Blue Bombers bird dogs are all here in attendance – Danny McManus, Ted Goveia and Craig Smith – overseeing their latest batch of prospects.
And based on what head coach Mike O’Shea has witnessed from the collection of new faces through two days of Bombers mini-camp, he gives the club’s top scouts the thumbs up. Two thumbs up, actually.
Asked after Day 2 of camp to assess the talent and to describe his level of confidence and optimism for the season with main camp a month away, O’Shea offered up a revealing answer. Revealing, at least, in terms of what his expectations might be for the Bombers in 2017.
“I’m always optimistic,” said O’Shea. “But it’s interesting… you talk about these young guys and the depth they’re going to bring to our training camp, to our roster – which I already believe is very solid – and then you add in the draft coming up… we’re sitting in pretty good shape to get into camp and get rolling.
“We’ve got some guys out there on this field through four practices that we believe can play in the CFL. For a group of DBs (defensive backs) to be very close to the football and making some plays in a game that they’ve never played before is very pleasing and certainly leads to a lot of optimism.”
Keiren Duncan (82) during mini-camp drills April 26, 2017.
BLUE BOMBERS MINI-CAMP: DAY 2
Early returns: The Bombers have brought in a half dozen or so kick-return candidates to challenge for the gig left vacant by Quincy McDuffie’s exit to the Dallas Cowboys. Kevin Fogg was outstanding handling punt returns last season and may get more work handling kickoffs, but one of the players who returns from a stint on the practice roster a year ago is receiver Kieran Duncan.
“He made a good enough impression last year to make sure he’s back here now,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “He didn’t miss a beat. He came in better than how he left in terms of understanding what we’re doing. He’s certainly made some guys miss. He’s quick and he’s shifty and he catches the ball well. He’s explosive. He’s pretty fun to watch.
“Usually when you bring in a bunch of returners or at the end of practice when you call out ‘Who is a returner? We’re going to fire the Juggs (the machine that launches kicks) at you,’ you have your list and you write down your numbers and then you say, ‘Tomorrow you don’t need to come shag punts.’ But we’ve got seven or eight guys who catch the ball so clean. We’ve got a lot of options there, and yes, Kieran Duncan is obviously one of them.”
Don’t go there: Bombers offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice met with the media after Thursday morning’s session and wanted to set the record straight: Do not refer to his offence as ‘conservative.’
The term came up when LaPolice was asked about Matt Nichols’ low interception totals last year and whether it was a byproduct of his decision making or the structure of the offence.
“Because we don’t throw interceptions does not mean we are conservative or we have a conservative offence” said LaPolice. “I think we ran more special or trick plays than anybody else in the CFL last year. So we’re not afraid in any way, shape or form. But we understand that when you turn the ball over, you lose games.
“We want guys who are good decision makers. He makes good decisions and he processes information quickly and he sees people open. That’s one of his strengths that can put him at an elite level in the CFL.”
Asked to describe the offence, LaPolice said:
“We’re a team that’s going to run the football. We’re a team that is a multiple formation, multiple motion and we’re going to attack you with tempo, speed… we’ll hit you downfield, we’ll hit you with the quick game. We try to evolve each week when we see what we’re facing.”
Di’Andre Campbell being put through the paces by Coach LaPolice during mini-camp April 26, 2017.
Step up or step out: LaPolice offered a simple take on what a player has to do to impress at a mini-camp to get an invitation to rookie camp and then main training camp.
“You can’t flash in the one-on-ones period, do three good one-on-ones, and then screw up in team (period) or skelly (offence) and then on Day 2, you disappear,” he said. “They have to perform. They have a lot of opportunities for us to look at on tape and evaluate… you have got to be consistently performing. When you get your opportunities, you have to be consistent and make your plays.”
Less giving, more taking: Bombers defensive coordinator Richie Hall also met with the media on Thursday and weighed in on what the biggest areas of improvement could be in 2017.
“The biggest target areas is not one position, but the explosion plays we gave up last year,” began Hall. “The uncontested plays where it was just too easy, they were charity plays.”
The Bombers led the CFL in forcing turnovers last season with a whopping 59, but also surrendered an average of 407.9 yards per game last season, most in the league.
“There are some things we did really well, but the thing that we were disappointed in is regarding the yardage,” said Hall. “It has nothing to do with what the offence did, but what we donated and made it easy for them.”
