It’s been said many, many times before that there is a danger in drawing any kind of concrete conclusions from a Canadian Football League rookie camp.
The veterans aren’t on the field, obviously, and often those who jump out early disappear when the regulars step on the field.
With that caveat out of the way, we offer this after two days of watching the fresh faces trying to crack the Winnipeg Blue Bombers roster:
Austin Apodoca throws hard. And when we say ‘hard’, we mean the University of New Mexico quarterback can Zing it with a capital ‘Z.’
“I’ve always liked throwing the ball. My dad will attest that before I could walk I was trying to throw a football,” Apodaca said Thursday.
“That’s part of me; I’m wired that way. Growing up, my dad caught more footballs from me than anyone in my life. He probably got sick of it because we’d be outside and ‘one more, one more’ turned into 10 more.”
It’s here where we relayed to Apodaca the tale of Bombers legendary quarterback Dieter Brock, who used to put bee-bees in plastic whiffle balls and then tape them to footballs so he could get accustomed to throwing a weighted ball into a mattress.
“That’s not a bad idea,” said Apodaca with a grin. “I’ve thrown it into my couch… and missed a couple of times and hit a wall. That helps with your accuracy, because if you miss you’re going to slam it into the wall and your parents aren’t going to be happy.”
Funny thing about Apodaca and the most-obvious part of his skill set: in his senior year at the University of New Mexico he threw the ball only 98 times as the Lobos ran a triple-option/zone read attack that saw them lead the nation in rushing yards with 350 per game. Just to put that in comparison, Texas Tech QB Patrick Mahomes – a first-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs last month – threw 228 passes in the Red Raiders first four games last year.
All of that led to a tumultuous offseason for Apodaca, a 23-year-old product of Longmont, CO. Anyone that sees him throw recognizes his natural gifts, but his game tape was short on a variety of throws. He stood out at the College Gridiron Showcase game in Texas in January, attended an NFL regional combine in Seattle in February and opened some eyes. Ditto at the New Mexico pro day in April.
Scouts were also aware that a 20-yard pass he threw this spring was clocked at 61 miles per hour – which would have exceeded the NFL Combine record of 60 mph, set by Logan Thomas of Virginia Tech in 2014.
He spoke to the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons and had a workout with the Denver Broncos. But the phone never rang with an offer.
And all that uncertainty can eat a man up inside.
“It was fun and frustrating at the same time,” said Apodaca of the last few months. “It’s a time in your life when your future is just waiting for you and you are excited about the possibilities. But it’s also frustrating because sometimes it all feels like it’s out of your control.
“It became about just trying to get in front of as many teams and pro personnel, NFL or CFL, as I could. You never know where you stood. Looking back, it forced me to work hard.”
The question now is, what kind of opportunity does Apodaca potentially have here with the Bombers? Matt Nichols is locked in as QB1, with CFL veterans Dom Davis and Dan LeFevour scrapping to be first out of the bullpen. That would appear to leave Apodoca and North Carolina Central product Malcolm Bell in a battle for a spot on the practice roster as a developmental QB. But that gig is as permanent as the team being intrigued by the next prospect who may pop onto their radar screen.
All that big-picture discussion means little to Apodoca. He has to live in the here and now.
“I’m just competing to be the best player I can be every day,” he said. “I know that sounds cliché, but I think the biggest thing about being a pro is showing progression and showing I can grasp an offence at the pro level and getting better every day. I’m not worried about the outcome as much as the progress right now and the process, as well.”
ROOKIE CAMP DAY 2
Who stood out:
A number of players took turns making plays on Thursday. For what it’s worth, standing out for yours truly were receivers Kieran Duncan, Quinshad Davis and T.J. Thorpe, running back Kendall Roberson, quarterback Austin Apodaca, defensive linemen Lawrence Virgil, Padric Scott, Caleb Bostic and defensive backs Robert Porter, Sam Brown and Brandon Alexander and linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox.
Sign him up:
T.J. Thorpe is standing out early as a receiving candidate, but prominent among his football credentials are his kick-return skills. He broke the University of North Carolina school record for kick-return yards in a season and earned All-ACC honours while with the Tar Heels. And there could be an opening with the Bombers with Quincy McDuffie having signed this winter with the Dallas Cowboys.
“It would be a dream come true, honestly,” said Thorpe. “I really love it. I feel like it’s one of the few plays where you can change the momentum of a game. I would love to get out there in space and make people miss.
“As soon as I started Pop Warner I’ve been kick returning. I always watched guys from Dante Hall to Deion Sanders… I’ve just really enjoyed it and it came second nature to me.”
The Bombers have yet to practice kick-returns in rookie camp – that won’t start until the veterans are on the field on the weekend.
“There’s a lot of guys here with a lot of (kick-return) experience,” said Thorpe. “I’m definitely not the only one who has returned kicks before. I’ll just get out there and compete and whoever earns the spot will return kicks.”
Thorpe has a couple of friends already on the Bomber roster in guard Travis Bond and defensive end Trent Corney and asked them a ton of questions about the organization and the city. He also spent the offseason studying highlight film of Bomber receivers like Weston Dressler and Clarence Denmark.
Thorpe, who hails from Durham, N.C., is also tight with Hamilton Tiger-Cats ace return man Brandon Banks, who grew up in Raleigh.
“I spent some time with him when I was at home doing different drills,” said Thorpe. “The more touches you can get, it can change the game. Any playmaker would love that.”
The coach says:
“Kyle and I were talking about this… today seemed more like football. Yesterday, some parts were a little rough, but the effort was good.
“One of the most-pleasing things I see is we’ve got a bunch of guys who just like to work hard. There’s just a blue-collar aspect of it of guys who are just working hard. There’s some players that flash, too. But I’ll take that work ethic.” – Mike O’Shea.
