Positional Preview: Receivers

Ed Tait

@EdTaitWFC

May 28, 2016

It looks like a bit of a wash on paper.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers said au revoir to two veteran receivers this offseason in Nick Moore and Clarence Denmark and bonjour to two other veteran receivers, both formerly of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, in Weston Dressler and Ryan Smith.

All four put up respectable numbers, especially given the quarterback injuries both here in Winnipeg and west of us in Regina.

Moore (76 catches for 899 yards and four touchdowns) and Denmark (57-718-3) combined for 133 receptions for 1,617 yards and seven scores in Bomber colours.

And in Saskatchewan, Smith (59-991-7) and Dressler (70-941-6) teamed up for 129 catches for 1,933 yards and 13 touchdowns.
And so if those four moves – Smith and Dressler to Winnipeg; Moore back to B.C., Denmark to Saskatchewan – elicited just a shrug of the shoulders from fans across the Canadian Football League this winter, it’s certainly understandable.

But as we turn our attention to receivers for the second-last of our positional analysis series leading up to main training camp, the potential impact of the additions of Dressler and Smith to the Bomber receiving corps goes much deeper than just the black and white of their statistics.

The Bombers want to surround Drew Willy and give new/old offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice as many sure things as possible with their attack.

Smith has just 24 CFL games under his belt, but has already proven to be a gritty and reliable target. Dressler, meanwhile, is a future hall of famer who has five 1,000-yard seasons to his credit. Both know how to get open consistently, find the end zone, and serve as security blankets for any quarterback.

Darvin Adams & Ryan Smith

The Bombers do return two starters from last year’s squad in Darvin Adams and Rory Kohlert. Adams, scooped up from the Toronto Argonauts in free agency last winter, is morphing into a reliable deep threat, having pulled in 61 passes for 839 yards and five TDs last year, but could also get a look inside in the five-receiver set.

Kohlert, the Canadian starter, finished last year with 32 receptions for 395 yards and a TD – his lowest totals in three years – but is still just 28 and has proven to be a favourite of Willy when the two have been on the field together. He’ll likely begin camp lining up at the wide-side wide receiver position.

Kohlert will get pushed by Addison Richards, the University of Regina product drafted last year who missed much of the season due to injuries. Julian Feoli-Gudino, Kris Bastien, and 2016 draft pick Alex Vitt all figure to be in the mix behind Kohlert on the depth chart.

But it’s what the Bombers do with the other vacant receiver position that may be one of the interesting battles in training camp. Justin Veltung, who doubles as a kick returner, had 17 catches for 189 yards and a pair of TDs last year in seven games, while Kevin Cone made one start. They’ll be pushed by what looks to be a deep crew of new receiver faces in Jace Davis, Julian Talley, Quincy McDuffie, Gerrard Sheppard and Thomas Mayo.

The Bombers have their fingers crossed the additions of Dressler and Smith will complement the work of Adams and Kohlert, but are still searching for a big-play homerun threat, too.

Adams led Bomber receivers with five TDs last year, while Denmark tied with Kohlert, Aaron Kelly and Cory Watson with three in 2014. No Bomber receiver has had more than five TDs since 2012, when Chris Matthews finished with seven en route to being named the league’s top rookie.

Just to put that into perspective, in 2002 Milt Stegall (with 23 TDs) and Arland Bruce III (with 12) combined to give the Bombers 35 scores from the receiver position. Last season, all the Bomber pass catchers combined for 16 TDs total.

Granted, there is only one Milt Stegall – he’ll be the first to step up and say as much – but the Bombers would be doing backflips if one of these new faces could become even close to a reasonable facsimile.

Gold SHADOWY