Coach O'Shea
Mike O’Shea looked like a man still dealing with the after-effects of Canadian Football League cut-down day while also juggling a massive to-do list.
It was a somewhat sombre Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach who met with the media on Monday for the first time since Saturday’s roster moves, signalling the end of training camp.
The Bombers have the bye this week as the CFL season opens, and while there are still a number of to-be-determined questions, O’Shea said he likes the current depth chart.
But it’s not easy to say so long to those who have been loyal, either, and that likely led to the mixed emotions the Bombers boss was dealing with when he stepped up to the podium.
“I’m excited,” O’Shea began. “We had a lot of depth at camp and some great competition, and our team’s going to be better for it.
“Obviously the decision-making time becomes difficult because of the little things that separate one guy from the next. You’re dealing with real people that have real dreams, and they maybe change after the finish talking to me.”
“Any time you’ve been around a guy, over time you develop a relationship with them. There were a few that took a little longer and didn’t sit well.”
“But it’s also an exciting time, for sure. I think we’ve done a good job of addressing and looking at improving the entire team, and that’s not just players, personnel, it’s systems, it’s concepts, it’s the way we plan.”
Here are nine things need to know about the Bombers roster following Saturday’s cutdown and O’Shea’s session with the media…
DEEP CUTS THE KNIFE: The Bombers made their roster moves official on Saturday, with the biggest name released being veteran receiver Kenny Stafford, who has since been added to the Edmonton Eskimos practice roster.
Weston Dressler and Clarence Denmark occupy two of the three slotback positions used in the offence, with T.J. Thorpe (currently injured and needing a couple of weeks) and rookie L’Damian Washington also coming off outstanding camps.
“It’s not what he didn’t do,” said O’Shea of Stafford. “It’s with some the guys we brought in, their play was pretty elevated and they ended up winning jobs. I don’t think it’s anything Kenny did or didn’t do, it’s a matter of a guy like Denny (Denmark) and Washington stepping up pretty good.”
HEAD COUNT: There are 59 players still listed on the roster – 50 on the main roster and nine on the practice squad. Teams did not have to declare injured lists on cutdown day. The Bombers will likely move some of their injured players, like Addison Richards, as an example, to either the one-game or six-game injured list.
O’Shea said the plan for linebacker Maurice Leggett, who has missed most of training camp, is “to ease him in slowly this week and see how it goes.”
BIG LIST: The 59 might seem like a huge number, but consider this: the Bombers dressed (or included on their reserve list) 76 different players last year, down from the 81 in 2015. In previous years, those numbers have been 78 in 2014, 79 in 2013, 75 in 2012 and 81 in 2011.
What that means is many of the players who are still around will likely see action this season, including more who aren’t here right now as injuries piled up during the year. Just for comparison, here are the number of roster players used by CFL teams last year:
Saskatchewan (107), Hamilton (89), Ottawa (84), Toronto and Winnipeg (76), Montreal (75), Edmonton 74), Calgary (66) and B.C. (63).
SAY SO LONG TO: There are nine starters from the opening-week roster of a year ago who are no longer with the team: Julian Posey, Macho Harris, Euclid Cummings, Keith Shologan, Shayon Green, Ryan Smith, Jace Davis, Drew Willy and Khalil Bass.
SAY HELLO TO: The current roster features eight CFL rookies, with seven newcomers on the practice roster. The new faces include cornerback Brandon Alexander, linebackers Roc Carmichael and John Rush, defensive tackles Faith Ekakitie and Cory Johnson, defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat, defensive back Brian Walker and receiver L’Damian Washington.
CFL rookies on the practice roster include Abu Conteh, T.J. Thorpe, Félix Ménard-Brière, Robert Porter, Jovan Santos-Knox, Qadr Spooner and Derek Yachison.
WHO STARTS WHERE?: It’s a given that Matt Nichols will start at quarterback, Andrew Harris at running back, Taylor Loffler at safety and so on with a lineup that returns a lot of starters.
The Bombers will practice Tuesday through Friday, and over the course of the next week leading into the Canada Day opener in Regina, answers to some remaining questions will become clearer.
“There’s still some interesting things that could play out, but is Stanley Bryant starting at left tackle? Probably,” said O’Shea. “Travis Bond, Goose (Matthias Goossen)… those guys, they got to line up at practice. We still have maybe a couple more decisions to make. I don’t know if it will depend so much on how they do in practice because the type of practice we’re going to have from this point forward is different than training camp.”
O’Shea was also asked on Monday if he would say that Sam Hurl was the club’s starting middle linebacker.
“We don’t have to declare our roster until next week,” he said. “I thought Sam had a very good camp, he had a very good camp last year. He’s played well. But once again, there was pretty good competition there.”
AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR: There are four players from the Bombers’ 2017 CFL Draft class who are still around.
They include:
- Defensive tackle Faith Ekakitie, drafted first overall and expected to be part of the rotation in the trenches.
- Offensive lineman Qadar Spooner, drafted 15th overall and currently on the practice roster. The Bombers start three Americans up front in Stanley Bryant, Travis Bond and Jermarcus Hardrick, and two Canadians in Matthias Goossen and Sukh Chungh. Veteran Patrick Neufeld and 2016 draft pick Michael Couture as well as import tackle Manase Foketi are available to back-up across the O-line, meaning Spooner will likely spend his time being groomed.
- Defensive back Abu Conteh, drafted 23rd overall and currently on the practice roster. Conteh was injured early in camp and it will be a while before he returns to practice. He was seen as a ‘project’ player when he was drafted and the injury doesn’t change that.
- Kicker Félix Ménard-Brière, drafted 34th overall and currently on the practice roster. A U-Sports All-Canadian punter last year at the Université de Montréal, Ménard-Brière has a dynamite leg. His directional punting is exceptional, and while he went just 1-for-4 in the preseason in field goal attempts, he crushed his misses. Having the summer to learn from the best in Justin Medlock will only benefit his game further.
THE REST OF THE ’17 CLASS:
- Offensive guard Geoff Gray, drafted eighth overall, signed with the Green Bay Packers.
- Defensive tackle Ian Marouf, drafted 50th overall, was injured early in camp and never really saw the field.
- Receiver Brendon Thera-Plamondon, drafted 59th overall, was also a long snapper but wasn’t going to beat out Chad Rempel and was behind Julian Feoli-Gudino, Matt Coates (injured), Addison Richards (injured) and University of Manitoba product Derek Yachison (on the practice roster), on the Bomber depth chart.
- Receiver Tylor Henry, drafted 68th overall, was released at the end of rookie camp.
STAY PUT OR BACK TO SCHOOL?: Both Ménard-Brière and Yachison have college eligibility remaining.
“That (whether they stay or return to school) has to be re-evaluated later in the summer,” said O’Shea. “We want these guys around now and we’ll see how it plays out. If they’re on our PR we feel they can contribute to our team and whether or not they get an opportunity before a decision has to be made on whether they go back to school or not remains to be seen.
“They’re certainly guys we believe can step in and play.”
