The Winnipeg Blue Bombers open rookie camp on May 16^th. This is the first in our annual positional preview series leading up to the first day of camp…

THE SPECIALISTS

The target is 18 feet, six inches wide, with the bottom bar measuring 10 feet from the ground.

And whenever Justin Medlock lines up to attempt to kick a ball through the uprights – regardless of the distance, conditions or circumstances – it seems Winnipeg Blue Bomber fans have come to expect perfection from the man many refer to as ‘Money.’

With good reason, based on two seasons of evidence.

Yes, in his two years in Bomber colours, all Medlock has done is connect on 116 of his 138 field goal attempts – a clip of 84.1 per cent – and hit 88 of 89 converts.

He has hit game winners – including two in overtime last year – and tied the club record for field goal distance (58 yards) and field goals in a game (seven). There’s more… he set a career best in punting last year with a 43.7-yard average and placed seven attempts inside the opponent’s 10-yard line.

He was the Canadian Football League’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player in 2016 after setting a record with 60 field goals and has earned the same nod from the Bombers the past two seasons.

And he has led the league in scoring in each of the last three years.

Yet, at the conclusion of 2017 – a campaign in which he hit on ‘only’ 80 percent of his field goals – there were no guarantees Medlock would return for more.

He had received a job offer last fall from a friend in the medical sales business and had become a father for the first time, meaning that as the season ended, Medlock was wrestling with retirement.

Mercifully, he didn’t wrestle long, re-signing with the club just after the Grey Cup on November 30^th.

That transaction may have hardly caused a ripple across the CFL, but it led to an audible sigh of relief in the Bombers’ football operations department, because in a league where the margin of error is so thin, Medlock’s contributions are invaluable. Consider that in 2015, the year before he arrived in free agency, the Bombers were 2-4 in games decided by a field goal or less. Since then, they are 7-3.

All of this is to say the Bombers have very few questions at one of the most important, and often most unappreciated, positions on the field as we move closer to the opening of rookie camp next week. Couple the work of Medlock with that of long-snapper Chad Rempel, still regarded as the best at his craft in the league, and the Bombers’ kicking game is rock solid.

So, too, are the kick-cover units, which were bolstered last season by the additions of Mike Miller and Thomas Miles, the emergence of rookie Jovan Santos-Knox, and the signing of linebacker Chandler Fenner in free agency. Fenner, FYI, finished tied for second in the CFL last year with 27 special teams tackles.

There will be some special teams questions, however, as camp opens. The broken foot injury suffered by Matt Coates means the club will possibly turn to Weston Dressler for the holder’s chores on placekicks, while the influx of new talent at the defensive back and receiver positions could result in Kevin Fogg and Ryan Lankford being challenged for the return chores, a potential decision that likely won’t be until after the preseason.

All that said, there are talented pieces here across the board, from the kicking battery to the kick-cover and kick-return units. What must have a special teams guru like head coach Mike O’Shea and special teams coordinator Paul Boudreau excited is this: coaches want gamers on special teams – not just guys who do it because they’re told to – and the Bombers have a collection here that is arguably the best in the league.

TRAINING CAMP 2018 PREVIEW | A LOOK AT THE SPECIALISTS

The Returnees:

Placekicker/punter: Justin Medlock
Long-snapper: Chad Rempel*
Holder: Matt Coates*, Weston Dressler
Punt returns: Kevin Fogg
Kickoff returns: Ryan Lankford

The Candidates:

Placekicker/punter: Félix Ménard-Brière* (has yet to sign a contract for 2018)
Long-snapper: Brendon Thera-Plamondon* (seventh-round pick in ‘17)
Returners: To be determined.

*Indicates Canadian

IMPACT NEWCOMER:

LB Chandler Fenner

It’s a reality in the CFL with smaller rosters that some regulars must line up and contribute on special teams. And when those starters absolutely adore the gig – Fenner admits as much – then they instantly earn some serious cred with the men who run this franchise in Wade Miller, Kyle Walters and O’Shea, all of them special teams aficionados. Fenner is not only a versatile defender, but had 32 tackles in 26 CFL games with the B.C. Lions before joining the Bombers this winter.

X FACTOR

DB Kevin Fogg

Fogg led the CFL in punt return yardage in 2016 – he also had four potential touchdowns wiped out by penalty – and led the Bombers in punt-return yardage last season. It takes a special skillset to handle the punt-return chores and an ability to read blocks like a tailback and the fearless approach of a downfield wedge-buster, and Fogg has both.

STANDOUT NUMBER : 3

Kick return touchdowns by the Bombers in 2017, courtesy Fogg, Lankford and Maurice Leggett, second in the CFL to Calgary’s five.