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

LINEBACKERS

Wanted: middle linebacker for Canadian Football League squad.

Job Description: Wide-ranging set of skills, including the ability to regularly wallop running backs, receivers and quarterbacks so viciously they reconsider their career paths; a high football IQ is a must, leadership qualities are a bonus.

If this is you, please contact the Winnipeg Blue Bombers…

Take a poll of Bombers fans on the one position that has caused them to infuriatingly grind their teeth the most over the past few years, and the majority will circle the middle linebacker spot on the depth chart.

Not since Henoc Muamba five years ago have the Bombers had their middle linebacker – any linebacker – named to the CFL All-Star team, and for a franchise that had such a rich and long-standing tradition as a linebacker factory, that is a particularly long spell.

Just to recap as we begin the third of our positional previews, training camp also opened last year with a vacancy at the position after the club opted to move on from Khalil Bass, and the job looked to be Kyle Knox’s to lose. And he did just that, with Sam Hurl opening the season in the middle of the defence.

Both departed over the winter, with Hurl returning to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Knox signing with the Montreal Alouettes. And Muamba, who the Bombers pursued this offseason after his release with the Riders, opted so sign in Montreal as well.

All of this means that as 2018 approaches, the Bombers will once again have a different face manning the middle of their linebacking corps.

Despite the revolving door of late, there are some intriguing candidates including Kyrie Wilson, who dressed for one game after spending most of last year on the practice roster and drew praise for his work during mini-camp last month, along with Jevaris Jones and CFL newcomers Quentin Gause and Chinedu Oparaku. Gause, FYI, has three games with the Denver Broncos in 2016 and stints with Philadelphia and New England to his name, while Oparaku is just 21 and comes to the club after starring at Fairmont State and in the 2017 National Bowl (an all-star game featuring players from non-FBS schools).

The Bombers might also be tempted to look at moving Ian Wild or sophomore Jovan Santos-Knox – who was so impressive as a rookie in the second half of last year after he made his first start in the Banjo Bowl — from the weak-side spot to the middle. Both have played the position before; Wild with the Bombers previously and Santos-Knox occasionally during his days at the University of Massachusetts.

The question in the middle aside, the Bombers do have some solid pieces to slot in at weak side and the strong-side linebacker (or dime back). Superb playmaker Maurice Leggett is coming off an Achilles injury and could start at either the dime or at halfback in the secondary. Ditto for Chandler Fenner, who arrives via free agency from the B.C. Lions and brings to the defence the same versatility. And either Santos-Knox or Wild, even though one might earn work in the middle, figure to round out the crew.

The Bombers also have a collection of capable Canadians who are critical on special teams and could be in-game injury replacements, including Thomas Miles, Jesse Briggs, Shayne Gauthier and Frank Renaud.

So, the pieces are there. And beginning next week when the rookies arrive and followed by main training camp, it’s up to the Bombers coaching staff to move them around the depth chart to find the right fits.

The hope among Bomber Nation is that there is a candidate among this collection who stakes a permanent claim to the middle linebacker gig, especially as the revolving door at the position just keeps spinning.

TRAINING CAMP 2018 PREVIEW | A LOOK AT THE LINEBACKERS

The Returnees: Maurice Leggett, Jovan Santos-Knox, Ian Wild, Kyrie Wilson, Jessie Briggs*, Shayne Gauthier*, Thomas Miles* Jevaris Jones, Frank Renaud*
Free agent additions: Chandler Fenner (B.C.)
CFL newcomers: Quentin Gause, Chinedu Oparaku
2018 draft picks: Jacob Firlotte (listed at DB, might get a look at LB).
Departed: Sam Hurl (Sask.),  Kyle Knox (Mtl.),

*Indicates Canadian

IMPACT NEWCOMER

Kyrie Wilson

There are new faces that could have drawn consideration here, including Gause, Oparaku and Jones. But Wilson, more than any of them, has the benefit of a full year on the practice roster and that shouldn’t be overlooked, especially with CFL training camps being so short.

Wilson’s understanding of the defensive scheme and the season he had to learn the little nuances of the CFL game and how offences attack a defence gives him the upper hand heading into camp. Now the rest is up to him.

X FACTOR

Maurice Leggett

His talents are unquestioned. Leggett is a versatile ball-hawking defender who brings an ‘us-against-the-world’ demeanour to the Bombers defence.

But as much as his recovery this winter from a ruptured Achilles last October has been remarkable, there must still be concerns about his ability to stay healthy when the ball is put on the tee for real. If he’s 100 percent and the dominant and versatile playmaker is back, the Bombers defence is clearly better for it.

STANDOUT NUMBER: 11/1

During a stretch from 1984-1999 the Bombers placed a linebacker on the CFL All-Star team 11 times: Aaron Brown in 1984, Tyrone Jones from 1984-87, James West in 1989, Greg Battle in 1990-91, K.D. Williams in 1995, Shonte Peoples in 1997 and Maurice Kelly in 1999.

But in the last nine seasons, the Bombers have had just one linebacker named to the CFL All-Star Team – Henoc Muamba in 2013.