Game Day HQ | Preseason #1

Five talking points to mull over and discuss amongst yourselves as the Blue Bombers meet the Saskatchewan Roughriders in their first dress rehearsal of the preseason…

1 A SNEAK PEEK?

Offensive coordinator Jason Hogan

Saturday will mark the first test run for the offence under new offensive coordinator Jason Hogan, who replaced Buck Pierce after the latter left to become the head coach of the B.C. Lions. Truthfully, don’t expect to see anything outlandish in the play-calling, as teams tend to keep things vanilla in the presesason.

That said, the offence will be different with a new voice calling the shots.

“Jason has a different background of where he learned the CFL game and it is a bit different than we’ve been doing in the past — specifically, in the pass game. Just getting reps at that has been helpful,” said quarterback Zach Collaros. “As I always tell you guys, it’s different language. A lot of teams run the same stuff, it’s how we get to those plays and how is it coached and how can we memorize it?

“Relearning some stuff I learned in the past has been fun. I think it’s a great system, it’s a great scheme to build upon as the season goes on. There are a lot of rules, which I think has been good for our group. That has allowed nine, 10, 11 guys during camp to go out there and play fast because there’s clear and concise rules and we’ve repped that a bunch of times.

“I’m excited for (today) to see if that translates, I think it will, for those younger guys. It’s been good. Jay’s a very-detailed guy and he’s done a great job running the meetings.”

2 AUDITIONS BECOME REAL

Matthew Peterson

Count Canadian running back Matthew Peterson among the many new faces in Blue Bombers camp who are hoping to open eyes and make an impression today.

Peterson has already done that since the first day of rookie camp as the University of Alberta product — acquired on CFL Draft Day in a deal with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats involving Global Draft picks — has been impressive with both his power and his speed.

“I want to have fun, No. 1 and I want to solidify my name,” said Peterson of his goals during the preseason. “I want you to know who is running the rock and be successful running the rock. Not just that, I want to be clean in all my pass pro (protection) and if the ball comes to me in the air be able to catch it and get some yardage after that. And fulfill my role on special teams and be able to make tackles.”

Peterson, listed at 5-9, 203 pounds, is built like the proverbial brick, umm, outhouse, and has a blend of power and speed that reminds many of the man listed ahead of him on the depth chart — CFL Most Outstanding Player Brady Oliveira.

“My approach is to be there to help ease his load. When he needs a break, I want to be able to step in and fulfill that role,” said Peterson. “Honestly, just because I’m No. 2 doesn’t mean I can’t do my job and do it well. I want to make sure the offence still flows even when Brady’s not in there.

“I have been compared to Brady in the last few years and it’s always nice to hear that you have a similar running style to the best guy in the league. It’s been great to have this opportunity to play and to learn from the best and that’s what he is. I get to learn from him, see how he operates and work with him. This has been a winning organization for years now and it’s been amazing to pick the brain of all the dudes that have been here.”

3 BUBBLE WRAP vs. BATTLE TESTED

Zach Collaros

One of the storylines that repeats itself every spring during the Canadian Football League preseason is the debate of resting starters and proven vets vs. getting them reps to be ready for Week 1. Here’s why: every May/June some starter across the league pulls up lame in one of these tilts and it opens the door to some serious second-guessing.

The counterargument is what we saw a bit last year for the Blue Bombers, who had some players dinged even before camp, saw others rested during the preseason and then were sloppy in their first few weeks of the season in an 0-4 start. We’ll see over these two preseason games — today and next Friday in Regina — if the workload for vets gets amped up, even just a smidge.

“We want everybody to play. If they’re healthy and they’re dressed, we want everybody to play,” said Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea on Friday. “We’ve had a good stretch of camp and now you’ve got two games rolling fairly tightly and you really only get one or two more practices and then there’s the bye week (to open the season).”

O’Shea and Collaros said there isn’t a specific pitch count as to how long the veteran pivot will play. It will be more of a feel thing, not a certain number of quarters or series.

“We’ll figure that out as the game goes on,” said Collaros. “For me, it’s about just making sure we get lined up properly, execute the play call and making sure everything is in position. You can’t always look at the result of the play — it’s the entire piece of it. Those are the things I’ll focus on as the game goes on and whatever Osh and we decide, we’ll roll with that.”

4 A NEW LOOK RECEIVING CORPS

Reggie White, Jr.

This is a continuation of a discussion that has been percolating ever since Drew Wolitarsky was released, Kenny Lawler left in free agency for Hamilton and Pokey Wilson signed with the New York Jets — who steps up to replace them?

Winnipeg dipped heavily in the CFL free agent pool to find veterans Reggie White, Jr. (Montreal), Dillon Mitchell (Edmonton) and Jerreth Sterns (Saskatchewan) while second-year Blue Bombers Keric Wheatfall, Myron Mitchell and Kody Case have all taken significant steps in camp. Couple that with the usual collection of newcomers the scouting staff has brought in, and this will be a fascinating study over the eight quarters of preseason.

Nic Demski, Kevens Clercius and Dalton Schoen are locks. After that… it’s very much still TBD.

“We’ve had a lot of change day to day. The groups have changed, and the players have moved positions, so I think that’s been helpful in everybody learning the system and helped with the quarterback throwing in different schemes, different routes, different concepts, to different players,” said Collaros. “We’ve got a lot of guys who deserve to be out there whereas in past years you had your clear and concise four or five guys you were going to roll with.

“There’s eight or nine now and it’s going to be difficult to make (roster) decisions. We’ve got a very good group of American guys, Canadians as well, who have really grasped what we’re doing.”

5 GOALS: ASSIGNMENT SOUND, MISTAKE FREE, PEDAL TO THE METAL

Mike O’Shea

Here’s O’Shea on how a player — whether he be a CFL newcomer or a grizzled vet — can stand out in the preseason.

“Everybody has got to know what they’re doing,” he said. “If they’re not in the right place at the right time it creates problems for everybody else and it can limit other people’s opportunities. They understand that. They know they have to be right first and then they’ve got to play football the right way and make plays when it’s their opportunity to make plays.

“That’s football. They all know this. They’re here for a reason. They’ve made it this far because they’ve done that at different levels.”