Over the last three days 45 players suited up to get a jump on main camp. Here are a few of the stars of the Saskatchewan Roughriders rookie camp. (In no particular order)
#51 - Alex Krausnick-Groh (OL) - AKG doesn't look out of place in his first big league rookie camp. The versatile offensive lineman's biggest attribute may be his long snapping ability to get into the lineup early as a possible back-up guard/centre and a starting long snapper. That's right, I feel Jocelyn Frenette could be on his last legs with the Roughriders as this rookie has put the ball on the hands every time with snaps.
#67 - Dan Clark (OL) - It's hard to watch Dan Clark and consider him a rookie after two years as a non-counter/junior player with the Roughriders. His two years practicing with the team while continuing his work with the Regina Thunder is paying off. Former offensive line coach Bob Wylie was won over by Clark in his first year and Coach Greg Marshall has been equally impressed by watching the 23-year old's work outs.
#88 - Terrence Nunn (WR) - Nunn's best day was Day Two of Roughrider rookie camp as he was too quick for the coverage unit. I'm excited to see Nunn play in two weeks when the pre-season begins against Edmonton. But first, we'll see how he performs when Lance Frazier, Chris McKenzie and James Patrick are in coverage.
#9 - Brandon West (RB) - West has a burst and was held back in the return game with a heel injury suffered on Day Two. West hasn't had an easy road personally to the CFL but the tragedy in his family has fuelled the fire to make the best of every day you have and he's done that in three days of rookie camp.
#43 - Courtney Bryan (DB) - Although there is little room for a halfback to crack the opening roster. Bryan looks like a solid contender for a practice roster spot. He's been around the ball in coverage a lot including an interception on the third day and another dropped pick about three of four plays later.
#28 - Craig Butler (DB) - With Krausnick-Groh's early performance, you're starting to see how the special teams was bolstered by the 2011 Draft. Butler as a backup defensive back seemed farfetched in his rookie season but he's had the play of the camp with the interception on Day 2. We'll have to wait and see how severe his hamstring injury is at the start of main camp.
#19 - Chris Milo (K) - Another plus from the 2011 Draft for the Roughriders. We haven't see a lot of field goal work from Milo but with the wind he easily cleared the bar with a 45-yard field goal. Probably could have kicked it from 60 with little difficulty. His directional punting may need some work with the winds of Mosaic but we'll continue to follow this man's camp with his leg possibly being an important part in terms of kicking and ratio for the Roughriders.
Those are the names when looking at the roster jump out at me, Johnathon Smith, Chris Graham and Calvin Fance had their moments in the defensive front seven but I'm not sure how much room there is on the roster for those spots.
Comments