A PERFECT BEGINNING
Paredes good on 15 kicks
Kickers in the CFL usually only get attention when they’re missing field goals.
Let’s correct that.
The Calgary Stampeders have stormed out of the gates this year to a 3-0 record, and it has gone slightly under the radar that Rene Paredes has been perfect every time he steps up to kick a ball through the uprights.
Again, he hasn’t just been great, Paredes has been perfect.
On field goals, Paredes is seven-for-seven.
On conversions, he’s eight-for-eight.
After Andrew Buckley retired during the pre-season, there were concerns about who would hold the ball when Paredes was kicking, but it appears the partnership he formed with Rob Maver — who has been equally as great punting the ball — has clicked fast.
“When we lost Andrew as our holder, I was a bit worried,” said Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson. “I feel good about Rene, but when Rene’s had his problems early I think it’s been more of a timing thing with his holds and trusting new snappers.
“(Maver and Paredes) have been working together for so long, and Maver’s doing an excellent job as well, he really is, he’s made some nice holds. You can tell they’ve spent a lot of extra time. When your quarterback’s your holder, he doesn’t get to do maybe as many holds as your punter can do with your kicker.”
Paredes has been one of the CFL’s most reliable kickers for years, but the past two seasons did see him get off to slow starts.
Through the Stamps’ first three games of 2016, Paredes hit eight-of-12 field goals and four-of-seven conversions.
Over the same stretch last year, he went seven-of-nine on field goals and five-of-eight on conversions.
In both seasons, he eventually found his rhythm and a connection with the men snapping and holding the ball and began striking it through the uprights on most attempts.
The Stampeders know they can rely on Paredes down the stretch, but the perfect start is a nice bonus.
Like Dickenson, Maver believes having a punter hold the ball on field goals and conversions can be an advantage.
“I think that helped get the rhythm going right off the bat,” Maver said. “We’re able to work on it more because we’re hanging out all the time. When Buck (Buckley) left, it was just assumed that I would be the holder, pretty much right away.
“Because we’re able to spend so much time together, things got moving pretty quickly. We have a great scheme, people are buying in, (long snapper Pierre-Luc Caron) has been absolutely fantastic this year and that makes my life a lot easier.”
Paredes acknowledged the extra work he and Maver can do together on the sideline helps.
Maybe it’s superstition and not wanting to jinx things, but he seemed a little reluctant to speak too much about what’s going right this year.
“I’m just trying to do my job,” Paredes said. “The first thing coming into the season was I wanted to start fast. It’s a good thing it’s going that way and we just want to keep things rolling.”
NOT OUT JUST YET
Spencer Wilson didn’t participate much in practice on Monday morning, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the Stampeders right tackle is being ruled out of Thursday’s game in Ottawa against the Redblacks.
The offensive lineman has fought through injury before.
“He’s fighting it a little bit,” Dickenson said. “He’s a guy who’s very reliable, though, and plays with a lot of injuries. We’re going up against a good group, a good group of ends, so we’ll have to see how it plays out.”
If Wilson is out, it might create a bit of mixing and matching to fit the ratio, as Wilson is one of three Canadians on the offensive line.
At Monday ’s practice, American Justin Renfrow was taking the majority of snaps at right guard.
JOHNSON SITS OUT
Micah Johnson also didn’t participate much in practice on Monday, but again, he might be one of those players who can play despite getting less practice time.
The defensive tackle missed most of training camp while he recovered from a knee injury, but has played in all three of the Stampeders’ games this season.
More than anything, it sounds as if the Stamps coaching staff is trying to be careful with its players and not put their bodies through too much this early in the season.
“I think you get better in practice,” Dickenson said. “There are certain guys who, you have to understand the body. The pounding, the running — we always work on turf, which is soft, but it’s not real soft and it’s tough on these guys.
“We have a few guys, most of them are knee problems, foot problems, that struggle to do it day-in and day-out. As long as they show up and they ’re prepared and focused and play well, we’ll allow that.”
One guy who seems unlikely to participate in Thursday’s game is Tunde Adeleke, who sat out another practice after spraining his ankle a few weeks ago.
We’re able to work on (placements) more because we’re hanging out all the time.