Hopefuls were out to impress at Las Vegas camp
You’ve heard about what happens in Vegas? Well, forget about it staying in Vegas.
What happened in Vegas during the Eskimos’ four-day minicamp will hopefully be enough to move on to Edmonton for the main training camp at the end of the month.
At least, that was the goal of the 60 or so invitees the CFL club gathered together over the off-season from a run through their U.S. open tryout circuit.
“It was more of an extendedworkout camp,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas, adding the approach differed somewhat from years past, which normally included a few players already on the roster.
“We had more of the players we looked at throughout the country at all the camps we run with our scouts.
“We wanted to get a good look at them and see those guys all compete, (keeping in mind) the needs that we have going into training camp. We’re going to bring up some guys we feel can help our football club and definitely compete in training camp.”
Maas didn’t share any names in attendance, adding it will be up to the new recruits to make a name for themselves once in Edmonton.
“You’ll hear about them when training camp starts because right now we’re still evaluating everyone we’re going to be bringing up,” said Maas, whose roster sat at 54 coming into mini-camp — well under the 75 allowed.
“Once we finalize our roster, it will get set for May 27-28 when we start, and a lot of those (new) names will be guys we brought from this camp.
“Everyone we brought to Vegas, we brought to Vegas for a reason.”
But on-field ability was only part of the equation, as coaches also looked at how they fit in away from the field.
“That’s part of the reason we have the setting that we do, bringing guys from workouts where you’re just looking at skill at that point, and not paying much mind to anything else,” Maas said. “But you don’t get a good feel about people until you actually have them in a classroom setting, you’re teaching them and holding them accountable for things over a number of days and practices.
“The coaches get to see what kind of learning capacity they have, how they fit into a team atmosphere. You still have to run, catch and tackle, but the type of person you are and how you fit into what we do, scheme-wise and characterwise, that also factors in.”
HOCKEY HAVEN
The CFL pre-season may be the farthest thing from the minds of Edmonton sports fans here in the middle of a long-awaited Oilers’ run through their first NHL playoffs since 2006, but the atmosphere is nothing new to Maas, who got his start in the league as an Eskimos quarterback in 2000.
“Edmonton’s a sports city, everyone knows that,” he said. “They support their teams, and it’s awesome to see the Oilers doing so well this year in the playoffs. It’s exciting.
“Like everybody, we hope they win the Stanley Cup. It will be cool for our players to see what our city is like when they come up (for training camp) and see what kind of sports fans we have in the city.”
YOUNG GUNS
The Eskimos have added former Winona State University quarterback Jack Nelson to their negotiation list.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound native of Byron, Minn., set school records with 102 touchdowns and a total passing yardage of 12,226 during his four years with the Warriors. It’s the same program current Eskimos offensive co-ordinator Carson Walch played for from 1996-99 as an all-American running back, receiver and returner before kicking off his coaching career there.
Nelson wasn’t selected in the 2017 NFL draft, which wrapped up April 29 in Philadelphia, though he could still get a free-agent tryout.
“His dream is to play in the NFL,” Walch told the Post-Bulletin in Rochester, Minn. "So if that happens, good for him. We have claimed his rights.”
On Wednesday, free agent quarterback Danny O’Brien, 26, took to Twitter to announce he’s on his way to Edmonton after spending the past three seasons with the Ottawa Redblacks, where he played behind Henry Burris and had Maas as his offensive co-ordinator in 2015.