Road to starting role in CFL can be winding one for quarterbacks
Chris Streveler doesn’t have to look far to see the living embodiment of just how big an opportunity he’s getting.
Just one locker over, in fact. With Winnipeg Blue Bombers starting quarterback Matt Nichols out for up to six weeks with a knee injury suffered in training camp, the fresh-faced rookie out of South Dakota is taking his first step into the CFL squarely in the spotlight — one that has proven elusive for so many pivots looking to make their mark in the three-down loop.
And there aren’t many who have had a more tumultuous trek than Nichols, who paid more than his fair share of dues since entering the league with the Eskimos back in 2011, only to see opportunity after opportunity taken from him.
It began in 2012, when politics surrounding the Ricky Ray trade prevented Nichols from a legitimate chance at competing for the starting role that had been handed to the incoming Steven Jyles.
“A lot of people don’t know that,” said longtime Eskimos receiver Adarius Bowman, who followed Nichols to Winnipeg in free agency in the off-season. “They wouldn’t let him.”
Who could forget the image of Nichols lying on the turf in Toronto with his foot pointed in the wrong direction after being brought in to try to salvage an East Division crossover he should have started in the first place?
The following year, Nichols was competing throw-for-throw against free agent acquisition Mike Reilly in training camp, only to drop out of the race after injuring his knee in a pre-season game.
And when Reilly’s knee was injured in the 2015 season opener, Nichols floated the Eskimos’ boat until the starter was healthy, keeping the Eskimos in contention on what turned into a title run.
All the while, head coach Chris Jones was pushing his own prodigy, James Franklin, which ended in Nichols getting traded mid-season to Winnipeg for a seventh-round conditional draft pick.
“I’ve definitely got history with Matty Ice (Nichols), but this guy Chris has got me very excited. His energy,” Bowman said of Streveler. “Definitely a rookie, so you know the mistakes that come with that.
“But I’m 100 per cent confident in our veterans, our team, our offensive co-ordinator, to put him in the right place and allow him to go out there and make plays.”
TOUGH STUFF
Eskimos wideout Derel Walker cracked the list of toughest receivers to cover in the CFL, as compiled by four-time all-star cornerback-turned-TSN analyst Davis Sanchez.
“Like most top receivers in this league, (head coach and offensive co-ordinator) Jason Maas moves him around a lot, but you can often find him at that X wide receiver (position),” said Sanchez, whose 13-year pro football career spanned both sides of the border, including a season in Edmonton in 2005. “He has prototypical skills. He’s got speed to burn but his greatest strength is his crisp, polished route running.
“The Esks will go to work on your boundary side when (quarterback Mike) Reilly gets a pre-snap read seeing Walker alone with no linebacker body help or the safety leaning weak.”
The other receivers Sanchez named are Toronto’s S.J. Green at No .1, followed by the versatile Du ron Carter in Saskatchewan at No .2, and Ottawa’s Greg Ellingson was No. 3. The fourth spot was a tossup between two receiver/returners — Ottawa’s Diontae Spencer and Hamilton’s Brandon Banks.
“I’d say all five of ours are probably the top-five toughest, in my opinion. I don’t think we have a weak link in our receiving corps,” Reilly said. “But Derel’s earned a reputation in this league because of what he’s done during his time here and he looks better than I’ve seen him look coming in and getting a full training camp with us, which has been a little while, and he’s another year into being a veteran.
“He’s added to his game and that makes it even more challenging to cover a guy that already felt very difficult to stymie.”
In and out: A pair of potential starters in the secondary are on the long-term injury list, as CBs Johnny Adams and Arjen Colquhoun have been six-gamed, along with fellow DB Mercy Maston, who was one of five Eskimos to suffer an Achilles injury over the past year. OL Jean- Simon Roy has been placed on the six-game as he continues to recover from a knee injury that cut his 2017 season short, along with newcomer WRs Juron Criner and Giovanni Aprile ... WR Bryant Mitchell is the lone Eskimos player on the one-game injured list.
By the numbers: Edmonton and Winnipeg are both 5-5 on opening day since 2008 ... Thursday ’s game is the earliest regular-season game in league history, beating 2004’s lid-lifter between Saskatchewan and Toronto by one day.