REDBLACKS’ FIRST-ROUNDER AIMS FOR SPOT
Mark Korte seems smaller than his listed 6-foot-2, 293 pounds.
And he has a baby face that defies his 21 years of age.
But apparently, he was a very good football player against other boys, as a member of the University of Alberta Golden Bears offensive line that led Ed Ilnicki to a Hec Crighton Trophy last year. And now he gets to prove what he can do against men, at the Ottawa Redblacks’ rookie camp that began Wednesday.
“I can tell you that Mark is incredibly smart and he keeps to himself when he has to,” Ilnicki said. “But you put him on to the field and he’s a different animal. Especially when we get to games.
“If something comes up and he just needs to go out and be a ferocious competitor, he’s going to do that. So I’m very excited to see what he does as we go through camp.”
Korte, the Redblacks’ firstround pick (fourth overall) in the 2018 draft, is at his third camp in less than a month. He also attended mini-camps of the New York Giants (as a centre) and the New York Jets (as a guard).
“They were fantastic camps,” the native of Spruce Grove, Alta., said. “It was a good introduction to pro football, see how things work at the next level. It was a great experience. But it was a whirlwind. I’m glad to be settling down in Ottawa.”
Korte says the NFL experience prepared him for his goal of making the Redblacks’ roster.
“Any time you go to a camp you want to make the team,” he said. “But I think for me, it was get in there, build some experience and really show what I have. At the end of the day, however, it works out you’re building experience and you’re growing as a player.
“Inevitably it turned into me preparing to be a better player when I showed up in Ottawa.”
Especially getting the chance to play different positions. Almost certainly it’s what he’ll have to do if he cracks the Redblacks roster as a rookie.
On Day 1, he played all four positions along the line.
“I expected it to be fast pace and high tempo, and that’s exactly what I got,” said Korte, who believes he knows what he has to do to make the team. “I think I have to show I’ll do anything to be there, whether it’s playing any position on the offensive line, whether it’s putting in extra hours. I think that’s what’s really going to put me over the top and get me on the roster for Day 1.”
Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins says that for all the first-year players, the challenge is to prove that you can adjust and adapt to a quicker game with a higher level of competition.
Desjardins likes Korte’s athleticism and smarts — and the fact he can play left tackle. He compares him to Evan Johnson, the offensive lineman the Redblacks selected in the first round (ninth overall) of the 2017 draft.
“He’s still very young,” Desjardins said. “He’s got some high ceiling. He’s got to get a little bigger, a little stronger, kind of like what Evan Johnson was last year. We see him very similar.”
Whether Korte can play left tackle in the CFL is still to be determined.
“That’s not going to be the initial expectation, so there’s no need to really rush that,” Desjardins said. “We’ll see how it plays out. Jason (Lauzon- Seguin) has proven he can do it, and Evan has done it a little bit, so there’s certainly a hope. But we’re not going to force it either.”
DOWN TO BUSINESS
The Redblacks signed their entire 2018 draft class before rookie camp started. Along with Korte, that includes: second-round pick (13th overall) receiver Marco Dubois (6-foot4, 217 pounds) from LaSalle, Que. (Laval); third-round pick (22nd overall) offensive lineman Andrew Pickett (6-foot-4, 300-pounds) from Kitchener (Guelph); fourth-round pick (29th overall, via B.C. Lions) defensive lineman Kene Onyeka (6-foot-2, 244-pounds) from Brampton (Carleton); fourth round pick (30th overall) linebacker Mickael Cote (6-foot-3, 225-pounds) from Montreal (Concordia); seventh-round pick (55th overall) defensive back Justin Howell (5-foot-9, 199-pounds), from Bradford (Carleton); eighth-round pick (64th overall) offensive lineman Jacob Czaja (6-foot-3, 295 pounds) from Sudbury (St. Francis Xavier ... Korte said it was just a matter of finalizing details: “To get the contract signed this morning and then come out here on the field this afternoon and not have to worry about anything but playing football, it was a great day for me, for sure,” he said ... How many of the rookies have a legitimate chance of making the team? “I guess the best way I can put it is I think they all have a legitimate chance of being in our environment in some capacity,” Desjardins said. “Whether that be in dressing, whether that be in another roster category or even on the practice roster.”
EXTRA POINTS
Spending a seventh-round pick on Ilnicki in 2017 should prove to be a wise investment for the Redblacks. From multiple-200-yard games to being named the most outstanding university player in Canada, he has added some confidence to the guy he was last year, when he has a decent showing at Redblacks camp. “A lot of what I was able to accomplish last year was just having the confidence level in what I was able to do when I was here, and saying I can compete with these guys, physically I can match up with these guys, I know how to strategize at this level,” Ilnicki said. ... Said Rick Campbell of Ilnicki: “He’s a good player. We’re going to look at him both as a running back and on special teams. Guys need to be able to do both. But that’s the good thing, if you can have a big picture vision of things and you can draft guys like him, even if it’s in a later round, knowing that he’s going to go back to school ... if you have patience and wait on guys ... he got to play another year and obviously had a good year, so we’re looking on him to be back and better.”