Stamps’ Bennett may be the next victim of team’s youth movement
Strong play is elevating cornerback Evans in the eyes of coaching staff
Away from the white lines, Ciante Evans is as quiet as a field mouse.
His play at field cornerback, however, has been noisy.
Loud enough, in fact, that Calgary Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson has been giving him half of veteran Fred Bennett’s practice reps this week.
That’s new for the 32-year-old with 73 games of experience in Red & White under his belt.
The time share was unexpected.
“I’m just a player,” Bennett said Wednesday. “I just work here. I guess that’s something the coaches have got to put out there. I’m not one to speak on it. I’m just here to do my part in any shape, fashion or form. Whatever my team needs me to do. I’m a team guy.
“As far as what’s going on, I feel like our coaches need to put that out there.”
While Dickenson wouldn’t pinpoint any specifics, the first-year head coach didn’t try to hide his affection for Evans, a 5-foot-11, 170-pounder in his second CFL season.
It may be one or the other this Friday against the B.C. Lions.
“I’ve got my opinion,” Dickenson said. “I want to make sure the defence is on board. I want to make sure, also, that we’re looking at both guys and giving them a fair shake. There’s a chance we can get them both on (the roster) if we decide to use our D.I. position differently. I like Ciante, but Fred’s been one of our better guys consistently. He has certainly, I think, got some plays that we’d like to take back, but I love his leadership and I just like Fred as a player and as a guy.”
It’s a continuation of the youth movement on the defensive side of the football that began with Juwan Simpson’s release in January and continued in February when they let Keon Raymond walk in free agency.
Even though they’re all professionals, trying to supplant an established stalwart like Bennett isn’t the easiest situation for Evans, either.
“It’s tough, but I just want to go out and do my job and do what I can to help the team win and just let the rest take care of itself,” Evans said.
Bennett’s 2015 season ended last October due to a broken wrist, but defensive co-ordinator DeVone Claybrooks talked up his veteran wide-side cornerback during training camp, saying he was in the best shape he’s ever seen.
Through four starts this season, Bennett has 14 tackles, a forced fumble, as well as a fumble recovery.
His Week 3 performance in Ottawa saw him get beat on a pair of touchdowns Chris Williams, but the Redblacks playmaker has been beating just about every defensive back across the league so far this season.
“I felt these first couple of games,
I’m just here to do my part in any shape, fashion or form. Whatever my team needs me to do. I’m a team guy.
I’ve been fine,” Bennett said. “They run the show. I’m just a guy, just a player. I play and work here.
“I feel like I’ve been solid and being Freddie B. I don’t know what they’ve seen upstairs and everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but, me, personally, I feel like I’ve been solid.”
Dickenson claims it’s more about what Evans is doing, rather than what Bennett isn’t.
“Ciante, to me, is one of our best cover guys,” said Dickenson, who watched Evans make a highlightreel interception in the pre-season from the same cornerback position he’s currently making a mark at. “He really is. He’s up there. If he’s up there, try to get him on the roster.”
Evans was in the lineup the last time the Stamps and Lions met in Week 1, but a toe injury has kept the 23-year-old product of the Nebraska Cornhuskers program on the sideline since.
“It was like a bone bruise,” Evans said.
“I got stepped on in the preseason and it kind of got pushed into the ground and got stretched out, but it’s better now and it feels good.”
As a member of the Cornhuskers family, Evans was also dealing with some tragedy this week, after punter Sam Foltz was killed in a car crash last weekend along with Michigan State punter Mike Sadler as they were returning from a kicking camp in Wisconsin.
Evans was a senior during Foltz’s freshman season in Lincoln.
“I’m keeping them in my prayers, for sure,” Evans said. “He was a good guy and I know they’re taking this loss pretty tough.”