One game closer to greatness
If he was in the NBA, Brandon Revenberg’s label would be Sixth Man.
Not a starter, but a virtual starter, a guy who will play enough off the bench to elevate him above the category of pure backup.
“That’s fair,” says Hamilton Tiger-Cats first-year offensive line coach Mike Markuson, who handles Revenberg and the other big bodies charged with engaging in trench warfare.
“He’s a tremendous athlete. Great work ethic. He’s tough, smart and he can do it all. We got the green out of him last week in Montreal, we got him some snaps and he did well. He’s on his way, so he’s vital for our success.”
The 23-year-old from Essex was the Ticats’ surprise first draft choice, third overall, two months ago after Hamilton traded up from fifth to make sure they would get the Grand Valley State offensive lineman who wasn’t even rated among the final top 20 by CFL scouting.
But Kent Austin and the football ops department liked his ability to adapt quickly. He played every line position at Grand Valley, and the consensus among the local brain trust is that he is capable of that versatility in the CFL. He’s got good technique, a terrific first couple of steps, and Austin has even mentioned him as, long-term, a potential starter at tackle. In short, he embodies versatility. “It’s being utilized, no doubt,” Revenberg said after Wednesday’s practice in which he filled in for Pete Dyakowski (away on a personal matter) at left guard in A-team drills, played centre on the scout team against the starting Ticat defence, and also had to pay attention to what Girard was doing, in case there’s an emergency and he has to go in over the ball Saturday against Edmonton.
“I’m keeping an open mind, just like when I came up here. I’ve bumped around, and in some pre-season games I played some centre. I like guard, interior is fine with me, but I have no real preference.”
For four seasons until this year, the Cats had multi-purpose veteran Tim O’Neill as their sixth man, and he started games at all three positions in the middle of the line. While the personable O’Neill was 35 and, outside of emergencies, a backup when he finished here, Revenberg is just starting his career and has full-time starter — who knows, perhaps as early as next year or the end of this one — written all over him.
The Ticats, like most successful teams, tend to ease their Canadian linemen into regular action and haven’t really given big minutes to a homebrew rookie since Simeon Rottier began his three-season tenure six years ago.
Revenberg got “three or four series” at left guard in Montreal, and while neither Austin nor Markuson says it, you get the sense watching this team that he’ll play even more as the long CFL season plods on.
“He’s a guy who has a lot of promise, a lot of upside for us, we’re trying to bring him along,” Austin says. “Some of that is determined by health, some of it is determined by just what we want to do with respect to growing him into a professional football player.”
Paradoxically, Revenberg says that his biggest adjustment to the Canadian pros has been developing patience.
“When I was playing at Grand Valley, the D line was right on the ball so it happens a lot faster, while here you are a yard off so you have to learn to wait a little.”
Markuson says one of Revenberg’s best traits is his sense of balance: “He keeps his feet in the ground, and he can move and adjust and adapt, so that’s a bonus. What I love about this kid is that he wants to be great.” And will he be? “Yes,” Markuson says without hesitation. “I think he will be.”