Solly comes of age as camp sage
With several new starters on defence, Elimimian will be busy doling out wisdom during training
When Solomon Elimimian broke in with the B.C. Lions, the team’s veterans took him under their collective wing and offered the following instruction:
The mental part of the game, rook? Don’t bother. You’ll only screw up yourself and the rest of us with you.
“We had guys like (Korey) Banks, (Dante) Marsh, (Brent) Johnson and (Aaron) Hunt,” Elimimian recalled on Wednesday. “They said, ‘Solomon, just find the ball and hit the guy carrying it. We’ll do all the thinking.’”
That was 2010 and now all those players are gone. So is Adam Bighill, Elimimian’s running mate at linebacker for the last six seasons. So is Ryan Phillips, who spent 11 seasons in the Lions’ secondary before decamping for Montreal this year.
As a result, Elimimian now finds he’s one of the vets who has to do the thinking for the kids which, one supposes, is the natural order of things. But, with as many as five new starters on the Lions’ defence, and a couple more who missed most of last season with injuries, he’s had to think more than Plato at this training camp.
There’s also a fair bit riding on the unit’s ability to cohere into a fully functioning group. It’s a given the Lions will score points this season. Less certain is their ability to stop the opposition and whatever aspirations they have for 2017 rests with the defence, an interesting proposition for all concerned.
“Since I’ve been here we’ve always had a great defence,” Elimimian said. “I feel we have the potential to have a great defence this year. We just have to jell. We know individually we’re good players. But, collectively, we have to be great defence.”
And that might start with learning each other’s names.
While the depth chart is far from etched in stone, the Lions are contemplating at least one new starter on the defensive front — DeQuin Evans is pencilled in there for the time being; one new linebacker — right now it’s a battle between Cam Ontko and Joe Burnett; and a completely overhauled secondary which figures to feature a new safety in Steven Clarke, a new halfback in Buddy Jackson; a new field corner in Coquitlam’s Keynan Parker and the return of corner Ronnie Yell and halfback T.J. Lee, who combined to miss 22 games to injuries in 2016.
There are other intrigues within the unit. On Wednesday, head coach Wally Buono raved about rookie first-rounder Junior Luke, a tackle who figures in the front-four rotation and could impact the ratio. NFL veteran Frank Alexander will also be a factor. There are Canadian options at safety with CFL vet Matt Bucknor and second-year Lion Anthony Thompson.
Add it up and that’s a lot of newness.
“There’s a lot of things the young guys think they know that they don’t know,” says Elimimian. “I find myself talking a lot, making sure everyone is on the same page.”
Yes, there will be a lot of that this Canadian Football League season.
“We’re trying to make sure everyone sees the same thing,” says defensive coordinator Mark Washington. “When you plug a new piece in there, it takes time.
“But it’s exciting. It’s a young malleable group you can shape into the image you need.”
Washington, who might also be auditioning for the head coach’s job this season, will be working with quality material in his effort to assemble a championship-calibre defence.
Last year the Lions tied for the CFL lead in sacks and they’ll be adding another pass rusher to the mix. Bighill will be difficult to replace at linebacker but Loucheiz Purifoy is coming off a standout rookie season.
The secondary, meanwhile, will be adding three all-star calibre players in Yell, Lee and Clarke and a ratio-changer in Parker, the feelgood story of this camp.
The SFU product spent four seasons with the Lions toiling in special teams before last year’s run of injuries gave him a half dozen starts. Each time he went in, the opposition gleefully targeted the newbie but Parker more than held his own.
This off-season, the Lions committed to playing Parker at the wideside corner, a move which enables Clarke to move to safety.
“In every case he came in and didn’t miss a beat,” said Washington. “Teams were always testing him. Now it’s all about doing it when you’re the guy and teams are scouting you and coming after you.”
Not a problem says Parker, the son of CFL legend James (Quick) Parker.
“At times it was discouraging,” Parker says of his four-year apprenticeship. “As a competitor you always feel you’re ready. But everything in due time. You just work and work. You control your 10 per cent and that’s all you can do.”
While leaving the thinking to others.