Stamps excited to get rookie on field
Top draft pick recovering from knee injury, should be ready to practise soon
As the players donning Calgary Stampeders rookie camp jerseys went through their reps on Friday, Randy Colling was off on his own, climbing the McMahon Stadium stairs.
The Stampeders’ first round draft pick so far hasn’t been able to take the field at rookie camp this year due to a lingering knee injury. Fortunately, it doesn’t sound as if the delay of Colling’s training camp debut will last much longer.
“We’re still waiting on a new brace for him,” Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson said. “We feel like we want to make sure when he does go we’ve got him a little bit of support, so we’re waiting on that.
“It could be into Monday-toWednesday of next week, even, because we’re getting him a custom brace. We just want to make sure he’s got the support so when he does practice we feel he can make it through.”
Colling seems to be someone the Stampeders have big plans for on the defensive line. They traded up in the CFL Draft to select him with the sixth overall pick, and with both Junior Turner and Quinn Smith expected to miss the start of the season with injuries it seemed possible the 26-year-old Colling would be able to step in immediately and play a role on the D-line.
“There’s a reason we picked him in the first round, we believe he’s going to be a force inside for us, so we’re looking forward to ( his training camp debut) as much as everybody else,” Stamps defensive line coach Corey Mace said. “I don’t think we’re too far from him getting out here and practising.”
Fortunately for both the player and team, it doesn’t sound as if Colling missing training camp should have too much of an effect on his availability once the regular season starts.
Colling has played several years of pro ball in the Arena Football League since he graduated from Gannon University in 2011, and while there are still adjustments that he’ll need to make as he adapts to the Canadian game, he isn’t coming into camp completely blind to the challenges of playing football at the professional level.
“He’s an interior guy, so it’s not like he needs to get a ton of reps at rookie camp, but once the pads come on, it’ll be nice to see what he can do,” Dickenson said.
“I won’t rush him, but I also want to see what you’ve got. He’s a 26-year-old rookie, which is interesting.
“We’re gonna let him get his feet underneath him with this injury and make sure our medical people have looked at him enough.”
LYNCH IMPRESSING
Julan Lynch is just trying to soak it all in.
The Stampeders’ second-round selection in this year’s draft admitted the speed of the professional game has been an adjustment over the early days of his first rookie camp, but his strategy for adapting doesn’t sound all that complicated.
“There’s a couple guys here right now who were here last year, so I’m just kind of watching what they do,” Lynch said.
Lynch is among the least-experienced players at camp, as he only started playing football when he was 18 and only really took off as a top university receiver in the 2015 and 2016 seasons for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
But he’s also a tantalizing prospect.
At six-foot-two and 228 pounds, he’s the right size to be a CFL receiver and at only 22 he has plenty of time to grow his game. Whether he’s starting for the Stamps this year or not, it sounds like the coaches like what they see.
“He is what I thought he was, he’s a big-bodied kid and he has good hands,” Dickenson said. “He really catches the ball well and, I mean, you can tell the guys who have soft hands.
“I knew also that he’s raw, he’s certainly not a guy that’s played a lot of football … We like a lot of things about him, we’ve got to get him up to speed.”
THEY’RE EVERYWHERE
The University of Calgary Dinos are well-represented at CFL training camps this year.
According to the university, a total of 26 former Dinos will be taking the field at CFL training camps this weekend, including five with the Stampeders.
The list in Calgary includes rookie Adam Laurensse, QB Andrew Buckley, o-lineman Dan Federkeil, wideout Anthony Parker and running back Anthony Woodson.