Jorden aims to make leap to stardom

The opportunity is there for Kamar Jorden to make his mark this season.

With Bakari Grant leaving the Calgary Stampeders and signing a contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, it would appear there’s a receiver spot in the Stamps’ starting lineup just sitting there, waiting for Jorden to reach out and grab it.

Just don’t tell Jorden the spot is his.

“I feel like I can’t think like that,” Jorden said this week from Stampeders training camp at McMahon Stadium. “I feel like I’ve gotta go out and work just has hard as last year when Bakari was here, and even harder, because at the end of the day, the level I want to be at (is the top). Those are the guys I want to be competing with.”

Jorden played in only three games before Week 14, when he got back in the lineup and caught nine passes for 126 yards and a touchdown.

From then on, Jorden was a regular target for quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. He played a big part in the Stamps’ second half Grey Cup comeback, too, catching five balls for 75 yards.

All off-season, he’s been focused on making sure he gets back to that level — and then takes the next step.

“That’s what I want to be, that’s what I’m working for,” Jorden said. “I feel like I finally got my name out there and proved myself and what I can do, but I want to get to that next level. I want to be looked at as one of the top-tier receivers in the league and I’m working to do that every day on the practice field.”

Jorden appears to have put in the work this off-season and so far has kept his coaches happy at training camp.

“(He’s looked) as good as anybody, I’m very happy with Kamar,” Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson said. “He looks explosive. Looks as good as any receiver we’ve got.”

NO BO

Dickenson said he needed to get a better look at his options at backup QB and would be running entire practices where Bo Levi Mitchell wasn’t taking reps with the first team.

Wednesday morning marked the first time the team did so, with Andrew Buckley, Mitchell Gale and Ricky Stanzi splitting reps.