Deep receiving corps gives Stamps options
The Calgary Stampeders entered training camp with a fully stocked cupboard of Canadian receivers. Depth certainly wasn’t an issue. Not when they had a veteran in Anthony Parker, who has been around for long enough to be ohso familiar with the Stampeders’ playbook.
And not when Lemar Durant appears to be on the verge of a breakout season after two years spent growing into his role as a pro receiver, or Juwan Brescacin, who seems primed for a breakout season after finding his feet with the team last year as a rookie.
Add in Rory Kohlert, who had five productive seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and it all adds up to some serious options for starting quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell to throw at downfield.
“Our four Canadian receivers have had a really good camp, all of them,” said Stamps receivers coach Pete Costanza. “Juwan, Parker, Lemar and Rory, just solid camps.
“They’ve really done a nice job and they’ve been doing what we asked and made plays for us.”
It’s unclear how many Canadian receivers the Stamps intend to keep for the regular season, but the team definitely has options.
Americans Marquay McDaniel, DaVaris Daniels and Kamar Jorden are expected to start, but that leaves a slotback and wide receiver position open for the Canadians.
“It’s good to have that Canadian depth,” Costanza said. “Anytime you can have that Canadian talent where they go out there and play the way they do, it makes us better as a football team.”
Training camp has also shown the Stamps have plenty of reason for optimism at receivers coming down the Canadian pipeline.
Julan Lynch and Richard Sindani were both selected by the Stampeders in the 2017 CFL Draft, and they’ve both put in strong performances throughout pre-season.
Neither player should be expected to be big contributors this season, and Sindani still has a full two years left of university football eligibility, but for a Stampeders coaching staff that speaks often about the importance of depth, their progress is a massive positive.
“It’s kind of, to me, (Sindani) just a young kid, he’s growing up. Those are exciting prospects, though, because you can kind of help mould them and hopefully you see them grow each and every week,” Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson said. “Julan, as well, is pretty raw. He was a basketball player until three, four years ago, so those guys have both taken good steps forward and are doing a good job.”
FEELING GOOD
Costanza sounded like an excited man when he was speaking about the receiving group the Stamps will have at their disposal. How do we know? Well … “I’m very excited,” Costanza said. The Stamps receiving corps didn’t get the same love that many of their CFL rivals did last season, despite providing Mitchell with
Those are exciting prospects, though, because you can kind of help mould them and hopefully you see them grow.
targets that helped him lead the league in passing.
That largely comes down to the fact that the Stamps like spreading the ball around, so the end-ofseason stats don’t show one or two guys with huge numbers. Don’t expect that to change. “The one thing with us is we don’t just feed two guys,” Costanza said. “That’s not the way we go about our business. We’ve got guys out there, five or six playing the game, and with how Bo makes the reads and distributes the football we feel confident that any one of them can make plays and help us win.
“If somebody has 10 catches one game and then the next game has two, it is what it is as long as we get the win. But I am excited. It’s a young, talented group, and it’s our job to study and get on the same page as our quarterback and help him be successful, as well.”