With Chick, George and Hall, D-line has strong foundation

REGINA — In Greg Quick’s mind, the foundation of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive line is rock solid.

The CFL team will enter training camp with three proven performers — ends John Chick and Alex Hall and tackle Tearrius George — and the Roughriders’ new defensive co-ordinator can’t wait to work with them.

“I don’t think we could have three better building blocks with which to build,” Quick says. “As pass-rushers, as professional football players, those three guys have proven to be very dominant.

“We’re very excited about having the opportunity to help maximize the potential that lies in those three guys and the players who will complement them in that rotation.”

Chick led the CFL in sacks last season with 15 and added 11 tackles for losses. If not for the record-setting 143-tackle season recorded by B.C. Lions linebacker Solomon Elimimian, Chick may have been the CFL’s top defensive player in 2014.

George, meanwhile, had a breakout season by tying for fifth in the CFL’s sack race with 12. Hall, who spent the 2014 season with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, finished second in the CFL with 16 sacks in 2013.

The Roughriders led the league with 61 sacks last season, with 51 of those coming from their defensive linemen.

The group may have lost the production of end Ricky Foley — who, after registering 12 sacks in 2014, was traded to the Toronto Argonauts in the off-season — but it added a proven replacement in Hall.

Two returnees are potential candidates for the other tackle spot on the Roughriders’ D-line. Derek Walker had five sacks over his 15 regular-season games played last season, while Markus White appeared in one regular-season contest.

“The more we can get out of that traditional nose guard position, the better,” Quick says. “Having a player like (Walker) who has experience there gives us an opportunity to build on what he has done in the past.”

That said, training camp — which opens Sunday in Saskatoon — will tell the tale.

The Roughriders had a number of defensive linemen at their mini-camp in Florida and some of them may be signed before training camp. Saskatchewan’s roster currently doesn’t include any American players other than the aforementioned veterans.

When it comes to Canadians, returnees Dylan Ainsworth and Levi Steinhauer are to be joined at camp by fellow Canucks Rory Connop, Tyler Langlais and Brandon Tennant. The latter trio all were selected in the CFL draft on May 12.

Training camp will feature a battle in the trenches for the defensive linemen — and that doesn’t include their clashes with their offensive counterparts.

“Those front-line guys, we have a pretty good idea of what they can do,” Quick says. “Then there’s going be a lot of competition at the next level.

“It’s going to be a very competitive training camp for those people who are going to make the rotation and be in contributing roles. There’s going to be somebody we really don’t know a lot about right now who’s going to make a big play for us in the Grey Cup.”

In 2014, Saskatchewan’s defence was fifth in the CFL in average yards passing per game (245.9) and seventh in average yards rushing per game (115.4).

Quick wants to see the line — along with the linebackers and defensive backs — limit the latter number, especially in a West Division that features some potent running attacks.

As much as Quick likes the personnel he will have at his disposal in camp, he’s perhaps more excited about one of his fellow coaches.

Mike Sinclair, who led the NFL in sacks with the Seattle Seahawks in 1998, is entering his first season as the Roughriders’ defensive line coach.

He held the same position with the Montreal Alouettes and NFL’s Chicago Bears before joining Saskatchewan’s staff on a full-time basis this spring.

“Mike Sinclair is going to be able to take those people — every single one of them — to another level,” Quick says of the Roughriders’ defensive linemen. “To me, that’s really the differencemaker for us.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s national talent or international talent. They’re going to be coached in a manner that’s going to maximize their potential.”