After finishing with the second best record in the league and one win away from making it back to the big game, one wouldn’t expect that major roster changes would be in store for the 2016 Calgary Stampeders. That said, a wholesale change to the coaching staff and departures of some prominent stars have resulted in exactly that. An aging defensive corps, NFL contracts for several players, and the retirement of record-setting but oft-concussed tailback Jon Cornish have resulted in several interesting battles at key positions during this year’s training camp. And in the wake of preseason game one and the first round of cuts, there are still plenty of question marks on the Stamps roster.
Noteworthy Stampeders Camp Battles
On Offence
At receiver, Dave Dickenson and crew are going to be hard-pressed to replace 2015’s top receiver Eric Rogers and the dynamic playmaking of Jeff Fuller, who both landed contracts in the NFL. A handful of rookies in camp, including 2015 second round draft pick Juwan Brescacin, are vying for these spots. Stalwart Canadian receiver Simon Charbonneau-Campeau, who missed almost all of the 2015 season with injury, is looking to make his mark, and newly acquired Ticat Bakari Grant has had a strong camp so far.
The Stamps are also blessed with a wealth of Canadian talent at receiver with sixth year man Anthony Parker and potential breakout start Lemar Durant. Incumbents Marquay McDaniel, Joe West (the elder statesmen, now both 32 years old) and Greg Wilson will certainly earn roster spots barring injury, and they’re hoping Kamar Jorden will show enough to cement a spot. It’s impossible to tell at this stage if this all adds up to replacing the sort of production and clutch grabs that Rogers and Fuller provided over the past two seasons, but it will be fun to see it all play out. Certainly Bo Levi Mitchell is enjoying watching these battles from the pocket.
One would hardly expect the battle for third-string quarterback to be an exciting one, but incumbent “The Flyin’ Hawaiian” Bryant Moniz has already been released, suggesting that rookie U of C Dinos project Andrew Buckley has earned a shot as the team’s number three pivot. While technically a rookie, Buckley certainly isn’t green as this is his third training camp with Calgary, certainly performed better in the pre-season game against Edmonton and has arguably a stronger arm than Moniz. The only reason this move is truly noteworthy, however, is because Buckley is Canadian and a local boy.
On Defence
Perhaps the biggest defensive change of all for the Stamps this off-season was having Devone Claybrooks take over as defensive coordinator from the sly old fox Rich Stubler, who headed back east to Toronto. The defensive line and backfield remain primarily intact, with the departure of Freddie Bishop III to the NFL as the only notable subtraction, and the rookies are getting their reps in as typical in training camp. Linebacker, however, is another story.
It can be easy to suggest that veterans Deron Mayo and former Tiger-Cat Taylor Reed will step in for departed mainstays Juwan Simpson and Keon Raymond, but defenses take time to gel, and a simple miscommunication can result in a big play against in the CFL. Reed comes in with similar career numbers to Simpson but there is a certain vocal leadership that Juwan brought to the MLB position that still remains to be seen from Reed. Mayo is best slotted in at weak side linebacker, so the SAM-backer spot vacated by the departure of Raymond, filled by Burnett in the interim, is still largely up for grabs.
On Special Teams
With the recent retirement of Skye Dawson and flu bug to Tory Harrison, the kick/punt returner’s job is truly up for grabs. Harrison and Parker are the only incumbents who returned kicks with any regularity last season, and neither are great fits for the spot: Harrison is much more valuable out of the backfield and Parker showed a propensity for slippery fingers. General manager John Hufnagel brought in diminutive running backs/returners Roy Finch, Lache Seastrunk and Reggie Whatley and to be frank, all had an equal shot at being the team’s primary return man.
Whatley has since been released and during the pre-season game last weekend each had a touch as a returner, as did veteran DB Joe Burnett and rookie receiver Jamal Nixon. None of them really branded themselves as formidable returners, albeit in limited action. The decision of who should be kept will likely occur after this weekend’s second pre-season game, in BC, and one would expect that the coaching staff are hoping to see someone separate themselves from the pack during the game.
Depending on the position there are almost as many roster questions still for the 2016 Stampeders as they have answers. It certainly appears that head coach Dickenson and general manager Hufnagel are going to have more tough personnel decisions this June than they’ve had in recent years.
