It was a joyous return to camp on Monday morning following the Stampeders 30-6 preseason victory Saturday afternoon at McMahon Stadium over the BC Lions.
There were a few standout players over the weekend, including rookie running back B.J. Emmons who had two touchdowns. All five quarterbacks played in Saturday’s win against the Lions with Jake Maier and Matt Shiltz leading the way.
RELATED
» Single Game Tickets: Available Now
» DETAILS: Stamps Announce 2024 Game Themes
» DETAILS: Stamps Unveil New Mobile App
» WATCH: Sights and Sounds – 25.05.24
» WATCH: Post-Game Reactions – 25.05.24
» READ: Stamps Dominate Lions
Quarterback Thoughts
The battle for a job behind centre will come down to who slots in the third spot at the depth chart with Maier and Shiltz taking up the top two places. The rest of the QB stable consists of short-yardage expert Tommy Stevens, second-year pivot Logan Bonner and rookie Kyle Vantrease.
Head coach and GM Dave Dickenson spoke about the play of his pivots following the game.
“We got all five in and it was important for me to make sure they were meaningful reps for the one and the two,” explained Dickenson. “Really wanted to make sure Jake got into a flow and wanted Matt to get to know our offence and play the game and see how we call things. He did what we call a clutch period at the end of the half and he did a nice job communicating with the guys.
“I’m sure we can be better, I know that. It seemed like we were fairly good, it seemed like the guys were getting to the line of scrimmage and I thought we YAC’d it up well as a group; the receivers caught the ball well and made the extra yards.”
Jake Maier finds Marken Michel to create some on-field magic 🪄@calstampeders | #CFL
Watch on CFL+! pic.twitter.com/tuCZbmjxcn
— CFL (@CFL) May 25, 2024
Receiver Depth
The Stampeders went out and got more depth at wide receiver in the offseason and it showed in Saturday’s victory.
Nine different receivers caught a pass in the win despite projected starters Jalen Philpot and Malik Henry sitting out for precautionary reasons.
Dickenson explained why that depth was so important coming into this year.
“That’s the one position this year where we’ve seen the most injuries,” he said. “There were a few guys taking part, it wasn’t a fast-paced practice, but they were out there doing some things, guys that weren’t in the game. It’s more about concepts. Meaning if there are injuries can you figure out what we’re doing by the concept and some guys played out of position that they never even practiced in so they did a good job.
“It’s always nice to have the Tyson Middlemost’s of the group that have played in our system that have knowledge of multiple positions. I thought he stepped up and did a good job.”
Quick Notes
The Stamps are in Winnipeg to battle the Blue Bombers Friday in the exhibition finale.
The Season-opener takes place Friday, June 7 at McMahon Stadium. GET YOUR TICKETS!
