Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
CALGARY — It made sense that the Calgary Stampeders selected Simon Fraser offensive lineman Felix Gacusana Jr. 43rd overall in the 2017 CFL Draft.
With the departure of 2016’s Most Outstanding Lineman Derek Dennis and the revolving door that plagued the Stamps’ O-line last season due to injury, Calgary’s management team wanted – or even needed – to add another offensive lineman to the mix.
Head coach Dave Dickenson sees strength in numbers when it comes to the big men on the line – the more you can have to choose from, the better.
“I do believe that offensive lines that succeed, if you can keep the same five, you have the best chance. We’ve been kind of working on keeping the same 10, that seems to be our number. We would like to hopefully play together as a group and I believe that’s the best way you grow.”
Last season, 11 different offensive linemen protected quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and despite all of that turnover, the Stamps still managed to have the highest point total (586) and allowed the fewest sacks (20) on the season.
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The story was injuries for the Stampeders’ offensive line in 2016 (Jimmy Jeong/CFL.ca)
Right tackle Dan Federkeil was one of the major injuries in Cowtown, as he dealt with shoulder and back trouble throughout the 2016 campaign and had to undergo surgery in December to repair a torn labrum. General manager John Hufnagel said during a season preview call on Thursday he expects Federkeil to be ready to report to training camp but they won’t be rushing him into any vigorous reps.
Offensive tackle Karl Lavoie, who missed all but one game in his rookie season in 2015 with a knee injury and did not play a single game last year, announced his surprise retirement just before the Draft on Sunday.
“We were all a little surprised because we liked Karl,” admitted Dickenson. “We wanted the best for Karl. We feel like he could have been a long-time CFL guy. (But it) didn’t work out. I feel bad that it came to this but when he informed us that it was time for him, sometimes when you’re just not all the way in, it’s not for you, it’s probably time to move on.”
Some teams may raise a red flag when their Canadian offensive lineman go down with injury but Dickenson says he and the Stampeders aren’t too worried since they have quality Canadian depth elsewhere on their roster.
“Our roster is very fluid right now,” said Dickenson said of the ratio in Calgary. “We went into the year last year at times, many games starting nine Canadians, just because we felt they were the best players. We will do that again if that’s the case. Ultimately our offensive line had some injuries that we’re still making sure they’re healthy.”
A healthy O-line is what Dickenson is focusing on heading into training camp, but the man that the offensive linemen protect, Mitchell, has other things on his mind as the Stampeders get ready to report to training camp at the end of May.
“I think the one (improvement) that Huf (Hufnagel) and Dave (Dickenson) would like to see me improve on is time counts,” said Mitchell when asked what he’d like to improve on in 2017. “I usually tend to get one a game because I’m trying to look at different things and what not. Stats are stats, they don’t mean anything to us. The only stat that matters is win-loss records so as long as I can improve that, that’s all I care about.”
