Stampeders open rookie camp with American talent at heart of new hope

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The first official day of football for the Calgary Stampeders in 2024 kicked off Wednesday with fresh faces galore.

The weather was fresh, to boot.

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“I suggested to one coach that he should have a tuque on,” said Stampeders boss Dave Dickenson. “He said, ‘What’s a tuque?’

“Americans.”

Of course, Dickenson himself is American, but as of April 30, he’s a Canadian citizen, as well.

And the long-time CFL quarterback/coach/GM celebrated by waving a Canadian flag around at the team’s first practice at McMahon Stadium.

“I am … yeah,” said the proud Dickenson, a 51-year-old native of Great Falls, Mont. “I guess they made an exception — let me in.

“So that was nice. That’s good. I’m happy about it, but I always kind of considered myself half-Canadian anyway. Nice to make it official.”

Unofficially, he’s hoping to encourage a few other compatriots from south of the border to join him sometime soon.

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Specifically, Dickenson’s got his eye on those young Americans who are in camp aiming to become Stampeders — and perhaps become veterans of the league, just as he has.

He’d like that, especially to help the franchise find winning ways again.

“Our influx of talent among young Americans has to really make a big impact and take us to being that team we want to be,” Dickenson said. “We didn’t do a poor job in free agency — we got some guys we like. But we’ve always tried to find fresh guys — guys that are just looking for a start — and I think we’ve got some really good young talent.

“And then we hope that they fit in and push our vets, and we’ll see how the final roster sets up.”

In total, 50 hopefuls opened rookie camp under Dickenson’s watch.

The roster includes six of the eight Stamps’ selections from last week’s CFL Draft.

Those were:

• First-rounder — eighth-overall — Christy Nkanu, a 25-year-old offensive lineman from the NCAA’s Washington State Cougars;
• Third-rounder George Idoko, a 23-year-old Calgary kid and defensive lineman from the U SPORTS’ Saskatchewan Huskies;
• Fourth-rounder Jason Janvier-Messier, a 23-year-old defensive lineman from the U SPORTS’ York Lions;
• Fifth-rounder Paul-Antoine Ouellette, a 26-year-old running back from the U SPORTS’ Montreal Carabins;
• Seventh-rounder Jackson Sombach, a 24-year-old defensive back from the U SPORTS’ Regina Rams;
• Eighth-rounder Kaylyn St-Cyr, a 25-year-old defensive back from the Carabins.

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The two 2024 draftees not in freshman camp were:

• First-rounder — fourth-overall — Ben Labrosse, a 24-year-old defensive back from U SPORTS’ McGill Redbirds;
• Sixth-rounder Tanner McLachlan, a 25-year-old Albertan and tight end from the NCAA’s Arizona Wildcats.

Labrosse is trying his hand at rookie mini-camp with the NFL’s New York Giants, while McLachlan is a prized NFL commodity after being made a sixth-round draft choice by the Cincinnati Bengals two weeks back.

“With Tanner, it’s weird,” Dickenson said. “Tanner’s a Lethbridge guy, and when I reached out to him, he called me right back. He’s actually going to drive up to kind of check things out, which is awesome for a guy that’s a draft pick in the NFL. We don’t really expect to see Tanner probably all year.

“But we’re really going to follow Ben real close (over the next week) and see if we can get him in here,” continued Dickenson of the Stamps’ fourth-overall pick. “We wish him well (at Giants camp), but we are also going to keep our eyes out and make sure that if it doesn’t work out for him, we’ll get him up here as fast as possible.”

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As for those in camp, Dickenson made sure to send them onto the field with the fuel it takes to get through the next three days and — hopefully — onto main camp, which opens Sunday at McMahon.

“My thing for the guys is make sure you don’t have any regrets, meaning don’t make a decision or do something that potentially makes my job easy,” Dickenson said. “Make my job tough. Cuts are coming. Just do your part. Do your part and compete and see what happens.”

Perhaps that wasn’t all that easy in the cool, crisp conditions of Day 1.

“The guys were good — we were smart,” added Dickenson. “You’ve got to be a little careful, especially when you start stacking practices together, about muscles and stuff like that. We’re going to let them compete, though, because obviously we do have cuts coming. There’s a few guys that might not make it through to the main camp, so we want to give them an opportunity to compete.

“Yeah … it was a little chilly, but I think when the guys were running around, they got a lot out of it.”

SHORT YARDAGE

Two rostered rookie campers in LB Lino Schröter, a 2023 CFL Global Draft pick, and WR Malachi Wideman, a Stamps signee in January, were unavailable for the first day of camp … Day 2 of rookie camps goes Thursday morning at McMahon … Friday’s third day, also at McMahon, rounds out Stamps’ rookie camp.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

X: @ToddSaelhofPM

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