News
April 20, 2012
Chris O’Leary
Edmonton Journal
Dobson Collins is a survivor.
The Edmonton Eskimo receiver’s audition has been small, but the fact he’s still with the team says a lot about the 24-year-old.
Collins came to the Eskimos on Aug. 15 last year with the window of opportunity opening thanks to a rash of injuries on the receiving corps. Adarius Bowman, Fred Stamps, Jason Barnes and Marcus Henry were all sidelined with a home game against the BC Lions in four days.
Collins was signed along with Prechae Rodriguez and Ryan Grice-Mullen to help fill the void. The other two players were cut in September, but Collins stuck around on the practice roster. The six-foot-two, 178-pounder impressed Eskimo Head Coach Kavis Reed with his work ethic.
He’s back in Edmonton this week for the mini-camp at Commonwealth Stadium.
“His athleticism, his explosiveness, his speed, he has a lot of the intangible qualities that we look for in a receiver,” Reed said. “He’s physically fit, a very strong individual.”
Collins played in only one game, making three catches for 36 yards, with his longest play an 18-yard grab. The game was the Eskimos’ most lopsided loss of the season – a 36-1 spanking the Lions used to turn their season around in their journey to the Grey Cup.
Reed admitted that he wasn’t overly impressed with how Collins played.
“He’s very fast, but for us, he did not perform in the game as we wanted him to,” Reed said. “So we’re going to try to figure out whether or not he’s one of those guys who perform on the practice field but not perform well in the game situation. If he can prove to us he’s a gamer, I think he’ll have a role on this football team.”
Collins is determined to get another shot in a game, and is looking forward to training camp in early June.
“I’ve always been the type of person that’s about hard work. Nothing’s been given to me,” he said. “I kind of looked at it like that. It was one of those things where I have that fire. Regardless of being on the practice squad, I love football. Having the opportunity to play is a blessing.”
Collins has spent this week rooming with Bowman, who proved himself to Reed last year and established himself as an important part of the Eskimo offence, going over the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the first time in his career.
“I’ve watched him for a year now,” Bowman said of his temporary roommate.
“(He’s a) good dude on and off of the field, works hard every day and he does the little things very well. He comes in after practice and gets the extra catches in, he’s going in early and doing extra work.”
Collins will have to fight his way through a training camp roster deep in receivers, including returnees Stamps, Bowman, Tyler Scott, Andrew Nowacki and Nate Coehoorn. He said he’s trying to sell the Eskimos on his versatility.
“Learn the playbook at every position, that’s one of the things I kind of took toward this off-season, make sure I know every position,” he said.
“If they need someone to go to Z, I can go to Z. If they need someone at Y, any position, I’ll be able to play.”
“The No. 1 thing is when his opportunity comes he has to make plays,” Bowman said, “because … we’ve got a great group of receivers.
“I’ve talked to Nate Coehoorn about it, I’ve talked to Tyler Scott, you know what I mean? You see these younger guys that are here and I tell them, ‘Man, you’re younger and you want to play, but you’ve got to understand last year you were behind me, Fred, J.B. (Barnes), Nowacki.’
“The No 1 thing is to continue doing what he’s doing and, when his opportunity comes, take advantage of it.”
Welcome to Modal Window plugin Testing!!