All eyes will be on former first-round draft pick Tevaun Smith (2016) when the Eskimos play their first CFL pre-season game at 2 p.m. Sunday against the B.C. Lions at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.
The 26-year-old speedster has finally joined the Eskimos after spending three NFL seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars. He played two games with the Colts in 2016 without catching a pass and was injured prior to the Jaguars’ training camp last year.
“He comes as advertised,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “We know he can burn and he can run and all those things. For him, it’s going to be learning the offence and feeling comfortable again playing football. No matter how fast you are, you always play a little slower when you’re thinking out there.
“But I know he has all the attributes to be a successful great receiver up here and he just has to put in the time.”
Even though Smith is a Toronto native, he has to adjust to the CFL game after spending seven years in the United States, including four seasons with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes (102 receptions for 1,500 yards in 43 games from 2012-15).
“There’s little nuances,” Maas pointed out. “The field is different. The coverages are different. What we ask of him will be different. But, ultimately, football is football and, when the opportunities come, you still have to make plays.
“But learning the offence is first and foremost in everybody’s mind when they come here because it allows you to play up to your physical abilities and he’s got tons of that.”
The four “Global Players” on the Eskimos’ training camp roster face a much bigger challenge. At least linebacker Maxime Rouyer, who was chosen fourth overall in the first European Draft, spent the last four years at McGill University, making 79 tackles and 3.5 quarterback sacks in 21 regular-season contests. Rouyer is from Troyes, France.
For wide receiver Diego Jair Viamontes Cotera, whom the Eskimos selected with the first pick in the draft for the Liga de Futbol Americano Professional (LFA) because they liked his “athleticism,” and fellow Mexican draft picks linebacker Daniel Carrete Landeros and defensive back Jose Alfonsin Romero, “it’s a dream come true,” according to Cotera.
“I always dreamed about competing at this level,” Cotera said. “I tried to get on a (U.S.) team in 2016. I went to an open tryout (for several teams in Carlsbad, Calif.). Since I saw the guys who went down there and I got very good reviews from the coaches and the staff, I started to think I can compete at this level.
“I also competed in the world championships against the States. Since that experience, I knew I can compete at this level.”
Still, Cotera admitted “this is a giant leap for this kind of football down in Mexico, so I’m taking advantage of everything I can learn.”
That means things like running all the way down the field to the end zone after catching a pass, even though no one was chasing him for the last 50 or 60 yards, because “I was taught to finish the play no matter what, so I took the ball and finished the play.”
“Being here just confirmed the seriousness of the (league’s commitment to its CFL 2.0 program) and the team,” Cotera said. “All the facilities you have here are amazing. We don’t have things like this for football down in Mexico.
“The people here in Canada have received us great,” he added. “All I hear is good things and ‘congrats’ and everything is so warm here. I would like to thank the people here for being like that.”
Eskimos General Manager and Vice-President of Football Operations Brock Sunderland’s advice for the Global players is just “to play hard.”
“That’s the biggest thing,” Sunderland said. “Going down there (to Mexico), our thought process was let’s find somebody who we think, at minimum, could contribute on special teams. Anything above and beyond that would be gravy.”
The Eskimos expect to keep one Global player on the game roster and two on the practice roster.
Cotera, who lives in the northern part of Mexico City, has been playing football for 17 years.
“My best friend in primary school was a big fan of the (Pittsburgh) Steelers,” Cotera said. “There is a big tradition of football nearby where we live – six or eight youth football teams. We got on one.
“Since then, it’s been my life.”
Cotera said football is the second-biggest sport in Mexico after soccer. Mexico has had college football programs since the 1950s, but the professional league is only four years old. Coaches often travel to the U.S. to learn more about the game and then return to Mexico to teach the players.
“My strengths are great routes and running full speed,” Cotera said. “I’m a short guy (five-foot-10) for this game, so I’ve developed those strengths.”
The Eskimos also have a highly touted rookie, Jeremiah Briscoe, among the five quarterbacks at training camp. Briscoe, 25 is six-foot-three and 225 pounds. He is only the second two-time winner of the Walter Payton Award for the most outstanding offensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision.
Also among the 38 rookies on the training camp roster are six 2019 draft picks and three 2018 draft picks. Fifth-round selection Shai Ross, a receiver, is fast and can jump while Alex Taylor, a sixth-round pick in 2018, could potentially be a ratio-changer and play running back in the CFL at some point in his career.
Edmonton Eskimos take on the BC Lions this Sunday, May 26 in pre-season action. Get your tickets here!