The old gang is back for another run on the Eskimos’ offensive line, which led the CFL with only 25 quarterback sacks allowed last year despite having four “starters” miss a total of 33 games due to injury.
Of course, 18 of those games belonged to left tackle SirVincent Rogers (six-foot-four, 319 pounds), a highly touted 2019 free agent who didn’t play a single game after tearing his left tricep during training camp and requiring surgery.
Rogers, 33, will be back this season along with his 2019 replacement, Tommie Draheim, who re-signed with the team in February. The 31-year-old Draheim (six-four, 300 pounds), was a rock on quarterback Trevor Harris’s blind side as the Esks surrendered only three sacks during their first nine games last year. Unfortunately, he missed eight of the last nine regular-season contests with injuries.
Kyle Saxelid, a 2019 second-round draft pick who qualifies as a national player because his mother was born in Canada, started the final three games at left tackle and four overall last year. The six-foot-seven, 290-pound native of Elk Grove, Calif., played in all 18 regular-season games and made five starts, including one at right guard in July against the Montreal Alouettes.
The rest of the front line returns intact. It includes three Canadian players – left guard Jacob Ruby (27, six-se, 315 pounds, 17 starts), centre David Beard (27, six-five, 327, 18 starts), and right guard Matthew O’Donnell (30, six-11, 350, 12 starts – including two games at left tackle). O’Donnell also spent six games on the injured list.
Rounding out the starting five is Colin Kelly (30, six-five, 298 pounds) who has played 47 consecutive games at right tackle dating back to Aug. 10, 2017.
The Eskimos retrieved Jean-Simon Roy, their 2017 second-round draft pick, during free agency in February. Roy (26, six-three, 295) appeared in seven games with the BC Lions last year.
Kwabena Asare (28, six-eight, 270 pounds), another 2017 draft pick, played five games as a backup last year.
American players who’ll be looking for a starting job in training camp include Darrell Brown (six-foot-four, 315 pounds), a 26-year-old who started 22 of his 30 games with Louisiana Tech from 2012-15; Eric Lofton (six-four, 300 pounds), a 27-year-old who served as a backup for two games with the Esks last year and five games with the Ottawa RedBlacks during the previous two seasons; former Texas Longhorn Tristan Nickelson (24, six-10, 315 pounds); and 30-year-old Justin Renfrow (six-four, 315), who was with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals in 2014, the Calgary Stampeders in 2017-18 and started 11 games with the BC Lions last year.
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