2 days Ago By Paul Friesen
Three new quarterbacks, five in total, suited up as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers returned from their bye week on Tuesday, making it look like training camp all over again. As much as Jake Dolegala, Bryan Scott and Darren Grainger hope to make a lasting impression, the best-case scenario for the Bombers is they don’t take a single snap that matters. That would mean starter Zach Collaros stays upright and rookie Terry Wilson does a commendable job as the short-yardage specialist.
Of course, best-case scenarios and pro football often don’t hang out together, and nobody knows that more than the Bombers this season. “With the injury to Strevy, now there’s a need,” head coach Mike O’Shea said. The hit that tore up Chris Streveler’s knee in the Banjo Bowl forced the Bombers to call an audible, bringing Dolegala and Scott, who both have CFL experience, off their couches to grab a flight to Winnipeg last week.
The Bombers were planning to add Grainger when practice rosters expanded anyway. He’d been hurt in training camp and didn’t get a proper look. The other two are gunning for a roster spot for Saturday’s game in Edmonton, and beyond.
“I was watching Monday Night Football.” Dolegala said of the moment his phone rang. “It wasn’t a surprise.
I knew it was eventually going to come, I just didn’t know which team. I’m very happy that it’s this team, excited to be here.” Dolegala’s name might sound familiar to Bomber fans: he orchestrated Saskatchewan’s overtime win over Winnipeg in last year’s Labour Day Classic.
The 6-foot-7, 242-pounder outgunned Collaros that day, throwing for 326 yards in a 32-30 Riders win. “It was really cool and that was the first time I actually met Zach,” Dolegala said. “Meeting him the following week here in the Banjo Bowl, and then getting our butts handed to us.
” The following week saw the Riders humbled, 51-6, as Collaros put on a clinic with a career-high five touchdown passes. School is back in session, with the 27-year-old Dolegala and Scott, 29, eager to learn from one of the best. Dolegala and Collaros actually exchanged messages before the former even arrived in Winnipeg.
It was Collaros who brought up last year’s Labour Day game “Yeah, man, he’s got a rocket for an arm,” Collaros said. The pair didn’t wait for Tuesday’s workout to begin brainstorming. “True leader,” is how Dolegala described Collaros.
“Obviously, he’s been around a long time, he knows this offence inside and out, and he’s just been really helpful in these couple of days.” Despite his performance against Winnipeg last year, Dolegala wasn’t in the Riders’ plans this season. B.
C. signed him, started him against Edmonton in Week 10 (the Lions lost) and then cut him when Nathan Rourke re-entered the picture. “Having started, and then we had a team golf outing, and then the very next day I get a call that Nathan is coming back,” Dolegala recalled.
“It was kind of a shock because I thought I played a decent game. But that’s the business.” He went home, stayed in shape and waited for the call, fighting off nagging doubts that it might never come.
“I love football so I wasn’t going to give it up,” the product of Hamburg, N.Y., said.
“Obviously, this place is known for being a winning program and I was just really excited to be a part of it.” Scott, who hails from Rolling Hills, Calif., was on the business end of a similar tale in Toronto, released by the Argos after Week 10 when Chad Kelly returned from a suspension.
Scott and Dolegala were released six days apart and signed by the Bombers on the same day: Monday. “How could you pass it up?” Scott said. “This is an unbelievable organization, great football city.
I’ve been following the CFL for a little bit, even when I wasn’t playing in it, when I was playing for leagues down south, and if you know anything about the CFL, you know Winnipeg. The Blue Bombers fans, the Blue Bombers organization, just really grateful to now be a part of it.” The last time Scott started a game was in the USFL a few years back.
Spending some time with offensive coordinator Buck Pierce last week helped him get a head start on the Winnipeg play book. As different as he and Dolegala are – Scott stands some five inches shorter – they had the same answer about how long it’ll take them to learn the thing well enough to be ready to play. “ASAP,” they both said.
“That’s what you’re trying to see,” O’Shea said. “Is who can digest it, quickly, and still go out there and deliver it, too. You may know it, but you’ve got to be able to produce out there on the field, too.
” The Bombers hope that test never comes. paul.friesen@kleinmedia.
ca X: @friesensunmedia.
