Brown’s time to shine Bombers’ backup QB gets chance to show what he can do against Lions By: Taylor Allen Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Friday, Oct. 14, 2022

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This article was published 13/10/2022 (803 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will host the West Division final Sunday, Nov. 13, regardless of what transpires over the final three weeks of the 2022 CFL regular season.

The Bombers (14-2) can’t kick their feet up just yet as they still have two more games, both coming against the B.C. Lions (10-5).

The clubs battle Saturday (9 p.m.) at B.C. Place.

Earlier in the season, it looked like this Week 19 matchup might play a role in deciding which team would take the West Division crown. That changed Aug. 19 when Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke suffered a serious foot sprain.

The Leos were 8-1 with Rourke behind centre but have gone 2-4 since he was sidelined. This game still has meaning to B.C. because the squad is fighting with the Calgary Stampeders (10-5) for the second seed in the West.

The Lions, now led by quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. — acquired in a trade with Montreal — are looking to rebound after losing 23-20 in Toronto last week. The Bombers, meanwhile, dismantled the visiting Edmonton Elks 48-11 last weekend and have prepared for another strong performance despite resting some key players.

Here are five storylines to set up the Saturday night showdown.

Dru Brown time

Bomberland would throw a fit if Zach Collaros got hurt in a meaningless game, and rightly so. Fortunately for Blue and Gold supporters, they don’t have to worry about that happening as second-year quarterback Dru Brown will make the first start of his CFL career.

This game, especially with the late start, is a tough sell here, however, a chance to see what Brown can do adds some intrigue to the contest. Brown, a 25-year-old Californian who finished his college career at Oklahoma State, is one of the most promising quarterback prospects this team has had in some time. In limited action this year, Brown has looked extremely comfortable leading the offence. He was put in a tough situation back in Week 1 when Collaros was removed from the game in the final minutes by the injury spotter, but Brown came in and completed three passes to set up the game-winning field goal against Ottawa.

He also has two touchdown passes in mop-up duty, with his most recent coming last week with a brilliant 65-yard toss to Dalton Schoen. Brown has made some big strides since a mediocre night in Calgary when he closed out the 2021 regular-season finale.

An impressive showing could go far in helping Brown become a starter in this league. With a victory, he’d be the first Bombers quarterback to win his debut since Alex Brink in 2010.

O-line vets taking the night off

Brown will have to find a way to impress without Stanley Bryant, Jermarcus Hardrick, and Pat Neufeld blocking for him because the three stars of the offensive line are getting the night off.

A player to keep an eye on will be Ottawa product Liam Dobson, the third-overall pick of the 2021 CFL Draft, who is in at right guard for his first career start. The Bombers have been an offensive-line factory in recent years, developing no shortage of Canadian interior linemen. Dobson is their latest project and, with Neufeld turning 34 this year and Drew Desjarlais down south pursuing NFL opportunities, the Bombers are banking on him being a starter one day.

Eric Lofton is also getting his first opportunity with the Bombers. The 29-year-old from New Jersey, who’s starting at right tackle, is in his fourth CFL season but first in Winnipeg. He hasn’t played a down since 2019 when he was with Edmonton, and this will be a chance for Lofton to show if he deserves to be part of the team’s future.

Geoff Gray is moving over to left tackle, Chris Kolankowski is in at left guard and Michael Couture is starting his first game at centre since breaking his arm in Week 2.

Record watch

If you’re mentioned in the same breath as Milt Stegall, you’re doing something right.

Nic Demski has a chance to make that happen if he can keep his touchdown streak going. Demski has scored at least one major in his last six games, and if he can find the end zone Saturday he’ll be the first Bomber to get to lucky No.7 since Stegall did it back in 2005.

The club record is actually eight games, set by (you guessed it) Stegall in 1997.

Schoen is also chasing history. The rookie has 64 catches, and 39 of them have been second-down conversions. Former Montreal Alouettes receiver Ben Cahoon owns the record for most in a season with 45. Schoen had five last week alone, giving him a strong shot at breaking Cahoon’s mark over the final two games.

Don’t forget about running back Brady Oliveira. He’s 81 rushing yards shy of becoming just the fourth Canadian to run for 1,000 yards in a season since 2000. The names on that starry list are Andrew Harris, Jerome Messam and Jon Cornish. Between the three of them, they did it 12 times, with Harris reaching 1,000 yards five times.

This offence has come a long way since Week 5 when Lions defensive back Marcus Sayles said the Bombers’ attack looked vanilla through the first four weeks.

Former Ticats in secondary

Desmond Lawrence has had a bit of a fall from grace.

In 2021, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats voted him their most outstanding rookie. This season, Lawrence appeared in just five games and spent most of the year on the Hamilton practice roster before finally being cut last week.

The Bombers scooped him up and added him to their practice roster for depth. With Deatrick Nichols currently away from the team owing to the death of his father, Lawrence has been activated and will start at corner in Vancouver.

The Bombers were busy last week as Alden Darby, Jr. was brought in right before the trade deadline from Hamilton as well. Darby, a West Division all-star with Winnipeg in 2021, sat last week but will start at dimeback against the Lions.

It was a tough season in Hamilton for both Darby and Lawrence, but the Bombers are hoping they can find their groove and help a defence that’s been hammered by injuries.

Adams Jr. needs to step up

Rourke was seen at practice this week throwing the ball, a sign there’s at least a chance he could suit up for playoffs.

It’d be tremendous news for the league if he’s able to return — but it’s unlikely to happen. And for the sake of his promising young career, one that could see him make the jump to the NFL as soon as next season, it’s not worth the risk.

So, if the Lions are going to knock the Bombers off in the post-season and win the Grey Cup for the first time since 2011, they need Adams Jr. to play the best football of his career.

At one time, Adams Jr. was one of the best young passers in the league. After a dreadful start to the 2022 campaign, the Alouettes benched him in favour of Trevor Harris. With the Rourke injury, the 29-year-old QB was given a chance to revitalize his career in B.C. when they traded for him on Aug. 31.

The results have been mixed. Adams has yet to throw an interception since arriving in B.C., but he’s only thrown four touchdown passes in his 113 pass attempts. The offensive line has also struggled without Rourke back there making quick reads as Adams has been sacked 17 times in five games.

It hasn’t helped that Adams has been without some key playmakers. Star receiver Bryan Burnham fractured his wrist on Sept. 24 against Calgary and fellow pass catcher Lucky Whitehead missed last week’s loss to the Argos with an ankle injury. Burnham and Whitehead remain sidelined, leaving Keon Hatcher and Dominique Rhymes as the top receiving targets.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Eighteen years old and still in high school, Taylor got his start with the Free Press on June 1, 2011. Well, sort of...

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