Ticats.ca
Justin Dunk
Heading into the 2010 season, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats most obvious question mark on special teams was ‘who will be the primary return man?’
Fast forward to this year’s training camp and the answer is clear: Marcus Thigpen.
In his rookie year with the Ticats last season, Thigpen ripped off countless dynamic and explosive returns, adding a special teams spark, which the Ticats had sorely been lacking. Thigpen, who was nominated for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie Award, finishing the season ranked second in the league in missed field goal return yards (384), fourth in punt return yards (554) and fifth in kick return yards (784), while scoring four special teams touchdowns in the process.
Not bad for a guy who signed with the Black and Gold less than a week before the regular season.
A handful of rookies will also audition for a spot at kick returner. Receiver Marquay McDaniel has also shown that he’s capable of running back kicks.
After the recent release of Sandro DeAngelis, Eric Wilbur, who handled the punting duties for the Ticats last season, Justin Medlock (acquired in an off-season trade with Edmonton)and former Arena League kicker Greg Gundersen will be in the mix at the kicker spot.
Medlock and Gundersen are proven as far as field goals go, so predictably the kicker who can do the best job with the placements on kickoffs and show the best punting form will have the inside track to land the kicking duties, if the Ticats decide to go with a single kicker on the dress roster.
The opposite is the case for Wilbur, a reliable punter, he will have to prove he can kick for points when it counts.
Jordan Matechuk once again enters camp as the team’s primary option at long snapper with defensive lineman Matt Kirk a backup option if necessary.
