Pawel Dwulit/CFL.ca
Forging an attitude and a mindset is not an easy task for a sports team. It is, however, a necessary exercise for any championship team and it does take time.
For new Eskimos general manager Ed Hervey, that’s been his main task since he replaced Eric Tillman back in December; remodeling the Green and Gold and instilling his vision into the 2013 Eskimos and beyond.
It started with numerous re-signings of stalwarts like J.C Sherritt, Marcus Howard, Grant Shaw, and Chris Thompson. Hervey then traded for potential number one quarterback Mike Reilly and followed that up by signing Odell Willis, Marcel Young, Chris Rwabukamba, and Alexander Krausnick in free-agency.
The next challenge for Ed Hervey was the CFL Draft.
He was without a first round pick as it was traded away to the Montreal Alouettes last September for kicker Brody McKnight. Hervey made an effort to find a trading partner to move into the first round but couldn’t find one.
The Eskimos held seven picks in total; their first selection came at 10th overall, the first choice of the second round. With the pick, the Eskimos selected six-foot-five, 310-pound defensive tackle Stefan Charles from the University of Regina.
Hervey says not having a first round pick meant he was picking the best player available at 10th overall and was happy he found Charles.
“You’re always going to find a very good player with the first pick of the second round,” Hervey said.
“Just because teams do different things and sometimes it’s about whether players are available to them now. We felt strongly about this that we didn’t need our first pick to in (training) camp based on the moves we made this off-season.”
Even if Hervey wants to see Charles at training camp on June 2nd, he won’t been able to.
Charles is under contract with the Tennessee Titans of the NFL. It’s a big risk some would say drafting a player you might not see in a year or two, or perhaps never.
The strongest area of the Eskimos right now is the defensive line, more specifically the interior. The Eskimos already have sack-hungry Ted Laurent, Donny Oramasionwu, Almondo Sewell, and Eddie Steele who Hervey signed from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this off-season. Hervey feels they can afford to wait on Charles.
“We’re not in a rush to get him,” Hervey said of Charles. “We have plenty of depth there (defensive line) and we’re excited about seeing what he does down there in the NFL. Again, for the club, this is a pick for the club as well, and the club deserves to have the best player on the board.”
The Eskimos interviewed Charles during the CFL Combine in early March and Charles impressed Hervey with what he had to say; giving him the feeling Charles fits the mindset he’s trying to instill on this football team. A talent who plays the game at a high emotional, aggressive level.”
“That type of attitude that young man has, you can’t buy that,” Hervey said. “That’s what we’re looking for more than anything. We know there are a slew of talented players in this draft but I will tell you, as far as all of the defensive lineman that were selected today go, attitude wise, we ranked Stefan Charles number one.”
Charles has the combination of a high physical motor, power, and quickness. The type of player who sends the message to the opposing offensive lineman: “You’re in for a long, long three hours.”
The Eskimos may have found that same element in six-foot-two, 270-pound Bishop’s defensive tackle Elie Ngoyi. He benched an incredible 40 reps of 225 pounds at the combine.
He might be a wildcard if in fact, Charles isn’t seen for a while or never. Nyogi has a chance to make the Eskimos on special teams this season based on training camp. As does six-foot-three, 232-pound St. Mary’s linebacker Kyle Norris, one of six Huskies selected in the 2013 draft.
The Eskimos also addressed their offensive line picking up Chris Mercer from the University of Regina. Mercer plays on the edge and has a big, nasty streak. The Eskimos traded non-import DL Etienne Legare to the Calgary Stampeders for their fourth round pick and selected Ottawa offensive lineman Taylor Servais.
A long-snapper from the University of Regina, Jorgen Hus is someone the Eskimos will have to wait for.
Hus is signed by the St. Louis Rams; the Eskimos already have Ryan King and Mike Benson as their long-snappers. The Eskimos even stayed home and picked University of Alberta Golden Bears fullback Smith Wright.
This wasn’t a draft for Ed Hervey to address a specific area of his football team, position wise. This was a draft based on picking the best player available and from a global perspective, finding the players who would give the Eskimos a more physical edge.
“Everything about this draft was about being physically tough, finding those players that fit what we’re doing here,” Hervey explained. “The persona that we want to carry forward.”
Full steam ahead to training camp.
