Isaac Owusu
Ticats.ca
Sunday’s season opener in Regina will give pair of second year receivers a chance to show how much they’ve grown heading into their second Canadian Football League season.
Luke Tasker and Greg Ellingson combined for a total of 15 regular season starts in 2013 for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Now coming off an offseason where they both put full focus into what it takes to excel in the CFL, they’re ready to flourish in 2014.
“I’m excited for the season to start. I’m happy with the progress that I’ve made in preseason and that the offense has made,” said Tasker.
“I’ve just been trying to make sure that I’ve been patient in my releases, trying to set up guys, and see the defence better before the play starts,” added the Cornell University product.
It was well into the 2013 season when Tasker joined the Ticats, signing as a free agent in September. He started three games, but an injury forced him to miss an additional three. He finished the season with 13 catches for 202 yards and a touchdown.
His offseason training was spent in Buffalo with a number of other players in the league, where he worked on perfecting his role as a receiver in Canada.
“The game is about visualizing, so I would run my routes with the waggle. Each time I would run an over route, or a dig route, I would visualize what coverage I was playing against and try to run it like that instead of just going through the motions of just running,” he stated.
Ellingson led all CFL rookie receivers in catches and yards, compiling 52 grabs for 800 yards, along with six touchdowns. He started 12 games, but missed six due to injury.
Even with the solid rookie campaign, the second year receiver out of Florida International University knew there was much more that he could offer to the team.
“Last year I was playing in the AFL [Arena Football League] for their first 10 games, but this year I actually had an offseason to prepare for just for the CFL,” he said.
“I feel more confident. Especially knowing the coaches and the playbook, it helps a lot knowing the system and not having to take it all in as a new thing again,” he added.
Both receivers have also worked on getting used to catching passes from new starting quarterback Zach Collaros.
“Working with him is good. He’s a great athlete, you can tell he makes plays last longer, which as a receiver helps you get open, in case a play breaks down,” Ellingson said.
“It’s been great. We’re getting better every day. I’m happy with how it’s coming along,” Tasker said.
“More and more I’ll be coming out of my breaks and he’ll know the angle that I’m on or I’ll make my angle more consistent and he’ll know where to put it. So it’s clear that the receivers are becoming more comfortable with Zach,” he added.
With the team going into Regina on Sunday to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a Grey Cup rematch, both receivers head into week one with something to prove.
“With what I did in the off-season I want to show much hard work I put in. Staying healthy is a main priority and my main agenda was to take care of my body,” said Ellingson.
“I wasn’t happy with my personal performance in the Grey Cup last year and obviously we as a team weren’t happy with how we played,” Tasker stated.
“I think we’re all ready to erase that one from the records, at least in our heads. We’ll try to get another shot at them and it’s time to put out fresh [game]tape out to the league, because that wasn’t what we wanted to be last year.”
