The Calgary Stampeders made what could be the most monumental move of the CFL offseason when they traded for quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.
They replaced former starter Jake Maier, a player plagued by poorly timed interceptions and an inability to consistently get the ball downfield, with the man who was supplanted in B.C. despite offering MOP-calibre numbers at the time. The anticipation of seeing the potential saviour of the franchise in action for the first time was palpable ahead of Saturday’s home preseason clash with the Elks.
Adams Jr. did not disappoint, completing nine-of-12 passes for 129 yards and leading the team to scores on four of his five drives — a pair of touchdowns and a matching pair of field goals — before leaving the game midway through the second quarter with a 21-1 lead. The Stampeders would go on to win 31-4.
It should be noted that while this was Calgary’s final preseason game, it was only the first for Mark Kilam’s Edmonton Elks. They fielded a lineup rather light on CFL experience compared to the juggernaut free-agent class that is expected to make up the bulk of their opening-day lineup.
Here’s what else I noticed while streaming the game on CFL+ (and then YouTube).
PJ not yet ready for primetime
Prior to trading for Adams Jr., the Stampeders went looking south of the border for a solution, signing former NFL and XFL quarterback PJ Walker.
Walker played a large number of minutes last week in B.C. against the Lions and got another significant workload in this game, completing 13-of-19 passes with one touchdown and a pair of interceptions.
Following the game, Dave Dickenson noted that the interceptions Walker threw were troubling and said that the CFL isn’t just a league that anyone can step into and immediately be successful. According to him, Walker is “something we need to still build.”
You can probably still expect Walker to be the backup when the season starts for real in two weeks, but he definitely won’t be causing a QB controversy in the short term.
Antwi runs with me, Antwi catches with me
University of Calgary product Jeshrun Antwi must have seen what the running backs accomplished last week when all three performed well in their bid to back up Dedrick Mills this season because he offered a strong outing of his own.
Antwi would turn five carries into nearly 40 yards and hauled in a catch he would take for another six.
The master of the “dribble kick” in Montreal was traded to the Lions last season after four years of spot duty for the Alouettes, including making several onside punt recoveries in his career there.
The position and pecking order behind Mills may be difficult for the coaches to make as there hasn’t been a ton of opportunity for anyone to cement themselves thus far in preseason action. Antwi, at least, is a proven commodity.
No hassle returns
Terrell Vaughn is certainly making an impression in the return game. Last week, he returned a punt 41 yards. This week, he snagged another for 27 yards.
The diminutive Vaughn, from Utah State, stands just five-foot-seven and could replace the departed Peyton Logan, who was often used to give the Calgary offence a spark.
While targeted only once in the passing game, the punt returns should make people take notice.
Vernon Rhymes with chemistry
Dominque Rhymes and Vernon Adams Jr. clearly have chemistry. The lanky six-foot-four receiver pulled in 11 touchdowns and over 1,400 yards in 2022, when VA was throwing him passes for half of it.
An injury-shortened season the next year and a one-year trial separation that saw the pass catcher relocate to Ottawa had some wondering if they could put the band back together after so much time had passed.
Four targets, four catches and 81 yards later, it’s pretty clear who Vernon was locked in on, even if he says otherwise.
“I go through my reads, and wherever my reads take me…” Adams shrugged after the game. “It might have looked like I was going to (Rhymes) a lot, but my reads were taking me to him. He was open, and he was making the plays for me.”
This offseason, a lot of focus was on bringing in talent that would resonate with Adams’ style. Rhymes, among others, fits the bill.
The defence is impregnable, the style is impetuous.
It’s difficult to properly assess the defence when nearly everything is working as it did Saturday night at McMahon.
The Elks had 13 total drives, 12 if you remove the kneel-down to end the first half. Eight ended in punts, one was fumbled away, two times it was turned over on downs, and one went nine plays for a field goal.
It was an encouraging effort in front of the home faithful. Given the team that came into the game from up the highway, it still wasn’t a good representation of what is to come on Labour Day, when these two teams will meet for the first time that counts in 2025.
Nevertheless, you play the guys they bring, and Calgary would collect three sacks to go along with the three turnovers. The Elks only twice managed more than 30 yards before giving the ball back.
By contrast, Calgary went over 30 yards on six of 13 total drives, again 12 if you discount the victory formation numbers from the end of the game.
Not just the preseason for the teams
Last year, I extolled the virtues of the CFL’s streaming service, CFL+.
Easy to use, free to watch, and commercial-free (if you don’t count the video equivalent of being put on hold during the radio broadcast team’s local requirements), the service was a godsend to this travelling salesman and parent of a young athlete who plays travel sports and necessitates streaming the occasional game.
All that goodwill took an absolute nosedive yesterday. The service was down for most of the day, including much of the Stampeders’ first quarter, before the stream was eventually migrated to the CFL’s YouTube channel.
Smooth sailing from there, but the frustration was real.
While the league might be forgiven by the hardcore fan who has spent a lifetime with CFL-related broadcast snafus, this was the first opportunity many would have had to watch the CFL in the United States as a whole new crop of rookie players drew into the various lineups.
Whether it was the rookies’ families, friends, or fans of their alma mater, making it that difficult to watch is a detriment to the league.
Also, how much could it possibly cost to provide independent announcers for that stream rather than overlaying the local radio?
For reference, I provide the local colour commentary for the National Lacrosse League’s Roughnecks. While I won’t say exactly how much I get paid to do that, I can assure you that it is more akin to a rounding error on the game-day budget than a true expense.
I am a fan of the longest-running broadcasting duo, Mark Stephen and Greg Peterson, in the booth. Still, radio and television are different media, so they don’t always perfectly synchronize the visuals with the audio. It should have its own announcer.
The CFL could hire local streaming announcers in every market to do this, and create a pipeline to find the next Dustin Nielson.
And now we rest
As the only team to have played both last week and this one, the Stampeders will now go back into preparation mode as they await the actual season kickoff at McMahon Stadium on June 7. Bo Levi Mitchell will bring his Hamilton Tiger-Cat teammates back into the city where he won two Grey Cups as a starter, the only Stampeders quarterback to ever do so.
In the meantime, they will be pouring over tape and prepping to cut down to the roster limit, which must be done by 10 p.m. local time on Saturday, May 31.
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