Not many visitors come away from three days in Las Vegas as winners, but according to the Eskimos’ vice president of football and general manager Brock Sunderland, Edmonton has accomplished that.
LISTEN: Brock Sunderland talks with Dave Campbell
The team spent three days on the field at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) this week conducting a mini camp.
In past years, the camp has been just for rookies and select veterans, but this time around the Eskimos changed gears and brought the entire team to Vegas.
Sunderland says it was a very successful trip.
“It was a great vibe, a lot of energy,” said Sunderland, who marked his first anniversary as the Eskimos football boss this week.
“Arguably the best energy I have seen in a mini camp, whether it was Ottawa or the (New York) Jets or any team I have been with.
“People were flying around, it was fast paced and a lot of that was because we’ve got the same schemes on both sides of the ball so guys don’t have to think as much — they can just play fast.”
Main training camp won’t begin on the field for just over three weeks, but Sunderland feels they have a great head start on main camp this week in Vegas.
“Last year it was a rookie camp, so we didn’t have any of our signed players,. This year we had everybody so we feel we just got a three-day-on-the-field jump on training camp and we feel it’s going to be really advantageous for us.”
As for a standout at camp, Sunderland singled out a player no one would be surprised to learn played well: the quarterback.
“He is the difference maker. He picked up where we left off. Our offence was in sync and we were playing fast. He was unleashing the ball everywhere and on target.”
Along with Reilly, running back Shaq Cooper and the defensive secondary were also mentioned by the GM who said: “We had a good camp overall.”
The defending CFL Most Outstanding Player from 2017 tweeted his satisfaction with the camp saying: “Best mini camp I have every been a part of.”
Next up for the Eskimos will be the 2018 CFL Canadian Draft. That takes place May 3 with the Eskimos selecting sixth in the first round.
On this year’s draft class, Sunderland, as he always does, reserves judgement.
“I’m a little generic in my answer every year, but I will say the same thing: We’ll know three years from now what the draft class is like.”
LISTEN: Mike Reilly talks with Brenden Ullrich
Sunderland knows that the history of the CFL draft is littered with first-round picks that never made the team and late-round picks that have long and productive careers.
“Sometimes it doesn’t work out. It’s not the organization’s fault or the player’s fault.”
Main camp for the Eskimos begins on May 19 when players report for medicals. They will be on the field May 20.
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