REGINA — He is still somewhat of a blank canvas and very much a work in progress.
And yet, the bright, broad strokes Pokey Wilson painted a week ago in his ‘Look at me’ Canadian Football League bust-out game now has every member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and all Bomber Nation wondering what the gifted receiver might offer up tonight as an encore against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
In fact, it could be said Wilson has a tough act to follow after pulling in 13 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown in last week’s win over the Calgary Stampeders — his own.
“It was fun,” began Wilson when meeting with reporters at Mosaic Stadium on Thursday. “When you say 13 catches, I really didn’t know how many catches I had throughout the game until after the game was over. Then they were like, ’13 for 200 (yards)’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, that was a lot.’”
A lot, yes. In fact, his 13 receptions tied him with James Murphy and Derick Armstrong for second-most in Blue Bombers history — Eugene Goodlow had 15 in a game in 1981 — and his 201 yards was the most by a Blue Bombers receiver since Kenny Lawler posted a 205-yard game against B.C. in October of 2021.
Wilson said about eight members of his family, as per usual, will gather at his mom’s house in Ashburn, Georgia tonight to watch his next effort. And over the last week his phone has been buzzing with texts and calls.
“My phone’s been blowing up a lot,” he said with a grin. “Pretty much every day someone is reaching out — whether it’s fans, people I played on past teams with… it’s a lot of people.
“I was just waiting on my opportunity to show the CFL I can play and I came to play some ball.”
Some numbers just to put Wilson’s game a week ago into perspective:
-His 201 yards and 13 catches were the most by a first-year receiver since Tony Akins of Hamilton had 257 yards and four touchdowns on eight catches in a game, gulp, against the Blue Bombers in 2001.
And the sense is the 24-year-old Florida State product is just getting started.
“I think he’ll be a really great football player in this league for a long time,” said Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros. “He’s extremely talented, obviously. He practises hard. He’s very, very smart.
“What’s really stood out to me is in some of our packages when we’re going fast it doesn’t really matter where you line up and he’s getting guys lined up. That’s rare as a rookie player. It’s a testament to his intelligence but also his work ethic. Combine that with his competitiveness and his talent the sky’s the limit for Pokey.
“He’s a heckuva talent. I haven’t been around a ton of guys like him, for sure. His ability to run routes… we have guys like Nic (Demski) and Kenny and Dalton (Schoen) and Drew (Wolitarsky), guys who can really make plays when the ball’s in the air. Pokey’s very smooth at locating the football and contorting his body in such a way to catch the football
“It’s been fun to watch.”
NEW FACES IN NEW PLACES: As outlined in our Game Preview, the Blue Bombers have made four changes to the depth chart for tonight with receiver/returner Kody Case, defensive end TyJuan Garbutt, defensive back Noah Hallett and linebacker Tony Jones all making their 2024 debuts.
TyJuan Garbutt
Here’s head coach Mike O’Shea:
On Case:
“Smitty (Chris Smith) was really good. What we liked about him, he brought to us, which was a lot of spot area quickness. But we were keeping two guys on the roster (including Myron Mitchell) when we can have one do that job in Kody and then we can get another guy on the roster at another spot (Jones). It’s really about maximizing our roster with a guy we know can return. We have a few guys we’ve liked at the beginning of training camp and it’s not to say we don’t like Smitty, it’s just when you fill out your roster and you add a guy and get a guy at another spot it’s something you should try doing.”
On Hallett:
“(Hallett’s grind to get back) has really endeared himself to everybody on the team. He’s a good piece to add. He’s very, very smart. He’s tough. He’s just had a few setbacks over the past couple of years so it’s nice to get him on. He should provide a nice lift for the guys.”
And on Garbutt:
“We like his skillset. We think he can do all of it and do it at a high level. Now it;s going to be a little bit of time for him to get into game shape.”
SALUTING ‘YOSHI’: O’Shea, Collaros and Adam Bighill were all asked about Jermarcus ‘Yoshi’ Hardrick on Thursday after the former Blue Bomber and fan favourite, now with the Riders, suffered a quad injury last week and could be gone for months.
And it says something of Hardrick’s impact in Winnipeg that all three were effusive in their praise.
“He’s a supremely talented player at that spot,” Collaros said. “He’s a leader in the room. He’s a guy who is going to pick it up at practice, pick it up in the locker room, game day… it’s always hard to stay up here day in, day out and Yosh has that ability to bring that to the room.
“I’m just really sad for him. I sent him a text the other day and talked to him briefly. I know how hard he works and being around him and his family for three-four years in Winnipeg makes it even more difficult when you see a friend go down. We’re all thinking about him as a person.”