Rams Roster Moves Subject to CFL Whims

By Greg Urbanoski


The Evolution starts now.

The University of Regina Rams are watching the opening of Canadian Football League rookie and training camps this week with an eye towards what happens there and its impact on the Rams season starting this fall.

The Rams have four players at CFL camps, Receiver Chris Bauman, picked first overall by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Receiver Chris Getzlaf, also chosen by Hamilton, Offensive lineman Ryan Ackerman picked by the Saskatchewan Roughriders and linebacker Steve Wilson signed by the Calgary Stampeders. How they fare will help determine the make-up of the Rams fall roster, which may be augmented by a few walk-on players this fall.

“We’re not finalized yet,” said Rams Head Coach Frank McCrystal. “We’re down to 74 and we’d like to get to 65 players and part of that 74 number is walk-ons. We’re talking to a DB from Ontario, we’re talking to a linebacker from the States. They’re coming to school here so we’re going to allow them to walk-on and see how they make out. We’re not entirely set but we’re getting close.”

McCrystal expects both Bauman and Getzlaf to stay with Hamilton. The Rams are not listing Bauman on their roster, but the other three are still listed but that may change.

“This is one of the best recruiting years we have ever had,” said McCrystal. “There is going to be a little bit of juggling and manipulation of the roster as a result of a young guy jumping ahead of a fourth and fifth year guy. When that happens, that fourth or fifth year guy has to make a decision as to whether he’s going to stick around or ride out the rest of his eligibility.”

The fall training camp will help finalize those decisions, but the Rams coaching staff are looking at spending the next couple of months talking to players and letting them know where they stand. The Rams are finishing up registrations for their new players and are looking to turn their attention to helping players understand where they sit on the roster so the players can make an informed choice in the fall.

“Whether it is back here at the university, back here playing football at the university or elsewhere to play is something they will have to decide,” said McCrystal.

“Right now we are playing with the playbook and trying to come to a definitive notion as to how we want to coach defense and what specific skills and techniques we want to coach and ingrain in those players to allow them to be successful at this and the next level. We are doing pretty good on offense as shown by the draft, but we want to get there defensively too and that is going to be a real focus in the next few weeks.”


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