Riders pre-season test big opportunity for rookies

In Saskatchewan football circles, it is jokingly referred to as the Terrence Nunn award.

Nunn was a Roughrider rookie some years ago.  

He caught anything and everything during training camp making the seemingly impossible catches.

But when the lights came on in a game situation, we wondered if it was same guy. 

Maybe we can update the name of the award in honour of Brian Bennett.

Bennett was the best quarterback at Riders' camp last year until he appeared in a pre-season game.

He was gone shortly after.

What a player does in camp means nothing unless he can prove he can do the same when it gets real.

That will be the situation facing the majority of the players on the roster for Sunday's pre-season game in Edmonton.

Early candidates for the Nunn-Bennett awards are Jordan Williams-Lambert and David Watford, two players who have stood out through the first six days of training camp in Saskatoon.

Williams-Lambert, number 84 on your camp roster, has not been hard to spot.

He fits the Chris Jones mold of a prototype CFL receiver.

He's tall and he can catch.

Williams-Lambert out of Ball State showed up at Riders' free agent tryout in Akron, Ohio which lead to a invite to their mini-camp in Florida.

He impressed so much there, he literally signed a contract on the field.

In Saskatoon he has picked up where he left off in Bradenton.

Number 84 shows up quite a bit on the camp high-lite reels.

"He's done some awful good things," said Riders' head coach Chris Jones following Friday's session.

"He's got good size, he plays fast, he catches the football."

Now the question is, can he do it in a game?

"That's just with anything, it's game day, you know you've got to bring your best effort," said Williams-Lambert.

"A lot of the work is done, all we've got to do is go out there and execute."

Unfortunately that's easier said than done as a countless number of CFL hopefuls can attest to.

Williams-Lambert's timing is not that great either.

He came to a Riders' camp that is deep at receiver.

Unless he can beat out the likes of Duron Carter, Naaman Roosevelt, Bakari Grant, Chad Owens and Caleb Holley, the best Williams-Lambert can hope for is a spot on the practice roster.

"It is hard for a rookie to make it because we have so many good veterans, it's going to be interesting to see and the games will tell," said Jones.

For David Watford, who came to the Riders for the first time last fall, it's a different story.

If all things were equal and the regular season was starting today, he might have been named the starter.

But when you have a quarterback in front of you making more than $400,000 a season (Zach Collaros) and another with much more CFL experience (Brandon Bridge), Watford is likely contending for the third string job with Marquise Williams and B.J. Daniels.

If Watford performs in Sunday's game the way he has looked in camp, he could move up the ladder quickly.

He could be as hard to contain as his enthusiasm for this first pre-season outing.

"In practice they blow you dead when you run, you can't really do too much, but in a game you get to run, I get to make plays," said Watford, who is like a young thoroughbred about to be let out of the barn for the first time.

There's is no question about his athletic ability.

The Philadelphia Eagles switched the Virgina-Hampton product to a receiver.

"I learned a lot, I was thankful for the opportunity to play in the league, I took a lot away from that, I even use some of that to this day." 

Watford's day will come on Sunday with 'live bullets flying' as he put it.

If not, then he will have to look for football opportunities elsewhere.

Following Sunday's pre-season game, the Riders will head back to Saskatoon to resume training camp on Tuesday.