Columnist image

BC Lions writer

| Archive

KAMLOOPS -- There may not be a player on the B.C. Lions at training camp this year with a more appropriate surname than Ronnie Yell, if only you knew where to look to determine his true sense of self-worth.

The social media feed of the short-side cornerback of the CFL team during the off-season contained a torrent of commentary mostly pertaining to the state of contract talks at the time.

It reflected an inner rage about not being able to make significant financial gains, largely due to the foot injury which ended his season with the Lions last year. Taken at face value, there seemed little chance he would remain with the organization that gave him his first decent opportunity.

“I’m pi---d off for greatness. My chip was big and just got bigger,” he tweeted at one point during the winter.

“I’ve been down so long all I can do is look up. It’s time to #eatgreedy,” was another.

Yell explained his frustration as might best reflect a player in his current position when asked about the vitriol Saturday. He may be only a 26-year-old starting his fourth CFL season, but that makes him the veteran in a completely retooled defensive secondary that represents among the more interesting storylines associated with training camp.

The Lions this season are likely to be largely comprised of back-line defenders playing mad because of what was taken away from them due to injuries last year. They will be coached by a new assistant, Stanley Franks, who had his Lions career cut short with the infamous 2011 dislocated knee which was nearly amputated that ranks as one of the most gruesome injuries of the Wally Buono era.

If it’s perspective you want about the changes taking place from the days when Ryan Phillips, Korey Banks and Dante Marsh once formed one of the best threesomes of their time for the Lions, you need not look far.

Yell, for one, knows he must stop, well, yelling, at least until game time. He practically shadowed Marsh upon joining the Lions in 2014, studying the work habits of the 11-year corner until eventually taking his job. Now he’s asked to take the leadership role vacated by Phillips, plus help prop up a defence which had a league-low nine interceptions last year.

If Yell does all that, he actually might get the contract he thought he deserved last winter.

“I was just a little frustrated I couldn’t get a deal done a lot earlier due to what I had done for the organization. I felt my worth was little more.  Free agency and the league is a tricky business,” explained Yell, who had been posting a running countdown on Twitter prior to free agency only to re-sign just before he was eligible to hit the market.

Days earlier, two other defensive backs whose seasons had been cut short - Steven Clarke and T.J. Lee - also re-signed while Phillips, who ironically could have moved to safety if the Lions had decided to make it an import position quicker during the winter, was released and headed to Montreal.

It was around that point where the yelling in cyberspace stopped.

“I had to get my mind right and understand I had to be a leader. Interaction is a major key. I’m a leader by example. Now with this new role, I have to speak to the younger guys,” Yell said.

Cutting ties with Phillips and Mike Edem, who was cast aside later in the offseason, was the final step in a long transition by the Lions. Yet because it is training camp, where every team is unbeaten, the Lions feel they might have a better secondary once they rearrange the parts.

Lee and Yell are again the new Banks and Marsh on the short side, while Clarke is lining up in the middle, though is being pushed hard by rookie import Tevin McDonald and Canadian sophomore Anthony Thompson.

B.C. signed Buddy Jackson (ex-Calgary/Saskatchewan) and Matt Bucknor (ex-Winnipeg/Hamilton) for the wide side, but early in camp the Lions have gone with returnees Anthony Gaitor and Keynan Parker.

Overseeing the group is a 30-year-old coach barely older than his players who is seeking his own perspective - a victim of regime change following three seasons as an assistant at Idaho State, who occasionally admits thinking about the past.

“I had Phillips, Banks, Marsh and Davis Sanchez back there. They showed me the way and you show them the respect. But these guys have the same mentality,” said Franks. “I mess with Ronnie sometimes; I tell him, ‘You remind me so much of Marsh.'”

The trick this season is to create a last line of defence like the one played so well in the past by three all-stars. If they do, Yell can once again live up to his surname.

--

LIONS TALES: Chris Williams continued his limited participation in individual drills in practice Saturday but did not remain on the field for team periods… The stockpile of defensive lineman signed for camp to identify pass rush candidates have proven to be invaluable given the rash of injuries which has swept through the position group. Mich’ael Brooks is the latest, slightly injuring a shoulder nerve Friday. Brooks joined Frank Alexander, Luther Maddy, Bryant Turner and Dylan Ainsworth on the sidelines. B.C. is still looking to bring in reinforcements, though rookie Kenneth Boatright (Southern Illinois) continues to draw the attention of coaches…. Most serious injury at camp belongs to receivers coach Marcel Bellefeuille, who didn’t have surgery on his Achilles when he hurt it playing soccer with his kids in January, but is scheduled to go under the knife today after he ruptured the same tendon Friday.