From steeltown, a follow-up on Parksville’s Carson Rockhill, who was recently selected 13th overall in the 2012 CFL draft by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Drew Allemang, the tabbies co-ordinator of Canadian payer development and head Canadian scout, was away when The News tried to contact him, but he returned the call this week, and he had good things to say about the Ti-Cats newest addition.
“We think very highly of Carson — we drafted him in the second round (and) we think he has a lot of potential,” Allemang said from the Tiger-Cats training facility. “He has very good size (6’6”, 300 lbs.), and for a big kid he’s very athletic. Good feet, he reads blocks very well, and he can get out all over the field and get to different blocks that not to many kids can get to.
“He’s a physical kid that likes to mix it up a bit ... he’s got a nasty side to him, and he finishes his blocks,” said Allemang. “He’s a very aggressive player and we’re very excited about ‘em. It’s a big jump from the CIS to the CFL, but it’s something we see Carson being able to do.”
Asked if it’s to early in the process to say whether he thinks Carson’s got the stuff to become a full-time Ticat, and Drew said “it’s a bit early, but we hope so. We have an opening on our offensive line, so it’s going to be a battle in training camp.”
He added “there’s some other guys that are fighting for that spot and the back-up spot as well, so it’s going to be an interesting competition.
“Carson’s got every opportunity to win the job. He’s athletic, he can do stuff on special teams to start ... he has every opportunity to win a job, for sure.”
Carson, who turns 22 in June, has two more years of eligibility with the University of Calgary Dinos football team. He’s working towards his degree in business and general management, but Allemang’s not so sure about that.
“I know he can go back to school, but it’s not something he’s committed one way or the other to ... he seems pretty excited, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”