Darren Zary
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Not only can Trevor Reid block mad-charging defensive ends and blitzing linebackers, he can also thoroughly block the wind.
He’s big enough to do that at 6-foot-5 and 307 pounds.
“I love it — it won’t stop me from blocking,” smiled Reid, a dental-braces-wearing rookie offensive lineman who is doing his best to stand out at the Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp.
The rookie O-line prospect is getting a long look at the vacant left tackle position during training camp at Griffiths Stadium in Nutrien Park in Saskatoon.
He’s one of the front-runners so far, but it’s early in camp and he’s not the only one auditioning for a job.
“Trevor has definitely flashed early, but it’s a long camp ahead,” stressed Riders head coach Corey Mace. “We’re going to keep rolling the spot and see who really takes it by the horns.
“It’s going to be a continuous battle between (Americans) Reid, (D’Mitri) Emmanuel, Tuck (Jordan Tucker), (Jacob) Brammer, all these guys. They’re really football players.”
Reid is grateful for the opportunity. A chance to provide for a growing family — two young boys, Trevor Jr. and Trenton, ages three and seven months — is extra motivation.
“It’s going great,” says Reid, who played college football for the University of Louisville Cardinals. “I get pointers from the veterans, like Yoshi (Jermarcus Hardrick), and all the guys. It’s been pretty good. I love it here. I love being with the guys, meeting new people and new faces. I love it.”
He grew up in Georgia and says he didn’t know anything about Saskatchewan before coming up here.
“But my uncle played in Winnipeg back in his younger days before he went to the NFL,” Reid explains. “He had told me he had a spot for me, so I just came down here. It’s how I got cooking.
“It’s an opportunity to play football. Any opportunity that God blessed me with, I’m taking it. Man, I’ve got two kids and I’m just trying to provide.”
At the University of Louisville, Reid played for coach Dwayne Ledford, now an assistant coach with the NFL Atlanta Falcons.
“It was a blessing, being around coach Ledford; just being around him and him coaching me was a blessing,” says Reid, who had short-lived stints with the NFL Philadelphia Eagles and Falcons after coming out of college in 2023.
“Being around Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson, it taught me that you just can’t learn your position; you have to learn everybody’s position. You’ve got to learn the whole line.”
Coach Mace and offensive line coach Edwin Harrison like that football IQ, as well as versatility and a bit of a mean streak. Mace is a former defensive linemen who has met his share of O-linemen face to face.
“You’ve got to be nasty,” stressed Mace. “You’ve got to be nasty. At the tackle position, we obviously want to move bodies up front when we’re running the ball. There are some really athletic defensive ends across the league and we’ve got to be able to move our feet with those guys.
“We feel like we have guys in the building who can master that, and certainly some of these young guys, they’ve just got to get more snaps and more and more reps in understanding it. So the good thing for them is they go against some pretty good defensive ends here, as well, so they’re getting a lion’s share from that standpoint.”
With some no-shows at camp, including NFL veteran Jerald Hawkins and holdover Brandon Council as well as Sadarius Hutcherson, Jonathan Hubbard and Jeremiah Poutasi, who have been put on the suspended list, the door is open on the O-line.
GREW UP IN GEORGIA
Reid hails from Griffin, Georgia, with a population of just over 20,000.
“Everybody knows each other — that’s the population,” he says with a chuckle.
Griffin is where his young family resides.
“It’s tough, but we have technology,” he says. “We can Facetime. I still get to see them but they’re not in the flesh … It kind of hurt me (Monday). (Trevor Jr.) asked, ‘When are you coming home?’ I told him, ‘I’ve got to provide for you. I’ll be home in a minute, but I’ve got to do this right now.’ ”
Growing up, Reid admits that school wasn’t his thing at first. But military school straightened him out.
“I wouldn’t say I was a bad person (in high school), but I wasn’t doing the right things that I should be doing .. The military school moulded me into the young man I needed to be, being disciplined all the time,” says Reid, who went from “a 1.3 GPA, not coming to class and doing stupid stuff, to turning me around to care and wanting to graduate from college and actually be someone, be something.”
He also came away with a criminal justice degree, he is quick to add.
And he says he’s still pushing toward getting a master’s degree.
‘ATHLETICISM IS RARE’
For now, Reid is pushing for a job on the Riders.
Coach Harrison sees a lot of potential and a high ceiling if Reid is able to put it all together.
“He’s a big man,” Harrison says of Reid. “I really like his lift. He’s got really, really good athleticism. He moves well. I push all the guys about being consistent, coming out here and consistently getting better. That’s what we want to see as a coach: consistency … just every day, and become nasty in the run game and playing with that demeanour.
“His athleticism is rare. You don’t see it very often. I think he’s got to prepare himself better to take on more power rush moves, guys that are bigger and maybe not as athletic. In this league, the really great tackles can do two things really well: they can shut down inside moves and they can sit down and stop bull rushes.”
Harrison points to “Yosh,” who was acquired during the off-season, as well as Dejon Allen with the Toronto Argonauts and Stanley Bryant, who has “done that for a number of years, in Winnipeg and Calgary.”
One thing that Reid can do, but likely no other offensive lineman can, is a back flip.
He’s ready to do one, should his number ever be called on a goal-line push and he scores a touchdown in the CFL.
“If they make a play where I catch a ball, you all are going to see it. I’m telling you, you’ll see it,” promises Reid. “If I catch a touchdown pass, I’m doing a back flip. You all get ready.”
dzary@postmedia.com
