Idowu looking to rise up depth chart, earn now-vacant starting linebacker job

It’s under unfortunate circumstances, but a golden opportunity now sits in front of Oluwaseun Idowu.

Idowu is one of the linebackers battling for the starting middle linebacker spot after Larry Dean went down with an Achilles tear days before training camp started, one of four players to suffer the same injury that day. Dean, who joined the Roughriders in February, is a three-time CFL divisional all-star and was the favourite to land the spot.

“That’s something I would never wish on anybody but it’s an opportunity and it’s really a next-guy-up mentality. You have your teammates around you, there’s guys around you, they expect things of you, coaches expect things of you (and) you expect things of yourself as well,” Idowu said after Sunday’s training camp workout at Mosaic Stadium.

“When you get an opportunity like that, you know you’ve got to step in and really just reach for those (opportunities) and try to fulfil those to the best of your ability and take full advantage of it.”

The linebacker spots are ones of interest in this year’s camp.

No starters are returning to the group from 2019, with Solomon Elimimian hanging up the cleats, Derrick Moncrief taking his talents to Los Angeles with the Rams and Cam Judge heading east to join the Toronto Argonauts.

Idowu isn’t a stranger to fighting for a spot on the roster. Idowu, who joined the Roughriders as a rookie in 2019, was a walk-on with the University of Pittsburgh Panthers.

“When I came into (camp) in 2019, I was at the bottom of the depth chart (and) that was an area where I was comfortable. It didn’t shock me. I was like, ‘OK, I’ve done this before. It’s something I can do again.’ Working from that position was nothing new to me, and that’s something I love about the game — I love the grind and I love seeing progress,” the 24-year-old said.

And as Idowu heads into this second season with the team, he’s able to look back on what he learned from a couple of veterans from 2019.

“Solomon was a really smart player, a really savvy player. He was smooth about his game, he was a strong player, he was a tough guy. And with him it was just a lot things — knowledge about the game itself, knowledge about defence and middle linebacker but the game itself, knowledge about how offences we were going to play are going to operate, how to watch film, how to get ready for a game,” Idowu said.

“Moncrief was a big guy I took some things from as well in how they went about game prep, being ready for practice, going through a practice, stuff they did post-practice. I just tried to observe and take in as much as I can from those guys.

“Always be coachable is something I’ve taken from the collegiate level to this point and time and coachability has gotten me as far as I am now.”

And he’s been able to pull knowledge from Dean — even if it was for just a short time thus far.

“I didn’t get a lot of time to talk to him about the position specifically. I was just trying to get to know him and (his injury) happened the second day we actually met in person but he’s still around and I’m bouncing ideas off of him and get his thoughts on certain things,” Idowu said.

“He’s definitely going to be a guy I’m going to grab as much as I can from.”

Head coach Craig Dickenson admits Idowu had some growing pains in 2019, but Dickenson is expecting the linebacker to take a step forward in his second season.

“What Seun brings is he brings a lot of intelligence to the football field, he’s strong, he’s athletic and he has a year under his belt and I think oftentimes, players have the most growth in that second year,” Dickenson said.

“With what happened to Larry a couple days ago, now (Idowu) is going to get an opportunity to get in there and play a little bit more and maybe earn a starting job, as will all the linebackers.”

And Idowu welcomes the challenge of proving he should be the team’s starter at the end of camp.

“When you’re at the top and you’re starting, every thing is good and you can only get so much better every day. But when you’re at that base and have everything against you and you’re making progress, you’re working through all these obstacles, it’s really a big relief and puts a smile on my face and getting (to the top) is all that much better,” Idowu said.

Notes

Dickenson confirmed quarterback Paxton Lynch and defensive back Nick Marshall will be at camp Monday … Dickenson said the team hasn’t had luck convincing cornerback LJ McCray to come play this year. “He’s got some personal things he’s dealing with right now — nothing that’s all that bad, but stuff he needed to take care of,” Dickenson said. “But coming up and playing football just wasn’t in the cards right now.” … Dickenson says defensive back Elie Bouka is working at a job in Calgary and hasn’t joined the team yet. Dickenson expects him to show up in the next few weeks and then go into quarantine.