Defensive end/fullback Alain Cimankinda during Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp on July 21, 2021. (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
Alain Cimankinda didn’t always have dreams of being a football star – but he’s confident he could be one of the best.
The 25-year-old defensive tackle has compared himself to NFL star Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams.
“Some of the strength that I have is very similar to Aaron Donald strength – it might not be at the same level but I believe my ceiling could be around there,” Cimankinda said. “For a guy that is under-sized in certain people’s eyes, I have great quickness, great power and great speed that I can utilize to my advantage to attack (offensive linemen) before they are able to get to me and be able to make a lot of chaos in the backfield.”
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Jul 26, 2021 | 6:50 PM
Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive end Keion Adams lines up against the offence during training camp on July 14, 2021. (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
Even when he wasn’t on the field, Keion Adams was used to chasing people down.
The 26-year-old worked in executive protection and private security, and as a bounty hunter in Atlanta.
“I had gotten my degree in criminal justice and a minor in sociology so just started to get experience in that field. They always tell you football isn’t forever and I was starting to go through that phase. I knew that I still had passion and love for the game so if I was to get back into it, I didn’t want to go into that next step without that experience once football is done,” Adams told media after Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp earlier in the month. “It kept me in shape with the running and hand-to-hand combat and all that types of things.”
REGINA The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defence is still feeling the effects of losing three starting linebackers from 2019. “I love all those guys, got good relationships with them, it’s part of the business,” Jason Shivers, the Riders’ defensive coordinator, said. “And it created an opportunity.” Middle linebacker Solomon Elimimian retired, weak-side linebacker Cameron Judge signed with the Toronto Argonauts and strong-side linebacker Derrick Moncrief signed with the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL. Seun Idowu is one of the players making the most of the circumstances. The Pitt Panthers’ alumnus has been getting a significant amount of repetitions at the middle linebacker position during training camp.
Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo during 2021 training camp on July 10, 2021. (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are taking the slow, cautious approach to begin training camp.
Head coach Craig Dickenson said the coaches originally planned to have one-on-ones and have the players compete against each other on Saturday.
But with four players linebacker Larry Dean, defensive end Freddie Bishop III, defensive back Nelson Lokombo and running back Jonathan Femi-Cole suffering what are believed to be torn Achilles injuries on Thursday, those plans were turned asunder.
âThat was a gut shot. That was something I never experienced in all my years of football,â Dickenson said Saturday. âIt was really heartbreaking for me as a coach, knowing that it was really damaging to our team but also as a human being and knowing you’ve got four young men that have worked really hard to put themselves into position to play football. To have somet
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