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The Saskatchewan Roughriders take the field at Mosaic Stadium on Thursday to wrap up their CFL pre-season schedule against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Saskatchewan is hoping for a better result with many veterans taking to the field compared to last week’s rookie-laden roster that lost 37-1 to the Calgary Stampeders.
However, one person feeling confident going into his second career CFL game is Austin Ellsworth.
Don’t feel bad if the name isn’t familiar.
The slotback burst onto the scene after missing the first two days of training camp and is looking to solidify his spot on the roster after a standout performance a week ago.
The 24-year-old played eight-man high school football in Colorado before landing at Division III Illinois College to play quarterback while also playing on the tennis team.
“I was kind of a later bloomer. I grew quite a bit and then was told I should pursue professional football by some coaches,” Ellsworth said during Saskatchewan’s training camp in Saskatoon earlier this week.
“I hit a couple free-agent tryouts last year, and then sent film out this year again, went to Oakland for the (Saskatchewan) tryout and ended up getting picked up (on) Day 2. So I got here at like 10 p.m. a couple days into camp — definitely a surprise.”
The road to Mosaic Stadium may not be as easy as Ellsworth indicates.
After two seasons behind centre for the Illinois College Blueboys, Ellsworth made the switch to receiver and defensive back for his junior and senior seasons.
Scouts began to notice Ellsworth’s ability to catch the ball all over the field on either offence or defence, but it wasn’t enough to gain any traction for NFL opportunities.
Ellsworth’s big break came in March, when he was accepted into The Spring League, an NFL off-season showcase that gives players a chance to earn a professional football contract. It’s where players like Toronto Argonauts quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson were discovered.
The only problem was that Ellsworth couldn’t afford the registration fees and travel costs to participate in the league, so he started a GoFundMe campaign days before the league began play.
“It was very similar to this invite,” he said. “I got it (at the) last minute, I think a week before The Spring League started. I knew it was an incredible opportunity. That’s a lot of the reason I think I’m here — I had some good film from that.”
Ellsworth said many of the coaches were former CFL players, which he thinks added to the training-camp invitation from the Riders.
While his performance in Calgary of three catches for 36 yards isn’t something to brag about, it was enough to earn Ellsworth a closer look from the coaching staff.
“We like him. He’s a physical guy,” Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson said. “He’s a tough, hard-nosed football player. He plays smart and he had a nice game.”
Dickenson admitted that Ellsworth’s practices didn’t wow him, but his game-day performance has kept him fighting for a spot on the 46-man roster, which is due on Saturday.
“The games are where we feel like the guys separate themselves,” Dickenson said. “He’s had a good practice — not great — but (in) the game I felt like he separated himself a little bit as a receiver we need to look at further.”
Ellsworth focused on getting special-teams details memorized at camp before getting too ambitious on offence.
“When my time came, I knew I had to be ready. Luckily, it was that last pre-season game,” he said. “Some people call me a gamer. I get in the game and I just get in the flow.”
In a crowded Riders receiving group that has just a few spots open for the taking, Ellsworth is hoping one last standout performance in the pre-season will earn him a spot with the Riders.
“I don’t know how things are going to shake out or what the playing time is going to be like, but I’m excited,” he said.
