Men’s Football
Football Weekend Watch: Canada West kicks off league play, full 12-game slate across the country
Kyle Siemens – Saskatchewan Huskies
- Name: Kyle Siemens
- University: Saskatchewan
- Hometown: Saskatoon, Sask.
- High school / Cegep: Aden Bowman Collegiate
- Position: Quarterback
- Academic program: Kinesiology
- Year of eligibility: 5
- Height: 5-10
- Weight: 195
Key stats from 2017: 321.5 Passing yards per-game (2nd in U SPORTS)
Awards & honours (since start of U SPORTS career): 2016 Academic All-Canadian
Profile
The leader of the Huskie offence, Kyle Siemens returns for his fifth and final season in the green and white of the Huskies. Now entering his third-year as starting quarterback, Siemens had an outstanding 2017 season, leading Canada West in both passing yards (2572) and touchdown passes (19). Siemens also finished second in the conference with 201 completions and set single-season Huskie records in both passing yards and pass completions. Another 2,000-yard season would move Siemens into second all-time in Huskies career passing yards.
Brad Baker – Alberta Golden Bears
- Name: Brad Baker
- University: Alberta
- Hometown: Raymond, Alberta
- High school / Cegep: Raymond High School
- Position: Quarterback
- Academic program: Education
- Year of eligibility: 5
- Height: 6-2
- Weight: 225
Key stats from 2017: Completed 56 per cent of his passes, finishing fifth in Canada West with 2,142 passing yards. Led the Bears to wins in three of their last four games, passing for 14 touchdowns in four games.
Profile
A large part of the Bears second-half turnaround in 2017 can be attributed to starting quarterback Brad Baker. After starting 0-4, the Bears finished the season winning three of four games, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade. Baker tossed for 1,473 yards and 14 touchdowns in those four games, including a career-high five touchdowns against the Dinos in the season-finale. With the graduation of Hec Crighton trophy-winning running back Ed Ilnicki, the offence will need Baker to continue that stellar play in 2018 to get back in the playoff picture.
Jayden McKoy – Manitoba Bisons
- Name: Jayden McKoy
- University: Manitoba
- Hometown: Winnipeg, Man.
- High school / Cegep: Miles Macdonell Collegiate
- Position: Safety
- Academic program: Engineering
- Year of eligibility: 5
- Height: 5-10
- Weight: 195
Key stats from 2017: 34.5 tackles, 3 interceptions, 1 forced fumble
Awards & honours (since start of U SPORTS career): 2017 Canada West All-Star
Profile
Jayden McKoy is without a doubt the Bisons most versatile player in the secondary, and is also an invaluable team captain. This year, he’ll suit up at his most natural position of safety, after primarily playing field halfback during his U SPORTS career, where last year he earned a Canada West All-Star nod.
McKoy has a tremendous football IQ, and the stats to back up his play. He’s registered at least 30 tackles every year since 2014, and cumulatively has 150 for his Bisons career. The more impressive statistic however, is his interception count. He’s picked off 13 passes and is just a few short of setting a new program record.
Entering his final year of university eligibility, McKoy is hungry to finish off on a high note, and ideally help bring the Vanier Cup back to the U of M campus for the first time since 2007.
Noah Picton – Regina Rams
Name: Noah Picton
University: Regina
Hometown: Regina, Sask.
- High school / Cegep: Dr. Martin LeBoldus High School
- Position: Quarterback
- Academic program: Business Administration
- Year of eligibility: 5
- Height: 5-9
- Weight: 180
Key stats from 2017: 2491 passing yards, 19 TDs, 68.8 per cent completion rate
Awards & honours (since start of U SPORTS career):
- 2017 U SPORTS First-Team All-Canadian
- 2017 Canada West All-Star
- 2016 Hec Crighton Trophy (U SPORTS Player of the Year)
- 2016 U SPORTS First-Team All-Canadian
- 2016 Frank Gnup Award (Canada West Player of the Year)
- 2016 Canada West All-Star
Profile
Look no further than the guy at the most important position on the field for the University of Regina Rams’ player to watch for the 2018 season.
Now in his final U SPORTS season, Noah Picton has had a sensational career for the Rams. Already Canada West’s record holder in career passing yards and completions, he’ll almost certainly become the sixth quarterback to hit the 10,000-yard mark early in the year. And he could very well take over the nation’s all-time lead in the category – Sherbrooke’s Jérémi Roch has held the record with 11,477 yards since 2015, but Picton enters the year with 9,840 yards and is also just 147 completions from surpassing Roch for the all-time lead in that category as well.
Picton wasn’t selected in the CFL Draft this spring, but was signed as a free agent by Toronto and participated in training camp with the Argonauts, before being returned for his final season of U SPORTS eligibility. It was the second CFL camp for Picton, as he also took part in the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ training camp in 2015, after being appointed by the league as part of its quarterback internship program.
After sharing quarterback duties with Cayman Shutter in his first year, Picton has been the team’s unquestioned starter since. While the team graduates his cousin Mitchell Picton, along with fellow receivers Brady Eurich, Thomas Huber, and Mitch Thompson, the Rams return both Ryan Schienbein and Kyle Moortgat to the fold in 2018. Picton’s favourite targets are likely to be those two slotbacks, but look for him to also get the ball to newcomers Kris Calcutt and Bennett Stusek with Lucas Nurkowski and Daniel Scraper both good candidates to see enhanced roles this season.
Picton and the Rams start out the 2018 campaign on Friday at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT at Mosaic Stadium against defending conference champion Calgary.
Trivel Pinto – UBC Thunderbirds
- Name: Trivel Pinto
- University: UBC
- Hometown: Brampton, Ont.
- High school / Cegep: Downsview Secondary
- Position: Receiver
- Academic program: Arts
- Year of eligibility: 4
- Height: 6-0
- Weight: 195
Key stats from 2017: 717 yards receiving, 1,056 all-purpose yards (both led UBC), five touchdowns
Awards & honours (since start of U SPORTS career): 2017 Canada West All-Star on both offence and special teams, 2017 First Team All-Canadian
Profile
After leading the Thunderbirds in both receptions and all-purpose yards in 2017, the fourth-year Arts student is poised for even more in 2018. Poised to be an early selection in the 2019 CFL draft, the Brampton, Ont., native can look to be an even more prominent piece on the veteran T-Birds’ roster this season thanks in part to the departure of fellow receiver Alex Morrison. Pinto will have plenty of pro football eyes on him this season having impressed at the 2018 U SPORTS East-West Bowl leading team West with 83 all-purpose yards.
Adam Sinagra – Calgary Dinos
- Name: Adam Sinagra
- University: Calgary
- Hometown: Pointe Claire, Que.
- High school / Cegep: John Abbott College
- Position: Quarterback
- Academic program: Arts (Economics)
- Year of eligibility: 4
- Height: 6-1
- Weight: 190
Key stats from 2017: 178/269, 2447 yards, 18 TDs, 8 INTs
Awards & honours (since start of U SPORTS career): 2017 U SPORTS Player of the Week, two-time CW player of the week in 2017; 2016 Hardy Cup MVP
Profile
For the first time since joining the University of Calgary Dinos, Adam Sinagra has a firm grip on the starting quarterback position heading into the 2018 season.
After stepping in for the injured Jimmy Underdahl late in the 2016 season, leading the Dinos to a Vanier Cup appearance, Sinagra earned the starting spot outright in 2017 and heads into his fourth year set to improve on already-impressive numbers.
A major factor in his preparation for this season was the time he spent with the Calgary Stampeders. His participation in the Stamps’ training camp was part of a program launched in 2012 by the Canadian Football League and U SPORTS, allowing the best university quarterbacks from across Canada the opportunity to go through the paces of a professional training camp. Sinagra, who will enter his fourth year of eligibility with the Dinos this fall, had the luxury of familiar confines at McMahon Stadium, just down the hall from the university locker room.
"It's been great," Sinagra said following the final practice of his pro camp experience. "It's always good to see how someone else does it, especially a pro team – to see how they go through their day-to-day, game plan for opponents, and attack defences."
Of course, it didn't hurt to have 2016 CFL Most Outstanding Player Bo Levi Mitchell running the Stampeders' offence, either.
"It was a great opportunity to learn from a pro like Bo – I took a few pointers from him, like how he goes through his reads," said the arts student originally from Pointe Claire, Que. "Hopefully I can bring that back with me as we look forward to our season."
"He looked comfortable, not out of place at all," said Dinos Offensive Coordinator Ryan Sheahan. "He has been excited when he has come down the hall after practices to talk about his experiences. The Stamps environment is a very professional one where they take care of a lot of the details, and his experience with us will make it a more gradual jump to go to the pros.
"They get pretty good exposure to what life is like at the next level, realizing how pro quarterbacks handle themselves and take their jobs very seriously. They see the level of detail that it takes to be successful at the next level, and it gives them an extra sense of motivation to keep working hard in the hopes of having a chance one day."
Sinagra said the speed of the CFL game took some getting used to, but that it should help him when he leads the Dinos back onto the field this fall.
"It's definitely a lot quicker in the trenches – the (defensive backs) tend to come downfield and jump routes, so you need to be on top of that. Even little things like in the short game, you can't really stare where you're going with the ball, you have to set your eyes somewhere else before coming back to it when it's time.
"It's been great – having to adjust to the speed of the game will hopefully slow things down for me when I come back."
Sinagra has led the Dinos to consecutive Hardy Cup titles in 2016 and 2017, tossing for 2,447 yards and 18 touchdowns during the 2017 campaign.
"Adam is on pace to contend for a championship, and possibly an MVP-calibre season or two in his remaining two years," said Sheahan. "In his first year and a half, he has established himself as one of the premier passers in the country. I'm looking forward to seeing him progress and establish himself as one of the dominant arms in U SPORTS football."