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© 2025 Winnipeg Blue Bombers. All rights reserved.
© 2025 Winnipeg Blue Bombers. All rights reserved.
It’s a big number with a big meaning in offensive football both as a barometer and a standard of excellence.
A thousand yards rushing or receiving truly means something, like the 50-goal mark does in hockey, or 100 RBI in baseball. And homegrown Winnipeg Blue Bombers product is now 60 yards shy of hitting the 1,000-yard receiving mark in consecutive seasons.
Both Demski, at 940 yards, and rookie Pokey Wilson — at 943 — could hit that milestone with big days Saturday in Montreal against the Alouettes.
Yet given where Demski is now in his career with two Grey Cup championships, all-star nods and twice being named the club’s top Canadian, the bigger picture is the most important one.
In the here and now that’s locking up first place in the West Division with a win. Team goals, after all, trump individual accomplishments.
“(The 1.000-yard receiving mark) is in the back of your mind — as a receiver it’s something you want to do,” said Demski after practice Tuesday. “But it’s not something that, to me, has to be done. I like to win. I like to be part of winning teams. I like to be there for my teammates and do whatever I need to do.
“Obviously, a thousand yards is a flashy goal but at the end of the day it’s not something that I work towards. It’s something that if I do the things I need to do right, it’ll happen. For me, it’s doing the right things and the production will come.”
Demski hit the 1K mark for the first time in his career a year ago, pulling in 67 passes for 1,006 yards and six TDs. He’s already set a career high this season with 72 catches, and if he should crack the 1,000-yard mark again, he’d be the first Canadian Blue Bombers receiver to accomplish that feat since Gerald Wilcox did it over a three-year span from 1993-95.
“It comes with film study, it comes with just talking football and being around familiar faces,” said Demski. “It’s knowing what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to attack and also what Zach (Collaros) sees out there and being in the right position at the right time.
“My I.Q. keeps going up and as long as my body can feel good and I can run fast still, everything will fall into place.”
It’s that football I.Q. part that is difficult to measure but was further explained by both Collaros and head coach Mike O’Shea when quizzed about it following practice by Jeff Hamilton of The Free Press.
“It starts with his football I.Q.,” said O’Shea. “It starts with his ability to take in all the information and process it and hear the call and know exactly where he’s supposed to be from multiple positions, and you really do ask him to do everything. He’s that kind of athlete that he can, and his body type is such that he can do a whole bunch of different things very well.”
Added Collaros:
“He’s a pro from a preparation standpoint — not just taking care of his body. The thing I love about the game is the schematic part of it, the Xs and Os and working with the guys to figure out what’s the best pro (protection) for this look, what’s the right read for the route runner, can we make adjustments?
“Nic allows us to be really malleable with what we can do, with where he’s at. We put a lot on his plate, more than probably anybody else in the league times five — I’m just being honest with you. There’s just a lot of things he has to see with the look of a defence depending on what the concept is, where he lines up, whether he’s in the back protecting or whether he’s running the route making it right if we can’t protect it.
“He’s a guy who loves this game, loves this organization, loves his teammates.”
OUCH REPORT: DB Deatrick Nichols was not at practice on Tuesday due to illness, while WR/KR Lucky Whitehead was back at work during the practice week for the first time in weeks after mostly taking mental reps before suiting up on game day.
Injury Report: October 22, 2024#ForTheW pic.twitter.com/EbsmOvWtZz
— x – Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) October 22, 2024
NEW BLUE BLOOD: The Blue Bombers signed three players today to futures contracts for the 2025 season in quarterback Darren Grainger, defensive end Brandon Wright and defensive back Jordan Toles — all Americans.
Grainger (6-4, 225, Georgia State) will return for the 2025 season after two stints with the team this season. Grainger split his five-year collegiate career between Furman (2018-2019) and Georgia State (2021-2023). He started 12 games at Furman, then transferred to Georgia State for the 2021 season and started 36 of 38 games, throwing for 6,779 yards and 57 touchdowns while finishing his collegiate career with a passer rating of 142.4.
Wright (6-2, 250, Michigan State) will return in 2025 after joining the club during this year’s practice roster expansion window before being released. Wright spent his five-year collegiate career (2019-2023) with the Spartans, suiting up in 2019 and 2020 as a running back before being converted to a defensive end to strengthen the pass rush in 2021. Over the next three seasons he dressed for 28 games, starting seven, while totalling 44 tackles, six tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and one knockdown.
Toles (6-1, 216, Morgan State) enjoyed a four-year collegiate career with both LSU (2020-2021) and Morgan State (2022-2023) and signs with the Blue Bombers after signing this year as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Raves. Toles recorded 16 tackles (8 solo, 8 assists) in 16 games at LSU and after transferring played in 20 games with Morgan State where he played on defence and periodically returned kicks. Toles was a First Team All-MEAC in 2023 and played in the Allstate HBCU Legacy Bowl after the season.