Tyler Elsbury has become a fixture in the middle of the Blue Bombers offensive line this season; photos by Cameron Bartlett
One of the first things you notice about Tyler Elsbury — the first-year Winnipeg Blue Bombers centre — is how quickly the big man is to smile.
And so it was on Thursday on the eve of tonight’s matchup with the Montreal Alouettes when the 25-year-old product of Byron, IL was exiting the team’s walk-through practice and seemed to be soaking up everything the day had to offer, from the sunshine, to another start in the middle of the offensive line to this very place in his career.
Given the road he’s taken to Winnipeg, it’s understandable.
Consider that it wasn’t too long ago during his college days at the University of Iowa when the Hawkeyes two-time winner of the ‘Next Man in Award’ — he was essentially the team’s sixth offensive lineman — had a critical decision to make:
Remain committed to the Hawkeyes or take advantage of the NCAA’s official transfer portal and pursue a chance to start more regularly elsewhere.
“My career is a little bit different than some of these other guys,” Elsbury told bluebombers.com. “I chose to go to Iowa and was part of a really, really good offensive line room. In my last two years there five of the guys that were playing with me are all in the NFL now (Logan Jones, Chicago), Gennings Dunker (Pittsburgh), Beau Stephens and Mason Richman (Seattle) and Connor Colby (Stan Francisco) and there are guys before that, too, who are playing down there. I mention Tyler Linderbaum (Baltimore) all the time and he’s the highest-paid interior guy now in the NFL.
“But when I went to that school I knew it was going to be challenging but I wanted the development piece of it and to be a part of those kind of offensive line rooms. I got the sixth-man award a couple of times but, I’m not going to lie, there were times I went into the O-line coach’s room and asked him about the transfer portal and exploring other opportunities.
“His message was to me was, ‘How do you want to develop as an offensive lineman and what kind of room do you want to be a part of?’ I had some tough conversations with family, too, but ultimately chose to stay all five years there.
“Fast forward a couple of years and it’s really paying off. It speaks of the program there at Iowa because whether I was starting or not, I’ve made it to the next level and am playing now.”
Elsbury first joined the Blue Bombers last season but didn’t see any action. This year he earned a gig right out of training camp and has started nine games at centre, starting one game at guard when Pat Neufeld’s wife gave birth to twins.
In many ways, it could be said his decision to stay at Iowa and his dedication to fine-tuning his skills while playing in a semi-starter role were critical in what is unfolding for him now.
Loyalty and perseverance, it would seem, goes a long way.
“I do take a lot of pride in that,” Elsbury said. “Sometimes when I go home and talk to people I hear, ‘Oh, if you had only transferred you could have done this or that.’ That’s not who I am and what I want to be about. I committed to play for Iowa before the transfer portal and NIL (players being paid for name, image, likeness) became a thing. I grew a ton as a person there and made a ton of friends — NFL, business, med sales — and I would have left I would have lost all that. I didn’t want to quit on what I chose to do.
“It’s been an amazing summer for me,” he added with a wide grin. “I got married in June, was named a starter here and have played in all 10 games and to be able to play alongside guys like Paddy and Gabe (Wallace) and Stan (Bryant) and a guy like (Jarell) Broxton who has started a lot of games up here and learn from them has been really enjoyable.
“It’s been the most fun I’ve had playing football in a long time and a lot of that is just the guys I’m with on the field.”
ICYMI, here is our Game Preview:
And what follows are more notes and quotes to help get Blue Bombers fans ready for tonight in this week’s edition of GAME DAY HQ…
ALWAYS READY VAVAL
He’s the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Special Teams Player as a dangerous, game-breaking kick returner — he was also the league’s top rookie a year ago — and last week Trey Vaval once again flashed his skillset as a cornerback following an injury to Deatrick Nichols.
Heck, if he somehow got some snaps on offence there’s little doubt he could be a difference-maker there, too.
The Blue Bombers enter tonight’s game against the Alouettes with Nichols listed as a game-time decision, meaning Vaval might get called on again at corner, although the club might also consider newcomer Ridge Texada.
In any case, head coach Mike O’Shea said Thursday Vaval has more than earned the extra work.
“If you’re dressed, you’re ready to play,” said O’Shea. “The fact that he’s our primary returner sort of dictates that we haven’t used him as much as he probably deserves to be used in packages because he’s an explosive athlete. He hits hard. You saw it last week. He’s active to the ball. We probably limit — I probably limit — his opportunity on defence throughout the year.”
NOTABLE
- Montreal QB Davis Alexander is 20-1 in his 21 regular season starts and this will be his first non-playoff start vs. the Blue Bombers. He is 6-1 vs Western teams and 14-0 vs East Division rivals. He has a current run of eight 300-yard passing games in his last 10 starts.
On deep throws at least 20 yards downfield this season he has completed a CFL-leading 32 of 67 attempts for a remarkable 48 percent completion rate. - We brought this up in last week’s Upon Further Review, but the Elks were not penalized in the win over Winnipeg last Friday. That’s a first against the Blue Bombers in 58 years and a game against the Ottawa Rough Riders on Sept. 4th, 1968.
- Brady Oliveira has rushed for 427 yards with an average of 7.1 yards per carry in his last four games. His fourth 100-yard+ game of the season last week was his 25th overall – good for 11th all-time. He is 2nd among Canadians behind Andrew Harris (29).
- With one more pass knockdown, Willie Jefferson will join Eddie Davis (111) and Adrion Smith (105) as the only players to reach the century mark.
- Nic Demski is 72 receiving yards shy of becoming the 15th Canadian to reach 7,000 in their career.
- Montreal is chasing an eighth straight win, which would tie the franchise record for consecutive victories in one season.
- Alouette receiver Tyson Philpot leads the CFL with 1,229 receiving yards and remains on pace to break Allen Pitts’ all-time single season record of 2,036, set in 1994.
GAME DAY -1
ICYMI, Sam Calvert and I chopped it up a bit yesterday to help set up tonight’s game against the Als in this week’s Game Day -1. Check it out here:
