Jake Maier’s eyes light up when he’s asked about the Calgary Stampeders’ Canadian receivers. Last Friday night the headlines were all about Clarke Barnes after his six-catch, 61-yard and a touchdown performance in the Stamps’ season-opening win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. But soon enough, it’s probably going to be Jalen Philpot stepping up.
And while there’s other Canadian talent in the Stamps’ receivers room, too, having Barnes and Philpot back on the field after they were both hurt for much of 2023 — and in Philpot’s case, he was out for the whole year — is a big boost for Maier, who is salivating at the options he has when he looks downfield. “Those guys, they got let off the leash, man,” Maier said Thursday as the Stamps wrapped up their preparations for Saturday night’s big tilt in Vancouver against the B.C.
Lions. “They’ve been rehabbing and doing everything they can to get back to 100 per cent. What a beautiful thing to see those guys living out their dream and thriving.
“Obviously, it wasn’t as prolific for Jalen as it was for Clark, but that’s the beauty of our offence right now. It’s very organic, there’s no agenda football, there’s no selfishness. It could easily be flipped and Jalen could be the one leading the team in targets and catches.
” When pre-season prognosticators had the Stamps ranked near the bottom of the CFL, they likely had forgotten about what a blow it was for the team to lose Philpot for the entirety of.