McKENZIE HAS BIG CLEATS TO FILL

REGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders will be glad to know Chris McKenzie already has flourished alongside Omarr Morgan.

"He was next to me in the dorms last year when we first got here and we got along great," Morgan recalled Monday at Mosaic Stadium, where the CFL team is holding its training camp. "I hung with him all year and he was my ride to practice every day, so we already have some off-the-field chemistry."

That's a good sign for two defensive backs who could line up beside each other this season.
Morgan, the Roughriders' veteran boundary cornerback, must get used to having someone other than Eddie Davis beside him at halfback. Davis retired in the off-season after playing 15 CFL seasons, including the past nine with Saskatchewan. In eight of those campaigns, Davis lined up on the same side of the defence as Morgan.

McKenzie, meanwhile, is entering his second season with the Roughriders. He started three games as a rookie when Davis was injured and that stint — along with his experience as Morgan's neighbour and driver — should help McKenzie this season.

"All last year, (Morgan) was basically my mentor and kept me under his wing," said McKenzie, a 28-year-old New Yorker who had stints in the NFL and Arena Football League before coming to Saskatchewan. "When I jumped in there last year for E.D., (Morgan) was like, 'You already know what to do, you know what it is and I've got you. Let's do it.' "

Now, McKenzie could get to do it again if he can win the battle for the spot. Despite his history in the position, the 5-foot-9, 190-pounder doesn't feel he has a leg up on the competition.
"I'm trying to win a spot just like anybody," said McKenzie, who finished the '09 regular season with 18 defensive tackles, two special-teams tackles and two pass knockdowns. "They could cut me tomorrow. You never know — and this game is really funny.

"I'm just going to give my best. If it isn't enough, then they've got to replace me. If it is, then I'll be starting."

"He's terrific," noted defensive backs coach Nelson Martin. "When he got in last year, he made plays — pass breakups, recovering fumbles. He's got a nose for the football, he's a very intelligent guy, he's aggressive and he's working well with Omarr in the boundary."

Morgan concurred, saying working with McKenzie has been "kind of easy — so far." While that may have been a dig at McKenzie, who was standing within earshot, Morgan admitted there are some adjustments he'll have to make.

"Eddie was like a coach on the field; he saw things before they developed," Morgan said. "Chris does some of the same things, but he doesn't have the experience. Sometimes he'll say something to me and I'm like, 'What the hell are you talking about, Chris? You don't know yet. You might think you know, but you don't know yet.'

"Really, he's doing pretty good right now."

He's also doing well with the notion of taking over from a player whom McKenzie described as "definitely a Hall of Famer in my books." It may be daunting, but McKenzie isn't feeling that way.

"I'm either going to do the job or I'm not; there isn't any pressure," he said. "I'm here to play football, to do what I know to do, do what I love to do, so pressure for what? So I can mess up? No."

"That's the right approach," Martin added. "You're not going to replace Eddie Davis. You're not going to come in in your second year in the league and replace a guy who played 15 years.
"We'll line up another person at that position, but it's not going to be Eddie Davis. He was a defensive leader, a team leader, on and off the field. It would be foolish for (McKenzie) as a young man to think he's going to step in and replace that. He's going to go out and be the best boundary halfback we have — and that's the right way to go."

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