Derek Yachison will dress for the B.C. Lions when they host the Edmonton Eskimos tomorrow night in pre-season CFL action in Vancouver. Allen Douglas/KTW
Derek Yachison of the Kamloops Broncos is one play away from realizing his CFL dream.
With B.C. Lions training camp wrapping up today (June 17) at Hillside Stadium, KTW learned Yachison will dress for Friday night’s exhibition game against the Edmonton Eskimos at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
“I’ve been getting reps with the team, so maybe in the fourth quarter I’ll get a look and maybe on special teams, too,” said Yachison, a six-foot-one, 205-pound receiver from Winnipeg.
“It’ll be awesome. It’s something you work for your whole life.”
Yachison, who lasted more than a week at training camp last year, managed to avoid the axe completely in 2015, a feat in itself for any B.C. Football Conference invitee.
“It means I made it through a full CFL camp,” said Yachison, referred to as Young Kamloops by his Lions teammates.
“I’m healthy. My reps stayed good. Everything went well.”
Khari Jones was the Lions’ offensive co-ordinator last season and became familiar with Yachison at training camp last June.
“We don’t treat him as a junior player. We treat him as a player and he’s out here trying to make the team and we know that,” said Jones, now the Lions’ receivers coach, with George Cortez having taken over as offensive co-ordinator.
“There’s no limitation put on him at all. If we deem that he’s one of the guys that should be on the team, he will be. If not, he’ll play junior again and I’m sure he’ll be invited back next year.
“Heck, he could be playing for us this season.”
The undersized pass-catcher spent much of the 2014 campaign playing with the Broncos on weekends and travelling to Surrey to practise with the Lions during the week.
He is expected to do the same in 2015, but the hard work Yachison put in over the last year was not lost on the Leos’ staff — and his stock is rising.
“He was really on the rawer side last year, but to have the opportunity to be at camp with us and to practise with us during the regular season was really helpful to him,” Jones said.
“Who knows what the future holds for him, but he has a chance and that’s what you want.”
Yachison does not have blazing speed, his vertical leap is not spectacular and he is short by receiver standards — three facts that will make it tough for him to bridge the gap between junior football and the professional ranks.
“Athletically, he’s good, but he’s not great, so you have to be great at everything else,” Jones said. “There have been a lot of guys who’ve been good athletically that have played really great careers in this league, but you have to hone all your other skills.
“He’s getting there. He really is. He works on his craft and he’s young.”
The 22-year-old Yachison finds inspiration in players such as Rob Bagg, the Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver from Kingston.
“He’s about my size. I watch a lot of film on him,” Yachison said of Bagg, now entering his eighth year with the Riders.
“You’ve just got to work at it and get good at everything and do the best you can with what you’ve got.”
Should he take to the field Friday night, Yachison will become the first Bronco to see CFL action.
“I’m very excited for the chance,” he said.
“It would be a dream come true.”
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