Courtesy Edmonton Journal:

When it comes to Canadian playmakers on offence, the Edmonton Eskimos training camp roster is lousy with them, for a change.

Which makes for a pleasant puzzle for head coach Danny Maciocia to sort out between now and the CFL opener on June 28, and the kind of healthy competition any coach looks for at training camp.

Two pieces of the puzzle are rookie receivers Kevin Challenger, fresh from a five-year NCAA career with Boston College, and Dante Luciano, a converted quarterback the Eskimos drafted this spring out of Sir Wilfrid Laurier University.

“They’re both very talented,” Maciocia said after practice on Tuesday. “Challenger has had an outstanding collegiate career at Boston College.

“He’s undersized. He doesn’t wow you with his size, he doesn’t wow you with his speed, but he gets it done.

“You watch him and you say, ‘He catches the ball, he knows where he’s going, he understands the concepts, he’s just a solid player.’

“As for Luciano, he is extremely athletic,” said Maciocia, who coached Luciano as a QB with Team Canada at the NFL global junior championship. “He just runs good routes, he’s got great hands.

“He’s not a kid that’s going to test well at (the scouting combine). His numbers won’t wow you. But then you watch him play and he’s getting it done.”

They are getting it done on a roster that includes Canadian receivers Kamau Peterson, who’s coming off a 1,000-yard season with the Eskimos, Raymond’s Brock Ralph, who was the leading receiver with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last season (50 catches, 721 yards), and versatile veteran Andrew Nowacki, who had his best-ever CFL season in 2007 (47 catches, 465 yards).

So Challenger, a five-foot-eight, 180-pounder, and Luciani, who checks in at six-feet and 200 pounds, harbour no illusions about where they fit in the pecking order.

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