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Former Grenadier Corney grateful to Bombers

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BROCKVILLE — Trent Corney feels he’s in the best situation he can possibly be in right now.

The Thousand Islands Secondary School grad watched Tuesday’s CFL Draft at his parents’ Brockville home, huddled in the exercise room located in his basement with some hometown friends and working out. It should be noted, the fitness-and-friends combo is also how he celebrates, so as he was doing back squats and getting picked by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as the first choice in the second round, ninth overall, he was already getting the party started.

Corney, who once played for the Kingston-based Limestone Grenadiers, thought there was a good possibility he would get picked in the first round and was surprised when teams in his home province, particularly the Ottawa RedBlacks, picked other players, but he’s not losing any sleep over the snubbing. For that matter, Winnipeg general manager Kyle Walters has come out and said he didn’t think Corney, a defensive lineman who played at the University of Virginia, would be available to him by the time their first pick came around.

Phone issues caused the 22-year-old Corney to miss the draft call from the Blue Bombers, so he had no idea he was selected until the TV broadcast aired the results.

Corney is pleased with where his pro career may end up starting, describing Winnipeg as “a good situation,” consisting of a legendary coach in Mike O’Shea and a defensive co-ordinator and defensive line coach that he believes will take his game to the next level.

“I think the plan is for me to be in Winnipeg and I think I’m going to do some good things there,” Corney said. “I’m really excited to create my own name in Winnipeg and hopefully the fans are really excited for me to come.”

Corney’s goal has always been, and continues to be, to play in the NFL and by no means has that window closed. He could still end up signing with the New York Jets after attending their rookie camp a couple of weeks ago or he could get invited to another rookie camp this upcoming weekend.

Corney added that he could sign a contract with the Blue Bombers in the next week.

He believes he didn’t get enough time to show what he could do to reach the NFL. He got some chances, but not a lot of opportunities with long looks that could dissect his game and prove his ability as a football player.

His 2015 senior year was his only season as a regular starter in his four years with the Virginia Cavaliers. He showed off his athleticism at his pro day combine in March, but was limited to a series of seven events. He attended the New York Jets rookie camp last weekend and Corney said the NFL team “wasn’t even looking at linebackers.”

If things go according to plan, Corney’s CFL career will be his chance to show off his talents on a weekly basis and that’s what he wants most. The opportunity of playing regularly in the CFL might even be a more attractive one than signing with an NFL club and possibly getting put on their practice squad. Corney points out that he learned more playing in the first three games of his senior year with the Cavaliers than he did practising for the team the three previous seasons before that.

“I feel, in terms of me developing into the player I need to be, actually playing in the CFL and getting reps like that will take my game to the next level and make me into the player I need to be, opposed to just being on an NFL practice squad,” Corney said.

In the CFL, Corney is expecting to stick with the defensive end position he played in college, but believes he has the skill to be slotted as a linebacker and he believes he might get some chances at the spot.

Corney said Blue Bombers coaches told him they would be using a scheme what will work towards his strengths. Ask Corney what those strengths are and he describes himself as a “versatile football player and I feel like I’m a hybrid type of guy. Hybrid would be the key word we would use in this type of player that I’m trying to be like. Hybrid — be able to do multiple things off the edge.”

@jonathonbrodie on Twitter

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