Thursday, July 20, 2017

JSU's Robert Porter earns first CFL start

VANCOUVER, B.C., Canada – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will enter Friday’s road game against the B.C. Lions without one of their key leaders on defence.

When the team released its roster and depth chart for the Week 5 matchup at BC Place, missing on it was strong-side linebacker Maurice Leggett. With Leggett out, Robert Porter will earn his first CFL start.

Porter, 24, played two seasons at Jackson State, where he earned All-SWAC honours in 2015, lining up at both corner and nickel. That year he finished with 38 tackles and one interception. He also broke up 12 passes.


Porter, who stands 5-10 and weighs 190 pounds, went undrafted to the NFL in 2016, but later signed a free-agent deal with the Chicago Bears. After his release from the Bears, the Bombers signed the Detroit, Mich. native to a contract in January. He was assigned to the practice roster at the start of the 2017 CFL season.

With the absence of Leggett, the Bombers are without two of their original starting linebackers. Weakside linebacker Ian Wild was injured during a 29-10 loss to the Calgary Stampeders in Week 3 and has been ruled out for at least six weeks. Kyle Knox, who lost out the middle linebacker job to Sam Hurl, has been playing in relief of Wild.

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