When looking at the stats of the top receivers in the Canadian Football League, one player’s name on the Montreal Alouettes keeps cropping up: Tyson Philpot. It makes you wonder if Charleston Rambo isn’t about to join him.
Rambo, a 25-year-old rookie receiver, is enjoying his best moments with the Alouettes. In his last four games, he has accumulated gains of 308 yards, including 124 in the 33-23 victory against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday night at Percival-Molson Stadium, with two touchdowns.
Rambo will likely have another opportunity to shine Friday night when the Alouettes visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders, especially since Philpot, who was injured against the Tiger-Cats on Saturday, will almost certainly be out of the game.
“All I can say is try to be in the right place at the right time. I don’t look too far ahead and I don’t dwell on the past. It’s here, now, and I try to live in the moment. And I’m grateful for my coaches and my quarterback who put me in great positions to make plays.”
After Saturday’s victory, head coach Jason Maas paid tribute to his young receiver.
“He’s been great for us all year, but he’s starting to get in a zone,” Maas said. “He’s starting to get comfortable with the game. I think he gives us the spark we need at times.”
The chorus of praise for Rambo continued Wednesday morning, courtesy of wide receivers coach Michael Lionello.
“He arrived at camp two or three days after everyone else. He got the playbook late when everyone else had had it for months. Did he start late? Maybe a little bit, but he went for it and he worked and worked,” Lionello said.
“He started with the fourth (practice) team, then the third, and as the camp wound down, you could see an incredible athlete learning how to play the game. And once he got the hang of it, it was pretty incredible to watch him play.”
Few Alouettes fans knew about Rambo before the season began, but Lionello had a good idea of the type of player he had on hand when he learned he was at Montreal’s training camp.
“I knew his background. I knew he was at Oklahoma. I saw him play with, I think, (quarterbacks) Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts, and we’re talking about big-time college football. So you know no arena is going to intimidate him,” Lionello said.
“When I heard we got him, I thought, ‘OK, interesting.’ He’s a credible football player who played at a very high level in college football. What can he do here? To see him blossom, it’s incredible.”
When talking about Rambo, Lionello first talks about his speed, before talking about his level of endurance.
“Good hands, the feints, the stamina, the physicality; he’s got all the attributes. There’s no limit to his potential. He’s a talented young man who’s only going to get better. And he’s a wonderful young man, too.”