Saskatchewan Roughriders' special teams coordinator Kent Maugeri felt validated after seeing Drae McCray handle returns against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers during the team's first preseason game.
"He's explosive, he's fun to watch, he's exactly who we thought he was going to be," Maugeri told the voice of the Riders, Dave Thomas. "He can score anytime he touches it. He's dangerous, he's fearless. To have a north-south threat like that, all he needs is a little crease and he's going to make you pay."
During his first CFL exhibition game, McCray handled punt and kick returns for the Green and White. He accumulated 110 yards on three kick returns and 46 yards on five punt returns.
"Listening to my coaches, having good teammates. I mean, you can be a great returner, but if nobody's doing their job and blocking, it doesn't really matter," McCray said.
The 22-year-old McCray spent his first two collegiate years at Austin Peay State University from 2021-2022 and earned All-Atlantic Sun honours in 2022 as a receiver. He later transferred to Texas Tech University for the remainder of his collegiate career, where he earned All-Big 12 honourable mentions in 2023 and 2024.
Maugeri was optimistic about his players' efforts during their preseason game against the Bombers.
"I thought they played hard, they played physical, they did what we asked for the most part. It's always a learning experience, especially for the guys down south," Maugeri said.
"The cardio factor is a big difference, there's no hiding and there's no tapping — you got to go. We talked to them about it, but you don't know until you're in it, so some of those guys were struggling mentally, they got to push through. It's fun for me to watch who's got the mental toughness to get through it."
With former Riders punter Adam Korsak on the retired list, Brett Lauther needs a new holder and Maugeri knows chemistry will be important.
"It's repetition, repetition, repetition because it's a big difference depending on the holder, the snapper, all of it," Maugeri said.
"Jorgen [Hus] is elite, so we get the laces pretty much about 95 percent of the time where it needs to be. Then getting it down on the tee, with the correct lean on the right spot, because a one-inch, two-inch variance is a big difference on where that location is going to go. They've got to work together and get tons and tons of reps."