In his first public comments after arriving in Saskatchewan, defensive back Malcolm Bell made his intentions for the season crystal clear.
“I’m coming to take somebody’s starting job,” the Roughriders’ 2026 first-round draft pick told reporters during the first week of training camp at Saskatoon’s Griffiths Stadium.
So the kid’s got some swagger, eh?
“I’m not here for bodies,” he continued. “I’m here to be an impact player so that’s going to be the goal trying to be an impact player. It doesn’t matter if it’s Week 1, Week 4, eventually I’m going to be a starter.”
Bell, who backed up the since-released Garnet Hollis Jr. at boundary-side cornerback in the Riders’ first preseason game against the Calgary Stampeders, might seem hard-pressed to do that with Saskatchewan returning four of five starters in the secondary from the club’s winning roster in the 2025 Grey Cup.
But third-year halfback DaMarcus Fields says the entire defensive backfield should welcome the challenge as motivation to improve their games even further.
“It’s just competition. It just comes with part of the game. You embrace it, you don’t run from it,” he said after a recent practice. “We help each other out and we compete and whoever wins at the end, you respect it.”
That respect for Bell started early with Fields, who recounted his first impressions of the 22-year-old Montrealer.
“Very tall, very long, very lanky, very smart as well,” said Fields, speaking from the perspective of a guy with 106 defensive tackles, a quarterback sack, three interceptions and a forced fumble over 36 games through his own first two CFL seasons.
“Just knowing him when he first got into town, he came and visited all of us so that’s pretty big for us. And I feel like competition-wise he’s going to get in there and he’s going to make an immediate impact. I think there are many things he can do and he can be versatile.”
And whatever advice Fields can offer along the way, he’s happy to help – though to be fair, Bell looked pretty comfortable on the two balls that were thrown in his direction during the Riders’ preseason opener.
“My role is I feel like to to be a leader and just lead by example and play my heart out. Just bring as many guys as I can along with us so they can see our culture and how we play and try to head back to the same spot we was,” he said.
