Settle in, Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans, for a quick review story about luck and opportunity, resilience and dedication.

It was almost a year ago, back with the first instalment of our annual Positional Preview series and a look at The Specialists — the kickers, returners and foot soldiers on the cover teams — when we lamented the loss of returner Janarion Grant in free agency, but praised the addition of Peyton Logan, who came over from the Calgary Stampeders as his potential replacement.

And given Grant’s place as arguably the greatest returner in Blue Bombers history, the signing of Logan was declared as one of the most important additions of the offseason.

Well, in hindsight it’s funny how all that worked out, isn’t it?

Not surprisingly, Grant remained an effective returner in Toronto, finishing second in kickoff return yards and third in punts. Yet, the man who replaced him in Winnipeg wasn’t in fact Logan, but a virtual unknown when training camp started.

And it’s here where Trey Vaval’s tale about opportunity and perseverance started to become such a compelling component of the 2025 Blue Bombers season.

It also now serves as the perfect launching point to the 10th annual edition of our Positional Preview series.

It was just four days into training camp last May when Logan was felled with a leg injury and with seven kick return candidates then emerging in Myron Mitchell, Dillon Mitchell, Kody Case, Gavin Cobb, Keilahn Harris and David Wallis — all receivers — and Vaval, who was also impressing early as a cornerback. And with Logan sidelined through the preseason, it was ultimately Vaval who stepped forward, fought through some struggles early and then enjoyed a breakout game against Toronto in early August which launched him into regular highlight-of-the-night appearances across the land.

By the end of the season he had led the league with four kick return touchdowns — two via kickoff returns, one on a punt and a fourth on a missed field goal — while also finishing first in punt return yardage and missed field goal return yardage and fifth in kickoff return yardage.

He was rewarded with the hardware at the end of the season, too, as he was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player and Most Outstanding Rookie.

Ultimately, it was the work of Vaval, coupled with the uber-consistent kicking of Sergio Castillo and Jamieson Sheahan and the kick cover units which made Mike Miller’s special teams crew so dynamic in 2025 and vastly improved from the 2024 season.

Consider that in 2024 Winnipeg finished last in the league in big-play kick returns — 30-plus yards on a punt or missed field-goal return; 40 yards or more on a kickoff return — with just three, but a year ago that total had jumped to 11 and tied with Toronto and Hamilton for the second most in the CFL to Edmonton’s 13.

As well, Sheahan’s 38.4 net punting average — punt distance minus return — was tied for second, Castillo was second in average kickoff distance at 67.2 yards and remained a threat from distance with the longest average field goal attempt length at 37.5 yards while hitting on six-of-11 attempts from 50-plus yards.

More math: the Blue Bombers finished third in opponent punt return average (9.9 yards) and kickoff return average (21.2) thanks to the stellar work of Michael Ayers (third in the CFL in special teams tackles with 23), rookie Jaylen Smith (tied for fourth in the league with 22) and along with Tanner Cadwallader (14) and another rookie in Connor Shay (10) who both also hit double-digits in downfield tackles on specials, the kick-cover units were solid.

Add that all up as the CFL did for overall special teams ranking — and factoring in big-play returns and penalties — and Winnipeg’s unit was first in the land.

All this leads us into 2026 with rookies on the field in 20 days and main camp opening five days later. There is much less uncertainty with the special-teams crew heading into 2026 with Vaval back after having had six looks from National Football League teams over the winter, with Castillo and Sheahan returning along with long-snapper Ian Leroux and with the kick cover units virtually still intact.

Essentially, the changes and injuries early last season meant the year opened with the special teams crew just needing to tread water until new faces settled into new places. And because they ended the campaign as a force, their bar is now significantly higher in 2026.

THE SPECIALISTS

Special teams coordinator: Mike Miller
The returnees:
Placekicker: Sergio Castillo
Punter: Jamieson Sheahan
Long-snapper: Ian Leroux
Returner: Trey Vaval

Keep an eye on:

KR/CB Trey Vaval, #23

Ok, so after all of the above let’s all agree that Vaval is a dangerous returner, capable of busting just about any punt, kickoff or missed field goal return. But he also flashed in his four starts at cornerback, and this leads to an important pre-camp discussion/question — the Blue Bombers two starting corners from last year’s Eastern Semi-final loss to Montreal are gone in Demerio Houston and Jamal Parker, Jr.

The club added veteran Jonathan Moxey in free agency — he has 82 games to his name with Hamilton and Calgary — but how much of a look will Vaval get at the other cornerback spot, knowing how valuable he is on special teams?

Did you know?

The Blue Bombers had 24 penalties on special teams last year, third fewest in the CFL behind Hamilton (22) and Edmonton (23). The club had been the league’s least-penalized team on special teams in the four previous years — 21 in 2024 and 2023, 19 in 2021 (in 14 games) and 30 in 2019. Overall, Winnipeg was again the CFL’s least penalized team.

Notable Number: 11

Winnipeg’s 11 big-play kick returns last year matched their total in 2023 (8) and 2024 (3) combined. Also worth noting is the importance of Vaval’s four kick return scores — three of them came in games in which Zach Collaros was out due to injury and in which the overall passing totals for a struggling offence were less than 175 yards. His first two return scores came in a win over Toronto in which Chris Streveler threw for 173 yards, while a third came in the goofy win in Ottawa in September in which the offence finished with just 54 passing yards.