CFL.ca Staff

WINNIPEG -- Kito Poblah is ready to show the CFL what he can do.  After a slow start in 2011 and then an injury that halted parts of his regular season, the Central Michigan product enters his second year with significant potential and high expectations from both his team and himself.

Expectations were high last season for the Montreal native after Winnipeg forfeited its first round pick in the 2012 CFL Canadian Draft for the rights to select Poblah in the league’s Supplemental Draft.

Now completing his second training camp and learning from his second offensive coordinator, Poblah values the very little experience that he has as he looks to become a legitimate threat in the Blue Bombers receiving corps.

“Well, I have a year under my belt”, Poblah said with a smile. “Coach Crowton has done a great job implementing the scheme and making it easy on the receivers so we are off to a good start.”

Crowton, who replaced Jamie Barresi after he was dismissed following the Bombers’ loss in the Grey Cup has a long coaching history, primarily at the NCAA level, and has made it his mission to get the most out of an offensive unit that many argued wasn’t producing consistently enough last season.

“When I was at Central Michigan, we went through three head coaches so I am used to change”, Poblah told CFL.ca, clearly unfazed by the quick coaches changes this early in his career.

Last season, the 24-year-old pass-catcher made 10 receptions for 99 yards and failing to record a touchdown. 

He knew that this past off-season would be crucial if he looked to not only rebound make an impact in his sophomore season so enlisted the help of some of his teammates and began a training program to help not only himself but local school children to keep in shape.

“I started an off-season training program called Finish First Football where I would work out with some of the kids at the local schools along with some of the players on the team here.

Carl Volny, Henoc Muamba and myself wanted to give some of the kids an opportunity to train alongside football players and the off-season is such an essential part of the year because that is when you get better. You either get better or worse in the off-season.”

After the knee injury and a busy off-season, Poblah is now seen by those around him as a potential star in the making.  With only a handful of professional games to his name, Poblah understands that the aforementioned expectations remain high heading into this season but refuses to let the pressure get to him.

“Pressure only comes when you are not prepared.  When you are prepared, you make everything fall into place”.