Kelowna's Loffler making mark with Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Kelowna’s Taylor Loffler is causing problems for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Drafted by the Bombers in the third round, 19th overall in the 2016 Canadian Football League draft, Loffler has started at safety for the Bombers in their past three games due to an injury to veteran Macho Harris.

With him and fellow rookies Terrence Frederick and C.J. Roberts in the backfield, Winnipeg won all three games and have rebounded to improve their record to 4-4.

In a 34-17 win over the Toronto Argonauts on Aug. 12, Loffler, a Kelowna Secondary School Owls grad and Vanier Cup winner with the University of B.C. last fall, led the team in tackles with nine. A week earlier in a surprising 30-23 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos he finished with four tackles and picked off his first CFL interception (video below).

Despite his lack of experience at the pro level, Loffler, who went on to play at Boise State University after three spectacular seasons with the KSS Owls, is displaying uncanny poise for the Bombers.

In his first CFL start against the Edmonton Eskimos on July 28, the 6-foot-4, 215-pounder “nullified any long plays down the middle of the field, and when balls were thrown in his area underneath, he made a beeline and laid well-timed hits to separate the receiver from the football” noted cfl.ca’s Justin Dunk.

.@taylor_loffler comes down with his 1st INT as the @Wpg_BlueBombers continue to dominate the @Ticats ! #CFLGameDay pic.twitter.com/3IHIZuja4B

— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) August 4, 2016

“If you took the name off the back of the jersey onlookers would’ve thought the national safety was a seasoned veteran,” added Dunk. “Loffler’s emergence gives the Bombers a ratio option, which is always important in the Canadian game.

“The sample size is admittedly small, but nonetheless, Winnipeg allowed a completion rate of 70.5 percent in the first five weeks of the season. That number has dipped to 61.9 percent with Frederick, Roberts and Loffler all starting together in the secondary. And four of Winnipeg’s league-leading nine interceptions have come in the last two games, three from the new Bomber trio.”

So, as Doug Brown of the Winnipeg Free Press notes:

“There will be some awkward conversations and difficult decisions around Investors Group Field over the next few days as the Blue Bombers come off a bye week with several injured starters ready to return to the lineup, beginning Friday (4 p.m. Pacific) in Montreal.

“Does Macho Harris return to safety and interrupt the development of the young Canadian upstart Taylor Loffler?”

“It is always advisable to "dance with the one that brung you," and if a bunch of replacement starters got the Bombers on a three-game winning streak, the brain trust may want to think carefully about fixing what ain't broken.”