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After winning the Grey Cup last season with a veteran laden team, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were left filling many holes this offseason with a number of players either retiring or moving onto other teams.

One of of the biggest holes to fill was in the middle of the defence at middle linebacker after both Rey Williams and Mike McCullough called it a career.  There's been a battle in the middle during training camp and it appears as though Chad Kilgore is the front runner to win the starting job.

Kilgore is an intriguing player for the Riders as he was expected to be on the team heading into last season after originally signing with the Riders in December of 2012.

A contract offer from the Kansas City Chiefs – his hometown team – came afterwards and led to a change in plans.  The Riders released Kilgore from his contract and allowed him to pursue his NFL dreams before he made his return to Saskatchewan in February of this year.

Kilgore, 24, said he's now happy to be in Saskatchewan and show what he can do in the CFL game.

“If something would happen to where I'm in this contract and they want me to come back down south, I'm not doing it,” said Kilgore.  “This is what I want to pursue and this what I'm focused on right now.”

Coming up from the United States, Kilgore has been quick to pick up on the Canadian game and he feels his style of play fits in well with the big field.

“You've got to be able to run sideline to sideline for sure, you've got to get to those outside runs, quick passes, so you've got to be fast,” he said.  “I feel like I can bring some speed to that inside backer position and hopefully I can make some plays.”

The Riders' coaching staff seems happy with what they've seen out of Kilgore so far through training camp and the first preseason game.  He started against the Ottawa RedBlacks and has been working with the first team defence.

“Chad is a fast player and a natural linebacker, he has good feet, good hands and good instincts,” said head coach Corey Chamblin.  “He's doing a good job up to this point.”

The six-foot-one 230lbs linebacker made one defensive tackle and a special teams tackle during the Riders' 21-17 win over the RedBlacks last Saturday.  He said his first game experience in the CFL was pretty eye opening.

“Essentially its the same game, but the little nuances and the bigger field make it a little different.  I kind of got the kinks out of the system there and I feel good coming into the second game,” said Kilgore.  “I've got a few things to clean up here and there as far as defensive calls, but I feel it went pretty good for the first game.”

As he attempts to learn the CFL game, Kilgore has an invaluable tool at his disposal, which is Rey Williams, who's now serving as director of player development with the Riders.  During Tuesday's practice, Kilgore could be seen numerous times standing beside Williams.

“I'm very thankful that he's out there because he played last year and now I'm able to get coaching from him,” said Kilgore.  “He knows the defence and he knows exactly what I should be doing on every play.”

Kilgore is hoping it all pays off heading into the preseason finale on Friday against the Edmonton Eskimos.  The Riders have practice on Wednesday and then have a walkthrough on Thursday before the game on Friday.