Greg Van Roten has an Ivy League background, been exposed to football’s highest level with stops in Green Bay and Seattle and he now finds himself as the centre of attention in a foreign country playing a foreign game.

But if there’s anyone who can make the transition from four-down football to the CFL game it might be Van Roten, a CFL rookie who makes his debut as Toronto’s starting centre in Saturday’s season opener against Edmonton.

An injury to veteran Jeff Keeping, believed to be a calf setback, means Van Roten lines up as the Argos’ de facto quarterback along the line of scrimmage, asked to make the right checks and reads against the mad football scientist better known as Eskimos head coach Chris Jones.

Had Keeping been healthy, Van Roten would have likely started at right guard.

The Argos have been rotating Matt Sewell and Scott Mitchell at guard.

“He’s had a really good camp,’’ said head coach Scott Milanovich of Van Roten. “Talented, quick, strong, smart, can play a number of different positions. He’s been a really good addition to our offensive line.”

The offensive line, which often sets the tone for a football team, pretty much embodies what the Argos are this season and could be given the potential and talent.

There’s some known, high-end pieces in Chris Van Zeyl and Tyler Holmes.

There’s talented pieces with no CFL experience in Bruce Campbell and Van Roten, injured pieces such as Keeping and Jarriel King and decent depth.

All across the Argos roster one sees talent, inexperience mixed in with CFL experience, helping form this one big puzzle no one is quite sure how it will work and operate.

“Some guys are just book smart,’’ added Milanovich of Van Roten, who attended Penn. “But he carries it to the field. There’s a lot of football intelligence and we look for that, guys who understand the game and he seems to be one of those guys.”

Milanovich knows his good friend and former defensive co-ordinator Jones is trying to concoct, likely trying to take advantage of Toronto’s inexperience on offence.

It’s why Milanovich and Van Roten have been spending time in meetings reviewing all the many schemes and packages Jones will dial up.

“That’s a huge emphasis,’’ said Milanovich. “Protection, all the different looks you might get and you understand what you are likely to see and some you’ve never seen before. We’ll stick to our rules.”

Van Roten grew up in Long Island and is a huge fan of the Islanders, even though the hockey team is moving to Brooklyn.

“It’s different,’’ Van Roten said of the CFL game.

“There a lot of nuances you have to learn. Adjusting to the defensive line being a yard off the ball and obviously the extra defender.

“It took a while to seeing all these moving parts, but the more reps you get the easier it gets.

“It’s been good having a bunch of vets around me who have played before to get more comfortable.”

Van Roten came out of college as a left tackle, but was moved to guard by the Packers, where he would spend two seasons.

Shortly into his rookie year, the Pack moved Van Roten to centre, but he’d also move outside to right tackle in a pinch.

The Aaron Rodgers-led Pack run the West Coast offence, a system the Argos use with tweaks to accommodate the CFL game.

“It’s definitely a different verbiage, scheme is somewhat similar to a West Coast offence,’’ added Van Roten.

“It’s a different language everywhere you go. What’s required is to get comfortable with the words and verbiage.

“It’s good to learn Green Bay’s offence because it is among the most complicated offences in the NFL. Coming here, there’s a lot of carry-over and it’s been helpful to have that football experience as opposed to coming out of a university program and straight into this.”

CFL rookie, NFL rookie, for Van Roten, the excitement level continues to build as he prepared for his regular-season debut in Fort McMurray, Alta., an area he’s never heard of, let alone been there.

“On the road in northern Alberta, it’ll be fun,’’ said Van Roten, who is of Belgium descent.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

BLACK KNOWS HE HAS TO LEAD THE WAY

Matt Black is back and he’s hoping to give back to the Argonauts as one of the few experienced veterans on a team that is very athletic but inexperienced.

He’s entering his seventh season, Black’s career coming full circle when he reflects on a time when the likes of Jordan Younger, his current defensive backs coach, Mike O’Shea and Orlondo Steinauer were imparting words of football wisdom.

Black is at that stage where he can still play at a high level, but he knows his leadership and experience are what’s needed.

“I’m really excited,’’ said Black, who was forced to re-evaluate his off-season routine and training following arm surgery. “We’ve got veteran leaders in all the right areas starting with our coaching staff where coach (Scott) Milanovich is a great leader,’’ said Black, who would list several veteran players he feels will fill that leadership role.

“The one guy I really see step up this year is Trevor (Harris). It’s going to be a good year for us and I’m excited.”

In Toronto’s pre-season opener, Milanovich named Black as special-teams captain.

In last year’s regular-season opener in Winnipeg, Black was the Argos’ starting free safety, but he hurt his arm.

The arm would get injured in Week 15, forcing Black to undergo surgery in October.

“It’s crazy to look at yourself now,’’ said the classy Black, a family man whose little girl is celebrating a birthday this Sunday. “I’m looking in the (locker) room and there’s Jordan Younger, Willie Pile, Lin-J (Shell), Evan McCollough, (Byron) Parker, Kevin Eiben and seeing what it took to be a real pro, learning, and understanding what it took to be successful at this level and to have longevity.

“It’s weird now because it almost feels like everything has come full circle ... What excites me the most about this year is our guys have an appetite for learning.”