Sometimes, the little things do make a difference.

When the Ottawa RedBlacks were trying to persuade 6-foot-4, 319-lb., offensive lineman SirVincent Rogers to play for them back in February, they turned to a couple of recruiters who the former Toronto Argonaut knew pretty well. It worked. They landed the guy who will play left tackle in Ottawa, protecting QB Henry Burris' blind side.

It was words from Bryan Chiu, his offensive line coach in Toronto last year, along with the former Argos' receivers coach Jason Maas, who was hired as the RedBlacks' new offensive co-ordinator, that made up Rogers' mind.

"Maas, he's a real competitive guy and he locks in with his group, he doesn't really talk to too many other guys," said Rogers. "We're going out to practice one day mid-season (last year), I made it my business to go over to him and say, 'Hey, hey, how you doing today, Maas?' From that day forward, he would come to me and go, 'Hey, how you doing, how you doing today.' So for him and Chiu to call me and say, 'Hey, how you doing today, SirV?' For me, it was, 'That's where I belong. That's where I need to be in free agency. If I'm going to make a move, I'm going to make a move to familiarity.' When I spoke to them, I thought this was pretty well a done deal. I thought this would be the place I'd land."

Having Chiu as his coach again provides a strong comfort zone.

"I was fortunate enough to play for Chiu last year," said Rogers. "He's a good O-line coach. He has a way of getting guys going. He has a way of pushing a guy's buttons, not in a bad way. Being not far removed from being a player, he can get a guy going. I think I'll become a better player, hopefully. That's the plan, man, get better here."

With a three-day mini camp under his belt, Rogers hopes there are bright days ahead.

"I've been adapting to the new surroundings, interacting with the guys, trying to build that camaraderie. It's been cool, everybody's embraced me," he said. "The minute you get on a team, if you don't know a guy personally, you know somebody who played with him in college. You're maybe one, maybe two or three people removed from knowing each guy. If you don't know him, you know somebody who knows him. The good thing about football is you bring so many personalities together from so many different walks of life and you get together for one cause and that cause is to win; hopefully we can get it done."

Being part of the team's free-agent splurge, which also saw Ottawa land receivers Chris Williams, Greg Ellingson, Brad Sinopoli and Ernest Jackson and also add Maurice Price in a trade, is exciting.

"You see all the additions," said Rogers. "Every name is a big name. From an O-lineman's standpoint, those are the guys who are going to run around and score all the touchdowns and we have a chance to be pretty good. For me to be sought after, it was humbling. With that comes great expectation and you have to live up to the hype. I knew the responsibility was there to come in here and work."

If the offensive linemen can keep Burris on his feet, maybe the quarterback will get off his wallet and buy the big guys a nice dinner.

"I told Henry on Day 1 that I'm going to fight for him, I'm going to go to war for him on that side," said Rogers. "We're going to try and lock everything down and give him some time."

THE CUTTING EDGE

It was at least a bit surprising to see the RedBlacks cut running backs Roy Finch (who spent part of last season here) and newcomers LaVance Taylor and Shawn Johnson on Wednesday, a few hours in advance of the May 1 cutdown date where teams had to be down to 75 roster players. It leaves Ottawa with Chevon Walker, Jeremiah Johnson, Akeem Shavers and Alvester Alexander at running back. The RedBlacks also are down to four QBs, cutting Alex Carder and Jordan Johnson, while keeping Burris, Thomas DeMarco, Danny O'Brien and Jordan Johnson. "The number (of quarterbacks) we're comfortable (going into training camp) with is four," said RedBlacks GM Marcel Desjardins, who added releasing players is "the bad side of the business." Charles Clay, one of the 12 players cut, was in camp as a defensive back after being listed as a linebacker on the depth chart last season.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

CB Abdul Kanneh has grown quite fond of Ottawa. "I love this place," he said. "Ottawa isn't going to grow old on me ever. I like the area, I like the people, the team, the coaches, the organization. It's a great place to play. People who come here feel the energy, they see that the arrow is going up as coach Rick (Campbell) would say. He's excited about the team's additions on the offensive side of the ball. "It adds to the excitement level that they brought in people they have confidence in to make big plays," he said.

DRAFT PEEK

Here's a look at the latest rankings (released Friday) by the CFL Scouting Bureau. Two of the players -- Alex Mateas (Ottawa) and Danny Groulx (Gatineau) -- have local connections.

1. Christian Covington, DL, Rice

2. Brett Boyko, OL, UNLV

3. Alex Mateas, OL, UConn

4. Tyler Varga, RB, Yale

5. Danny Groulx, OL, Laval

6. Sukh Chung, OL, Calgary

7. Daryl Waud, DL, Western

8. Lemar Durant, WR, Simon Fraser

9. Nic Demski, SB, Manitoba

10. Sean McEwen, OL, Calgary

THE FOCUS

RB Shaquille Murray-Lawrence

UNLV (ranked 16th)

Blazed to a 4.412 time in the 40 at the CFL Combine. At 5-foot-8, 200 lbs., he carried the ball 117 times for 552 yards as a senior with the Rebels. Averaged 8.9 yards per carry in 2013.

CFL CALENDAR

May 5-9: East-West Game at McGill in Montreal

May 12: CFL draft

May 27: Rookie camp

May 31: Main training camp

June 8: RedBlacks at Ticats

June 13: Als vs. RedBlacks (at Laval)

June 25: RedBlacks at Als (first regular-season game)

July 4: Lions at RedBlacks (first home game)

Twitter: @timcbaines