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The Edmonton Eskimos knew they found their next starting outside linebacker in off-season free agency.

They just didn’t realize at the time who exactly it was.

With high-profile pickup Jovan Santos-Knox coming into training camp still nursing a leg injury suffered at the end of last season, rookie Vontae Diggs has taken over the starting role without missing a beat.

“I wanted to compete for it,” said the 23-year-old Connecticut product. “I knew it was going to be hard, Jovan being who Jovan is. He’s a baller, so it would have been hard to do that.

“But now that I have it, I don’t really want to give it up and I tell him that all the time. We’re brothers and he’s happy for me and when he gets back (from the six-game injured list), it’s going to be a thing to see.”

Diggs came into the Canadian Football League with high expectations of himself after getting a bit of a head start on his three-down education.

“Just to learn the game. It’s a little bit different out here with the bigger field and the angles are different, the schemes are different. You’ve got 12 guys on the field, so I just wanted to come in and learn,” he said. “Me and Jovan have the same agent, so he kind of helped me learn even before I got up here, just FaceTiming and going over little things that helped me mentally just to learn the game.

“I started picking it up fast and when everything happened, it was just my time to go.”

Email: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge