By Duane Forde,
CFL.ca
When it comes to building a Canadian Football League team, conventional wisdom suggests that establishing a solid base of non-import talent is one of the most crucial steps a club must take. In fact, along with depth at quarterback, quality Canadian content is likely the most important factor in determining CFL success. This is a reality that is often overlooked by the casual fan because traditionally the positions that handle the ball the most – quarterback and running back – have been the exclusive domain of American players. Regardless, those in the know recognize that there are a number of reasons why a club can never have too many good Canadians.
In 2006, each team will dress 42 players for games as proposed in the league’s new salary and roster management system. Of that number, three are quarterbacks (whose nationality doesn’t matter), 20 are non-imports, 19 are imports, and three are designated imports (Americans who can only enter the game on special teams or to replace another import on offence or defence). What all these figures mean in a nutshell is that every team must have at least seven Canadian starters. Frankly, it’s advantageous to a team to start more than seven non-imports because of the flexibility offered by using Americans as backups. In any case, one-third of the starting lineup every week is made up of homegrown players thus making it imperative that every club have at least that many Canucks who can go head-to-head with any American on every play. How much of the B.C. Lions’ first place finish can be attributed to the fact that they had 1000-yard receivers Jason Clermont and Ryan Thelwell along with the league’s Most Outstanding Canadian in CFL sack leader Brent Johnson among their non-import starters? Achieving this level of performance from one club’s non-import starters requires a commitment to drafting, developing, and signing Canadians who are worthy of starting roles.
In addition, an 18 game schedule, plus a fast play clock, plus small rosters dictating that many starters also play special teams adds up to injuries that will require backups to be capable of taking on larger roles at various points during the season. With the exception of the QBs and the three DIs – who are typically kick returners and extra defensive backs or receivers – all of the backups are Canadians. Consequently, teams require depth in their homegrown talent in order to avoid significant drop-offs in production and execution when those injuries occur. The Montreal Alouettes’ offence provided a perfect example of this in 2005. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo’s aerial attack didn’t miss a beat despite being without American pass catchers Terry Vaughn and Thyron Anderson and Canadian starters Ben Cahoon and Dave Stala at various times in the season thanks in large part to the presence of Concordia product Sylvain Girard. This former starter who had proven himself with 659 receiving yards in just nine games in ’04 allowed the Als to virtually shrug off injuries that would be crippling to some other teams. For the record, behind Girard on the depth chart was O’Neil Wilson who had started eight games as a rookie in 2004, and promising first year Canucks Sean Diner and Adam Eckert. The Als’ offensive line overcame injuries to Brian Chiu and Paul Lambert because they always had one of proven starter Luke Fritz or former CFL Most Outstanding O-Lineman Dave Mudge available to plug the hole. Also, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that the Alouettes wouldn’t have reached the Grey Cup, let alone forced overtime in the championship game, without the performance of Mount Allison grad Eric Lapointe filling in at running back for the injured Robert Edwards. The Canadian talent pool on offence (specifically Stala’s emergence as a legitimate starter with enough proven Canadian receivers in reserve) enabled general manager Jim Popp to upgrade his non-import depth on defence by trading 2004 Eastern All-Star and 1000-yard import receiver Kwame Cavil to Edmonton for D-lineman Clinton Wayne.
Furthermore, three-down football means that approximately one-third of the plays in any given game involve special teams. In other words, it is not uncommon to have a game where the kicking teams participate in as many or more plays than their club’s starting offence or defence. The majority of the athletes doing the special teams dirty work are once again the non-import backups. The importance of the field position gained or lost on those kicking plays in Canadian football dictates that the homegrown players on the roster be outstanding athletes and very capable football players rather than just inexpensive bodies filling uniforms. In Saskatchewan, punter Paul McCallum didn’t have his best year distance-wise but the punt cover unit was able to minimize the damage in terms of field position. Due to the contributions of Canadians like Walter Spencer, Dustin Cherniawski, and Mike McCullough, three players who combined for only two starts but 63 special teams tackles in ’05, the Green Riders were the only team in the CFL to hold opponents to under six yards per return. The same trio also played huge roles as blockers for Corey Holmes and his gaudy 15.2 yard average on punt returns. With teams typically punting about six times per game, Saskatchewan’s punt cover and punt return units theoretically gave the Roughriders an average advantage of 55-60 yards of field position per game.
Finally, Canadians play the greatest role in providing a club with stability. As they are already in their native country, Canadian players are more likely than their American counterparts to settle in the cities in which they play. Having these roots in the community makes them less likely to sell their services to the highest bidder when free agency beckons and as a result, their teams are able to enjoy a degree of continuity from year to year which is a necessity in building and maintaining a successful program. The increased ticket sales associated with having players who are visible in their respective communities throughout the off-season is an added bonus. Nonetheless, all of this is irrelevant unless these Canadian players are competent enough to warrant their teams keeping them from year to year.
Over the long haul, the most effective and efficient way for a franchise to acquire and develop its non-import depth is through the annual CFL Canadian Draft and with that in mind, in the coming weeks much of this space will be devoted to providing CFL fans with everything they need to know about the Draft, specifically the Class of 2006. This process will begin next week with an overview of how teams go about evaluating the available Canadian talent.
Duane Forde was a CFL fullback for 12 seasons and was a member of the Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders in 1992 and 1998. He co-hosts CFL Snap on The Score.
