Bert Faibish
Ticats.ca
In just one season, Deandra’ Cobb has gone from being Donnie to Mark Wahlberg. No longer the new kid on the block, he’s quickly becoming a star in the CFL.
“Going into this year it will be about consistency and being able to do it two years in a row, which I think he’s more than capable of doing,” said Head Coach Marcel Bellefeuille.
The ‘it’ he’s referring to is the 1,759 yards from scrimmage he racked up while blowing by defenders in what wasn’t even a full season of football.
“Deandra’ has run away from some people in the league as a rookie,” said GM Bob O’Billovich. “I don’t think people realize just how fast he really is.”
Now that opposing defences have become accustomed to seeing the back of Deandra’s jersey, he’s turned his attention to training his body to improve on the success he found last season.
“Last year I was just praying and wishing that I would find a team but this year I was able to relax about that and focus on improving some key points to my game,” said Cobb. “I want to finish runs stronger, that’s why I put on a little more weight, so it will be a little tougher to get me down,” he said.
Deandra’ has come into this season with the goal of trying to make every touch count, and in the pass-happy CFL, it’s even more important.
“That’s what I want to improve on is my yards per carry,” said Cobb. “I’m the kind of player that says ‘show me a seam’ and I’ll probably take it the distance on you.”
As impressive as his rookie campaign was, the Ticats expect even bigger things from Cobb heading into his second season with the team.
“Usually guys that come in and make our team as a rookie, you see a big jump in their play and in their overall awareness when they come back for their second year,” said O’Billovich. “He’s done really well so far and he’s just going to get better.”
One of the biggest problems for players is eliminating the need to think too much before or during a play and when getting used to the Canadian game, import players are slightly behind the curve. As good as Deandra’ has been, more experience in the CFL will only make him better.
“The more comfortable he gets, the more he’ll be able to just go out there and let his considerable ability take hold,” said Offensive Coordinator and Running Backs Coach, Mike Gibson.
The arrival of Cobb has come hand-in-hand with the Ticats success last season and he plans to keep giving the fans what they want.
“It feels great to bring that winning atmosphere back to Hamilton and we plan to keep doing it, and doing it a lot this year.”
