Fraser Caldwell
Ticats.ca
Cortez on Mallett: an all-around rusher
With the Ticats enjoying their third day of training camp, Head Coach and Director of Football Operations George Cortez spoke to the strengths possessed by the team’s marquee addition to the backfield, Martell Mallett. The Black and Gold’s bench boss indicated that Mallett continues to demonstrate the balanced abilities that led to his being named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie as a member of the BC Lions in 2009.
“He’s a good running back,” said Cortez simply. “If you were around in 2009 when he was named Most Outstanding Rookie, you know that he ran with power, he made people miss, he was a good receiver and a good blocker and protector. He does all of the things that you would want a running back to do.”
Cortez points out that while such talents are easily taken for granted in such a case as Mallett’s, many running backs are not similarly gifted with well-rounded skill sets.
“Some guys are not multi-dimensional,” said Cortez. “Some guys are better runners and you don’t really ask them to catch passes. They might be on the field when you’re passing the ball but you hope that it doesn’t go to them. There have been guys that I’ve been around in the league that would end up with 35-40 catches, and every time it goes to them you hold your breath because they’re not smooth catchers of the ball. I don’t see that with our running backs.”
Cortez on Bartel: upside evident, learning continues
The Ticats made waves when the team invited Australian punter Josh Bartel to work out in April. The former Australian rules footballer officially signed with the Black and Gold on May 28th and has been a fixture in the minds of fans and local media members since.
On Tuesday, Cortez addressed his wild card kicker’s development, indicating that while Bartel continues to face a steep challenge as he works to acclimate to an entirely new sport, the Aussie’s raw kicking talent has surely been evident thus far.
“I can only go on what I see out there, and when he hits the ball he gets it up there and out there,” said the Ticats’ coach of Bartel’s sheer leg strength.
“Without a doubt, it is an entirely new deal for him. When we asked him if he’d ever had football pants on before he said, “no mate.” Every now and then you can actually understand him, so he’s getting somewhat better (laughs). He’s maybe not had a great level of consistency, but there’s no way that you could expect him to. He has a very live leg though.”
Focus on preparation, not fine tuning
Cortez makes very clear that at this early stage in the Ticats’ 2012 campaign, the priority of he and his coaching staff is to build the basic foundations to allow the team’s many hopefuls to demonstrate their skills properly. Asked whether there was much movement to be had within the organization’s depth chart, the coach indicated that it was much too early to consider such reshuffling.
“The chart doesn’t change much,” said Cortez. “We might move a guy here or there, but right now we’re just trying to get guys reps so that when we play in the preseason they know enough to show us what they can do in a game. We don’t always have the same guys in a group. If a guy runs 60 yards on a go route, we’re not going to wait for him to jog back. We’ve got lots of receivers, so there’s no reason to wait.”
Cortez on Burris: “I know what he does best”
It is well documented at this stage that Cortez and the Ticats new quarterback Henry Burris have worked together in the past. Such shared experience breeds familiarity on the part of both men, and that comfort was on display on Tuesday, as the veteran pivot seamlessly transitioned to a no-huddle offence during the Ticats’ morning workout.
Approached on the topic in the wake of practice, Cortez explained that Burris’ experience within his offensive system is a valuable asset, and one that has served to accelerate the pace of the Black and Gold’s learning process.
“First and foremost, he knows what we do,” said Cortez. “I very much doubt that we could have gone no-huddle so smoothly without a guy who had done it before, and it also teaches the other guys how to do it, because they can ask him why he does things a certain way. I know for example that he changed a route for a completion today. That’s because he understands what we’re trying to do, and there’s definitely an advantage to that.”
Cortez indicated that the benefits of his level of understanding with Burris go both ways, as his experience with the pivot has lent the Ticats’ coach a well-formed idea of how to best utilize his star.
“We change the names of everything but he knows what the plays are, even though he might not know the different names for them,” said Cortez. “But I also feel like I have a fair understanding of what he does best. It’s always good to know what your guys do best, and you don’t ask them to do things that they don’t do well.
“That applies to all positions and both sides of the ball. We have to figure out what Chris Williams does best, or what Jamall Johnson does best. We have to put the players in position to make plays.”
Cortez on Fantuz: trying him in many different places
Another marquee addition to the Ticats’ squad this season, receiver Andy Fantuz was a hot topic of discussion in the aftermath of the team’s Tuesday morning workout. With regards to his multi-talented wide out, Cortez stated that he intended to test Fantuz’ ability at several different slots within the offensive set. The hope is that the former Roughrider’s versatility can cause headaches for defences as they scramble to adjust to his many possible deployments.
“Andy has proven to be a very good receiver,” said the Ticats’ coach. “I watched the tape of every ball thrown at him in his last year in Saskatchewan, and he does a very good job of adjusting to coverages. One of the things about training camp is that we move guys around a lot. Andy today played a lot in the middle slot because of the formation and a lot of the motion. He’s ended up being a wide receiver at some points.
“Part of what we’re doing is trying to figure out what happens when we put a guy in one spot. What does he do the best? Are people going to play him differently because of how he aligns? If we move him somewhere different is it going to screw the defence up because they expect him somewhere else 90 per cent of the time? That’s part of what training camp is.”
