John Sokolowski
He’s big, he’s talented and he’s young. And he’s picking up the tricks of the CFL trade very well.
On Friday, Armond Armstead turned 22 years old. It was likely a happy celebration, as most birthdays are, but perhaps this one had a little more joy to it, as the rookie defensive lineman could also be celebrating a jack rabbit start to his pro football career.
With 10 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery in five games, Armstead is living up to the promise that he showed during training camp. The promise that had so many predicting very good things for the product of the University of Southern California.
There’s more good news, according to head coach Scott Milanovich. As good as Armstead’s first five games have been, there should be more to come.
“We expect him to continue to get better and better,” said Milanovich. 
“I’ve had a couple of good games but so far I still haven’t had the perfect game that I’ve been looking for,” replied Armstead, when asked to grade himself. “Regardless of whatever everyone else around me says, I have very high expectations of myself.”
Armstead’s good reviews started early in June, when he put his 6’5″, 290 pound chassis to work, showing his tremendous skill during one-on-one drills, and then again in the tune-ups of pre-season action. He’d said, at the time, that he was feeling fairly at ease with the nuances of three-down football, and that adjustment has continued without detour.
“I wouldn’t say completely comfortable,” he said, when asked if the settling in phase is now complete. “I mean, it’s obviously different. But I’m as comfortable as you can be. Obviously it’s a different game. But it doesn’t feel unnatural any more.”
There have been legions of linemen that have come before Armstead, with many having to take a great deal of time to get used to attacking offensive linemen from one yard off the ball, as opposed to the nose to nose proximity the big boys of the line of scrimmage experience south of the border. Armstead, however thinks the differences are over played.
“There’s nothing new under the sun,” he said, casually. “I’ve seen all these schemes in college. I’ve seen all the reads and the zones and the quick passes. It’s just football. Just x’s and o’s.”
If Armstead’s easy manner and the comfort he already feels in his first CFL season have played a part in his early success, they’re not the only ingredients, according to teammate Ricky Foley.“He’s got all the talent in the world and a good attitude,” began Foley. “He likes to work. He listens. He’s smart, football-wise. As a vet, you go tell him something during a game and he gets it. He picks up on it.”
“I think the sky’s the limit for that guy. He’s gonna be a good one, for sure.”
Milanovich echoes the assessment given by Foley.
“He’s coachable, he works hard in practice, and he’s got all those intangible qualities that you love from a young player,” he said.
The coach is not one for hysterics, more likely to underplay things a bit, in order to keep an even keel. So, he’s not ready to lose his head over the early success of his rookie defensive tackle.
“He’s been a good player, but has he arrived? He hasn’t arrived just like none of our players have arrived. He needs to continue to get better,” said Milanovich. “But, for a rookie, for a guy that’s as young as he is, that hasn’t played in the CFL, he’s done very well.”
“I want to be one of the best defensive linemen in this league,” said Armstead, after politely declining to go into specific goals, like sack totals. “My goal every game is just to dominate. Doesn’t happen every game but that’s what I want to do every game I go into.”
So far, his plan for world domination, or at least the CFL corner of it, is proceeding smoothly.
