THE CANADIAN PRESS
This column was not supposed to be what you are going to read. My original concept was to do a tongue in check public service announcement for the near-endangered species known as the CFL lead running back. Going into Week 4, rushing yards per game were down 12 per cent from last year and a whopping 24 per cent from 2014.
At this current pace the running back’s sole purpose will be as a pass blocker/receiver by 2019. The 100-yard rushing game will become nothing more than a myth; a bedtime story we tell our children: “Yes son, back in my day we used to watch offensive lineman actually fly off the ball and block their opponents to create lanes for the running back to burst through.”
The league’s leading rusher has 187 yards on the ground which, if you converted that into receiving yards, would rank him 25th! The funny part is the guy who leads the league is Hamilton’s C.J. Gable. Gable is coached by Kent Austin, a man who never saw a down or distance that you couldn’t pass the ball on. You would think his team may not pass as much with Zach Collaros still on the sidelines. Instead, Jeremiah Masoli is second in the league in passing attempts. Basically what I’m saying in my not so subtle way is … damn, teams are throwing the ball all over the field.
Which brings me back to what my original motivation was for this column: to try and give some love for the running back. I was planning on waxing poetic about three-yard runs but then Week 4 happened. With the exception of Hamilton and Winnipeg’s salute to punting and field goals I would describe this past week as “weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
There were so many crazy games/plays from so many different receivers that it would take too long to go into great detail about everything we saw. So instead I’m going to rank the best catches from several different players in order of degree of difficulty.
Fifth Place — Nick Moore’s third quarter 52-yard reception.
The reason for this one coming in last was the low degree of difficulty. It was actually kind of an easy connection between Jonathon Jennings and Moore. On this play, Saskatchewan attacked Jennings with an all-out blitz leaving one-on-one coverage all over the secondary. It’s a high-risk call meant to cause chaos in the backfield. This time, however, the blitz did not work out for Chris Jones.
I understand why Tevaughn Campbell laid off Moore considering he didn’t have any help over the top, but wow did he give a sizeable cushion. Moore ran a simple post pattern, was wide open, collected the short Jennings pass and sped upfield. I give Moore some marks for a nifty cut back move to elude Campbell and overall speed burst.
Here is how much fun this weekend was: this deep gain by Moore is probably the least exciting of all the big plays we witnessed. You know it’s a good slate of games when a 52-yard catch-and-run feels almost blasé in comparison with the next four candidates!
Fourth Place — Shawn Gore’s fourth quarter 59 yard touchdown catch.
I threw this one in because I needed/wanted to find a way to give a shout out to at least one running back, in this case fullback Rolly Lumbala. At first glance the diagnosis for this touchdown would be a busted coverage and when you first see it your impression is how the hell did Gore get so open? Well before we get to Lumbala, let’s give some credit to Jennings who patiently scanned the field until he spotted poor Shawn Gore who looked so lonely out there on his own.
All right, now that we’re done doing what we usually do in the media — heap far too much praise on the quarterback — let’s get to the real star, Lumbala, who without his pass blocking this play doesn’t happen. As Jennings is looking downfield, Lumbala slides over to pick up a blitzing Brandon McDonald, giving Jennings all the time he needs to find a wide open Shawn Gore. When you re-watch the play you can see that Lumbala has diagnosed the Roughriders’ blitz even before the snap of the ball as he is motioning to Anthony Allen to be ready to pick up Otha Foster III while he immediately slides over to neutralize McDonald. Just such a smart play from the moment the team breaks huddle.
Third Place — Greg Ellingson’s second quarter 69-yard reception.
If you missed the game and just read the box score you would envision a deep pass from Trevor Harris with Ellingson streaking down field to make the catch, beating his man — a glorious feat of aerial bombardment. Nope. Instead this was the easiest “big” play that Harris will ever make. Harris was more spectator than quarterback on a play where the ball traveled about five yards with Ellingson doing the rest. By doing the “rest” I mean that the fourth-year pro managed to break free from Aaron Berry, Justin Hickman and Keon Raymond on his way towards the goal line.
Now if you think about it, Ellingson broke tackles against a defensive lineman, a linebacker and a defensive back! That’s a hell of a hat trick. I think we need to find some sort of award whenever someone manages to embarrass players from three different positions on one play! Now I do have to take off some marks for not scoring a touchdown but I’ll give him a bit of a break; evading three different levels of the defence must be tiring work.
Second Place — Greg Ellingson’s third quarter 77-yard reception.
Now this is what a true long bomb looks like, with the ball travelling just over 50 yards in the air as Ellingson was just slightly ahead of Isaiah Green. As much as the judges were impressed with his second quarter catch-and-run, this play gets higher artistic marks for beating the Argonauts downfield. Now that should have been enough to impress the judges — but wait, there’s more. After bringing in the pass, Ellingson puts a spin move on Green right as two other defenders are closing in to pick up about 20 more yards. Basically he hit the “C” button on a Sega Genesis controller to get himself down to the one-yard-line.
Again, Ellingson didn’t manage to score, but really that is just nitpicking. The next play Trevor Harris just falls forward for the greedy/vulture touchdown. I think it’s only fair that Ellingson be credited with that touchdown! In fact, sorry Harris and Grigsby, but if I was in charge both of your touchdowns would be taken away and given to Greg. I know this would cause a huge revolt among the Fantasy community, but screw it — if I’m in charge we reward things differently.
First Place — Adarius Bowman’s second quarter 60 yard reception.
I mean were you expecting another play? Mike Reilly gets some courage points for standing into the rush as he got smacked right as he released the ball, but Bowman is the star of the show. It first needs to be said this play was gorgeous. Is there anything more aesthetically pleasing than watching a deep pass (I got the pass travelling 62 yards in the air) connect? Bowman leaps up in between two defenders to snatch that pass like a lion going after a gazelle. Kevin Fogg and Macho Harris are basically helpless on this one. Just a couple of mere mortals watching as this remorseless big play machine climbs over them to claim what is rightfully his.
This was an important play as the Eskimos were trailing 10-0 late in the second quarter and this would lead to their first points of the game. Bowman displayed every trait you look for in an elite wide receiver it was the perfect combination of athleticism, concentration and opposition demoralization.
Honourable Mention: Derel Walker
Apologies to Walker and his 7-154-TD performance! Just ask C.J. Roberts how he’s feeling today after getting beat for a 74-yard touchdown pass.
