Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
Trevor Harris has thrown a grand total of 22 incomplete passes in 14 quarters of football this season. If that doesn’t sink in as a rather remarkable stat, I certainly think his 82.5 per cent completion rate should. The Ottawa REDBLACKS look like a straight up juggernaut right now thanks in large part to Harris’s work at the helm.
Master class
It’s not like I’m breaking any news by talking about how good Harris has played thus far. That said, I can’t remember a quarterback playing quite this well over a stretch like this. 14 quarters isn’t an entire season, but it’s also not a sample size to sneeze at.
To go along with his league leading 82.5 per cent completion rate, Harris also leads the way with 1,475 passing yards, an average of 11.7 yards per completion, nine touchdown passes, and a 140.1 efficiency rating. Most of those totals are far and away the highest in the league right now. What this guy is doing right now is ridiculous.
I said earlier I can’t remember a stretch quite like this, especially from a quarterback who wasn’t even his team’s Week 1 starter. I know there have been plenty of other really good stretches, but efficiency like this is pretty rare. That’s why it’s our lead topic this week.
Ottawa’s success hasn’t been solely on Harris’s shoulders. There’s no doubt that group of receivers makes his job infinitely easier. Right now, the REDBLACKS foursome of Chris Williams, Brad Sinopoli, Ernest Jackson, and Greg Ellingson is undoubtedly the CFL’s best. But that shouldn’t diminish the work Harris has done to this point.
Look, Harris isn’t going to be completing more than 80 per cent of his passes all season long. His touchdown-to-interception ratio is probably going to normalize a little bit, too. But right now, there isn’t a quarterback in this league doing what he’s doing. Harris has been acutely accurate, has thrown for majors, and most importantly, has helped his team win football games.
Oh, and he’s been awesome to watch. Right now, he’s in a class of his own.
Good news, bad news
On the bright side, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have shown the ability to put up points. As we said last week, quarterback Darian Durant has looked as good as ever and the Riders have a couple of emerging receivers that should give opposing defences trouble all season long. The good news ends there, unfortunately; at least for now.
Now to the bad news, which is frustrating but not irreparable. First off, Durant’s ankle injury is a concern. Yes, it’s not broken, but bad sprains can take a long time to come back from. We likely won’t know the extent of Durant’s injury until Tuesday, but I certainly wouldn’t put it in the good news column.
Then there’s the matter of Saskatchewan’s defensive unit because it’s a bit of a problem. The Riders are getting routinely torched by the deep ball and that was once again the case in Friday’s 40-27 home loss to the Lions. Shawn Gore and Nick Moore each rattled off 50-plus yard receptions and that is becoming all too frequent.
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Chris Jones and the Riders had no answers for Jonathon Jennings in Week 4 (The Canadian Press)
Saskatchewan ranks at or near the bottom of every defensive category through its first three games of the season, but it’s the Riders’ lack of pressure up front causing the most issues. Opposing quarterbacks have way too much time right now and it’s biting the Riders on a regular basis.
In saying that, though, I’m definitely not ready to write this group off. Yes, things are coming along a lot slower than new head coach Chris Jones wants, but sometimes these things really do take time. Jones has a proven track record of coaching defensively-imposing groups and that should still be the expectation with his new team.
Should you be worried if you’re a Riders fan? I guess maybe a little bit, but I’m still willing to call this a work in progress. We know they can score and we know what Jones has done with defences in the past. It might just take a little longer than some hoped to all come together
Surprisingly fun
As for the team that handed Saskatchewan its third straight loss, man, I sure am enjoying watching the 3-1 BC Lions play ball right now. Heading into the season I was somewhat optimistic about what this group was capable of, but I didn’t expect to thoroughly enjoy watching it play as much as I have.
The Lions boast one of the CFL’s most exciting players right now in Jonathon Jennings. The guy is explosive, he’s dynamic and he has the ability to break a game wide open on every snap. His performance Friday in Regina was a hallmark example of just that. But it’s not just Jennings who makes this BC group so entertaining to watch.
That group of receivers featuring guys like Emmanuel Arceneaux, Shawn Gore and Nick Moore is speedy and entertaining while Chris Rainey makes every kick and/or punt return appointment viewing. There’s no entertainment drop off on the defensive side of things, either.
After missing so much of last season, it sure is good to see Solomon Elimimian back patrolling the middle of the field for the Lions. It’s even better to see Elimimian reunited with fellow linebacker Adam Bighill. That duo combined for 11 more tackles on Friday night because, well, that’s what they do.
Finally, I won’t lie, seeing Wally Buono patrolling the sidelines again is pretty cool. Wally didn’t need to start coaching again to cement himself as one of the greatest of all time, because that was already accomplished. But, now with his 400th game under his belt, it’s always awesome to see one of the greats doing what he does best.
I’m not certain if the Lions are going to stay on top of the West Division, mainly because of the other really good teams they’re competing against. I do know BC has been a ton of fun to watch so far, though, and I’m not expecting that to change.
Quick hits
Last week’s column was led by my assertion Adarius Bowman was at the top of the mountain among CFL receivers. Well, his 185-yard performance against Winnipeg on Thursday night certainly didn’t change my tune, but my declaration was met with a little pushback. Stay tuned later this week on CFL.ca because we’re going to debate that point a little further.
I know Hamilton has been without Zach Collaros to start this season, but even knowing that, some of the Ticats’ struggles have been tough to figure out. Their 31-7 win over Montreal on Friday, though, was a whole lot more of what I’ve been expecting, specifically on the defensive side of the ball.
That Tiger-Cats ‘D’ looked a whole lot closer to the formidable group it was in 2015 against the Als and it was refreshing to see. Ted Laurent was a beast all night and he really helped open things up around him, most notably for John Chick. With Collaros still on the mend, Hamilton is going to need some more defensive performances like that.
