On Pace: Career years in the making in 2016

TORONTO — With the ball in the air more than usual, quarterbacks and receivers are reaping the benefits of a pass-happy 2016 through the first four weeks of the season.

It’s hard to imagine some of these gaudy numbers being sustained through 18 games — after all, 16 quarters make a very small sample size — but what if they are?

We look at just a few of the players on pace for a career season in 2016, and where they’ll end up if they continue producing the way they have.

1. Chris Williams | REC | OTT

Chris Williams has found the next level in year two with Ottawa (CFL.ca)

Forget career season; Williams is on track to set a new standard for receivers in pro football everywhere. The 28-year-old cooled off slightly vs. Toronto with 63 yards on six catches (that’s cooling off?!), putting him over halfway to 1,000 with 556 receiving yards and six touchdowns in four games.

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Record Watch: The single-season record for yards from scrimmage is held by Mike Pringle at 2,414 yards or 134.1 per game. Williams is on pace to break both that and Allen Pitts’ 1994 single season receiving yards record of 2,036.

2. Mike Reilly | QB | EDM

The partnership between Mike Reilly and Jason Maas is paying off in Edmonton (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)

With Chris Williams, you’re probably talking about regression of some sort before he hits 2,500-plus receiving yards. What stands out about Mike Reilly’s start to the season is his numbers may just be sustainable.

Reilly has formed a dynamic quarterback-coach duo with rookie head coach Jason Maas, as the pair has taken no time to click in 2016. Maas helped Henry Burris win MOP last season and the REDBLACKS’ offence rise to number one in the CFL, and he’s had a similar effect with Reilly — already one of the league’s top established pivots coming into 2016.

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With 1,226 passing yards in three games, Reilly is on pace for 7,356 yards through the air over an 18-game span. OK, maybe not as sustainable as we first said — but if he can stay healthy, 6,000 yards should be expected at this point.

Record Watch: The CFL single-season passing record, by the way, is 6,619, set by Doug Flutie in 1991. Only four different quarterbacks have gone over 6,000 passing yards in a season in league history, including Flutie two different times.

3. Brandon Banks | RET | HAM

Brandon Banks on a return during Week 1 action against the Argos (Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca)

If Brandon Banks could just get a little more involved in the Ticats’ offence like he had hoped, the fourth-year receiver-returner could find himself gunning for Chad Owens’ single-season combined yardage record. That’s how good Banks has been so far just returning the football.

So far the 28-year-old has two return touchdowns, including one on a 120-yard missed field goal return, and leads the CFL in combined yardage with 702 — ahead of the likes of Chris Rainey and Chris Williams.

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This season Banks is on pace for 3,159 combined yards — more than 1,000 yards more than the career-high he set last year when he accumulated 2,073 yards over 18 games, mostly via special teams.

Banks had expressed his hope to play a bigger role in the Ticats’ offence and if he can achieve that and continue dominating in the return game, a record could be had.

Record Watch: Chad Owens’ 3,863 combined yards in 2012 broke the record of Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons, eventually helping Owens earn Most Outstanding Player as a returner/receiver.

4. Adam Bighill | LB | BC

After setting a career-high in tackles, Adam Bighill is off to another fast start in 2016 (BCLions.com).

The BC Lions are 3-1 and a surprise team atop the West Division through four weeks, and the role of Adam Bighill in the middle of that defence can’t be overemphasized.

Bighill has been a tackle machine for the Lions, tying the league lead with 29 tackles — an average of 7.25 tackles per game. That puts him beyond elite territory if he can continue the pace.

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The 29 tackles a game put Bighill well on pace to eclipse his own career-high of 114 set just a season ago. Meanwhile, if he does reach 131 tackles as currently projected, Bighill would put his name second on the all-time list of single-season tackles leaders behind only teammate Solomon Elimimian.

Record Watch: He’s a little off the mark for now, but Bighill is chasing Solomon Elimimian’s 143 tackles in 2014 for the all-time single season record. One extra tackle, one top of his 7.25 per game, every other game the rest of the way would do the trick.

In short, the sample size is too small to say any of these players have a legitimate shot at reaching their targets, and some projected numbers like Williams’ receiving yards and Reilly’s passing yards are more far-fetched than others.

Still, these are storylines worth watching as the weeks progress.