THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — A pair of Edmonton Eskimos receivers is raising the bar for Canadian Football League pass-catchers.
In a league where 1,000 yards has often been the gold standard for those catching footballs, Derel Walker and Adarius Bowman have a different milestone in their sights. Both are on pace to do something only three receivers in CFL history have ever accomplished: record 2,000-plus receiving yards in a single season.
Doing so would also give both a chance to break a record that was once thought unbreakable — the single-season receiving yards record of 2,036 set by Calgary Stampeders great Allen Pitts in 1994.
ON PACE: DEREL WALKER AND ADARIUS BOWMAN
PLAYER | TEAM | GAMES | YARDS | AVG | ON PACE |
Derel Walker | EDM | 7 | 800 | 114.3 | 2,057 |
Adarius Bowman | EDM | 7 | 789 | 112.7 | 2,029 |
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The caveat with Walker and Bowman’s projections is that passing is on the up, and more receivers are putting up bigger numbers than seen in recent years.
Consider that only two years ago (2014), only three receivers finished with more than 1,000 yards through the air (Clarence Denmark, Duron Carter and the league-leader, Adarius Bowman). While passing has been the primary offensive tool this season — 80.4 per cent of total yards have been gained via the completion — a total of 18 players are on pace for 1,000-yard seasons compared to 12 just a year ago and three in 2014.
That shouldn’t make what the Esks’ duo has accomplished so far any less impressive, however. So far Walker and Bowman are pacing the league’s second-ranked offence overall (409.3 yards per game) and second-ranked passing offence (354.3 passing yards per game).
And while there are as many as 18 receivers on pace for the 1,000-yard milestone, none of the 16 others come within 1,000 yards of Walker and Bowman thus far. What’s remarkable is that the two Eskimos receivers play for the same team, and both are truly on an island all of their own so far in 2016.
Neither of them appear to have a shot at breaking Derrell Mitchell’s single-season receptions record (160 set in 1998), but consider this: there’s a chance the all-time single-season receiving yards record could be broken twice in the same season, by two players on the same team.
ALL-TIME SINGLE-SEASON RECEIVING LEADERS
PLAYER | YEAR | TEAM | GAMES | YARDS | AVG |
Allen Pitts | 1994 | CGY | 18 | 2,036 | 113.1 |
Terry Greer | 1983 | TOR | 16 | 2,003 | 125.2 |
Derrell Mitchell | 1997 | TOR | 18 | 2,000 | 111.1 |
Both Eskimos will look to increase their totals on Saturday with a visit to BMO Field to take on the Toronto Argonauts, a team that so far ranks fourth in the league with 295.1 passing yards allowed per game. Of course, the Esks’ passing offence has a tendency of dropping its opponents in the ranking.
In a win over Montreal last week, both Walker and Bowman eclipsed 100 receiving yards in the same game, a common occurrence this season as Walker has reached at least 130 receiving yards in five out of seven games while Bowman has reached 100 in five out of seven.
Against the Als, Walker caught 10 passes for 132 yards while Bowman registered 107 yards on nine receptions.