Jimmy Jeong/CFL.ca
Be it on the football or in an interview, BC Lions slotback Emmanuel Arceneaux isn’t a man fond of wasting time.
So Arceneaux was quick with an answer when asked to explain why his teammate Shawn Gore is on track for his best CFL season since joining the Lions in 2010.
“He’s playing with confidence, long story short,” said Arceneaux.
If confidence is currency Gore is a wealthy man these days. The Lions’ wide receiver has 43 catches for 591 yards and two touchdowns. That’s more receiving yards in nine games than what he accumulated in each of the last three seasons.
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Shawn Gore is making an impact with the Lions in his sixth season in BC (The Canadian Press)
The Toronto native also leads all Canadian receivers in the CFL.
Gore insists there is nothing magical or mystical with his game this year. It just comes down to hard work.
“It’s football,” said the 29-year-old, who had three catches for 31 yards in BC’s 29-23 win over the Ottawa REDBLACKS last week. “I’m giving everything I’ve got.
“Opportunities come and go. I made the most of a lot of good opportunities. I plan to continue that.”
The six-foot, 202-pound Gore will be one of quarterback Jonathon Jennings’ favourite targets when the Lions (6-3) play the Toronto Argonauts (4-4) Wednesday at BMO Field.
“Shawn is a special guy,” said Jennings. “He’s a guy that can stop on a dime, a guy that can really make great plays for you at critical situations. He’s proven that all year.
“When we have one-on-one matchups on the back side, I’m usually taking Shawn. That’s a credit to him because he beats guys. He always beats guys. His effort is outstanding. He will out-will anyone.”
The plan at the start of the season was to move Gore to the slotback. Things changed when Lavelle Hawkins announced his retirement in training camp. Gore is listed as a wide receiver but in the BC offensive scheme, he moves around from the outside to the inside. He sometimes runs deep routes, other times catches passes in the flats.
Gore likes the variety.
“It benefits a lot of people,” he said. “It keeps the defence on their toes.
“You get to go against different defenders one-on-one. You get to move around and teams can’t que on our tendencies. You really keep them guessing.”
To be successful, a quarterback and receiver must find a rhythm. Gore and Jennings have found the proper beat.
“Every receiver sees things different, the same as quarterbacks,” said Gore. “When you and the quarterback see things the same way, you click.
“When you spend time with somebody who is willing to teach you how they want things done, how they can better get in you a position to succeed, it really helps you. It’s basically about being on the same page, knowing where you need to be and where the ball is going to be.”
The more balls Gore catches, the more inclined Jennings is to throw to him.
“Absolutely,” said Jennings. “If a guy continues to make plays for you, you are going to continue to go that way.
“We have a good offensive scheme where we are utilizing the guys in a special way. We put Shawn in situations where he is playing to his strengths.”
“Being from here it means a little more to me than some other players. To be able to play in this league after CIS is great. It’s what I dreamed of.”
Shawn Gore
Gore has proven himself in second-down situations where he has 12 catches resulting in first downs.
“A lot of times you have good matchups with him and he wins,” said Jennings. “You pick your guy and let him make a play for you. Shawn does an outstanding job of doing that for us.”
Gore faced some questions heading into the season. He was chosen by the Lions 10th overall in the 2010 Canadian Draft after playing at Bishop’s. He attended training camp with the NFL Green Bay Packers before signing with BC on Sept. 5.
In 2011 Gore was BC’s second leading receiver with 60 catches for 836 yards and a touchdown. The next year he had 62 catches for 722 yards and five touchdowns. Over the next three years his numbers declined. Last year he had 40 catches for 438 yards and two touchdowns.
“He didn’t progress,” said Wally Buono, BC’s head coach and general manager. “We are in a business you have to be consistent. You can’t be a 1,000-yard receiver, then then 800 yards and 500 yards. You are going in the wrong direction.
“Shawn needed to step up this year. He knew it and he has. It’s been good for us and good for him.”
Buono said some players like Gore who come through the Canadian Interuniversity Sport system take longer to adapt to the professional game because they “are not football smart.”
“A lot of these guys . . . sometimes have very little football background,” said Buono. “Even though they are put in the position to play professional football, their background is so limited, their football knowledge would be very limited.
“Shawn is a little bit of that kind of player. His confidence has really shot up. Now if you ask him, I guarantee he’s understanding the game better. He’s understanding the position better. With Shawn, if he has confidence, the skill set have never been an issue.”
Arceneaux said a receiver’s statistics don’t always measure how well they have been playing.
“It’s more than catching balls,” he said. “It’s blocking on run plays, knowing your assignments, knowing how to come to put in that work so when you come out here for game days it’s just like tying your shoe.
“His confidence and his play, you can see it in his body langue that he’s playing good football right now.”
Growing up, Gore would watched receivers like Arland Bruce, Geroy Simon and Paris Jackson. He would become teammates with all three in BC, but said playing with Jackson, a Vancouver native, was a special thrill.
“He really took me under his wing and showed me the ropes,” Gore said. “He showed me how I could do things better.
“I would do something wrong on the field. I would come to the sidelines and he would be the first to tell me how I could do it better. He is a great friend.”
Being a Canadian makes playing in the CFL extra special for Gore.
“This is our country,” he said. “This is where I grew up, this is the league I watched as a kid.
“Being from here it means a little more to me than some other players. To be able to play in this league after CIS is great. It’s what I dreamed of.”
