CFL Insights: Duron Carter can do it all

REGINA — Is there anything Duron Carter can’t do?

The Riders’ boisterous receiver started his first game at corner in Week 18 and after all the trash talk, he was the one getting the last laugh against Bo Levi Mitchell.

Carter’s pick-six has been all over the highlights since it occurred in last Friday’s 30-7 win over Calgary, but it also offers some historical significance.

The defensive touchdown marked the fourth different way Carter has scored over his four-year career, putting him in a very exclusive club:

In addition to his pick-six, Carter has also scored on multiple touchdown catches, a missed field goal return and a fumble.

The touchdown grabs have come in spades for the 26-year-old, who’s consistently put up big numbers as a pass-catcher in the CFL. Carter has 3,914 yards and 25 touchdowns in his career, never failing to eclipse 909 yards and five touchdowns in any of his four seasons (three of which were spent in Montreal).

One of Carter’s most impressive plays was the missed field goal return, which came from 123 yards for the Montreal Alouettes back in 2014.

Then there was the play that most highlighted his versatility. In September of 2016, Carter played punt teams vs. the Ticats and blocked a punt, returning the fumble all the way for six the other way.

There was a time when CFL players often saw time on both sides of the football, making feats like Carter’s not entirely uncommon. Today, however, players seldom switch sides, let alone play both in the same season.

This stat from CFL statistician Steve Daniel illustrates the rarity of players who can score in so many ways: Of the 10,167 players who have ever suited up in a CFL game, only 43 have used four different methods to score a touchdown. That puts Carter in the 0.4 per cent.

Finally, scoring on offence and defence in the same season is impressive in its own right. That’s only happened four times over the lat 20 years, with Byron Parker, Joe Hagins and Dexter Dawson also accomplishing the feat:

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