MMQB: Plenty of upside in Wilder's return to Toronto

Pat Steinberg

CFL.ca

@Fan960Steinberg

I’m really glad the Toronto Argonauts and James Wilder Jr. were able to come to an agreement on a new contract. More than anything else, getting Wilder under contract is good for the league, even if it’s not great for opposing defences. We’re talking about one of the league’s most exciting players and being robbed of him in 2018 would have been a crying shame.

Getting Wilder

I have no rooting interest here, other than wanting to see Wilder go to work on a weekly basis. It has been a long time since a tailback burst onto the scene quite like Wilder did last season. In fact, Wilder was able to earn Most Outstanding Rookie honours despite starting just six regular season games. It was the right call and, in reality, it wasn’t even close.

Wilder’s contract negotiation became very public, which certainly added a different wrinkle. It was one of those disputes where I understood where both sides were coming from. That’s why I was fairly confident something would get worked out, as neither side was being ridiculous or unreasonable.

More than anything, Wilder wanted to make sure he maximized his earning potential while his window was open. Running backs get absolutely pounded in this sport and their careers typically don’t last very long as a result. As such, I fully understand wanting to get the most out of limited time, especially when leverage exists. Wilder was coming off an aforementioned epic season, saw an opportunity, and capitalized on it. Good on him.

On the flip side, it’s not like the Argos were being shady or trying to job their star tailback. I thought general manager Jim Popp explained it well to Chris O’Leary earlier this week. Popp’s no dummy; he was well aware of Wilder’s importance and negotiated a fair contract extension that could work for both sides.

I’m really excited to see what Wilder can do as a full time starter from the beginning of the season. Wilder will start training camp getting all the first team reps, and I think that presents an opportunity for him to be even more impactful in 2018.

Wilder signed a two-year deal with the Argonauts on Saturday (Dave Chidley/CFL.ca)

In six regular season starts and two more in the playoffs, Wilder averaged just less than 96 rushing yards and around 156 total offensive yards per game. Even if that total drops over a grueling 18 game season, Wilder has the opportunity to be one of the league’s biggest impact makers in 2018.

Two things make him such a dangerous player. Wilder’s ability to incorporate the passing game into his bag of tricks is huge. Only Winnipeg’s Andrew Harris is in the same category as Wilder, as the latter averaged more than 63 receiving yards in his eight starts. Harris’s average was around 48 yards, but carried it over an entire season, and that carries a ton of value.

Wilder also has the rare ability to change the game dramatically each and every time he’s on the field, even when kept under wraps. Take last year’s East Division Final for instance; the Riders had kept Wilder generally in check, at least by his standards, and then he put his stamp on the game by converting one of Toronto’s most important third downs of the season.

Down by three points with less than 90 seconds to go, Ricky Ray caught Wilder on a gutsy wheel route to turn a game deciding third-and-five into a massive 20-yard gain. It was heart-stopping stuff, but I don’t know if there is any other team other than the Bombers willing to call that play to a tailback with the game on the line.

The Argos could have played a little chicken and see if Wilder was ready to follow through on his decision to sit out the 2018 season, but what good would that have done? Popp wasn’t going to find a player like Wilder anywhere else, so bringing him back on a fair deal was the only thing that made sense.

I’m glad Popp agreed, because watching Wilder ball really is a lot fun.

The Big Three

2018 free agency is almost a month old, and most of the top names have either re-signed or agreed to deals with new teams. As we enter the final couple months of the off-season, though, there are still a number of names available capable of instantly improving a team.

Recognizable names like Marquay McDaniel, Nick Moore, Brandon Whitaker, and Alex Hoffman-Ellis, among others, still don’t have contracts. For me, though, there are three names leading the pack when talking about the best of the rest.

Where will Henoc Muamba land? (Matt Smith/CFL.ca)

1. Henoc Muamba, linebacker

This is the obvious one and his status might be figured out sooner rather than later. Everything seems to point to the star linebacker signing with Winnipeg, but until it’s done, it’s just an assumption. Regardless of where he ends up, he’s going to be an instant upgrade.

Muamba brings with him so much. More than anything, he’s a complete package at mike linebacker, but it goes beyond that. Muamba carries with him a national designation, which makes him a unicorn at the position and boosts his price as a result. And, at 29, he’s still got plenty left in the tank to help his new (or old) team for a few more seasons.

2. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, defensive back

There aren’t a lot of true and proven DB’s still available in free agency, which means Owusu-Ansah has a pretty decent chance of getting a nice payday when he signs. After three solid years in Toronto, Owusu-Ansah would be a good fit on virtually any team he ends up signing with.

What makes the 29-year-old so attractive is his ability to get the job done on the boundary corner against some of the best receivers in the game. While his interception numbers have gone down from his 2015 high water mark, effective shutdown corners aren’t easy to come by, so I expect Owusu-Ansah to sign a nice deal.

3. Kirby Fabien, offensive line

Fabien started 18 games for BC last season at right guard. Sure, that came on a grossly underachieving team that missed the playoffs, but it’s also not irrelevant. The Lions wanted to upgrade their offensive line this off-season, which is why Fabien is available. While he certainly has limitations, there’s still plenty of reason to sign him.

First and foremost, Fabien carries a Canadian passport. That alone carries a ton of value, as I believe having national players at guard is an imperative piece of ratio success. Because he’s likely not going to sign as a tackle, Fabien should also come at a relatively affordable price, which makes him one of the top names still available.

MMQB: Plenty of upside in Wilder’s return to Toronto

Johany Jutras/CFL.ca

Pat Steinberg

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