Walter Tychnowicz/CFL.ca
It’s been a long time since I can remember having as many high quality running backs in this league all at the same time. Maybe it’s just my perception, but this season feels like it might be one of the best in recent memory when it comes to CFL tailbacks.
It’s a really interesting trend I’ve picked up on through three weeks of the season. A quick look at the top of the CFL rushing table will likely lead you to a similar conclusion.
Led by Andrew Harris, the mainstays are still going strong. Coming off a season that saw him combine for almost 2,000 yards (rushing and receiving), Harris is off to a quietly nice start to the season in Winnipeg. He’s been one of the most consistent players in the league for the better part of a decade, and Harris is on pace for 1,200 yards once again in 2018.
You can probably start to put names like CJ Gable and William Powell into the mainstay category, too. Edmonton’s Gable just rolled up 165 yards in a win over the BC Lions this weekend and has done nothing but succeed since being traded from Hamilton last season.
In reality, the Eskimos became a completely different team upon Gable’s arrival. Not only did he give the team a true running threat, he also rounded out Edmonton’s offence in such a huge way. We all knew how good their aerial attack was, but getting Gable last October added a big time missing element and that’s continued into this year.
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C.J. Gable is looking to replicate his early success with his new team in 2018 (The Canadian Press)
Much like Gable, Powell has picked up right where he left off, too. Remember, Ottawa’s top tailback finished 10 yards shy of taking the rushing title last season and did so with at least five fewer games played than the rest of his competition. Powell averaged over 85 yards per game on the ground last season and has already racked up 217 in two appearances this season.
Don’t sleep on a pair of other established names, either. Neither Jeremiah Johnson in BC or Montreal’s Tyrell Sutton are off to incredible starts, but they are still capable of busting off big games on any given week. As both the Lions and Alouettes figure things out on the offensive side of the ball, I think these two running backs will start to see more and more success statistically.
And we’ve gone through all of this without talking about the CFL’s current rushing leader. Calgary’s Don Jackson has about as good a three game debut as you can imagine: 294 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Where do the Stampeders keep finding these guys?
Well, in Jackson’s case they’ve found a hungry and motivated back looking to put himself back on the radar. After getting into a few games with the Green Bay Packers in 2016, Jackson was cut in May of last year and didn’t land another professional job until he was brought in by Calgary for training camp. He’s been the feature guy ever since, even with Terry Williams back for a second year in red and white.
This running back trend doesn’t look like it’s about to fall off the map, either. Guys like Powell, Gable, and Harris are showing no signs of slowing down while Jackson looks like he’s just getting started. Sure, not every team has a bona fide number one guy right now, but enough do to potentially make this one of the best running seasons we’ve seen in a long, long time.
Surprise, surprise
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats could very easily be 3-0 this season and they’d be full marks for it, too. No, the Ticats weren’t able to close out Calgary in Week 1, but their subsequent performances in wins over Edmonton and Winnipeg have made most of us forget all about that. This team looks legit and, for me anyway, they’re the biggest surprise of the early season.
I thought Hamilton was going to be a better team than the group we saw last season. But the Tiger-Cats look like they have taken multiple steps during the off-season. As such, there’s no doubt in my mind they’re the most impressive East Division team thus far.
Hamilton has a lot going for them right now. We’ve written plenty about Jeremiah Masoli in recent weeks, and for good reason. In his first year as a true starting quarterback, Masoli leads the league in passing yards through three weeks and looks explosive and dangerous virtually every snap.
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» Thursday, 9:00 p.m. ET: Hamilton at Saskatchewan
» Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET: Ottawa at Montreal
» Saturday, 5:30 p.m. ET: Edmonton at Toronto
» Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET: BC at Winnipeg
The Tiger-Cats thought long and hard about whether to give the reins to Masoli this year or to keep Zach Collaros for another shot. Well, Hamilton sure does look pretty smart in choosing the former right now.
It goes beyond the quarterback, though. The Ticats are getting great offensive contributions up and down the lineup right now. At tailback, both Mercer Timmis and Sean Thomas Erlington have shown the ability to get the job done and have formed a pretty solid one-two punch.
At receiver, Hamilton has looked just as dynamic. Jalen Saunders, Brandon Banks, and Luke Tasker all sit in the league’s top six in receiving yards while Banks leads everyone with 21 receptions and 32 targets. Offensively, this Tiger-Cats group looks fairly well rounded and dangerous.
Give Hamilton some credit defensively, too. While they’ve employed a “bend but don’t break” philosophy at times, we’re still talking about a team that’s allowed just 66 points in three outings thus far. Furthermore, after averaging about 290 passing yards against in their first two games, the Ticats really honed in on that area over the weekend.
Hamilton held Winnipeg quarterback Chris Streveler to just 146 yards passing over the weekend, which is definitely notable. Strelever absolutely tore things apart in week two against Montreal, so seeing the Ticats frustrate him the way they did was impressive.
The season is still very early, but a huge opportunity lies in front of Hamilton. Not only have the Tiger-Cats looked great in the early going, they also have some circumstances working in their favor. Toronto looks like they’re going to be without Ricky Ray for most of the season and Ottawa looks very hit and miss right now. If Hamilton can keep playing the way they have thus far, they could be in the East Division driver’s seat in the very near future.
Quick hits
Good on the Montreal Alouettes in picking up their first win of the season on Saturday night. Even better for them is the way they won the game. The fashion in which Montreal beat the Riders 23-17 is probably the formula they’ll need to employ going forward: lock things down defensively and manage the game on offence.
Finally, the Calgary Stampeders just keep on doing their thing. Despite a very lackluster first half, the Stamps buckled down on a massive third quarter goal line stand on Thursday night. That stand triggered a huge momentum swing, which the Stamps capitalized on; they ended up beat the Ottawa REDBLACKS 24-14. With a 3-0 start to the season, it sure does seem like the Stamps are the team to beat once again.
