Jimmy Jeong/CFL.ca
VANCOUVER — Sometimes good things come in threes.
That was certainly the case for DeVier Posey last weekend, when the Lions’ receiver scored his first three touchdowns with the club en route to a 42-32 win over the Edmonton Eskimos.
The number on its own, while impressive, may not seem out of the ordinary. Plenty of CFL players past and present have scored three touchdowns in a single game. It’s the timing of Posey’s hat trick of pass receptions that stands out.
With his three majors on three respective drives in the third quarter last Friday night, Posey became the first player in the last 25 years to catch three touchdown passes in the same quarter.
That he did so in just 7:48 seconds, taking the Lions from a five-point deficit to a 16-point lead in a virtual must-win game, was all the more remarkable:
CFL Insights are presented by PwC. Stay locked on CFL.ca for more insights every week throughout the 2018 season.
Posey was one of two significant additions to the Lions during the second half of the season, playing a major contributing role in a run that’s seen the team win six of the last seven games.
While newly-added running back Tyrell Sutton has sparked the ground game, Posey adds a vertical dimension to the offence thanks to his blazing speed, the type of deep threat that can stretch the field that the Lions seemed to be lacking.
Posey broke out in the CFL in 2017, becoming a regular starter with the Argos while producing 744 yards and seven touchdowns in just 12 games. He capped it off with some Grey Cup heroism, recording an iconic 100-yard touchdown in the snow and eventually earning Grey Cup MVP honours.
After some time south of the border with the Baltimore Ravens, Posey decided to come to BC, where he’s starting to make a significant difference.
In six games, Posey has recorded 302 receiving yards and three touchdowns, averaging 13.7 yards per reception. Much of that production came against Edmonton, with a stat line of five catches for 113 yards and three touchdowns.
RELATED
» Bio: DeVier Posey by the numbers
» Weekly Say: Are the Stamps still the Grey Cup favourite?
» Lions top Nissan Titan Power Rankings
Tracing performances similar to Posey’s is no easy task. There have been a multitude of four-touchdown games in CFL history, let alone three-touchdown performances.
What we know is that Posey is in rarefied air. The only player recently to score three touchdowns in a shorter time span was current Bombers running back Andrew Harris. Harris scored three touchdowns in 7:05 — exactly 43 seconds fewer than Posey — in a game on July 24, 2015.
Coincidentally, Harris played for the Lions at the time, and one of his touchdowns was a catch from, yes, current Lions quarterback Travis Lulay.
It’s fair to say that DeVier Posey, clocked at a 4.39 in the 40-yard dash before becoming a third round NFL draft pick, has a knack for speed.
