The Canadian Press
Everyone digs the deep ball. Moms, dads, kids, sisters, cousins, your dog, what’s not to love!
The gusto it takes to wind back and sling the thing down field, knowing with greater distance comes greater danger. The reward has always intrigued – and sometimes terrified – football fans.
The big arm quarterback who brazenly embraces the risk involved in deep ball throwing is one of the great heroes of sport. Every time Vernon Adams Jr. or Bo Levi Mitchell step onto the field they draw praise and criticism for their long ball aggression, with most fans and analysts playing the result. Praise comes when completed, frustration when the ball falls painfully to the turf after being flung 30, 40, or 50 yards down the field.
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At the core of our interaction with the deep ball is excitement. If you love football the act of watching teams’ leading men put their stat line and professional perception on the line with long throws elicits something natural in you, for better or worse.
I experienced it this pre-season. Rookie CFL quarterback Chad Kelly checked in for the Argos and, with a slight moment of hesitation, reared back on his first attempt to sail a shot down the far hash 40 yards away. The ball fell incomplete, but the hype surrounding Kelly’s potential, and his willingness to show off arm strength with his first live Canadian snap, had many, including myself and Duane Forde in the booth, giggling. Even Kelly himself looked at the sideline with a wry smile that indicated he might have gone a bit off script in an attempt to send the ultimate message of, “I’m here, I belong, look out.”
When looking back over the air yard totals for each CFL game from 2021, there are many appearances from the usual suspects. Vernon Adams Jr. of course finds his name amongst the most aggressive downfield passers joining 2021 passing yardage leader and now retired BC Lions pivot Michael Reilly.
Jeremiah Masoli went long ball crazy against the Toronto Argonauts a couple of times with then fellow Ticats QB Dane Evans not shy to open up the arm and challenge the defence down field. Evans did lead the NCAA in his final season at Tulsa in yards passing on plays of 20 yards or more in the air. That’s a perfect fit for the CFL with the black and gold reins now firmly in his possession.
The game that blew all others out of the water was Calgary hosting Montreal in Week 3 of last season. QB Jake Maier was in for Bo Levi Mitchell following a broken leg from Week 1 and Maier was about as willing to let it fly as you’d expect from a young CFL passer feeling out the game with 283 attempted air yards. On the other side, head coach Khari Jones and Adams Jr. opened up the offence to a season-high total of 705 attempted air yards!
Vernon would finish just 20/42 for 261 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the close loss, but at 16.5 yards per pass attempt, Montreal clearly declared to the rest of the league their intentions for 2021; to lead a high flying vertical passing attack that demanded your attention regardless of down, distance, score or time left on the clock.
I know air yards aren’t everything, they don’t paint the full picture, offensive efficiency is important and completion percentage is often king in the modern CFL, but with VA and the Als re-entering McMahon and the burst of season kickoff energy fuelling his wiry cannon, anything is possible as we embrace the return of big time football.
Oh, and that guy on the other side named Bo Levi Mitchell? He’s healthy and has a tandem of receivers as good as any in the league at his disposal in Kamar Jorden and Reggie Begelton. It’s time to let it fly in 2022!
