Kurleigh Gittens Jr. The infectious perfectionist

Connor O'Neil

The Toronto Argonauts enter the final three games of the regular season boasting one of the most effective passing attacks in the CFL.

Quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson has already set a new career-high in yards and completions this season and his 4,218 passing yards give him the league-lead ahead of Toronto’s Week 19 matchup with the Edmonton Elks.

While attention this season has deservedly been centred on the Toronto pivot, the Argonauts receivers deserve their share of credit as well. As a unit they have excelled in providing the Toronto passing offence with the ability to attack the field at nearly every level.

Canadian receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr. has been one of the largest contributors through the air for the Boatmen and his having a breakout season in 2022. With 920 receiving yards, Gittens leads all Argos receivers and has surpassed 150 receiving yards twice this season, including a 161-yard homecoming performance against the Ottawa REDBLACKS in Week 16.

The Toronto playmaker is tied for the team lead with four receiving touchdowns this season, and his role within the offence can not be understated. The Boatmen are undefeated in games where Gittens has found the end zone, shoutout to Marshall Ferguson for that stat.

For the third-year receiver, the recipe for success has been simple, it’s been a matter of believing in himself, staying committed to his craft and taking advantage of the opportunities that come to him.

“Just staying committed to my work ethic and just believing in myself,” said Gittens. “Hoping and praying that I’d have the opportunity to showcase my skills and help the team out in a positive way.

“I feel like in the last few years I’ve been given that opportunity, and I’ve been working towards being a better football player for this team.”

Through 15 games this season, Gittens has demonstratively made the most of his opportunities, and often has extended them for extra yardage. Of his 920 receiving yards this season, Gittens has turned upfield for 402 yards after the catch, the third most among all CFL receivers.

Pete Costanza, Toronto’s receivers coach and pass game coordinator, described the growth that he has seen from Gittens, detailing how the game has begun to slow down for the young Canadian pass-catcher.

“I just think the main thing for Kurleigh, is that the game has slowed down,” said Costanza. “Mentally, the way he approaches the game and the way he sees it now. He understands what’s happening, so the game is slower which allows him to play faster.”

For Gittens, he feels that there are always improvements to be made in his game, noting that he is constantly eager to learn and build his skillset, even describing himself as a bit of an annoyance to his teammates for always asking questions.

“I can always get better at something, that’s what I tell myself every single day,” said Gittens. “I’m like the annoying guy, I always want to know stuff, even if I’m not supposed to know it.

“I’ll just always ask questions, making sure I’m just doing things the way that my quarterback sees it, because at the end of the day he’s on the field, so I want to know how he’s seeing the field and how I can attempt to see the field the same way he does.”

However, his quarterback certainly doesn’t seem to be annoyed by Gittens’ eagerness to learn. Earlier in the week, Bethel-Thompson described Gittens to Argonauts.ca as, “an absolute perfectionist,” while also calling him a great teammate.

Costanza echoed the sentiments of the quarterback, saying that Gittens’ work habits and attention to detail are an asset for the Argonauts offence.

“He’s a guy that you tell one time and he get’s it,” said Costanza. “So when I ask him what he sees and then what we saw and how we can correct that, he’s a one-time fix type of guy.

“It’s kind of infectious. His work ethic football wise, the way he approaches the game, the way he is in meetings and practice, he’s always learning, always asking questions. When you have a player like that, that’s eager to learn and has the athletic ability he has, it’s a great asset to your football team.”

Kurleigh Gittens Jr., DaVaris Daniels and Markeith Ambles have combined for 11 of McLeod Bethel-Thompson 20 passing touchdowns this season (Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca).

While he has enjoyed his share of success this season, Gittens was quick to credit the entirety of the of the Double Blue receiving corps for holding each other accountable and helping one another grow.

“I think we’ve got the best receivers in the league, but that’s just my opinion,” said Gittens. “We’ve got a great group, so for me it’s just about how I can take a little bit of their game and incorporate it into mine. We all have different playstyles and we all challenge each other every day in practice. We’re not afraid to critique each other and we’re willing to learn from each other.”

Including Gittens, the Argonauts have three receivers who are amongst the league’s top 20 in receiving yards with DaVaris Daniels and Markeith Ambles following suit. Including Ambles, Daniels and Gittens the Argos have had seven different players with at least 30 targets and a receiving touchdown this season.

“When you have the guys that we have in the receiving, any one of them can have a breakout game,” said Costanza. “You could try to take one guy away, but there’s four other guys that can hurt you with their playmaking ability. Just being able to be five-deep at the position and deeper, allows us to open the playbook and run the offence that we have.”

One of the Toronto receivers who has inflicted some damage with his playmaking ability this season is Daniels. A player that Costanza has had the opportunity to coach since his rookie season with the Calgary Stampeders in 2016. During his first-year in the league Daniels caught 885 yards and a career-high nine touchdown receptions.

Costanza described the season that Daniels is having this year as reminiscent to his 2016 season in Calgary. Noting that one of his favourite traits about the pass-catcher isn’t necessarily his athletic ability, but rather his demeanor and approach to the game.

“I think he’s kind of had a rejuvenation this year, kind of like a fountain of youth,” said Costanza. “He’s firing his feet great, he’s catching the ball well and reminds me a lot of what I saw when he was a rookie.

“His calmness and his playmaking ability on the biggest stage is one of the things that I love most about him,” said Costanza. “He does bring that to the group and the group feels that, his calming nature, his confidence.”

Ahead of their Week 19 matchup, Gittens was adamant that the mindset approaching the final stretch of the regular season was to take every game in stride and to not look beyond the current week.

“We’ve got great leaders in the locker room,” said Gittens. “We keep each other focused on what our goal is, and our goal is to continue to go one-and-zero.”

The Toronto playmaker also noted that it was important to match the tempo of their defence on a weekly basis, saying that the two units keep each other balanced.

“Our defence brings the energy each and every day,” said Gittens. “So our offence we’ve got to stay on top of our energy. I feel like collectively we keep each other balanced, that’s what we’ve been doing the whole season and I feel like that’s the recipe in order for us to go the places we want to go.”

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