Eskimos’ powerful offence features many weapons
Montreal defence will have its hands full trying to stop Reilly, Zylstra, Williams
So, how are the Edmonton Eskimos getting on in life without receiver Derel Walker, a Canadian Football League all-star in both his seasons and the league’s outstanding rookie in 2015? So far, not so bad.
It’s only one game, but the Eskimos scored 30 points against British Columbia. Quarterback Mike Reilly passed for 315 yards and two touchdowns, while Brandon Zylstra and Duke Williams both produced more than 100 yards against the beleaguered Lions defence.
And that was with Adarius Bowman, the league’s leading receiver two of the last three seasons, limited to two catches.
Yes, we believe this team will survive without Walker, who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I was asked a lot in the off-season about Derel leaving, for good reason. I wasn’t worried about it,” Reilly said on Thursday. “I knew what we had waiting in the wings. That’s what this league’s all about. You get your opportunity and have to make the most of it. Our guys have done a good job of being ready for that.”
The Eskimos will try to win their second straight game Friday night at Commonwealth Stadium against the Alouettes (10 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN Radio-690). Montreal won its opening game at home against Saskatchewan. Edmonton was a bit of an unknown entering the season, the team going 10-8 in the tough West Division in 2016. The Eskimos went into Hamilton as a crossover playoff team and defeated the Tiger-Cats in the Eastern semifinal, before losing at Ottawa. And they endured a roller-coaster season, despite their potent offence, twice suffering through three-game losing skids. But they also strung together three-game winning streaks twice.
Zylstra returns for his second season after producing 508 yards in only six games, having spent most of the year on the practice roster. At 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, he presents Reilly with yet another tantalizing big target.
“This offence has weapons everywhere,” said Zylstra, who came to the CFL from Concordia College, a Division III school in Minnesota. “What makes all of us so good is having all of us out there. We have four great receivers, a great QB and a great line. And you have John White running for 100 yards, too.”
The great unknown was Williams, a 6-foot-2, 216-pounder out of Auburn who failed to stick with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent after repeatedly violating team rules at college, eventually being dismissed.
“I had a lot on my shoulders, a lot of pressure,” Williams said. “I had a chip on my shoulder. Everybody looked over me and thought it was over when I got kicked out of school.”
Williams may have been following a similar path at Edmonton’s training camp as well, until Reilly had a candid conversation with him in the early days, advising him he had to be better and take his craft more seriously.
“It’s a bit of an eye-opener for guys when they come into their first professional camp. It was the same for me,” Reilly said. “You’re around for a while and get the feeling of being comfortable ... this is how it’s always going to be. You don’t understand the severity of all your decisions being scrutinized.
“I knew he was a great player. I just wanted to make sure he was ready for that opportunity. I wasn’t the one out there running the routes, catching the ball and making plays. Duke did that on his own. He’s a guy I have a lot of confidence in, with good reason.”
You get your opportunity and have to make the most of it. Our guys have done a good job of being ready for that.
The maestro of it all is head coach Jason Maas. Although he relinquished play-calling duties to offensive co-ordinator Carson Walch, Maas knows teams pick their poison in deciding how to defend Edmonton. If they decide to double-team Bowman, they become vulnerable elsewhere. And if they drop off into coverage, White will pick them apart.
“We have a confidence in ourselves and an ability to move the ball and score points,” Maas said.
This is a team that should be fun to watch this season.