Picton, Glenn stand tall in pocket for their teams
Noah Picton and Kevin Glenn have ascended to impressive heights despite a lack of height.
The 5-foot-10 Glenn, a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, is sixth on the CFL’s all-time passing-yardage list (with 52,804).
Picton, at 5-foot-9, is the University of Regina Rams’ starting pivot and the 2016 Hec Crighton Trophy winner.
The two met in 2015, when Picton attended the Roughriders’ training camp, and have kept in touch. Picton appreciates the friendship of someone with whom he has plenty in common.
“K.G. is a shorter guy and, with myself and him and shorter quarterbacks in general, you have to rely on your pre-snap reads and anticipating your throws, because you know you’re not going to be able to see over the line of scrimmage all the time,” Picton says.
“You have to be able to ... be aware of where the soft spots in the defence are. He does a great job of analyzing the coverage before the snap. He knows where his guys are ... and he throws the ball to spots. I try to emulate him in a sense with that.
“He may not have the strongest arm. I may not have the strongest arm. But our game play is similar in that we’re both fairly intelligent in understanding the defence and knowing where our guys are and just putting the football where only our guys can get it for a majority of the time.”
Glenn also notices similarities between himself and Picton.
“Even when I watched him back in 2015, he was a kid who was very confident but humble,” Glenn recalls. “He never got the big head. If he made a nice throw, he was still always calm and cool.
“He doesn’t let things upset him. I think that’s very similar to me. I watched (a Rams game) and he threw an interception and he just trotted off the field and came back the next drive and I think they ended up scoring.
“Those type of things show a lot about the character of a person and
You have to rely on your pre-snap reads ... because you know you’re not going to be able to see over the line of scrimmage all the time.
I think there are some similarities between me and him.”
Another commonality is that both are destined for the playoffs.
Picton and the Rams are to oppose the host UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday in a Canada West football semifinal.
During eight regular-season games, Picton threw 19 touchdown passes — tying him for the conference lead with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies’ Kyle Siemens — and 2,491 yards.
Picton threw for 25 touchdowns and 3,186 yards in 2016 en route to being named the outstanding player in Canadian university football.
Glenn himself has 25 touchdown passes this season while helping Saskatchewan post a 10-7 record. The Roughriders, who are to play host to the Edmonton Eskimos in both teams’ regular-season finale on Saturday, have clinched their first CFL playoff berth since 2014.
In the case of the Roughriders and Rams, both teams have enjoyed success with considerable assistance from a quarterback who has dealt with skepticism. However, Glenn hasn’t had to provide much advice along those lines.
“He knows about that, given the fact that he has played football for some years,” Glenn says. “It just didn’t start overnight. Those kind of things happen when we first start playing football as individuals. That kind of stuff, we’ve gone through it our whole life while playing football, so that kind of stuff isn’t new.”
What would be new? A Canadian starting quarterback in the CFL. Glenn feels Picton has what it takes.
“I think so,” Glenn says. “It’s all about the determination and whether that’s what he wants to pursue. I think that anybody that has the opportunity can make the best of it if they put their mind to it and they have the determination to do it.
“If they’re able to take coaching, which I know he can because I’ve watched him, he has the athletic ability to come in and possibly fight for a position. The situations always have to be right, because it’s not always the best athletes or the best guys who make the team. Sometimes the situation has to be good for you, too.”