White shows Esks’ running game is more than all right

At the start of the Edmonton Eskimos season, there were a few go-to household names on the roster.

Quarterback Mike Reilly and slotbacks Fred Stamps and Adarius Bowman probably topped most fans’ lists. On defence, defensive end Odell Willis, brand new all-star cornerback Pat Watkins and maybe linebacker J.C. Sherritt were easy to rattle off.

A full 18 games and one playoff win later, John White’s name has run its way into that conversation.

When training camp opened in June, few would have thought that the secondyear running back would be the impact player that he’s become, taking 123 handoffs for 852 yards and two touchdowns. On Sunday, in the Canadian Football League’s West Division final against the Calgary Stampeders — when the run game is paramount to victory — a trip to the Grey Cup will rest in the 23-year-old’s capable hands.

White’s come a long way from June, when an injury had him out of the majority of training camp. When he finally did get into action, it looked like he was on the bubble, listed as the third running back on the Eskimos’ depth chart for the team’s final preseason game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

But by Week 3 of the season, White had gone from third to starter.

White got the start against the Ottawa Redblacks in Week 3 and gave his team a 99-yard day in a come-frombehind win. It was his first of eight games this year where he’d go over 90 yards. He’s had four games over 100 yards rushing and is coming off a 139-yard effort in last week’s playoff win over the Riders.

You won’t get a complex answer from the Torrance, Calif., native on what’s worked for him this year.

“I never saw myself at two or three on the depth chart,” he said on Thursday at the end of the Eskimos’ closed practice.

“I got my reps (in practice) and I can’t count my reps, I have to make my reps count. (I knew at) any point I could be in there and that’s just what happened.”

Like every player coming in from last year’s 4-14 season, White had a lot to prove. As a rookie, he showed glimpses of what he could do. He was a dual threat, capable of big gains on the ground, but also showed he could take a short pass and turn it into heavy yardage. In too many key situations last year, though, those passes were dropped and cost his team.

“I watched every game of his from last year,” Eskimos running backs coach Jo Nixon said of White earlier this month.