Which star receiver will have to give way to Chris Williams?
Other receivers have played well, but Lions need big-play threat on field
With the return of speedster Chris Williams, B.C. now has another game-breaking receiver. But it also means someone is going to be forced to the sidelines. Who in the uber-talented group will it be?
The B.C. Lions have lost once in five CFL games.
Their receiving unit is a big reason. It’s deep, dangerous, balanced — and really good.
It also has the potential to get really awkward in the near future.
Just put yourself in coach Wally Buono’s shoes for a moment. Imagine sitting down with a receiver who just blew up for 220 yards in a game, one who is on pace for 1,300-plus for the season, to tell him he’s being benched.
That conversation fortunately can wait, as the Lions head coach pointed out Tuesday. But not for long.
Chris Williams is the 29-year-old, game-breaking burner who was the Lions’ marquee off-season freeagent acquisition. He hasn’t played a game but he’s coming. For the second straight day he was a full participant in practice Tuesday and cutting on dimes, looking fully recovered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus he suffered in October.
Buono’s receiving group was just fine when he landed Williams in the off-season. But just fine isn’t going to drop jaws at B.C. Place Stadium or light up group text messages. Williams can. “I think I’m pretty good at the entertaining part of it,” Williams said, barely containing his smile. “My brand of football is pretty exciting.
“I like to make big plays. I know when I get the ball, everyone stands up to see what’s going to happen next.”
To get Williams in, someone is going to be left out. And it’s going to look cold. So cold. That someone is likely to be a receiver who has been balling — mostly because all of the receivers have been balling.
The obvious candidate is Nick Moore, who torched Hamilton for 220 yards two weeks ago, adding 36 more yards Friday against Winnipeg and is among Travis Lulay’s most trusted receivers.
Manny Arceneaux and Bryan Burnham are the big dogs on the outside. They’re staying in the lineup if healthy. Canadian Shaq Johnson is likely to stay in because the Lions won’t go with four imports at the position. That leaves Moore, who has been playing the same wide receiver position Williams is slotted to get.
Things can change, of course. Look no further than Tuesday’s Lions practice in which Arceneaux did not participate.
“We wanted to get him a rest,” Buono said. “It’s always prudent to give players rest, especially at this time in the season. You don’t want things to linger.
“But rest in practice is one thing. Sitting out a game is another thing. The shoulder is not a thing we’re overly concerned about. The leg injury, sometimes you just need to rest it.”
The possibility Arceneaux is already banged up only makes the Williams acquisition look more shrewd.
But what really matters is Williams can be a game-changer, giving the Lions a dimension they don’t already have. Some of that will be seen in the return game.
“Everyone always looks at the obvious,” Buono said. “He gives you a lot of things as a receiver but he also gives you another returner.
“I’m waiting for the day when both (Williams and Chris Rainey) are back there catching kicks. They want to kick way from (Rainey)? That’s fine. They want to kick away from (Williams)? That’s fine, too. One of the Chris’s is going to hurt them.”
The special teams element is one layer. This has been a good offence. It can be a great one, one that is going to be very problematic for opposing defensive coordinators.
“I’m glad I don’t have that job (defensive coordinator),” Williams said. “It won’t be the easiest thing to do.
“I think it will turn them vanilla. Maybe force them to go back to their base stuff and depend on their guys to do what they need to do. But we will be ready for every situation.
“This corps is so deep and we’re all very different, too. It gives a lot of problems to teams.”
It could also give the Lions some problems if egos aren’t kept in check, something right now no one believes will be an issue.
As for that conversation with Moore, the coach isn’t worried about it — yet.
“We’re not going to worry about that until we have to do it,” Buono said. “Things change week to week. I don’t want to get into ‘What if, what if, what if.’
“We went after quality receivers. We wanted to put a quality product on the field. And by doing that, there are going to be times when someone has to sit.”
Someone good.