Ticats’ trash now Lions’ treasure
‘I’m where I want to be,’ says defensive tackle Coleman after trade for fourth-round pick
When Ed Hervey received the text asking if he was interested in Davon Coleman, this is what he told the Hamilton Tiger-Cats:
“Coleman, hmmm. Yes, we might be interested but we have to go through the process.”
But this is what he likely thought:
“Coleman? Are you freaking kidding? We’ve got a hole the size of Langley at his position and the start of the regular season is a month away. Of course we want him.”
Now, after giving up, ahem, a fourth-round draft pick, they’ve got him.
“Clean living,” says Hervey. Which is as good an explanation as any for this transaction.
Coleman, the 6-1, 285pound defensive tackle from Arizona State, was dropped in the Lions’ lap by the football gods while training camp was underway and the acquisition of this player at that cost, while quizzical, registers as a lottery win for the Leos.
For starters, Coleman comes to the Lions on his entry-level contract (neighbourhood of $70,000) after playing 17 games with the Ticats in his rookie season. Last year, he recorded five sacks and 41 tackles, knocked Lions’ quarterback Jonathon Jennings out of one game and blew up the Eskimos’ QB Mike Reilly the next week.
He also plays a position the Lions have been trying to fill since the contract of freeagent signing Euclid Cummings was voided owing to criminal charges.
Before Coleman’s arrival, the Lions were auditioning a series of rookies, including Claudell Louis, who’s now on the practice roster. Now, they have a physical presence in the middle of their defensive front who figures to make life easier for pass-rushing defensive ends Odell Willis and Gabe Knapton.
Before you ask, Coleman got into a couple of practice scraps with teammates in Hamilton but Hervey said the Lions vetted him and, “He checked out.”
“There were fights but we felt we had the locker-room and the coaching staff for him,” said the Lions’ GM. “He’s been good for us. There haven’t been any signs he’s a malcontent.”
But there have been plenty of signs he’s a fit on the Lions.
“Oh man,” said linebacker Solomon Elimimian, the leader of the Lions’ defence. “You know what. He’s a really good football player. I’m not sure why it didn’t work out (in Hamilton) but don’t worry about that. He’s here. He works hard and he’s making an effort to jell with the team.
“As long as he brings his lunch pail to work everyday we’ll be OK and that’s what he’s done.”
Coleman, in fact, brings a strong resume to his new team that predates his time in Hamilton. In college, he was honourable mention allPac-12 at Arizona State before he caught on with the Dallas Cowboys as a non-drafted free agent.
Coleman spent a couple of seasons with the Cowboys, playing four games before he was released in September of 2015 and started a tour of the NFL common to so many CFLers. After stops in Chicago, Tampa and New York with the Giants, he signed in Hamilton just over a year ago and thought he’d found a home.
And he did. It was just the other side of the country a year later.
“So far, so good,” said Coleman. “It’s been a good overall transition. Those guys over there didn’t want me. These guys did. I’m where I want to be. It’s been all love to be honest.”
Coleman was asked if the fights in practice had anything to do with his release by the Ticats.
“I don’t think that was the determining factor,” he answered. “I’m just as lost as anyone else. It really took me as a shock. But I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.”
Which is how Lions’ head coach Wally Buono sees things.
“You’re getting a piece to your puzzle that isn’t attainable unless you pay a lot of money. He gives us another dangerous pass rusher and a physical presence. He’s made us a better football team.”
In other words, this might be the case where something that seems too good to be true actually is.