Game-breaker Durant back in action
Big play receiver to face Lions after recovering from ankle sprain
In the blink of an eye, Lemar Durant went from a highlight reel leap to a high-ankle sprain.
It temporarily put the 6-foot-2, 230-pound receiver’s sophomore campaign with the Calgary Stampeders on pause.
But a month after making an eye-popping catch against the B.C. Lions in the first game of the season, the Vancouver product is ready to get back to the breakout campaign many are still expecting.
“It was a big highlight catch and everyone’s pumped up, and then there I am down, injured,” Durant said. “It was tough.
“I’ve had ankle injuries before and they’ve kept me out not even a week, so that’s what I thought it was going to be. It ended up being a lot longer than that and a lot longer than even I’d thought it’d be with a high-ankle sprain.”
Through his first year and change as a professional, Durant has 14 receptions for 226 and three touchdowns on his resume.
But most of that has come against the team he grew up watching, as he’s piled up six receptions for 108 yards and two of those TDs against the Lions.
“I definitely try not to miss games against B.C.,” Durant said this week with a grin.
“I love playing my hometown team and making it hurt.”
With Eric Rogers opening his first training camp with the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, the Stampeders aerial attack has been a spread ’em out and spread it around affair so far this season, with a CFL-high 13 players getting their hands on footballs thrown by Bo Levi Mitchell.
“We’re pretty balanced,” Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson said.
“I don’t know if we’ve got that one unstoppable guy, but it would be better to have five guys that are pretty darn good, and that’s what we think we’ve got.”
That was on full display in last week’s 33-18 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, as Marquay McDaniel and Anthony Parker did most of the damage with seven catches apiece, before Bakari Grant and Simon CharbonneauCampeau played key roles with big fourth-quarter receptions.
Durant, however, has the potential to be the type of game-breaker that really gives defences something to think about.
“I definitely think he can be a big piece to the puzzle,” Mitchell said.
“We pride ourselves, obviously, on not focusing on people or creating all-stars out of guys because we get everybody the ball, but Lemar is a guy that can make big plays and he’s one of one of the most exciting players in the game, I believe, once the ball’s in his hands. We’ve just gotta find ways to get the ball in his hands.”
After spending most of his rookie season learning the pro game as an outside receiver, Durant has shifted inside this year to a spot where players with his size and leaping ability tend to flourish.
“I feel like a lot of people my size and playing style play more in the slot, but, also, just from playing the American game (in college at Simon Fraser), I’m used to playing outside and being on the ball,” Durant said.
“Really, I feel comfortable at both and I’m ready to go where ever they want to put me.”
They just need to put the ball in his hands, no matter where it is on the field, but Dickenson maintains they won’t force it.
“It’s kind of what defences give us, what position gets more balls,” Dickenson said.
“For Lemar, he’s a very strong runner and has strong hands, too. It seems like when you give him a chance for a jump ball on someone, he always comes down with it.”
Hopefully, he doesn’t make it a habit of coming down with an ankle sprain, too.