‘Secondary wants the ball’
‘They’re all talented in some aspect,’ DB Evans says of Esks’ receiving corps
It would definitely be fun to hype up Monday’s Labour Day Classic by talking about a one-on-one battle between Edmonton Eskimos receiver Duke Williams and one of the Calgary Stampeders’ all-star defensive backs.
A heavyweight slugfest between Williams and, say, Ciante Evans sure sounds like something worth tuning in for, right?
Maybe Williams versus Brandon Smith would be easy to sell, too.
Unfortunately, this is the Stampeders we’re talking about and it’s not going to happen.
“It’s not at all how we play, but we can still write it in the paper,” Stamps defensive backs coach Josh Bell said jokingly. “We’re going to match up this game and we’ll draw straws for who gets the best receivers.
“You know, if you’re covering those receivers, you’re going to get a certain number of balls and opportunities to be great.”
The Stampeders aren’t, as head coach Dave Dickenson put it, a matchup team.
They line up and play their positions and defensive backs are expected to cover whoever is in front of them.
Williams might be the league’s leading receiver, but the Stampeders won’t be moving anybody around to match up with him.
“I don’t think we’ll see oneon-one matchups at all,” said the veteran Smith. “(The Eskimos) switch guys in and out at different positions to create the matchups they want at certain times, but it’s not like back in the day where you knew who would be lined up at certain locations.”
When the Eskimos and the Stampeders release their position charts for Monday’s Labour Day Classic, it will most likely be Smith who is lined up across from Williams, while Derel Walker — who has the third-most receiving yards in the CFL — will start the game lined up across from Stamps rookie Tre Roberson.
That won’t last long, though, and the Eskimos’ constant movement of receivers is part of what makes them so challenging to stop.
It takes a team effort to contain the Eskimos’ deep group.
“I think what it comes down to is our back end versus their receiving corps,” Evans said. “We all know Duke’s a good player — that’s known across the league. But they also have other good threats and other options … You go across the board and they’re all talented in some aspect, so we need to be aware of the group as a whole.
“We need to tune into our game plan and watch film, do extra film study and know these guys and what they like to do.”
While the Stampeders clearly respect the receiving talent the Eskimos have at their disposal, they are also very clearly relishing the challenge that lies ahead.
Quarterback Mike Reilly is going to throw the ball and look to make big, game-changing plays and that’s going to give the guys in the Stampeders’ defensive backfield the chance to make plays of their own.
That’s what every defensive back lives for.
“They love it,” Bell said. “Everybody in our secondary wants the ball, right? We want the ball. Nobody has any kind of fear. They’re all competitors and they’ll all bet on themselves in any situation just like I would.
“The guys are excited about being able to get some balls from Reilly because you know he’s going the throw the ball and he’s going to trust those (Eskimos receivers) to make plays and we’re going to trust our guys to stop plays.”