How Ellingson became the go-to receiver
It’s not like Greg Ellingson flicked a magic switch and turned into one of the CFL’s best receivers.
Fact is, he has been in the conversation for a few years. This season, he’s leading the CFL with 44 catches for 702 yards, with 11 games to go.
“If you’re not continually growing, you’re regressing,” Ellingson said on Tuesday. “I’m always picking up new things I see from other receivers. You always want to develop the things you’re good at, make them better and be great at them. And you also want to improve on things you’re not so good at.”
Ellingson came to the CFL in 2013 and caught 52 passes for 800 yards in just 12 games with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In 2014, he had 32 catches for 429 yards. After signing with the Redblacks in 2015, he had back-toback 1,000-yard seasons — 1,061 in 2015 and 1,260 in 2016.
“I still believe five years ago I was capable of doing the things I’m doing,” Ellingson said. “Things happen. I got injured my first year, the second year they didn’t play me as much. It’s also just getting the opportunity to make the plays. When you have the opportunity and you make the most of it, you kind of get the light shining on you a bit more.”
With Chris Williams and Ernest Jackson gone from a group that had back-to-back seasons of four receivers with more than 1,000 yards in catches, Ellingson and Brad Sinopoli have emerged as go-to guys.
“Every year, you see Greg come back with a little chip on his shoulder,” Redblacks receivers coach Travis Moore said. “He’s so smooth. He accelerates off every route, even in practice, and he competes. I would say he’s an elite receiver. These younger guys, they watch the way Greg and Brad practise and they’re following suit.”
Developing a strong on-field relationship with Redblacks quarterback Trevor Harris has helped boost the stat line.
“Greg’s a guy at first I struggled to throw to,” Harris said. “He runs his routes a lot differently. Once you throw to Greg for a while, you understand his strengths and the things he does well. He’s very difficult to cover in terms of the way he runs a lot of his routes — they look the same at times. Obviously, we have a good thing going right now and we’re going to continue to build on that.”
“It’s just communication, no matter who the quarterback is on any given week,” Ellingson said. “You want to be on the same page so you can make plays.”
If defences tighten up their coverage, if they pay extra attention to Ellingson, the Redblacks are hoping they can get their other receivers more involved in the offence.
Said Harris: “We can’t put it all on Greg and Brad. We have to make sure we spread the ball around. People think, ‘Oh, you’re just going to throw it to Greg, aren’t you?’ I don’t know who I’m going to throw it to. I’m going to just follow my progression and whatever my progression tells me to do is what I’m going to do.”
“Those younger guys, they’ll get their chances, too,” Moore said. “We like to say everybody is catching and eating. We make plays, we move down the field, you have to stop all of us. You want to get everybody the ball, give them touches. If you take out Greg, if you take out Brad, someone else has to step up to the plate and let’s go.”
As for Ellingson, he’s pushing to elevate himself as a receiver every day.
“There’s always room to grow,” he said. “First of all, we have to win games so I’m doing whatever I can to help get this train on the tracks and move toward the playoffs. Individually, it’s just eliminating mistakes and cleaning up the little things. If you want to go down as being one of the better receivers in the league, you have to keep producing.” CH-CH-CHANGES
Jason Lauzon-Seguin was back in at offensive tackle for Jake Silas at Tuesday’s practice, while Adrian James was at SAM linebacker, with Antoine Pruneau shifting back to safety. Will James play Thursday against Edmonton? Said Redblacks coach Rick Campbell: “It’s definitely a possibility. He’s been on the roster the past few weeks playing mainly special teams. But he’s a guy we’re high on and he keeps developing. We’re not going to commit to it until (Wednesday) because I want to watch practice and make sure he knows what he’s doing. But I feel comfortable with him so far.” MORE QUINCY
The Redblacks are trying to create more of a role for receiver/ returner Quincy McDuffie, who made his Ottawa debut last week and returned a missed field goal 50 yards. He saw plenty of time at receiver on Tuesday. Said Campbell: “We need to push that along as fast as possible. He made two great catches out here, that’s exactly what we’re looking for — guys who can step up and make tough plays.”