Riders must showcase Carter on offence again
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have found a way to stop one of the CFL’s premier pass-catchers — namely their own Duron Carter.
Carter amassed a team-high 1,043 receiving yards despite being virtually ignored on offence during the Roughriders’ final three regular season games of 2017.
On Oct. 20, Carter did not play a single down at his customary wide receiver post because he started at cornerback for Saskatchewan in its eye-opening, 30-7 CFL victory over the host Calgary Stampeders. The most memorable play of that game was Carter’s 43-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The 26-year-old son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter was back on offence for the next two games, during which he moonlighted as a defensive back.
The Riders’ quarterbacks targeted Carter only three times — connecting once for a six-yard gain — during a 37-12 victory over the visiting Montreal Alouettes on Oct. 27.
Last Friday, during the Riders’ 28-13 home-field loss to the Edmonton Eskimos, the only pass thrown in Carter’s direction was an incompletion.
Oddly enough, Carter became an afterthought on offence after his 11-catch, 231-yard monster game against the visiting Ottawa Redblacks on Oct. 13.
Now that Saskatchewan is preparing to face the Redblacks once again — in Sunday’s East Division semifinal — the time has arrived to once again incorporate Carter into the offensive scheme.
The über-athletic Carter is the Roughriders’ most dangerous offensive player and, given his talents, it stands to reason that they would seek to derive the maximum benefit from his presence during a must-win game.
The conversion of Carter to cornerback — a position at which he started as an injury replacement for Kacy Rodgers
II, who has since returned to the lineup — was an intriguing story, but the time for such experimentation and gimmickry is over.
It would behoove offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo to feed the football to Carter as often and as creatively as possible. He is, after all, the type of player who can take over a game and destroy a defence.
So why is it, then, that Carter has gone two months without an offensive touchdown?
On Sept. 9, Carter scored on an 88-yard pass-and-run connection with Kevin Glenn during a road game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
That long-distance effort gave Carter eight aerial majors for the season and extended his touchdown-scoring streak to six games.
Since then, Carter has registered only one touchdown — which came when he intercepted Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and went the distance.
If the Roughriders hope to go the distance in the playoffs, their utilization of Carter must change.
What are they saving him for?