Hard-nosed Sutton is Buono’s kind of guy
Battering ram RB acquired from Montreal could hold key to Lions’ playoff chances
Tyrell Sutton talks like he runs the football.
The B.C. Lions traded for him with the Montreal Alouettes last month to handle their rushing duties.
They put him in the lineup last week against the Calgary Stampeders and head coach Wally Buono asked him beforehand how many yards he thought he’d run for.
Sutton answered in an instant. He told Buono 200.
“He looked at me like I was joking. He said, ‘No, no, no … honestly?’ But that’s what I wanted,” said Sutton.
Sutton ran for 106 yards on 22 carries, including two crucial touchdowns, in a 26-21 triumph over the Stamps that helped resurrect a Lions’ season that looked dead in the water at one point.
It wasn’t the 200 yards, but you get the idea.
He’s hard-charging, straight ahead, let’s get down to business. And he’ll get the ball often once again Friday, when the Lions can clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Edmonton Eskimos (8-8) at B.C. Place Stadium.
The Lions (8-7) have won five of their last six games to climb back into contention.
“I’ve always loved Sutton because he’s my kind of guy,” Buono said.
“He’s tough, he’s physical, no nonsense and you’re not going to get any surprises out of him. He’s a guy who sets the tone and, if you don’t come to play, he’s going to run over you.
“He just needs to do what he did last week. How’s that? He wants to do 200 yards and I’ll be very happy if he does that. If he can get us 120 to 150 yards a game in the next three games plus playoffs, I think we’ll be in good shape.”
The Lions brain trust brought him in because they felt he was more likely to give them the tough between-the-tackles yards than Jeremiah Johnson or anyone else on the roster.
Sutton does seem to come inspired. Four weeks ago, he was in the middle of a sixth season with the Alouettes, with no chance at the playoffs.
He laughed heartily at first when he was asked about that Thursday.
“It changes things a little bit,” said Sutton, 31, who’s from Akron, Ohio, and played his college ball at Northwestern.
“Not a part of my game has changed as far as coming out here and representing my brothers and playing for each guy next to me. That hasn’t changed. It’s the bigger picture that’s changed.
“Being able to be in this position that I haven’t been in for the last three or four years is tremendous. I just want to make sure that I have these guys’ back and do what they brought me here to do.
“Everyone wants to be a champion. Period. This is the first step to being a champion. It’s getting our ticket to the dance. We haven’t done that yet. We need to make sure we come out with the same mentality, or even better, than last week.”
Sutton led the CFL in rushing in 2015, amassing 1,059 yards for a Montreal team that missed the playoffs at 6-12. He was a CFL all-star. He had rushed for 417 yards on 86 carries this season with Montreal.
B.C. acquired Sutton, as well as Montreal’s third-round choice in the 2019 CFL Draft, for the Lions’ 2019 second-round selection.