Cary Koch

Grover · June 11, 2014, 2:39am

Great read by Milton on Cary Koch(the real thing)

[b]The fifth-year wideout, who arrived via Edmonton and before that Saskatchewan, has been getting open thoughtfully and consistently at training camp and when he doesn't, in most cases he wins the in-air battles for the ball.

"That's one of the things he's always done," says Ticat offensive co-ordinator Tommy Condell. "He attacks the ball. Sometimes … it's 'whose ball is it?' And he gets it."

And his teammates in the defensive secondary, too often reading his number from behind, have taken to yanking fistfuls of his long hair to try to reign him back in.

"It might be too long right now," Koch laughed after another good outing Tuesday. "I've actually got it pulled four times — I'm counting now — when I've beaten my man. That's my team doing it, I can only imagine what it'll be like against another team."[/b]

[b]When free agency opened, Koch talked to a few teams but settled on the Tiger-Cats because of the cerebral nature of their attack.

"You're not going to get your route in the huddle," he explains. "You're going to be having to know the defences and know the routes (of teammates) around you. To be able to change your route if need be. It's a very intellectual offence, you have to be thinking all the time, and I like that aspect of the game."

One of the first things Condell and Kent Austin mention about Koch is his football IQ and his quickness, both afoot and a-brain.[/b]

While Koch's hands are like five-fingered pillows — he held a bit for place-kicker Justin Medlock Tuesday and he and Bakari Grant are maestros on the new tennis-ball catching machine — he had been a running back all of his high school career because of his speed. The Cats are expecting him to stretch the field more effectively than anyone on their receiving corps did last year. Early indications are that he'll spend much of his time at the short-side wideout but he said Tuesday that he expects to play some slotback in the pre-season games.