Poor Chad Kackert Takes over for the leading rusher in the CFL and becomes the Grey cup MVP and along the way leads the league in Yards per carry ( I think ) and every team is already more than set at RB not to mention that Cory Boyd does not even have a a team and he came off off back to back 1,000 yard seasons and was leading the league in rushing when released for a west coast offense RB. Supply and Demand gives the Argos all of the leverage here. Hopefully his agent is looking to get endorsement or commercial deals cause after his great season with a great ending will not have him cashing in with Avon Cobourne type money.
Of course no one can be sure what exactly kackert made this season due to the fact that the salaries are not published but being a rarely used designated import playing behind an everydown workhorse rusher in boyd it would have to be very close to the league minimum.
Running backs are the most plentiful commodity in pro football. You can always find a good RB coming out of the U.S. college system. Kackert's nothing special.
The next time a CFL team loses its top back to injury, let’s see how quickly all the skills at hand from that back are replaced.
I can’t disagree more with your comment, and in each and every season it’s any given week that the adverse experience of a team losing a key back is at hand.
It takes a few weeks and sometimes that lost back is not replaced at all for his full capabilities.
Oh yes there are a lot of guys who can run the ball for sure, but how many can also:
Hold onto the football
Block (here a great many even otherwise solid backs fail)
Read, run a short route, and catch as the check-down option on a passing down
Disagree all you want Paolo, but d&p is absolutely correct. Look at the evidence:
Montreal loses Cobourne, replaces him with Whitaker, doesn’t lose a beat. Whitaker goes down to injury, in come Anderson and Jennings, Als still don’t skip a beat.
Toronto jettisons league leading rusher Cory Boyd, replaces him with Chad Kackert, go on to win a Grey Cup with Kackert in a starring role.
Winnipeg expected Garrett to be their running back this season after starring late previous season; he goes down to injury and in comes Chad Simpson. … as good if not better.
Calgary replaces Joffrey Reynolds with Cornish; Saskatchewan replaces Wes Cates with Korey Sheets. . .
The list goes on and on. . . RB is probably the easiest position in which to find quality replacements quickly.
One of the ‘easiest’ positions to find replacements quickly? I’d say you are right perhaps half the time but I don’t agree ‘easiest’ though would agree ‘easier’ but usually you don’t get the same quality at hand for quite awhile.
The recovery at RB has not happened in Edmonton after Messam got hurt and the recovery in the running game has not happened in Winnipeg since they lost Fred Reid even with Simpson. In fact I argue that the full capabilities of Whitlock in 2009 were never replaced in Edmonton. Garrett barely got going in 2011 before getting hurt before 2012.
I don’t agree with you on Simpson being a full replacement for Fred Reid with Reid’s best days behind him anyway. We’ll watch Simpson and Garrett perhaps fight it out in training camp in Winnipeg.
Both Edmonton and Winnipeg have yet to identify their franchise backs despite the amount of talent around. Easy replacement of the quality game of the prior respective stars? I don’t think so.
Montreal let Cobourne go probably due to age to salary and that was their choice and it worked out, and that release was not due to injury on which my comments below are based. The Al’s don’t focus on a power running game either though Whittaker led the league in rushing in 2011. I’ll agree that so long as Calvillo is around, the Al’s will do just fine losing a running back as compared to other teams relying on the running game for more of their offence.
Toronto turned out to have made the right call to let Boyd go too, and thus the content of this thread; however, if Kackert got hurt, I’ll argue like I say below that he won’t be replaced easily if at all any time soon. Oh sure they’l find someone else, but that player won’t measure up to Kackert’s complete game.
Reynolds was past his prime in 2011 and it was time for him to go, so again that’s not what I am talking about in my comments below but when any given star is suddenly injured and this claim that he can be easily replaced.
I’ll agree with you on Saskatchewan, but Wes Cates was past his prime by 2011 anyway.
I say you can cut off the list after Matt Forte at 12 plus add Ahmad Bradshaw.
We have Adrian Peterson and then it’s not even close. Amazingly Peterson recovered from that injury to have his best season ever, and Chris Johnson and Matt Forte recovered as well. Morris, Martin, Ridley, and Spiller are some real surprises. I was totally wrong on Martin when he was drafted by Tampa Bay.
Sorry, but there’s so much evidence against that argument. Just look at BC’s running backs over the last few years as an example. They went from Smith, to Logan, to Mallett, to Robertson, to Messam/Harris, to Brown/Harris all within a matter of 4 seasons. There are many NFL teams running two even three back systems not because their guys aren’t good enough, but because they have that many reliable guys at that position.
Ask any pro football scout and they’ll tell you running backs are a dime in a dozen. There’s a reason why teams are reluctant to sign RBs to long term lucrative deals, they know there’s going to be other guys out there that can be just as effective at a cheap price.
I’m not saying anyone can play running back just walking off the street. Yes there are the odd superstars who really stand out, but there are TONS of them out there as free agents that are capable starters and are just as good as kackert. The skillset is nowhere near as rare as you think it is.
Using a list of the top running backs in the NFL is comparing apples to oranges, those guys are never part of the conversation for CFL teams. there are tons of guys out from college teams/free agency that are capable of being CFL starters that don’t have a team right now.
Agreed. There’s 117 D1 teams - - plus the D2 and D3 schools. Every year there’s dozens of good RBs graduating. Just not enough spots available for them to all end up on a pro team. So a bunch will end up playing in the arena league or sitting around on the inactive list - - like Kackert did last year.
So much talent and potential no doubt with plenty with a resume carrying the ball – in college!
There is a huge gap between that whole bunch and actual performers at running back with broad skills on a consistent basis on the field in pro football.
Those performers are tough finds and NOT easily replaced by performers rather than just by another ball-carrier to have a short-lived time in pro football.
None of that talk will stop plenty a homer comment around the time of camp after any given performer is lost to free agency and some new crop of guys is fighting it out for the new starting spot.
Sometimes it works out but not even near always as I am hearing from some of these comments just because there are “so many guys” with talent and potential.
The Reynolds, Cobournes, et cetera are a limited number of guys for sure.
[b]There is a huge gap between that whole bunch and actual performers at running back with broad skills on a consistent basis on the field in pro football.
Those performers are tough finds and NOT easily replaced by performers rather than just by another ball-carrier to have a short-lived time in pro football.[/b]
None of that talk will stop plenty a homer comment around the time of camp after any given performer is lost to free agency and some new crop of guys is fighting it out for the new starting spot.
Sometimes it works out but not even near always as I am hearing from some of these comments just because there are “so many guys” with talent and potential.
The Reynolds, Cobournes, et cetera are a limited number of guys for sure.
How many times in the CFL can you point out a running back that was a total calamity and couldn’t get anything done? Yes, there some guys that are faster than others, some that are tougher than others - but that’s the same with any position in football.
There’s high turnover at running back in every league for a reason, the only guys that stick are the big time stars. Kackert isn’t one of those yet, it’s easy to run the ball when the play calling is good and everyone around you is playing well - which is exactly why a good scheme can provide any running back a chance to succeed as long as everyone does their job. Just look at the Patriots this year, they’ve been using 4 different running backs in a rotation - they have that luxury thanks to the efficiency of their offense. If the gaps and plays are there, there are TONS of athletes out there than can run the ball. You don’t have to have a high IQ to find the gaps and follow the playbook.
Forget about the 100s of Division 1 NCAA running backs, there are Division 2 RBs that come up here and have an impact immediately in the pros as rookies (Martell Mallett is a perfect example, and there are others too).
although there is an abundance of rbs out there tere are still some top ones that will stick around. two imorts we saw this season are sheets and simpson to be that type of rb until the punding catches up with them. using at least 2 tailbacks helpe preserve them bu may not give them the big Induvidal stats
Good article here about Armond Armstead and his NFL hopes:
He hopes his Canadian Football League skills help land him in the NFL
Baalke said NFL teams have allocated more resources to the CFL in the last five years or so.
"It's more about speed and quickness," said Armstead, who is 6-foot-5 and dropped from 300 pounds to about 285 for his CFL season. "You have to be athletic to play in this league. You have to cover more space. You're basically playing against a spread offense every week."
This was Armsteads first year in the CFL so I imagine that he had to have signed for at least two seasons. By the way people are talking he could by in the NFL next season I imagine this means that the Argos are going to allow him out of his contract if he can land an NFL job whuch is undoubtedly a reality for him.
He does have experience as a Kick Off returner and special teamer. For the right team he could fit the spot of a Practice roster player who can come onto the roster if needed to pla specials return and others while being a back up at RB. His price would be right as he would only mandate the Minimum salary of a NFL rookie of 390K but that is a lot of Ifs involved for him to actually land a job. Another thing he has going for him is that he is still young. There is a spot on NFL teams PR/53 man for such players who will be happy with that role and play hard in practice to prepare the starters and if called upon play hard on special teams for a game or two and still be good with returning to a Practice roster