Another great piece by Jacob Dearlove!
In the season’s fourth edition of the ‘Film Room’ series, we’re going to break down rookie wide receiver Jasper Collins Jr.’s first career touchdown reception, which also happened to be his first career reception in the CFL.
SITUATION
The play came on the Tiger-Cats second offensive drive of the game, on just the third play of the drive. The Riders had just capped off an 11-play drive with a Paul McCallum field goal, taking a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. On the kickoff, the Riders opted to avoid Brandon Banks, kicking a squib to Mike Daly, who returned the ball to Hamilton’s 45-yard line, beginning the drive with great field position. The first two plays of the drive each went for eight yards, with the third being snapped from the Saskatchewan 42-yard line.
Pre-Snap:
[b]The Ticats lined up with Quincy McDuffie and Terrence Toliver split wide right and left respectively, with each on the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped. The remaining receiving personnel on the field were Andy Fantuz (left slot), Junior Collins (inside slot right) and Bakari Grant (outside slot right), all of whom were in motion prior to the snap.
CJ Gable was positioned to the right of quarterback Zach Collaros, who was lined up in shotgun formation.[/b]
http://assets.ticats.ca.s3.amazonaws.com/app/uploads/2015/07/28164559/breakdown2-660x495.jpg
[b]On the other side of the ball, the Riders lined up with two down-linemen on the interior of the defensive line, with two exterior rush ends standing up.
At the second level, the Riders lined up with three linebackers, while lining up with five defensive backs in the secondary.
Collins’ perspective: “We were seeing what we had talked about all week. Coach said “this is the look we’re going to get, and if we get this look we’re gonna be able to go to this play.? So he called the play, and as we’re going through pre-snap reads, we saw the exact look that we had seen. They were playing their 2-Robber type deal, where that guy in the middle of the field was gonna try to come down hard on any type of short or intermediate route.?[/b]
The Play:
[b]Off the snap of the ball, Collaros takes a short drop and steps up into the pocket, which the Ticats offensive line does a great job of creating for him. Pressure from the Riders pass rushers is pushed to the outside, creating a comfortable area to work from for the quarterback. This secure pocket allows time for the double-move route to develop downfield.
Jake Olson stymies John Chick (#97) on the left edge, while Peter Dyakowski and Mike Filer maintain Brandon Tennant (#91). On the right side of the line, Ryan Bomben controls Derek Walker (#70), and Joel Figueroa locks down defensive end Alex Hall (#0). CJ Gable comes out of the backfield on the play, laying a strong chip block on Hall; the Riders defensive end originally has Figueroa on his heels, but Gable’s strong block slows down Hall significantly, creating more time for Collaros in the pocket.[/b]
http://cfl.uploads.mrx.ca/bc/images/general/2015/07/crop_21584094524.gif
[b]As Collaros steps up in the pocket, he looks off the free safety Macho Harris, baiting the defensive back into coverage on Terrence Toliver, who runs a fly down the left side of the field. Toliver’s role on the play is to cancel out the defensive backs on the left side of the field, and he’s able to do so with the help of Collaros’ look-off, leaving the entire middle of the field open for Collins’ route.
On the right side of the field, Quincy McDuffie cuts into the middle, pulling up short on a hook route. Bakari Grant runs a dig route, running straight upfield before veering to the right and back-tracking to the sideline.[/b]
http://assets.ticats.ca.s3.amazonaws.com/app/uploads/2015/07/28163637/connection-660x495.jpg
These two routes also play a part in opening up a path for Junior Collins, running an in-and-up route from the right slot. Collins makes the whole play click with top-notch route running. Beginning what looks like a fly route, he works straight upfield before taking a couple cut-steps into the middle of the field. Riders safety Tyron Brackenridge, fooled by the cut-steps inside, attempts to jump what he thinks is an intermediate route; Collins proceeds to cut back outside and straight upfield, leaving Brackenridge completely lost.
http://cfl.uploads.mrx.ca/bc/images/general/2015/07/crop_21584074432.gif
Collins’ perspective: “It was great, obviously. I hit it on my route, and as soon as I turned I kind of saw him take a step down and I knew he was coming down hard. I just turned right up, and at that point I knew I just had to dig out of my route and not look back too soon, even though I’m open. I knew I wanted to run out of it and then I just had to find the ball and make the catch.?
[b]After Collins had beat Brackenridge, there was nothing but open field in front of him, and Collaros led him into the end zone with the pass. Collins reeled in the over the shoulder catch right at the edge of the end zone, jogging in untouched. In one play, Collins had made his first career CFL catch and his first career touchdown.
Collins’ Perspective: [i]“Catch the ball. That’s always what I’m thinking, every time I run a route…I’m expected to make that play, and I expect myself to make that play.?
“It was a tremendous feeling, being as it was my first catch of my career and it happened to be a touchdown…At that point, once I made that play, I was eased into the full game and felt like I could just go out and play.?[/i][/b]
[url=http://ticats.ca/film-room-junior-collins-first-career-cfl-td/]http://ticats.ca/film-room-junior-colli ... er-cfl-td/[/url]