BACKUPS READY TO ANSWER CALL
Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 03:00PM
Injuries can strike at any time, so Eskimos rely on depth chart to fill positions
By Scott Petersen,
Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON - In case of major emergency -- and only then -- break glass on these players at these positions:
- Receivers Rob LeBlanc and Andrew Nowacki start making a living with their legs, instead of their arms, by taking over kicking duties;
- Singor Mobley switches from defence to offence and pounds out yards as the starting tailback;
- Fullback Mathieu Bertrand finally finds out what he can do as a quarterback in a pass-happy Edmonton Eskimos offence;
- And quarterback Ricky Ray drops his shoulder to deliver bone-crunching hits at linebacker?
The Eskimos were one injury away from putting star receiver Jason Tucker at safety in their last game against Calgary. That intriguing tidbit for fans, and sweat-inducing decision for the coaches, begs the question of exactly who are the backups' backups?
A plague of injuries can strike at any time, making coaches scramble for bodies to fill positions. Luckily, they've pumped their players for past history and have some deep, deep depth charts.
"We always try to find out," said head coach Danny Maciocia. "And all of them have carried the football at one point in their lives.
"If you ask Mobley, he says he's still waiting for me to put in something where he can carry the football. So some of these guys, basically when they played and dominated their respective leagues, went both ways. They did it all.
"It wasn't too long ago I saw Ricky Ray's highlight clips of playing linebacker and quarterback at the Pop Warner level. Now you don't want to go back as far as Pop Warner, because you could be in trouble, but you hope that they've done it in high school at the least and if they've done it in college, that's huge."
It's doubtful the Eskimos would ever line Ray, their $400,000-a-year franchise cornerstone, up for potential
injury at linebacker. But if you ask him, he kind of likes the idea.
"Obviously, I don't think I'm a big, physical guy, so I have to use my head a little more," Ray said, noting he'd shoot for the less punishing shoe-string and lower-body tackles.
"I wouldn't be scared to do it. I don't think I'd be the best at it, but I'm not scared to stick my nose in there a little bit and try to make some tackles."
And if Ray, Jason Johnson and Steven Jyles all go down over the course of a game, it's Bertrand who'll take over the offence. The high school and college quarterback already has it all mapped out if his chance comes, opting for play-action on his first snap and hitting "Tucker every single pass."
With Bertrand currently injured, duties would likely fall to Ed Hervey or even LeBlanc.
"I hope we don't have to go four (quarterbacks) deep," said Maciocia. "I don't have five. I have four. LeBlanc, I guess, did some high school quarterbacking, but don't get me thinking like that."
Down to one kicker on the roster, Sean Fleming's health is of great importance to the Eskimos and the continued mental health of their coach. But if he did get run over, you can expect a lot of commotion on the sidelines.
"I'll be massaging his leg, getting ice, anything to get him back out there so one of us doesn't have to," said Nowacki, who combines with Bertrand and LeBlanc as backups who'd rather not see the responsibilities of a game-winning field goal or important punt fall at their feet.
LeBlanc feels similarly: "I prefer not to think about it, so I guess I'll just let what little ability I have take over if presented with the situation and try to remain as calm as possible."
Against Calgary, both Mobley and Antico Dalton dropped back to safety to fill the need and keep Tucker as an offensive weapon only. Dalton, who rarely receives mention for his special teams and sub work, continued to show his versatility.
"That's the first thing I acknowledged when I came into the locker-room," said Maciocia. "I said, 'Antico, I don't know how many players in the CFL can play defensive line, linebacker and free safety.' I don't know if he's the first, but there can't be too many."
Dalton also has some running and receiving in his background, but his coach said he'd be more than happy to never have to see it. In fact, Maciocia would be happy to never have to go deep into his depth charts again.
Meet Some Deep Replacements
Here are some of the guys next in line when options at the position start getting slim.
- QUARTERBACK -- Mathieu Bertrand, Rob LeBlanc, Ed Hervey.
- RECEIVER --- Deitan Dubuc, Tony Tompkins.
- TAILBACK -- Nearly everyone is fair game, with Singor Mobley most vocal.
- KICKER -- Mathieu Bertrand, Rob LeBlanc, Andrew Nowacki.
- OFFENSIVE LINE -- Guys on the defensive line, possibly led by Steve Charbonneau.
- DEFENSIVE LINE -- Guys on the offensive line, led by Patrick Kabongo.
- DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD -- Singor Mobley, Antico Dalton, Jason Tucker.
- LINEBACKER -- Antico Dalton, and way down the list, Ricky Ray.
Wow! i didn't know Ricky Ray can make some hits, thats awesome man.
Injuries can strike at any time, so Eskimos rely on depth chart to fill positions
By Scott Petersen,
Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON - In case of major emergency -- and only then -- break glass on these players at these positions:
- Receivers Rob LeBlanc and Andrew Nowacki start making a living with their legs, instead of their arms, by taking over kicking duties;
- Singor Mobley switches from defence to offence and pounds out yards as the starting tailback;
- Fullback Mathieu Bertrand finally finds out what he can do as a quarterback in a pass-happy Edmonton Eskimos offence;
- And quarterback Ricky Ray drops his shoulder to deliver bone-crunching hits at linebacker?
The Eskimos were one injury away from putting star receiver Jason Tucker at safety in their last game against Calgary. That intriguing tidbit for fans, and sweat-inducing decision for the coaches, begs the question of exactly who are the backups' backups?
A plague of injuries can strike at any time, making coaches scramble for bodies to fill positions. Luckily, they've pumped their players for past history and have some deep, deep depth charts.
"We always try to find out," said head coach Danny Maciocia. "And all of them have carried the football at one point in their lives.
"If you ask Mobley, he says he's still waiting for me to put in something where he can carry the football. So some of these guys, basically when they played and dominated their respective leagues, went both ways. They did it all.
"It wasn't too long ago I saw Ricky Ray's highlight clips of playing linebacker and quarterback at the Pop Warner level. Now you don't want to go back as far as Pop Warner, because you could be in trouble, but you hope that they've done it in high school at the least and if they've done it in college, that's huge."
It's doubtful the Eskimos would ever line Ray, their $400,000-a-year franchise cornerstone, up for potential
injury at linebacker. But if you ask him, he kind of likes the idea.
"Obviously, I don't think I'm a big, physical guy, so I have to use my head a little more," Ray said, noting he'd shoot for the less punishing shoe-string and lower-body tackles.
"I wouldn't be scared to do it. I don't think I'd be the best at it, but I'm not scared to stick my nose in there a little bit and try to make some tackles."
And if Ray, Jason Johnson and Steven Jyles all go down over the course of a game, it's Bertrand who'll take over the offence. The high school and college quarterback already has it all mapped out if his chance comes, opting for play-action on his first snap and hitting "Tucker every single pass."
With Bertrand currently injured, duties would likely fall to Ed Hervey or even LeBlanc.
"I hope we don't have to go four (quarterbacks) deep," said Maciocia. "I don't have five. I have four. LeBlanc, I guess, did some high school quarterbacking, but don't get me thinking like that."
Down to one kicker on the roster, Sean Fleming's health is of great importance to the Eskimos and the continued mental health of their coach. But if he did get run over, you can expect a lot of commotion on the sidelines.
"I'll be massaging his leg, getting ice, anything to get him back out there so one of us doesn't have to," said Nowacki, who combines with Bertrand and LeBlanc as backups who'd rather not see the responsibilities of a game-winning field goal or important punt fall at their feet.
LeBlanc feels similarly: "I prefer not to think about it, so I guess I'll just let what little ability I have take over if presented with the situation and try to remain as calm as possible."
Against Calgary, both Mobley and Antico Dalton dropped back to safety to fill the need and keep Tucker as an offensive weapon only. Dalton, who rarely receives mention for his special teams and sub work, continued to show his versatility.
"That's the first thing I acknowledged when I came into the locker-room," said Maciocia. "I said, 'Antico, I don't know how many players in the CFL can play defensive line, linebacker and free safety.' I don't know if he's the first, but there can't be too many."
Dalton also has some running and receiving in his background, but his coach said he'd be more than happy to never have to see it. In fact, Maciocia would be happy to never have to go deep into his depth charts again.
Meet Some Deep Replacements
Here are some of the guys next in line when options at the position start getting slim.
- QUARTERBACK -- Mathieu Bertrand, Rob LeBlanc, Ed Hervey.
- RECEIVER --- Deitan Dubuc, Tony Tompkins.
- TAILBACK -- Nearly everyone is fair game, with Singor Mobley most vocal.
- KICKER -- Mathieu Bertrand, Rob LeBlanc, Andrew Nowacki.
- OFFENSIVE LINE -- Guys on the defensive line, possibly led by Steve Charbonneau.
- DEFENSIVE LINE -- Guys on the offensive line, led by Patrick Kabongo.
- DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD -- Singor Mobley, Antico Dalton, Jason Tucker.
- LINEBACKER -- Antico Dalton, and way down the list, Ricky Ray.
Wow! i didn't know Ricky Ray can make some hits, thats awesome man.
...Bertrand is versatile as anything. I'd bet he would be able to play LB, too, before Ricky would. 
COLOR=DarkGreen]Eskimo fan in Newfoundland, Missing my season seat![/COLOR]
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