The Edmonton Eskimos backfield just got crowded again. On Tuesday the Eskimos announced that running back Hugh Charles was cleared to play in the Eastern Division semi-final game against the Toronto Argonauts at Rogers Centre Sunday.
Charles injured his knee in the Eskimos’ 39-19 loss to the British Columbia Lions on October 19.
Charles, who is in his second year in Edmonton after being traded from the Saskatchewan Roughriders last year, led the Eskimos with 887 yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns this season.
Now Eskimos head coach will have to decide between Charles, who is 100% according to the medical staff, Jerome Messam, who led the Eskimos in rushing last year and won the Most Outstanding Canadian award, and Cory Boyd, who had a solid game last week versus Calgary (66 yards rushing and a touchdown) and led the CFL in rushing yards when he was released by the Toronto Argonauts this past August.
Who would you start at running back if you were Kavis Reed? Let us know at www.anysportanytime.ca.
The Edmonton Eskimos have a chance of clinching a playoff spot on Sunday when they play the Montreal Alouettes. At 7-9 they sit in last place in the Western Division, but will qualify for the postseason in the crossover into the East because they will have a better record than the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The Eskimos will not have running back Hugh Charles in their lineup. Charles suffered a knee injury in the Eskimos’ 39-19 loss to the B.C. Lions last Friday. The Eskimos then brought back Cory Boyd this past week to backup Jerome Messam.
The Montreal Alouettes may be the best team in the Eastern Division of the Canadian Football League but got some significant bad news on Tuesday when it was reported that Brandon Whitaker is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Whitaker suffered the injury Sunday, during Montreal’s 28-17 win at home against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Alouettes are now in need of a running back and I know the perfect team they can make a trade with– the Edmonton Eskimos who have three running backs–Jerome Messam, Hugh Charles and Cory Boyd.
Edmonton Eskimos General Manager Eric Tillman may soon have to make a major decision. That is what to do with three high profile running backs.
On Saturday the Eskimos learned the news that running back Jerome Messam was released by the Miami Dolphins. Messam will once again be property of the Eskimos if he doesn’t get picked up by another team in the next ten days.
If Messam joins the Eskimos, there is no way Eric Tillman should keep Messam, Hugh Charles and Cory Boyd who was recently acquired from the Toronto Argonauts. Three high profile running backs could give the Eskimos leverage in their need to find a quarterback to replace the struggling Steven Jyles.
This week on the show we dish our theories about the pending lockout in the NHL, we discuss what happened to the Eskimos in a big loss to the Alouettes last week and we have a look at the Stephen Strasburg situation in Washington.
In the GABBYs: Felix Hernandez, Charlie Sheen, Gary Carter, Chad Johnson, the Boston Red Sox and peewee football. The Punchline this week is Melky Cabrera!
The Edmonton Eskimos made a significant acquisition last night in their quest to quite possibly win the Grey Cup this season.
Last night shortly after the Toronto Argonauts released Cory Boyd, the Edmonton Eskimos snatched him up. Boyd, currently leads the CFL in rushing yards with 447 yards in 82 attempts, averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
One could ask why Eskimos General Manager Eric Tillman made the move because Hugh Charles has played well so far this season too, rushing for 400 yards.
But the bottom line is that Boyd is a better running back, and if the Eskimos hadn’t picked up Boyd, somebody else would have.
The Calgary Stampeders fell to 1-1 on the season in the Canadian Football League following a disappointing 39-36 loss to the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday afternoon at the Rogers Centre in the Ontario capital.
But the Stampeders lost more than a football game. In the first quarter, shortly after leading the Stampeders on a touchdown drive, Calgary quarterback Drew Tate injured his left shoulder and did not return. It is unknown at this time if Tate dislocated or separated his shoulder. He is expected to fly back to Calgary this week to have his arm examined.
Backup quarterback Kevin Glenn, who played the majority of the game against Montreal today is expected to start Thursday in Montreal.
One major concern in Calgary today was their sloppy pass defense. Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray threw for 407 yards–including 118 yards to Andre Durie and 107 yards to Dontrelle Inman. Cory Boyd also had 101 yards rushing.
The Edmonton Eskimos won’t have their top quarterback from last year. Now they won’t have their top running back either.
On Saturday night according to TSN, Jerome Messam, the Canadian Football League’s top Canadian from 2011, has signed with the Miami Dolphins.
Messam was third in the CFL in rushing last season with 1057 yards, only trailing Brandon Whitaker of the Montreal Alouettes and Cory Boyd of the Toronto Argonauts.
With Messam leading the Eskimos’ offensive attack, Edmonton secured its first home playoff game since 2003.
Just how dominant was Messam and how important was he to their offensive game plan? Well, he had 780 more yards than Hugh Charles, who finished second in rushing with 277 yards.
The Dolphins meanwhile will probably use Messam as a backup to former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. (Or at least he once won the Heisman Trophy before having his name crossed off for accepting gifts, a violation of the NCAA policy.)
Earlier in the off-season, Edmonton traded Ricky Ray to the Toronto Argonauts.
A pair of Edmonton Eskimos have been named finalists for the Canadian Football League Awards.
Running back Jerome Messam has been named a finalist for the Top Canadian and linebacker J.C. Sherritt has been named a finalist for the Top Rookie in the CFL this season.
Messam, from Brampton, Ontario, finished third in the Canadian Football League this season with 1,057 rushing yards, behind Brandon Whitaker of the Montreal Alouettes (1378) and Cory Boyd of the Toronto Argonauts (1141). Messam became the first Canadian running back since Sean Millington of the British Columbia Lions in 2000 to rush for 1,000 yards in one season.
Messam will be favoured against Sean Whyte of Surrey, British Columbia– the kicker for the Montreal Alouettes.
Sherritt had 72 tackles and three sacks for the Eskimos. He’ll be the underdog against Hamilton Tiger Cats’ wide receiver Chris Williams, who led his team with 1,064 receiving yards.
Following are the other nominees with my favourites in bold:
Most Outstanding Player– QB Anthony Calvillo–Montreal Alouettes vs. QB Travis Lulay–British Columbia Lions
Most Outstanding Defensive Player–DB Jovon Johnson–Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs. LB Jerrell Freeman–Saskatchewan Roughriders
Best Special Teams Player–KR Chad Owens–Toronto Argonauts vs. K Paul McCallum–British Columbia Lions
Best Offensive Lineman–OT Josh Bourke–Montreal Alouettes vs. OL Jovan Olafioye–British Columbia Lions
Toronto Argonauts (H. Michael Miley, Wikimedia Commons)
The Calgary Stampeders can only blame themselves in a 31-29 loss to Toronto on Friday night at the Rogers Centre.
First half interceptions and second half penalties were solely to blame for Calgary’s loss. And another interesting development occurred on Friday night– a possible quarterback controversy. Henry Burris was clearly outplayed tonight by backup Drew Tate.
Burris was pulled in the second quarter after only going six for eleven for 65 yards, with two sacks and two interceptions. Tate meanwhile, went 19 for 28 for 263 yards and two touchdowns.
The Stampeders were in fact down 28-9 at half time, and clawed their way back in the second half, and remarkably took the 29-28 lead on a 24 yard field goal by Rene Paredes.
Then on the final drive of the football game, three key penalties– including two illegal contact penalties by defensive back Brandon Smith and an unnecessary roughness penalty by Juwan Simpson, put the Argonauts in an excellent position to get a game winning chip shot field goal by Noel Prefontaine, who did not disappoint.
This weekend we’ll find out the answer to major question on many Canadian sports’ fans minds.
Who will play in the 98th Grey Cup next Sunday in Edmonton?
The Montreal Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts will battle in the Eastern Final at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium (Sunday, 11am, TSN), and the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders will duel at McMahon Stadium in Calgary for the Western Final (Sunday, 2:30pm. TSN).
In the East, the Alouettes are disappointed they only had three players selected to the CFL All-Star Team– guard Scott Flory, linebacker Chip Cox and defensive end John Bowman.
It will be interesting to see how Montreal rebounds after losing 30-4 to Toronto in the final week of the regular season. I know Anthony Calvillo, Ben Cahoon, Kerry Watkins, S.J. Green, Jamel Richardson and Avon Cobourne were not in the lineup, but it will be interesting to see how the Alouettes respond after their major offensive core haven’t played since October 29.
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