Players like Malik Jackson might not win any awards, but they are helping Calgary win games.

The Calgary Stampeders were left out of the Gibson’s Finest CFL players of the month awards in August. While many would feel the Stamps were snubbed by the decisions, if you asked the players themselves, I’m guessing they wouldn’t be too hurt by the choices.

The CFL has seen some very talented players making waves throughout the season and most of them have been on teams that haven’t necessarily been winning. You’d think that a team that is 7-1-0 and leading the league in many categories would be stacked with players leading the league.

The reality this year has been that big player performances haven’t really led their teams to victory. None show this fact more than Arland Bruce III, who tied a CFL record with 16 catches to go with 272 yards receiving back on July 31st. The Tiger-Cats weren’t ever really in the game, losing 37-24 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Kevin Glenn had 425 yards passing in the game to go with three touchdowns. Bruce was the offensive player of the week,and Glenn was the runner up in a game that they didn’t come close to winning.

It’s the same for the Calgary/Saskatchewan game in Week 4. The Stampeders doubled the Riders 40-20, yet Durant had 354 yards passing to the 279 yards passing Burris had.

When you look at the rushing stats for two time rushing leader Joffrey Reynolds, you might wonder if he’s having a tough year. Reynolds has only had one 100 yard rushing game, but still sits in third place in rushing yards, although he’s 170 yards back of Toronto’s Cory Boyd.

Even the receivers haven’t blown us away. Nik Lewis is on pace to be named an all-star, but the catches have really been spread out. Although Ken-Yon Rambo missed the first four weeks of the year, he could be on pace to shine.

What is most impressive about this season for the Stampeders is the fact the whole team is doing well. The passes have been spread around and the rushing is even being shared. Drew Tate has had only taken a few snaps at Quarterback, but has been very impressive going 7/8 for 66 yards and three touchdowns with a very impressive 158.3 passer rating. Jon Cornish has even taken some serious reps at running back and has not disappointed with an 8.8 yard average and 274 yards rushing.

Looking at the defence, the Stamps have had everyone pulling their own weight. Calgary leads the league in sacks with 22, but no Stampeders players are close to the sack leader. Montreal’s John Bowman and Winnipeg’s Phillip Hunt lead the league with seven sacks, while both Robert McCune and Malik Jackson have four sacks each.

No Stampeder player is even in the top 20 in defensive tackles. Juwan Simpson leads them with 29 tackles, 24 behind league leader Kevin Eiben.

With all that said, it doesn’t surprise me that the Stampeders haven’t been well represented in the players of the week, or the players of the month. The team has been playing so well together, everyone has been pulling their weight and making the most of their chances when they get the chance.

The Stampeders still have a long way to go before they can say they are the best team in the league, seeing as they still have two games against the Montreal Alouettes and two games left against the Saskatchewan Roughriders AT Mosaic Stadium. That being said, playing well as a team will make it that much harder for other teams to beat them. There aren’t any huge weaknesses and shutting down one player only leaves openings for others to step up, and so far they have.

At the end of the year, they may not take home any of the hardware, but they’ve got as good a shot as any of winning it all. 

Joffrey Reynolds is a veteran running back with and a three-time CFL all-star. Rob Maver is a rookie kicker who had a successful university career. Though they are hardly similar, the success of both players will be pivotal for the Calgary Stampeders this season.

In the 2009 campaign, in which Calgary hosted the 97th Grey Cup, Calgary finished second in the West with a record 10-7-1. After a narrow 24-21 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos in the West semi-final, the Stampeders fell 27-17 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West final, ending their Grey Cup hopes. If they want to get back to the Grey Cup this season, Maver and Reynolds will have to be on the top of their game.

Reynolds is the one consistent threat in Calgary's offence.

When Calgary’s former star kicker Sandro DeAngelis signed with the Hamilton Tiger Cats via free agency, it was one of the most shocking moves of this off-season. DeAngelis has made 83.8% of his field goals during his five year career in the CFL with Calgary. It was no secret that DeAngelis had NFL aspirations, but to see him leave for another CFL team was shocking.

This brings us to Maver.

Maver, a placekicker/punter for the University of Guelph, was selected by the Stampeders in the first round of the 2010 CFL Draft with their fifth pick. Last season, the 22-year-old led the CIS in punting with a 46.12 yard average and also connected on 78.26 percent of his field goals. Still, unless Warren Kean somehow beats out Maver for the starting job, there will be a lot of pressure on Maver to replace DeAngelis.

Last season DeAngelis had the second most points of all kickers, behind only Damon Duval of the Montreal Alouettes, accounting for nearly 35 percent of Calgary’s scoring. Maver will need to be able to match this success this season. When the Stampeders offence fails to put up touchdowns, they will look to Maver to put points on the board.

During his time in Calgary, DeAngelis also won many games for the Stampeders thanks to his game winning kicks. When the game is on the line, will the young Maver be able to buckle down and make a big kick?

A kicker may not be the most important part of a team, but consider this. A couple of missed kicks in a game could mean a loss, a missed kick in the playoffs could mean the end of a season. Clearly, a lot rides on Maver this season.

As for Reynolds, he will need to step up and lead Calgary’s offence this season.

At 34 years old, quarterback Henry Burris isn’t getting any younger and there are serious questions about the passing game. Calgary traded away their leading receiver last season in Jermaine Copeland (1,235 yards, 12 touchdowns), meaning they will have a less talented receiving core. Reynolds could help open up the passing game for Calgary, while taking some pressure off of the team’s new look offensive line.

Fortunately for Calgary, Reynolds is the right man for the job. Even though he is over 30, Reynolds has seen his productivity rise the last three seasons, finishing 1,504 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. When Reynolds rushed for 100 yards in a game last season, the Stampeders only lost three times.

Burris is great at running the play action pass. When Reynolds is running the ball effectively it opens this play up and tires out opposing defences.

Heading into a new season, Calgary will be looking to prove they are still one of the top dogs in the West. Saskatchewan finished first in the West last season. The Stampeders defence won’t be amazing, but should be consistent enough to keep Calgary in ball games. On offence, the Stampeders offence won’t do much if Reynolds struggles. If Maver fails in the kicking game, Calgary could find themselves on the short end of many close game.

That’s a lot of pressure on two players.

We all understand that people have different opinions and we at CFL Daily Dose are no different, which is why we started CFL Point/Counterpoint. For each CFL Point/Counterpoint, two authors will present their cases and you decide who’s right.

This week we tackle an issue that has been the subject of much debate: Who will the Argos sign: Kenton Keith or Jesse Lumsden?

Kenton Keith is the man

by Chris Powell

To me the choice here is obvious. The Argos need a running back and Kenton Keith is the man they need. Keith has been in the CFL for the same amount of time that Lumsden has and has two times the yards and touchdowns that Lumsden has. The choice is clear, the Argos need Kenton Keith.

Kenton Keith is the obvious choice for a team, especially the Argonauts, looking for a starting running back.

Keith would go in as the obvious starter and would also be an excellent mentor for the Argos young RB corp. His presence immediately upgrades the offence by giving them a 1,000 yard back to take the pressure off of the passing game.

Currently the Argos best (most prolific) running back is Jeff Johnson who has 771 yards over his 10 year career, for an average of a whopping 77.1 yards per season. Stats aside, Johnson is 33 years old, which for a running back is practically ancient. Their other five backs combined have 9 years of experience between them and a total of 138 yards. The Argos NEED a starting running back. They can’t afford not to sign Keith.

Keith is also an asset in the passing game with over 1200 yards receiving (averaging 250.4 receiving yards per season).

Keith’s quickness and speed have allowed him to burn past defenders rather than powering through them as Lumsden has done in his career, leaving him in good shape to rack up several more solid seasons before Toronto needs to start shopping for a replacement, if one of their rookie RB’s doesn’t stand out as a solid starter.

Keith’s downside is that he wants to play in the NFL, and has signed with both the Jets (cut before the season in 2004) and with the Colts (where he was the third back in a talented backfield in 2007). This could cause the Argos to look to Lumsden but that would be a mistake.

Kenton has also worked up a bit of a reputation as a bad boy, with rumors of a bad attitude while he was in Saskatchewan, and his arrest in Indianapolis, but over the course of his career those tendencies have been the exception rather than the rule and shouldn’t factor much in Toronto’s choice to sign him.

Durability is also a factor in this choice. Why would you pay someone to be your starting running back when they can’t finish a season? Granted, Keith missed most of last season due to injury, but what football player doesn’t get hurt. I would rather have a running back that has missed a season once rather than a running back that has yet to finish a season in his entire career.

Who would you choose, a two-time West Division All-Star, and the 2006 West Division Most Outstanding Player, or a one time East Division All-Star coming off shoulder surgery?

I’ll take Keith, and the wins he brings, over Lumsden, and the hospital bills he’ll rack up.

Jesse Lumsden is worth the risk, Kenton Keith is not

by Jonathan Hamelin

Kenton Keith may have had more success in the CFL in the past, but Jesse Lumsden offers the Toronto Argonauts the greatest hope for the future.

With both running backs released recently, many wonder who the Argonauts, who need a star running back, will sign. I believe this running back should be Lumsden.

Though he has been through a lot of injuries, Lumsden clearly still has the will to play, as evident in his comments here. This means that Lumsden would not cost a lot of money to sign, and with his NFL aspirations all but dead, he would be dedicated to helping Toronto win ball games. Can the same be said about Keith?

It has been speculated that Keith wasn’t exactly a team player in Saskatchewan. Furthermore, Keith was arrested outside an Indianapolis nightclub in 2008. When the police told him to quite down, Keith reportedly said that he would not be quite because he played for the Colts. For an Argos squad looking to develop a team mentality, is Keith really the type of player they want to bring in?

Of course, the hardest argument to face when defending Lumsden is his injury problem. Thanks to injuries, Lumsden has struggled to play a whole season. But, Keith has done no better recently. After returning from the NFL in 2008, Keith only rushed for 102 yards for the Hamilton Tiger Cats in 2008, and then sat out most of the 2009 season due to injury. Lumsden, in contrast, had 584 yards and five touchdowns in 2008 for Hamilton.

Yes, Keith does have an advantage in career numbers. Keith has 3,913 and 21 touchdowns compared to Lumsden’s 1,802 yards and nine touchdowns. However, Keith’s great success came in Saskatchewan, who at that time relied greatly on the run. Keith was running behind lineman like Gene Makowsky, Andrew Greene and Jeremy O’Day. Lumsden was stuck behind Hamilton’s horrid offensive line, yet still managed an impressive 6.3 yard average. Lumsden is better suited for what Toronto is looking for. Keith would struggle running behind Toronto’s average offensive line, while Lumsden’s power would help him shed tacklers.

Toronto has seen first hand what Lumsden can do when healthy. In 2008, Hamilton won two out of three games against Toronto. Lumsden rushed for 293 and two touchdowns in the two games he played in, racking up 189 yards in the week two win. He averaged over eight yards a carry in these games. If Lumsden can get back to this form, he could do great things in Toronto.

The great thing about Lumsden is Toronto does not need to rush him. They are clearly going nowhere this season. If Lumsden is not 100 percent ready, he can spend the year as a backup. If he is never 100 percent, the Argos still will not have wasted a lot of money. If he does get to 100 percent, he will offer Toronto a bigger threat than Keith.

I guess the big question is, what kind of running back does Toronto want? Keith, a running back with a bad attitude whose best success was in the past? Or Lumsden, a running back who wants to play and is one injury-free season away from achieving great success in the league?

It’s got to be Lumsden.