Head 2 Head: Boyd/reynolds

Heading into the 2011 CFL season, it will be crucial for the Argos to receive similar production from RB Cory Boyd as they did in 2010.  The team’s 2010 Most Outstanding Player dropped approximately 20 pounds in the off-season and showed improved speed and quickness throughout training camp.

Boyd has shown that his lighter frame should not compromise his powerful, bruising running style that earned him the nod as the CFL’s toughest player in a peer vote held by TSN last season.  He is hitting the holes with more speed, but also more power – a dynamic combination for any running back.

The Argos’ star will have to be at his very best on July 1st at McMahon Stadium.  Boyd will be going against a stiff Stampeders defence that led the league in many categories last season including: fewest first downs allowed, both rushing and passing, and fewest touchdowns allowed.

Boyd’s CFL career began with the Canada Day opener in Calgary just one year ago. In that game, he ran eight times for just 32 yards.  His next game against the Stamps didn’t come until Week 3 when Boyd was emerging as the Argos’ go-to running back.   In that Argos victory, Boyd ran for a whopping 142 yards on 20 carries.  The Boatmen are hoping the South Carolina-product can get rolling just a little bit sooner in 2011.

Joffrey Reynolds, the Stampeders’ star running back, has more than a few things in common with Argos RB Cory Boyd.  Both were CFL All-Stars in 2010, they came to camp in better shape (Reynolds lost six pounds) and they were also ranked second and third respectively in both rushing attempts and yardage last season.  But unlike his younger counterpart, Reynolds is a veteran of the CFL and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

Last season marked the sixth consecutive time in Reynolds’ career that he has rushed for over 1,000 yards, an especially impressive feat in the often pass-happy league that is the CFL.  His longevity can be credited to his intense off-season training regimen that allows Reynolds to remain as agile and elusive as he has ever been in his career.

Reynolds will be lining up opposite an Argos defence that was the epitome of “bend don’t break” in 2010.  The unit finished in the middle of the pack in almost every defensive category, but they led the the most important category by allowing the fewest points scored. 

Keeping Reynolds out of the end zone will go a long way in determining whether the Argos can escape Calgary with a victory on Canada Day.