DON LANDRY – ARGOANUTS.CA COLUMNIST
TORONTO – Funny thing about being voted the CFL’s most underrated player. Immediately, you’re no longer the CFL’s most underrated player.
For Andre Durie, the secret was out last Fall, when a TSN players’ poll had him at the top of the heap of those who should not be stationed so far under the radar.
If that was, in essence, the announcement of Durie’s arrival as a prime time player, it was, at least so far, an accurate trumpeting of the 6th year Argos’ ascent.
It’s early, yes. But there is everything in Durie’s performance so far to suggest that at the age of 30, a career season may be at hand.
After missing both of Toronto’s pre-season games due to injury, the York University grad has started fast, pulling in 14 Ricky Ray passes for 194 yards. That’s a 13.9 yard average per catch, bolstered by a 36 yard pass and run completion in the late stages of Saturday’s game against the Calgary Stampeders, with the score tied at 36. Durie was corralled at the Stampeders 27 yard line and shortly after he sprang to his feet after that play, kicker Noel Prefontaine split the uprights with the winning field goal.
“Interchangeability,” was the one word answer Durie gave when asked to illustrate a key strength of the Argo offensive game plan. He was talking about schemes, but could well have used the word to describe his own football talents. It’s demanded by head coach Scott Milanovich of all his players, as they could line up as receivers, in the slot or in the backfield.
“We all get to run different routes,” continued Durie. “We all get put in positions to make plays. From my standpoint I get to run the ball and be out in the slot position. I think that’s something that’s really hard to defend. You can have a two running back system or a five receiver set with the same personnel, so it’s kind of hard for defences to adjust to, sometimes. That’s kind of the unique thing about our offence.”
While he has lined up all over the field, Durie has yet to lug the ball out of the backfield on a carry. He is happy as a receiver but always maintains that he is, by heart, still a running back. He’ll likely get more than a few carries as the season goes on, but until then he knows his place in the grand scheme of things.
“The way they have me playing it kind of fits me perfect,” Durie began. “I think my role on the team is to stay versatile. That’s kind of what our offence is built off, is that versatility and having guys in different routes, guys under the radar and guys being able to take pressure off other guys in the offence.”
There were many, many changes in the look of the Argos’ roster during an off-season of upheaval. It says a lot that, as vets were being cast aside left and right, Durie was offered a contract extension, which sees him in Argo blue until the end of the 2014 season. Milanovich offered that Durie would see a significant increase in action and after the hiccup of a pre-season without being in the line up, that has certainly come to pass in the early going of the regular season. The inactivity meant that Durie may have had an intellectual edge when he eventually did hit the field.
“I was able to take a lot more mental reps and get a visual or outside point of view to see how things function. It helped in that sense,” he said.
For Ricky Ray, Durie may have remained underrated, but no longer. Not being able to spend a lot of practice and game time with him before the regular season kicked off, to the Argo quarterback, his new teammate was still a bit of a mystery.
“He has been a big surprise for me,” said Ray. “I have heard and obviously watched him play a little bit, playing against him. He was banged up a little bit in camp so I didn’t get a lot of work with him but these first two games you can really see the play making abilities he has. Once he gets the ball in his hands he can make guys miss and pick up key first downs and get big gainers. Prime example was a play at the end of the
(Calgary) game where he caught that pass and got us within field goal range to win the game.”
The essential development of trust between quarterback and receiver seems to be forging ahead between Ray and Durie.
“I am definitely getting real comfortable with him,” said Ray.
For his part, Durie is seeing first hand what has been Ray’s calling card throughout his CFL career.
“He knows how to lead you and put it where only you can catch it,” he said, succinctly. “Nice touch.”
A fast start and big numbers through a couple of games might get a guy thinking about personal glory and gaudy season ending stats. Durie says he hasn’t given that much thought. After being a part of two teams that made it as far as the East Final (2007, 2010), his goals are all about that big, beautiful mug, not personal numbers.
“I’m just more interested in getting to that Grey Cup,” he said.
Over the course of the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Durie’s development from running back to slotback was spurred on by former Argo receivers coach, Cos DeMatteo, whom Durie gives great credit.
“Cos was amazing with the little intricacies that he helped me with.”
The learning has not stopped, however. It’s just now reaching into some different areas. Former Edmonton Eskimo Kez McCorvey is now the receivers’
tutor and his experience as a wide receiver is helping Durie understand the details of running patterns from the wideout spot.
“Every coach has different things that you can take from them,” he said. “Kez has brought a lot of different ways to run routes. Because I’ll be playing the wideout as well as slot, he has a lot of different techniques on how to get off the line and use your hands to come off press coverage.”
Something to remember if you see the CFL’s former most underrated player streaking free down the sideline any time this year.