It’s a five-man competition, with the man believed to be the frontrunner still on the sidelines. As the Toronto Argonauts continue training camp at the University of Guelph, the running back battle has gone relatively unnoticed because of all the other positional battles underway.
The off-season acquisition with the most CFL experience is John White, who has yet to take the field while he waits for his quarantine period to end. The absence of the man who rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2019 has allowed the remaining four running backs to get added reps.
The back who has taken most of the reps with the first unit is AJ Ouellette, who made his Argo debut in October 2019, starting twice. He’s taken advantage of the increased opportunity as well as knowledge gained during his initial CFL taste.
“Already knowing the rules gives you a little head start on some of these rookies that are new guys coming into the league,” Ouellette told Argonauts.ca after Wednesday’s practice. “Just being comfortable and knowing the system gives me a bit of a mental edge on some of the other guys.”
At the other end of the spectrum is Greg McCrae, a rookie out of the University of Central Florida. This is his first pro camp, so he not only does he have to adjust to this level, but a new game on a new field with new rules in a new country.
“It’s not overwhelming,” said McCrae, “There are a lot of new things. It’s my first time in a new country, the new rules have been an adjustment, but I think I’m adjusting to it fine. I’m picking up a lot of things really quickly. I’m a fast learner, so I think I’ll be alright.”
McCrae’s story is an interesting one. A high school player in Miami, he received just one scholarship offer, at the U.S. Naval Academy. He didn’t think the life at Navy was for him, so he left after the first semester.
The next stop was at UCF as a walk-on. Before he left, he was the school’s fourth leading rusher with 2,620 yards, adding 29 TDs, also the fourth highest total in school history, and he led the Knights into the country’s Top Ten.
He can’t wait to show off his skills on the wider field.
“It’s going to be a field day for me,” he said with a laugh. “I like using my speed and my vision to try and expose the weak points and the soft spots of the defences, the spaces and gaps. With the wider field I think I’m able to use as much as I can to my advantage.”
Matt Colburn and Kenneth Dixon are the other two backs in camp. It’s a formidable group.
“I’m expecting big things,” said Ouellette of the position. “Everything was moving smooth today. We didn’t have any install, so it was all stuff that we had already learned. Everybody was moving fast and sharp.”
The depth chart will work its way out over the duration of camp, but there is little question that the coaching and personnel staffs will have a difficult decision or two to make when the roster size has to be reduced on July 20.
DOUBLE BLUE NOTES
The Argos have been working hard to try and reduce the number of injuries in camp. Wednesday the club held just one practice instead of the usual back-to-back sessions.
The offence looked as crisp as it had all camp, likely because there was no install and players could just relax and play as opposed to overthinking everything. Ricky Collins Jr. had a good day, showing the acceleration that helped him total over 1,100 receiving yards with Edmonton in 2019.
Several newcomers made plays during the no-huddle drill. Trevor Hoyte had an interception, Davontae Merriweather and first-round Global draft pick Tigie Sankoh both timed blitzes perfectly, coming from depth, and in a live situation would have had free shots at the quarterback. Rookie fullback Dion Pellerin from Waterloo also caught a pass out of the backfield.
Head Coach Ryan Dinwiddie told Argonauts.ca after practice that it’s important that every player at camp has the opportunity to make plays.
“We think anybody that’s here can play in this league, that’s why we brought them in here. We want them to build confidence. Each day is different and they’re going to have ups and downs, but we want these guys to keep stepping up each day, learning, adjusting, and keep improving, just put your head down and keep working. The younger guys are starting to feel more comfortable, you can see they’re starting to play better, execute better, so I’m excited about our young guys.”