Blue facing a handful in Williams

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This article was published 26/09/2018 (2538 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When it comes to stretching CFL defences, nobody does it better than Edmonton Eskimos receiver Duke Williams.

The 25-year-old American, who played two seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and had a short stay at Auburn University, is following his excellent rookie season in the CFL with a historically good sophomore campaign.

After 13 games, Williams leads the league in receiving yards (1,300), receiving touchdowns (10), average gain-per-reception (19.1), 100-yard games (eight), plays of 20-plus yards (17) and the number of targets (120).

At his current pace, he is expected to register one of the most productive receiving seasons in league history and would be a good bet to eclipse former Edmonton great Brian Kelly, who established a club record of 1,812 receiving yards in 1983.

Neutralizing Williams will be an important part of Winnipeg’s to-do list when the Blue Bombers (6-7) travel to Alberta’s capital for Saturday’s West Division showdown with Edmonton (6-6).

“He’s the best receiver with the ball in the air that I’ve ever seen,” said Blue Bombers safety Taylor Loffler, a two-time CFL all-star. “You throw him the ball and he has such good awareness of where the ball is that he comes down with a lot of them. And he’s a big body as well, so he can pretty much do anything.”

Williams’ rise to prominence was timely for Edmonton, which lost veteran receivers Brandon Zylstra (to the NFL) and Adarius Bowman (to free agency) in the off-season. Earlier this month, the club’s depth was further weakened when all-star Derel Walker went down with a knee injury that could sideline him for six to eight weeks.

Fortunately, Edmonton quarterback Mike Reilly still has the 6-3, 225-pound Williams as his primary target and he employs him in a variety of ways. Williams has 68 receptions (fourth in the CFL) and 327 yards after the catch (fifth).

“We have to know as a defence where he is because he is their deep-ball threat,” Loffler said. “And he catches a lot underneath as well. He moves around to all spots. So we have to know where he is on every play and go from there.”

Cornerback Chris Randle, who expects to see a lot of Williams Saturday night, said Williams is the real deal.

While he may not have the blazing speed of some of the CFL’s other top deep threats such as Diontae Spencer of the Ottawa Redblacks and Brandon (Speedy) Banks of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Williams’ skill set is more nuanced.

“(His speed) is deceptive, I would say, because if you’re stride for stride with him, I wouldn’t say you’re going to outrun him,” Randle said. “I think he’s used very well through that offence.

“He’s Mike Reilly’s favourite target. He’s getting a handful of targets a game because of what he can do with the ball. I think what he does, for the most part, is position himself between the quarterback and defender very well.

“He knows how to put you on the low hip, he knows how to body you and he can track the ball really well. Understanding that and knowing that he’s their big-play threat, you’ve gotta be aware of him at all times.”

Williams’ big body means physical contact, but not in an obvious way.

“It’s subtle — as a DB, you’ve gotta expect it. It’s not necessarily going to get called or make you fall down where it’s blatant and you’ve gotta be prepared for that,” Randle said.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14