Best of times, best of times

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This article was published 12/10/2016 (3286 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Here’s what we know about running backs…

They love the ball, they want the ball and they don’t want someone else to have their ball.

So when an offensive co-ordinator develops a plan to use two guys — both skilled and both capable of being feature tailbacks in their own right — together, one might assume there’d be a disturbance in the force, as it were.

Not so, according to one-half of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ tandem on offence.

“It’s a tough position to play for a full 18 games,” said Andrew Harris, explaining the need to throw two backs at defences and for one to sub in to lessen the punishment.

Harris returned from a three-game stint on the sidelines with a lower-body injury in last Saturday’s 37-35 win over the B.C. Lions.

Harris’s other half, Timothy Flanders, spelled the Winnipegger in those games and performed admirably, or “excellent,” in the words of head coach Mike O’Shea.

So much so, apparently, that neither offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice nor O’Shea could find a way not to keep both out of the lineup.

It translated into more than 100 combined yards and two touchdowns as both were deployed against the Lions’ top-ranked run defence and accounted for several other plays as the Leos defence tried to figure out how to defend the duo, causing mishaps in coverage.

“It’s a little bit different… when you free-release one of those guys, the linebackers have to figure out which one is the tailback, which one is the fullback and who are they taking,” LaPolice said. “It’s just a lot more communication and a lot more work for defences to handle. We had a nice little game plan of doing that, and we’ll see how the roster shakes out (this week).”

What it has spawned in both Harris and Flanders is a sixth gear in terms of how they approach each touch they receive.

“When you do have a guy who subs in and spells you, you want to make the most of every carry,” Harris said. “It gives you that much more motivation to make a big play.”

Of course, it’s not easy to be used in a limited capacity as a player.

“I always want the ball, in my opinion,” Flanders said with a big grin on his face. “But you try to go at it with a level head and deal with it.”

LaPolice said even as a coach, there’s good reason to use your primary back often.

“You want your tailback to get enough touches,” he said. “You don’t run the football as much as you throw it (in the CFL), so sometimes your starting tailback doesn’t get enough carries.”

LaPolice said the team had the fortunate situation this past week to use both backs after starting eight Canadians. While that number could drop to seven this week, it still means both guys can be used out of the backfield.

For the man at the helm on the sideline, a healthy running back gives O’Shea and his squad the best chance to win.

“(If) you limit someone’s touches, or you at least give someone a break, it keeps them fresh,” O’Shea said. “They’re both extremely capable, both excellent in all three aspects you ask them to perform.”

O’Shea figures limiting the ball for Harris won’t affect the local product negatively.

“He’s a fantastic pro,” O’Shea said. “He’s as excited as anybody when a teammate does well.”

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Meanwhile, the status of Maurice Leggett continues to remain up in the air for Friday’s game against the Lions in Vancouver.

The Bombers’ star linebacker hasn’t practised so far this week and remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury that initially ruled him out of last weekend’s game.

Leggett was able to return to the game in its closing stages and make a crucial tackle that lifted the Bombers to victory.

O’Shea said both Leggett and Ian Wild, who has played just one game in the last four for the team and hasn’t practised this week as well, will be evaluated today. O’Shea stood firm on his belief he has to give veteran players the benefit of the doubt, meaning they might not need to practise to be able to play.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @scottbilleck

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.