Mere numbers don’t define Bighill’s play

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This article was published 05/09/2019 (2195 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill might not be putting up the numbers to repeat as the CFL’s most outstanding defensive player, but that doesn’t mean he’s not having a big effect on the team’s success this season.

Bighill has suited up for eight games and has 32 tackles, a sack, an interception and a forced fumble. In 18 games last year, Bighill had 105 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions and four forced fumbles.

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea was asked about what Bighill brings to the table that doesn’t show up on the stats sheet.

“Yeah, you know, you’re not sitting in our meeting rooms to listen to the direction he gives, the conversations he has with his teammates, the questions he asks,” O’Shea told reporters after Thursday’s practice at IG Field.

“You know, on the field, you’re not listening to him put guys in the right spots and make checks and make sure everything’s going smoothly. So, that’s the job of a middle linebacker. That’s the job of a free safety. That’s the job of the guys down the middle of the defence. So, these are all things he does extremely well, besides his athleticism and his understanding of offences and plays and how he manoeuvres around the field to give different looks and put himself in a good position. He understands that very well.”

As for defensive back Winston Rose, his numbers are jumping off the charts. The first-year Blue Bombers defender leads the CFL with seven interceptions. Rose and Bighill had interceptions against Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Cody Fajardo last week. Fajardo entered the game having not thrown an interception in his previous four games.

“Ball skills, body awareness, athleticism, timing. He understands the timing of plays and how he manoeuvres his body at the right time,” O’Shea said on what makes Rose such a ball hawk. “Once again, he can catch the football, right? So, kind of understanding the flight of the ball, the timing of the jump, how to put a receiver on his back — those are all excellent things. I guess he learned it somewhere. But he’s got a natural ability with it, too, so that stuff is not really teachable.”

JEFFERSON FINED FOR HIT ON FAJARDO: the Bombers would have liked to have seen Lavar Edwards, at the very least, get flagged for knocking long-snapper Chad Rempel out of the Labour Day Classic.

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But they didn’t get one. They also didn’t get the satisfaction of the CFL handing down a fine to the Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive lineman, as Edwards didn’t receive any punishment for knocking a defenceless Rempel to the ground after the long-snapper tossed the ball back to Justin Medlock for a punt in the second quarter.

The CFL did, however, hand out a fine to somebody else for a different hit that happened in the Bombers’ 19-17 loss to the Riders. Defensive end Willie Jefferson was fined an undisclosed amount for a high hit on quarterback Cody Fajardo at the end of the first quarter. Jefferson was flagged for roughing the passer on the play.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor 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.