McCrae steps up with ‘The Catch’

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This article was published 26/08/2022 (1107 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With Greg Ellingson sidelined with another injury, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers needed a playmaker to step up.

Say hello to Greg McCrae.

The rookie out of the University of Central Florida made an immediate impact in Thursday night’s 31-29 victory over the Calgary Stampeders at IG Field. The Bombers capped off their first drive of the game with Zach Collaros firing a 41-yard pass to the end zone to McCrae to open the scoring. Calgary’s Brad Muhammad was all over McCrae and called for pass interference, but it didn’t matter.

McCrae kept his eyes on the ball and made one of the finest grabs of the season.

“I mean, it’s a catch is all,” said McCrae post-game.

Yes, but that was no ordinary catch.

“I mean, it’s a catch is all.” – Greg McCrae

“Yeah. But we work on these things. We got a good defence, so in practice they are draped all over us, touching us, coaches putting us through drills to catch through… making contested catches. Things that we practiced, we show them in games,” said McCrae.

Despite finishing with over 100 yards, 95 through the air on catches and 12 on the ground on two carries, McCrae wasn’t patting himself on the back. His quarterback had some praise for him, though.

“Greg’s a special guy with the ball in his hands. Unbelievable catch there to really get us rolling there early, corner route,” Collaros said.

”Any time he gets the ball in his hands, he’s dangerous. Finding ways to get him touches is important.”

McCrae is listed as a running back, although the Bombers use him more as a gadget player, but got the start at slotback as they’re short at receiver with Ellingson, Janarion Grant, Carlton Agudosi, and Brendan O’Leary-Orange all nursing injuries. The 24-year-old McCrae, who stands at 5-10 and weighs 180 pounds, hasn’t had a catch since Week 5 and only had 33 catches and one receiving touchdown in four seasons at UCF. His longest catch in college was 36 yards.

He may have been in unfamiliar territory on Thursday night, but McCrae looked as comfortable as ever.

“I like to do both. I like versatility and the way they use me. I feel like I’m comfortable there, comfortable in the backfield, comfortable doing whatever they want me to do,” McCrae said.

McCrae’s big night was crucial as the Stamps mostly held Dalton Schoen and Rasheed Bailey in check. Schoen didn’t have a catch until the fourth quarter and Bailey did nothing outside of catching a 10-yard touchdown from Dakota Prukop in the third. Nic Demski impressed the most with eight catches for 117 yards and a score.

“It’s a great room. They work very hard, study hard. Obviously, they are great athletes. I think we are all getting better as a unit, understanding the way that we play, understanding what the defence is trying to do to us,” said Collaros on his pass catchers.

“… It’s a resilient room. There have been a lot of new faces and it really speaks to the leadership in there.”

Demski wasn’t surprised at all to see McCrae play the way he did.

“I knew about Greg just through training camp and working with him. He’s a guy that’s hungry and he does a lot of stuff behind the scenes as well,” said Demski.

“When he got his chance, he made the most of it. I know that he’s a guy that really wants to learn and get better and get that chance and opportunity to put it on the field. I thought he definitely made the most of his opportunities tonight.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31