Nichols sneaking in more runs

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This article was published 19/09/2017 (2970 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Matt Nichols parted ways with his teammates and coaches following a successful yet disappointing 2016 CFL season with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, he vowed to return the next year a changed man.

What he was leaving behind was his best season as a professional, where he finished 10-3 as a starter and led the Bombers to an 11-7 record en route to their first playoff berth since 2011. Nichols had also set a number of personal bests along the way, including new highs in passing yards and touchdowns. He saved arguably his best performance for the last game of 2016, throwing for a career-high 390 yards and two touchdowns in a heart-breaking 32-31 road loss to the B.C. Lions in the West semifinal.

Still, there was part of his game he continued to struggle with and one he pledged to improve over a long off-season. Already one of the best thinkers in the game, Nichols figured the best way to help out his offence — and himself — was not through his arm, but with his legs.

“It’s something I talked to the coaching staff about after the season was over last year and I just really took it seriously by adding it to my training,” the 30-year-old Nichols said Tuesday after practice.

“Running the ball was something I felt like I could easily do to help this team and so far it’s worked out well.”

Through 11 games in 2017, Nichols has already surpassed his season-high in rushing yards, carrying the ball 20 times for 177 yards. If he continues at his current pace, he’ll finish an 18-game season with 289 yards along the ground. That’s more than double his previous best of 112 yards in 2015 — a season he started with the Edmonton Eskimos before a trade landed him with the Bombers midway through the year.

The results have been promising and rewarding for Nichols, who outlined a strict off-season regimen aimed at increasing his rushing totals. While Nichols noted a greater emphasis on foot-speed drills, the transition to being a more mobile quarterback has been mostly a mental exercise.

He started by looking over film from last season, watching every one of his game tapes multiple times. When he saw a play where he could have run but didn’t, Nichols jotted it down. During his throwing sessions, he’d spend the first 40 minutes completing passes outlined in the Bombers’ playbook. Once that was finished, he’d do it all over again, only this time instead of throwing the ball he’d tuck it into his chest and burst forward for 10 yards, simulating a broken-down play that he now extended with his feet.

“A lot of this position is muscle memory and a lot of times the ball kind of leaves my hand before I even realized that I threw it because my mind is working so fast and my body just reacts to it,” Nichols said.

“It’s the same thing with tucking the ball and running, where you kind of build that clock in your head.”

Nichols said now when he’s in the pocket and there isn’t an open receiver, his instinct is to run rather than throw the ball away or take a sack. He lamented the “three or four times per game last season” that he could have moved the chains with his feet, only to see the punt team come onto the field the next play to give the ball back to his opponent.

“It puts a lot of stress on defences, just something else they have to worry about,” said Nichols.

Bombers offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice estimated Nichols had two intentional rushes last season, totalling just 14 yards and one first down. This year, his count is already at six or seven, all of which have resulted in moving the chains.

Prior to the bye week, Nichols was ranked second in rushing yards among quarterbacks. He currently sits fourth, behind B.C.’s Jonathan Jennings (178 yards), Edmonton’s Mike Reilly (183) and Hamilton’s Jeremiah Masoli (208).

For LaPolice, the ability of his quarterback to rush the ball has benefited the offence.

“It just allows us to have more plays and the more plays we get, the more touches everybody else gets and the more opportunities for playmakers to make plays with the ball,” said LaPolice. “The more reps we can get, the more plays on the field, the better off we are and that’s what he’s brought being able to scramble around and create some first downs.”

One person Nichols consulted with at the end of last season and someone he continues to have talks with about his run game is Bombers quarterbacks coach Buck Pierce. As a former CFL quarterback, Pierce understands the importance of being a mobile quarterback and what it can do to your game. In nine seasons in the CFL, Pierce rushed for 1,684 yards and 14 touchdowns.

“The quarterback position is a constant learning of what kind of tools you have in your tool belt,” said Pierce.

“It’s just another tool for Matt and it was a focus going into the off-season and something Matt has worked extremely hard on. He’s not thinking run but having the ability to extend plays and use his legs more than he has in the past. And that comes with more playing and more experience.”

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Having battled injuries over his career, including a number of concussions, Pierce also knows the dangers involved with running the ball. So it’s as much about trust as anything, in knowing Nichols will make the smart decision with his head while using his feet.

“For us to be successful, a big part of that is Matt’s ability to stay healthy and he has to understand that,” said Pierce.

“A player is going to be who he is. It’s my role as his coach to have him understand the situation and know when it’s OK to do that and when it’s OK not to.

“Matt’s a competitive guy and it’s not anybody’s place to tell him not to be the guy that he is. But it’s also a teachable moment on how staying healthy is a big part of our success and moving to where we want to get to.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff 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.