Fall is in full swing across North America. The CFL regular season is coming to an end and the playoffs will be upon us in just four weeks. It’s time to start singling out the players who have been the best at their positions in 2015. The Last Word on Sports CFL department takes a look at the best players in 2015, position by position. Today, we discuss who was the CFL’s best running back.
CFL’s Best Running Back in 2015
Running backs have three jobs within a CFL offence: blocking, receiving, and of course running the ball. If a player is not proficient in any of these three jobs, the player’s career in the league might be short-lived. Occasionally a RB will be so dominant at one or more of these duties that a team will overlook the fact that he can’t block or catch and substitute accordingly for the play called.
There have been many great rushing performances in the 2015 CFL season. A few running backs have had multiple 100 yard games, and others have been consistently productive on the ground, without performances that stand out. Let’s start by excluding any players, like receivers or quarterbacks, who are not listed as a running back on the depth chart. Let’s also draw the line at a minimum of 60 carries per candidate, which in Week 17 is an average of almost four attempts per week. Let’s also disregard performances in seasons past.
Nine Teams, Nine Candidates
- Andrew Harris – Lions
- Brandon Whitaker – Argonauts
- Cameron Marshall – Blue Bombers
- Jeremiah Johnson – Redblacks
- Jerome Messam – Roughriders
- Jon Cornish – Stampeders
- C.J. Gable – Tiger Cats
- Shakir Bell – Eskimos
- Tyrell Sutton – Alouettes
I think we can eliminate over half of these individuals right away based on a number of factors, not the least of which are numbers. Remove Whitaker, Bell, Marshall, Johnson, and Gable. Sorry guys. Best of luck in 2016!
That leaves four extremely talented RB’s who have all had great years despite the challenges faced. They are Sutton, Cornish, Messam, and Harris. Three of four candidates are nationals! Quite the story for Canadian talent at a position historically dominated by international players.
Tyrell Sutton – Montréal Alouettes
Sutton led the birds in the backfield this season and in 124 attempts, he’s gained 686 yards, a long of 54 yards, and four touchdowns. That’s good for an average carry of 5.5 yards. Not too shabby! He’s an adequate blocker but not the best of this group. But better YPC than Cornish? Wow!
In addition to those numbers, the Alouette has had 26 receptions for 169 yards and a 6.5 yard average through the air. Pretty solid numbers for the three year veteran out of Northwestern University.
Watch: Sutton outpaces and gets the angle on defenders to squeeze into the endzone for the TD
Jon Cornish – Calgary Stampeders
What honour hasn’t Jon Cornish won in the CFL? I can’t think of a playing merit award he’s eligible for that he hasn’t won. He has paced the Stampeders, despite his stints on the sideline, with 115 rushes for 622 yards, a long of 26 yards, and four touchdowns. Good for 5.4 yards per carry on average.
He’s caught the ball 19 times for a total of 138 yards with 7.3 yards per catch. The New Westminster, B.C. product is also a great pass blocker.
Watch: Cornish runs 79 yards to the house at McMahon Stadium
Jerome Messam – Saskatchewan Roughriders
A free agent at the end of 2015 and the Riders season all but over, Toronto-born Jerome Messam was traded from the Riders to the Stampeders a couple of hours prior to last Wednesday’s CFL trade deadline. Messam has 125 touches for 826 yards, a long of 53 yards, and two touchdowns. He has the category lead in yards per carry with 6.1 per attempt. By comparison, that’s only 40 yards less than league running leader Andrew Harris, who had 50 more attempts.
The big, agile player has been dynamite, leaking out of the backfield on screens and dumps for big yards. 47 catches for 464 yards and a 9.9 yards per catch average. That sets career highs for Messam in eight of ten stat categories in 2015. He’s really improved his blocking and all around professionalism over the last 24 months. Messam also leads the all-purpose yards race with 1290.
Watch: Messam rumbles 53 yards to the endzone
Andrew Harris – B.C. Lions
Ever overlooked Andrew Harris is a free agent after this year and he has earned a nice contract already. The workhorse has 181 rushes for 866 yards, a long of 33 yards, and four touchdowns. The league lead for the Winnipeg native in total rushing yards, however, has an average of 4.8 yards per carry, tying a career low from 2011.
Harris has been a threat out of the backfield as usual. He’s contributed 44 receptions for 418 yards and a 9.5 yards per catch average. Harris is the best blocker of the bunch. It’s extremely rare to see him miss a blitzing linebacker or defensive back and that’s a huge asset to the passing game.
Watch: Harris romps 58 yards for the touchdown
The Winner: Jerome Messam
There has been one back that fired out of the gates and has been consistently contributing to his clubs offensive output and that is former Rider and current Stamp, Jerome Messam.
It’s really tough to stray from the rushing yardage leader but I’m going to do just that. The Calgary Stampeders Jerome Messam has been outstanding while playing through the storm that was the 2015 Saskatchewan Roughriders season. His numbers are just better next to runner up Andrew Harris and he may have benefitted from time on the shelf for Sutton and Cornish. Messam may have beat them completely healthy anyways because he’s had his own setbacks.
He will rest this week and get acclimated with his new teammates and surroundings. Matt Walter is at the top of the depth chart for the Stamps this week with Messam inactive and watching from the sidelines. We’ll see how the stats end up in about three weeks.
