The BC Lions have put together a great first half of the year for a number of reasons. Boseko Lokombo and Garry Peters are having All-Star calibre seasons defensively, while Sean Whyte has hit 96.2 per cent of his field goals. But you can’t talk about BC’s season thus far without mentioning how lethal this offence has been.
And, with no disrespect to what has been a decent run game, this Lions offence is predicated on one of the CFL’s most explosive aerial attacks. Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., who returned to action in Week 10 after missing two games, is having his best season to date. And he’s surrounded by as deep a group of receivers you’ll find anywhere in the CFL.
“We’ve been working hard since training camp,” Adams said earlier this week after practice. “First group, second group. We have a lot of depth at receiver.”
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That depth was on display in a big way in Week 10. As the Lions improved to 7-2 with a 37-9 win over Calgary, they did so without one of the league’s best receivers in Dominique Rhymes. Obviously having Rhymes, who’s now on the six-game injured list, is the ideal circumstance. But as a testament to their depth, BC didn’t miss a beat.
Keon Hatcher, who led the way with 190 yards, Alexander Hollins, and Lucky Whitehead all caught touchdown passes in the win. And on any given night, it might be Rhymes, Jevon Cottoy, or Justin McInnis getting into the end zone with this dynamic offence. At times it makes you wonder how the Lions are going to get their guys enough touches.
After all, there’s only one ball to go around.
“It’s a good problem to have,” head coach Rick Campbell told the media this week. “We want to do whatever helps the team win the game and not get out of sorts trying to get a certain person the ball too often. And that goes for anybody. We just want to do what’s best for the team to win and then at the same time utilize all these guys that we got.”
So far so good for Campbell’s squad. BC boasts the league’s second most prolific passing offence, averaging over 289 yards per game. That average would almost certainly be higher had Adams not missed two games and a large portion of a third.
And yet, the Lions don’t have a top five player when it comes to receiving yards, albeit Hatcher sits sixth at 563. What BC does have, however, is six receivers in the top 30, which is more than any other team in the league. That tells you all you need to know about this team’s depth at the position.
“(We’re) always competitive, but we love to see each other eat,” Hatcher said this week. “We love to see each other ball. One’s success is just like everyone else’s success. It just makes us happy to see each other out there doing what we love to do and making plays.
“As a receiver, making those plays that’s the biggest thing for us, so to just see a guy succeed and be out there doing what he loves to do is awesome.”
That friendly competition is only going to bear more fruit once this group of receivers is fully healthy, which hasn’t happened yet this season. Hatcher and Rhymes have now missed three games each while Whitehead has had to sit out a pair. In fact, other than Hollins, no regular receiver has played all nine games thus far.
“I’ve told all our receivers: we’ve never been it in all together,” Campbell admitted this week. “But if we can keep working hard and grind out wins, when we do get everybody back feeling good then we can do some more good things.”
With Adams playing at the level he’s at, this offence would be dangerous regardless. But when you add in the array of high-end receivers he’s working with, the Lions have become perhaps the most CFL’s most exciting team to watch.
And they’re no one trick pony, either. BC is the league’s top team in both points allowed and total yards allowed, and they sit second in passing and rushing yards against. They don’t NEED their offence to put up huge totals, which is evidenced by allowing just 18 points combined in their last three wins.
But sometimes a team has to win a high scoring shootout, whether it’s the playoffs or regular season. Knowing who the Lions have at quarterback and this incredibly deep group of receivers, there’s not a team I’d be more confident in winning a game in that fashion.
