July 6, 2018

Rebuilt Eskimos Defence Upgraded To ‘Improving’

For three years, Eskimos defensive tackle Almondo Sewell and backup quarterback James Franklin taunted each other about the “real” outcome of a practice play.

“He would always joke around in practice and say, ‘That’s a sack, Frank’ and I’d always say, ‘No, I’ll break that tackle,’ ” Franklin said during a CFL conference call earlier this week. “Unfortunately, now, I’m going to have to try to prove that if he gets a hold of me.”

Franklin, a 26-year-old pending free agent, was traded from the Eskimos to the 2017 Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts last December and will make his first start with the 0-2 Argos against his former teammates at BMO Field at 3:30 p.m. MDT, Saturday. Starting QB Ricky Ray suffered a neck injury in Toronto’s last game and is sidelined indefinitely.

“It’s kind of funny how it works out that it is my first start (against the Eskimos), but I don’t think it’s necessarily an advantage, and I don’t think it’s a disadvantage,” said Franklin. “It is how it is.”

The Eskimos have a 2-1 record because their defence kept the score close by bending but refusing to break while the offence sputtered in the first half of last week’s game against the BC Lions before finally catching fire late in the second quarter en route to a 41-22 victory.

Middle linebacker J.C. Sherritt had called the Eskimos defensive play “embarrassing” in a 38-21 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on June 22, but outside linebacker Christophe Mulumba-Tshimanga said the word to describe the Eskimos defence against the Lions was “Swag. We had a lot of swag.”

Heading into the Toronto game, Sherritt said the Edmonton defence is now trending on “Improving.”

“That’s the best word for it,” he said. “The most important thing we have to do is get better every day out here. We’re very young in certain spots, so there’s going to be growing pains and learning to play together as a defence. But as long as we’re improving, we’re doing the right things.”

Will the Eskimos defence have an advantage against Toronto after watching Franklin practise every day for the last three years?

“It helps in terms of we know he has a strong arm, and he trusts himself,” defensive halfback Aaron Grymes said. “He’s a little mobile, he can move around and make plays with his feet if he has to, but at the end of the day, we’re going against their entire offence, not just their quarterback.”

Sherritt said Edmonton’s only advantage regarding Franklin “is the respect we have for his ability. We know … we’re playing a good quarterback, a guy who has the potential to be very good in this league. We’ve seen it in person.”

Franklin made only three starts during the 12 games he played in with the Eskimos – most of them during his rookie season in 2015 when starting quarterback Mike Reilly was injured – and he passed for 335 yards in two of those contests.

“That makes him dangerous,” Sherritt said. “We’ve seen through years and years when these (young) guys get their shot, they come out very hot and explode early before film gets taken on them. We’re expecting a very talented football player.”

It should be noted that the 10 quarterbacks who started games against their former team later that same season or the following year since 2013 have a combined record of 6-13.

One of the keys for the Eskimos defence on Saturday is to get pressure on Franklin, so he doesn’t have time to find an open receiver downfield.

“I couldn’t touch him in practice, but we can touch him now,” Sewell said with a smile.

Sewell, 31, is the only returning starter on the Eskimos defensive line, which has undergone massive changes this season in an attempt to get younger. Odell Willis was traded, Marcus Howard and Phillip Hunt were released, Euclid Cummings left as a free agent, and John Chick retired. On top of that, Du’Quan Bowers also decided to retire just before training camp and return to Clemson University to finish his degree and coach the defensive linemen for the Tigers.

If that wasn’t enough, Mike Moore, who rotated into the lineup last year, was injured in the season opener while Eskimos 2017 draft pick Kwaku Boateng, who had two quarterback sacks and three defensive tackles against BC last week, is listed third on the depth chart behind this week’s starter, Gerald Rivers, a 28-year-old journeyman who spent time with six different NFL teams. The Eskimos also recalled national defensive lineman Mark Mackie, a 2017 eighth-round draft pick who was released after training camp.

Defensive end Alex Bazzie and defensive tackle Jake Ceresna are the other starters on the Eskimos’ overhauled D-line.

Sewell had to help the newcomers adjust to the Eskimos defence at the start of the season and said the D-linemen “were all trying too hard” the first couple of games, “but now you can see the younger guys starting to pick it up.”

“They’re getting it all done right now so you can finally settle down and get into your own groove now,” he added. “We’re all getting pressures now. It’s only a matter of time until you see those sacks really start rolling. The quarterbacks are very uncomfortable in the pocket, which we want. We’re all winning our one-on-ones, so that’s a good thing.”

Sewell had six defensive tackles and no sacks during the first three games.

While the Eskimos expected the growing pains on the defensive line, they didn’t expect to be dealing with the same ailment in their secondary and linebacking groups, as well. But injuries knocked out three expected starters in the defensive backfield – cornerbacks Johnny Adams and Arjen Colquhoun during training camp and defensive halfback Forrest Hightower at practice after sitting out the first game as a reserve player – while weakside linebacker Adam Konar was injured in the season-opener.

“That’s just football, man,” Sherritt said about the injuries. “Especially after last year and years past, it’s something we’re used to. You’re only as good as your depth. That’s proven time and time again.

“It’s great that these guys have come in and stepped up and then there’s going to be a point where we start getting people back and then our depth is really elite.”

Mulumba-Tshimanga is a perfect example. The Eskimos third-round draft pick in 2017 leads the team with 15 defensive tackles and 20 defensive plays in less than three full games at outside linebacker after totalling 19 defensive tackles over nine starts at outside or middle linebacker as a rookie.

“Last year, I got thrown into the fire a little bit,” he said. “That experience was really helpful for coming in this year. I knew what to expect.”

Still, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Mulumba-Tshimanga, who sat out the fourth quarter of the Hamilton game after making some alignment mistakes.

“Every game has been a learning process,” he said. “Every game, I try to show improvement to the coaches and that I can play in this league.”

It certainly helped Mulumba-Tshimanga to be in the right place at the right time last week against the BC Lions. He had two quarterback sacks and a team-high six defensive tackles.

“Definitely one of the best games in my young career,” he said.

Sherritt believes that there’ll be a lot more of those to come for Mulumba-Tshimanga.

“Mums is going to be just fine,” Sherritt said. “It’s only a matter of time before he’s a starter and a major player in this league. Obviously, that’s coming to fruition right now. He’s shown that ability last year as a young guy. He’ll be very, very good as time goes on.”

While Sherritt has 12 defensive tackles and an interception this year, the former CFL Most Outstanding Defensive Player is also working his way back into form after missing all but the first quarter of the first game in 2017 with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

“Like the young guys improving and trying to get better, I’m getting a feel for tackling and things like that again,” he said. “It’s coming back and coming back fast.”

Meanwhile, the secondary is quickly improving by leaps and bounds. Grymes said the newcomers “have come a long way from Week 1 to Week 3.”

“I feel like we’re starting to work together,” he explained. “Things are coming easier for them. We’re communicating more. We’re getting out of that whole mind state of just making sure we’re doing the right thing and moreso trying to make plays now.”

Nick Taylor, a 30-year-old defensive back who has already played cornerback, defensive halfback and nickel (strong-side linebacker) this season, is one of the three new players in the defensive backfield, but at least he has some CFL experience with the Ottawa RedBlacks (17 games during the past two seasons). Defensive halfback Monshadrik (Money) Hunter and Maurice McKnight are both 22-year-old CFL rookies.

“We’ve got good rookies,” Grymes said. “They’re willing to learn, and they’re asking questions on and off the field, making sure that they’re in the right spots and trying to make plays. For the most part, they know where to line up. I’m not going to talk to them too much before the play because that starts to mess up guys’ minds. Line up, go play, we can make corrections on the sidelines. If you have a question, feel free to ask. I have no problem answering because I’ve been there before.

“But, for the most part, we’re playing, we’re flying around, and we’ll make those corrections later.”

Taylor tipped his helmet to Hamilton QB Jeremiah Masoli, who passed for 332 yards and three touchdowns while running seven times for another 59 yards against the Eskimos.

“Masoli came out and played a heck of a game and took the rest of the guys with him,” Taylor said. “We chalked that one up, and then we came out (last) week and just put out a better effort.

“It’s a learning experience,” Taylor said about the rookie defensive backs. “Right now, there’s going to be some ups and downs. But they’re getting the hang of it and, as the weeks go by, they’ll keep getting better and better and as a whole unit we’ll keep getting better.”

Veteran safety Neil King rounds out the secondary while Chris Edwards is in his first season as the starter at the nickel or strong-side linebacker position.

SHORT YARDAGE: Reilly and wide receiver Duke Williams were CFL Players Of The Month in June. Reilly passed for 1,020 yards and six touchdowns while scoring four rushing TDs himself. Williams had back-to-back 100-yard receiving games, led all receivers with 308 yards on 14 catches and scored two touchdowns and two, two-point converts … Running back C.J. Gable was a CFL Player Of The Week after rushing 23 times for 165 yards – both career highs – last week against the Lions … The Eskimos have lost four of their last five games in Toronto, including 34-26 last year when running back James Wilder Jr. totalled 257 combined yards – including 190 rushing yards and 67 receiving yards – in his first CFL start.  He has only 76 rushing yards on 15 carries this season … Eskimos receiver Bryant Mitchell will make his season debut as a backup after being scratched from the game day lineup each of the last two games … The Eskimos are playing a team coming off the bye week for the second straight game … The Argos were 2-0 after a bye week last year.