August 9, 2018

Versatility A Beard Trademark On Offensive Line

When the Eskimos drafted David Beard in the second round of the 2015 CFL Draft, they posted a picture online of the University of Alberta Golden Bears offensive lineman catching a touchdown pass in the end zone.

He has barely touched the football since.

“It was kind of funny, actually,” Beard recalled. “That was one of my highlights from CIS. We had a play drawn up for me at tight end, and I ended up scoring on it.

“It was a very strange thing, but I was thrilled.”

Now a fourth-year veteran with the Eskimos, the six-foot-five, 327-pound Beard was thrilled to get his hands on the ball for each play of every offensive series in last week’s CFL game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders as he snapped the football to quarterback Mike Reilly while filling in for veteran centre Justin Sorensen.

He also fell on a loose ball for a fumble recovery after it was knocked out of Reilly’s hands in the fourth quarter.

“I was happy to try to help him out,” said Beard, who also made a defensive tackle on B.C. Lions defensive back TJ Lee after a 28-yard interception return earlier this season.

The Saskatchewan game marked just Beard’s second career start at centre and the third different position he has played this year while also starting at left guard (one game) and right guard (five games).

With Sorensen returning to the lineup for Thursday’s 8 p.m. MDT contest against the Lions at BC Place, Beard will be back at right guard as the Eskimos attempt to extend a three-game winning streak and improve their 5-2 record. The Esks are also 3-0 against West Division opponents this season.

“There were some plays I wish I had back,” Beard said about his rare opportunity to play centre. “We’re not happy with the number of hits Mike took, but for getting a mixed-up group this past week, there’s some good things, but not enough good things.”

The Eskimos gave up four quarterback sacks – equalling the number of sacks they surrendered in their first six games combined – with Beard at centre and Jacob Ruby at right guard for his first start with the Esks since joining the team in July 2017.

“It was a long time coming to get another start, but you don’t lose the feeling of excitement to be able to start a game,” said Ruby, who played 17 games at left tackle for the Montreal Alouettes in 2016.“That was probably one of the better defences we’ll have to face all year,” he continued. “Sask is known for its defence, and they’ve got great players, and they do a number of things that are really different than a lot of other teams scheme-wise.

For what we were going up against, we did pretty well.”

Left tackle Matt O’Donnell, left guard Travis Bond and right tackle Colin Kelly round out the starting members of the offensive line that still ranks second in league with only eight sacks allowed.

“I think we’ve got the best offensive line in the league and we’re pretty deep,” said Ruby, who has played in 15 games with the Eskimos during the 2017 and ’18 seasons. “We’ve got guys who can play at almost all the positions any given day. Not all teams can do that.”

Although there are some minor differences, Beard said it isn’t a big deal for him to adjust from guard to centre.

“They’re both something I’m comfortable with, and I’m happy to play wherever they need me to,” he said. “As long as you’re comfortable with snapping (the ball), which I can say, personally, I am, it’s just a different point of view.

“You ask any O-lineman when you learn plays, you’re not learning plays as an individual position, you’re learning as a group,” he explained. “It’s a whole entire concept that you’re learning. To be plugged in at different places is something you have to be attentive to, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to wrap your head around the schemes and stuff like that and your responsibilities.”

Beard laughed about how far he’s come since his first game as an offensive lineman with the Golden Bears in 2013.

“We were playing Manitoba in the first game (of the CIS season),” he said. “I was playing left tackle, and I was 240 pounds. I had just barely got the offence figured out. I think it was a basic pass play on our first play. As simple as it is just picking up the (defensive end), I remember not getting the snap count right. Once the ball was snapped, I was just walking backwards. I wasn’t even taking a proper pass set.”

He had literally been thrown into the fire for that game. He had already played two seasons at rush end and was expecting to start his third season at defensive tackle when U of A head coach Chris Morris approached him with an unusual request.

“Morris said: ‘Hey, we’re in need. Would you consider doing this?’ ” Beard recalled.

“We were in a pinch. I think it was three days before our first game. We had one of our O-lineman leave. I think he didn’t want to play football anymore.

“I was hesitant at first to fully commit,” he admitted, “but (Morris) convinced me that it would be a good idea. Sure enough, he proved himself right. It was a good call, and I had a really good coach (Eskimos running backs coach Tim Prinsen was his O-line coach with the Bears).”

Beard also gave Morris credit for helping him “get my head wrapped around what O-line is like and even down to the schemes and stuff.”

Despite his shaky start with the Bears, Beard settled in pretty quickly, and his first game as an offensive lineman went “relatively well.”

“We had one of our better offensive performances for years up until that point,” he said. “It’s a fun memory, for sure.”

Beard, 26, improved enough to play in the CIS East-West Bowl (All-Star Game) in 2014, started 16 games on the O-line during his last two years with Alberta, was selected in the second round of the 2015 draft by the Eskimos and made 14 starts over the past two seasons.

“It’s been a blast,” he said. “I enjoyed playing D-line, and that was great. I’ve really enjoyed playing O-line, too. I can honestly say now, looking back, that I probably would not have had the same opportunities had I been playing defensive line.”

Beard made the Eskimos roster as a rookie, playing in nine games. He played eight more games in 2016 and then a full 18-game season (seven starts) with two playoff games last year.

“Obviously, 2015 was amazing,” he said. “Winning the Grey Cup in your first year, you don’t get much luckier than that in terms of getting drafted to a team that was going to be successful like that.

“I wasn’t starting that year, but I was able to get unbelievable amounts of learning opportunities and really changed a lot as a player.”

His first start at left guard and first start at centre when Sorensen was injured last year were “big deals” to him.

Meanwhile, Ruby has had to be patient while also showing off his versatility since the Alouettes released him a couple of games into the 2017 season following a major house-cleaning venture. Montreal was supposedly unable to trade Ruby, but the Eskimos were quick to scoop him up as a free agent.

Ruby, who is six-foot-seven, 315 pounds, has practised at every position on the offensive line this year, although he’s only played guard and centre in games, including the pre-season. He’ll be a backup Thursday along with 2017 draft pick Jean-Simon Roy.

“Playing centre has helped me tremendously, just understanding things, seeing things and understanding what everyone across the board on the offensive line is doing,” Ruby said.

While he would like to play all the time, Ruby can also do the math and realize that there are potentially only 27 starting jobs (three per team) available for Canadian offensive linemen in the CFL because most teams have two starting international O-linemen.

“Just to be on a roster and have an opportunity to play is a blessing,” Ruby said. “But being a competitor and wanting to play. Obviously, it can get frustrating when you’re not able to play. Football doesn’t last forever for anyone. You’re one play away from being able to go in, so you’ve got to keep that in mind when you’re in that kind of position.

 

Beard graduates from U of A

When Beard made the Eskimos as a rookie in 2015, he still had a year of university football eligibility remaining. He also had a year of classes left in his kinesiology program.

“It took me until this past off-season to finish, just doing a class here or there in the off-season,” Beard said. “I had to do some by correspondence and then some (classes) actually in the school. I did a practicum at Ross Sheppard High School this winter. I’m happy to get the degree on the wall and say that I can learn.”

Beard worked as a strength and conditioning coach in Ross Shep’s sports performance program.

“I was being mentored by a guy named Alex Tonsi, who has worked with the Eskimos as a strength and conditioning co-ordinator and now has moved on to Ross Shep,” Beard said. “It was a really great practicum. I couldn’t have had a better opportunity and a better experience.”

One of his incentives to complete his U of A degree was his grandparents, who contributed to an RESP (registered education savings plan) for him since he was born.

“Every year, they’ve given me a chunk of money toward a RESP that now my parents are going to be continuing on with my son,” Beard said. “Yeah, I’m very grateful for my grandparents to be so generous financially to be able to support me. That RESP really did a huge thing for getting me through school having minimal loans and the little bit of loans I had I was able to pay off right away. That was a fantastic thing I’m very grateful for.”

As for a potential career down the road, Beard is putting that on hold right now.

“Football is temporary for everyone, so whenever football ends for me, I’ve got some decisions to make, but it’s definitely one of my options,” he said. “It’s something I’ll think a little bit more about in the off-season for getting some more experience in that respective field, but I’m just staying focused on the season for now.

“If an opportunity arises early in the off-season, I might be able to do some off-season work.”

 

Getting healthy

The Eskimos defence is starting to look closer to what it was expected to be when the season started.

Defensive halfback Forrest Hightower and defensive lineman Mike Moore came off the six-game injured list this week, following on the heels of the activation of defensive backs Mercy Maston and Arjen Colquhoun last week. Roy and national fullback Christophe Normand also came off the injured list last week.

To make room for everyone, the Eskimos had to release international defensive linemen Rakim Cox and Gerald Rivers, international defensive back Maurice McKnight and international receiver Miles Shuler this week.

“We’re getting healthier, and we’ve got guys who are starters on our six-game (injured) list,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “As we pull guys off, we have tough decisions to make. It’s a business of football. It sucks. We have to make hard decisions … but, ultimately, it comes down to we have a salary cap that we have to abide by, and you can’t keep everybody here, and that’s unfortunate because I feel for a lot of these guys. I love all of them. They played extremely hard. They fit in. It’s not because of how they played that some of them are going home. It’s more because of the other things that happened. That’s football. That’s life.”

Kick-returner/receiver Jamill Smith and veteran wide receiver Vidal Hazelton also came off the six-game injured list this week, although Hazelton is now on the one-game injured list. For Smith, his return to the lineup pushes rookie running back Jordan Robinson, who had been handling kick-return duties in Smith’s absence, to the practice roster.

Other lineup changes have 2016 draft pick, Josh Woodman, making a start at safety with veteran Neil King going on the six-game injured list and international defensive back Money Hunter and international linebacker Jeremiah Kose going to the 10-player practice roster.