Avon at the door of a record season

Avon Cobourne keeps defying the odds.

Back in training camp with the Montreal Alouettes this season, Cobourne was generally viewed as a long shot at best to beat out Jarrett Payton for the team’s running back position.

Payton is the son of legendary NFLer Walter Payton and starred for most of last season in Montreal’s backfield.

But Cobourne impressed the Montreal coaching staff and won the job. Now, he’s threatening to go where no other CFL player has gone before.

Heading to the halfway point of the 2008 CFL season, Cobourne leads the league in rushing with 715 yards. He also amassed 463 yards receiving, putting him on pace to become the first player in league history to record 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season.

The feat has been accomplished twice in the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers’ Roger Craig (1,050 yards rushing, 1,016 yards receiving) was the first to do so in 1985 before Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams (1,381 yards rushing, 1,048 yards receiving) did it in 1999.

“Avon is the real deal, he truly is,” Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo said. “The fact is he can protect, he can make good plays with his legs and then he can come out of the backfield and make some awesome plays with his hands. He’s an all-around back that takes our offence to another level."

As the Canadian Press pointed out, Cobourne enjoyed a stellar college career at West Virginia, rushing for a school-record 5,164 yards. But he was bypassed in the 2003 NFL draft and signed with the Detroit Lions as a free agent. He spent two seasons with the Lions before signing with the Miami Dolphins in 2005.

He joined the Alouettes in 2006 and spent his first season mostly playing special teams. Last year, he served as a defensive player before lining up in the backfield when Payton was injured.

Predictably, Cobourne prefers to run with the football than catch it.

"Of course, I’m a running back," the 29-year-old speedster said. "But I want it (the football) any way I can get it."

The five-foot-eight, 200-pounder is a powerful runner who can meet a tackler head-on and get the tough yards. But he also has great acceleration and has shown an ability to turn a potentially small gain into a big one.

Covering Cobourne in passing situations is also a big challenge for a defence. That was evident in Montreal’s 32-11 win over Toronto last week when Cobourne got behind Argonauts defender Chuck Winters for an 18-yard touchdown catch in the first half.

"It’s tough, it’s really tough because we have so many different routes that he runs and they don’t know what he’s going to do," Calvillo said. "We’re going to look for the match-ups and take advantage of them when we can."

Cobourne has helped Montreal (5-3) surge atop the East Division standings, thanks in large part to a stellar 5-0 record within the conference. The Alouettes are on a nice roll, having won their past two games, but Cobourne is glad they have a bye this week.

"The bye comes at a great time because we need the rest," he said. "We have a lot of guys banged up.

"If you’re not banged as a football player, then you’re not working hard and I feel we are working hard and need the rest right now."

 

Inside information

• The B.C. Lions are changing their signals for their game Friday night.

The reason: The Calgary Stampeders are visiting them, and Dave Dickenson is the Stamps’ backup QB.

Dickenson, of course, spent five seasons as the Lions’ QB and is quite familiar, of course, with the Lions’ traditional signals.

 

A lot on his mind

• Stefan Logan has officially replaced Joe Smith as the Lions’ starting running back.

But Smith, who has excelled for the Lions in past years, remains on B.C.’s payroll and will be right back in the lineup if Logan doesn’t light it up against the Stamps Friday night.

Logan is unnerved about his ailing father, Michael Logan, who is battling a serious kidney problem and has been off work for two months.

"He’s very sick, but he doesn’t want me to be concerned,” Stefan said. “I might have to fly home, but not yet. I told him, ‘Just keep taking your medicine, rest and get better.’"

 

Blue Bomber blacklist

• Representatives of the Football Reporters of Canada have complained to the CFL about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers denying media credentials to the Winnipeg Sun on behalf of Troy Westwood.

Westwood, the Bombers’ ex-placekicker, writes a column for the Sun two days after every Bomber game.

Westwood has been extremely critical in print of Bombers head coach Doug Berry. Westwood has written that Berry has lost his locker room and the respect of the Winnipeg players.

CFL officials insist they’ll eventually speak to Winnipeg management about the matter.

• The Bombers, meanwhile, are searching feverishly for a new place-kicker.

They haven’t been happy with Westwood’s replacement, Alexis Serna, and they clearly have no intention of re-signing Westwood.

Brendan Taman, the Bombers’ general manager, is scouting in the NFL and he has confirmed that his primary objective is to sign a competent kicker.

 

WEEKLY PICKS

Every week during the CFL season, I make my traditional picks against the spread at the bottom of this column. I’m experiencing my worst year since I started doing this way back in 1980. I went 1-1 last week and am 12-18 on the season. There are only two games this week because the Eastern teams all have byes. My choices for Week Nine:

THURSDAY – Saskatchewan at Edmonton
The Eskimos are favoured by 4.5 points. The Roughriders have a boatload of injury and might just look like the not-so-Roughriders against the Eskimos in Edmonton. TAKE EDMONTON MINUS THE 4.5 POINTS.

FRIDAY – Calgary at B.C.

The Lions are favoured by 3.5 points. The Stampeders haven’t won a game in B.C. since 2002, but it’s a different Calgary team making the visit this game, with new coach John Hufnagel and a whole new attitude. TAKE CALGARY PLUS THE 3.5 POINTS.

Marty York is Metro’s national sports columnist as well as an
instructor at the College of Sports Media in Toronto. You can also read
his columns at www.freemyteam.com.

He
can be heard each Wednesday night on Vancouver radio station CKNW with
Sportstalk host Dan Russell.

Contact Marty at marty.york@metronews.ca