THE CANADIAN PRESS
Montreal, August 10, 2011 – Brandon Whitaker is making the most of his chance to shine with the Montreal Alouettes.
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Whitaker leads the CFL in rushing with 493 yards, averaging a stellar 6.8 yards per carry. |
The 5’10”, 200 lbs. running back had huge shoes to fill in training camp with the off-season departure of Avon Cobourne to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The colourful Cobourne helped Montreal win consecutive Grey Cups before leaving as a free agent after the Als wouldn’t make him the CFL’s highest-paid running back.
But Whitaker, 25, who only played three games with Montreal last season, has stepped in quite nicely. He ran for 150 yards on 19 carries in the Alouettes’ 36-23 road win over Toronto on Thursday.
He leads the CFL in rushing with 493 yards, averaging a stellar 6.8 yards per carry.
However, in Whitaker’s mind those accomplishments pale in comparison to Cobourne’s.
“Avon won two Grey Cups in a row, he’s been a Grey Cup MVP (in 2009),” Whitaker said. “Until I get that I won’t be satisfied.”
“I have some very big shoes to fill here, that’s for sure.”
Whitaker joined the Alouettes as a free agent in 2008 after being bypassed in the NFL draft following his college career at Baylor. And despite his limited playing time last year, Whitaker was involved in a rather memorable play.
Replacing an injured Cobourne, Whitaker missed a block in a game against Winnipeg on Aug. 19 that resulted in Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo suffering a bruised sternum. Calvillo only missed two games with the injury but it was during his time in hospital that a lesion on his thyroid gland was discovered.
A biopsy was performed resulting in the discovery of cancer. Following Montreal’s second straight Grey Cup win, an emotional Calvillo announced the discovery of the lesion and that he was undergoing off-season thyroid surgery.
The good news is Calvillo is back playing effectively with the Alouettes and has a clean bill of health.
But Whitaker is more than just a running back. He also has 26 catches for 203 yards and a TD and head coach Marc Trestman says Whitaker has dramatically improved his blocking ability.
Whitaker has helped give Montreal’s offence more balance this season. The Alouettes lead the CFL in passing (322 yards per game) and are second overall in rushing (117 yards).
However, with Calvillo under centre, the Alouettes are clearly a pass-first offence regardless of Whitaker’s rushing prowess.
“Every week I get asked the question of why we don’t run the ball more,” Trestman said. “But at the end of the day we do what we think is best for our team.”
“Against Toronto we felt with the kind of defensive line they had and the kind of pass rush they can sustain that we did want to level the playing field a little bit with the run.”
Then again, even Whitaker doesn’t believe he’s a true running back.
“I consider myself a receiver playing running back,” he said.
“I’m always messing with the coaches to let me run routes with the receivers.”
“But we have the best receiving corps in the league so for me to get a ball out there is pretty exciting. The way we run our offence I can get the ball catching or running, so in games I might get more of one or the other. I’m just happy and excited to be out there, really.”
