There aren’t many firsts in a league that is into triple digits of existence and which will celebrate its 110th championship a month from today. And so, in that respect, while the magic that Edmonton Elks quarterback Tre Ford is creating these days is certainly enthralling, it’s not unique.
That caveat out of the way, let’s put this out there: what the Elks starter is doing now as a dual threat QB has led to comparisons to those iconic trailblazers before him, including Damon Allen, Tracy Ham, Kerry Joseph and two legends in these parts, Chris Streveler and Kenny Ploen.
Indeed, one of the intriguing subplots for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saturday’s regular season home finale against the Elks – beyond the chance to lock up first place in the West Division for the men in blue and gold – can be best described as this: ‘The Ford Factor.’
And no disrespect to some of the other quarterbacks in this league who are dual threats – especially Ottawa’s Dustin Crum, Cody Fajardo in Montreal and B.C.’s Vernon Adams, Jr. – but none of them have Ford’s mix of 4.4 speed and improvisational skills.
Remember, too, that he still has all of just 12 career starts on his resumé.
“Every quarterback has their own style,” began Blue Bombers safety Brandon Alexander earlier this week in a chat with bluebombers.com. “There are some you can group together because they’re similar, but they do have their own style. What makes Ford so dangerous is he’s faster than those other guys you mentioned. If he gets in front of you, you’re not catching him. I mean, he’s 4.4 electronic (timed 40). We had his brother (Tyrell) here and he was fast, too. He’s not a VA or Dustin Crum, he’s T Ford over there.”
“He has a strong arm and for him to break pockets and break defences down and be able to throw a 40–50-yard bomb is special. He’s playing some good ball right now.”
The Elks are out of the playoff picture at 4-13 and will be playing their last game of the year, with a bye coming up for them next week. Still, they’ve found something in Ford – the Canadian from the University of Waterloo – even if it took them weeks to give him a shot behind centre. He is 5-7 in his career as a starter (4-5 this year), and the challenges he presents to a defence are growing as quickly as his legend. He already has 608 yards rushing this season – 11th best in the CFL and second to Crum (668) among pivots – and sports a league-best 9.5 yard average per rush. He’s also thrown for 1,781 yards with 12 touchdowns against six interceptions and his 102.9 QB-efficiency rating ranks fourth behind Zach Collaros of the Blue Bombers (112.4), Toronto’s Chad Kelly (109.9) and Adams, Jr. (106.6).
Some numbers here, just to put Ford’s 608-yard rushing total in perspective:
- Three CFL quarterbacks have rushed for over 1,000 yards in a season: Tracy Ham of Edmonton had 1,096 yards rushing in 1990 and 1,005 yards in 1989; Damon Allen, with Ottawa, had 1,036 yards in 1991 while Kerry Joseph, then of the Ottawa Renegades, had 1,006 yards along the ground in 2005. Ford’s rushing total comes in just nine games and, over a full season, would project to 1,215.
- And, FYI, Streveler holds the Blue Bombers QB rushing record with 726 yards in 2019, followed by Ploen with 541 yards in 1960.
The question now is how the Blue Bombers will opt to defend him. And the answer isn’t as simple as shadowing him with a designated defender. Why?
“When you do that, you’re always robbing from Peter to pay Paul,” explained defensive coordinator Richie Hall. “At the end of the day you have 12 players out there. How many players do you commit to the front? How many players do you commit to the back? It’s no different than if you have a receiver and you double-cover him. If you double-cover him then it minimizes somebody else. I think what you try to do is give him a variety of different looks. Sometimes you play coverage, sometimes you spy him, sometimes you pressure him. The goal is to get him uncomfortable, where he doesn’t know where everything is coming from and if you can get him off his path in that manner then that’s advantageous for us defensively. The bottom line is, whatever you do if you don’t execute it, you’re out of luck. So, we’ve got to execute and use all the things in our package to be successful.”
Hall outlined the difference between Ford and Adams, Jr. as this: Adams, Jr. is primarily still looking to throw the football when he’s moving up or outside of the pocket whereas Ford is still more apt to pull it and run.
“He runs because that’s what he feels comfortable with,” said Hall. “VA feels comfortable running being a quarterback and being a runner where Ford is ‘If I don’t see what I like, I’m going to run with the football.’ You look at Damon Allen, you look at Tracy Ham back in the olden days and they had athletic ability, but they were looking to run the ball until they felt comfortable using their athletic ability with their ability to throw the football. Now you become a double threat vs a single threat.”
Ford didn’t play in the first meeting between the clubs back in July, a 28-14 Winnipeg win, but did have the Blue Bombers bloodied and up against the ropes in their second meeting a few weeks later in building a 22-0 advantage before Collaros exited with a neck injury and Dru Brown came off the bench to help lead a dramatic 38-29 victory.
Ford was 12-of-16 for 189 yards with a TD and an interception in that game, also running five times for 50 yards and another score.
“The dude knows how to run,” said Blue Bombers defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat. “He knows how to hit a gap and just take off and he’s so fast he can get around the edge and create time to be able to throw to his receivers. He’s probably the fastest guy we face.
“You’ve just got to get guys around him; bodies around him. You can’t run as fast when you’ve got a bunch of guys converging on you and tackling you. We’ve got to make sure we hustle and make plays on the ball when he’s running.
“It’s easy when you’ve got open grass. It’s not the same when you’ve got guys all around him. That’s how this defence has to play.”
“He’s starting to use his arm a bit more now and that’s making him more dangerous,” added Alexander. “He poses a challenge to us in trying to keep him contained, trying to make the tackle on him. Not only that, but we’ve also got to try and plaster them on the back end and be able to stick to our receivers when stuff hits the fan.
“This is like his real first chance to get all the kinks out. He’s had about half the season now and each week it’s like he’s putting it a little bit more together.”
FYI:
The Blue Bombers held a closed to the media practice on Thursday in advance of Saturday’s game against the Elks.
Asked about what the offence loses if Schoen can’t go, head coach Mike O’Shea said this:
“Dalton’s been one of the best in the league for the last two years – and he’s only been here two. I’ve said it on numerous occasions, everybody in our room over there has the ability to help us win football games. Whatever our lineup looks like, it will be good.”
