Johnson's Sack Dance |
From what I've seen this season, Jamall Johnson is the front runner for Most Outstanding Defensive Player. He is all over the field. His 50 tackles is second in the league (behind the 53 racked up by Toronto Argonaut Kevin Eiben), and he has made big plays in almost every game, the standout play being his stuff of Steven Jyles on a 3rd-and-one gamble against Winnipeg on August 13th.
Knowlton has been quieter than last season, but I think that has more to do with Johnson's emergence than any falloff in Knowlton's skills. He's still third in the league in tackles, with 40, and he has performed when needed. He's no longer the team's best Linebacker, but he is still better than most.
Floyd Sacks Lemon |
For my money, no team has a better starting Linebacking group than the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and they have shown in 2010 that 2009 was just the beginning.
Mid-Season Grade: A
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Johnson's "emergence"? There was a good case for him as our outstanding defensive player last year too. But Knowlton was more diverse - 4 picks and 4 fumble recoveries and scored a TD each way, plus came second on the team in tackles. Lots of football to play yet and I'm going to guess it will be a tough choice by the end of this season as well.
ReplyDeleteNo excuses but Markeith was hobbled a bit a few games back, though he didn't miss much field time.
Floyd seems to be the quieter one this year. But I agree he's the heart of the D and probably the team as a whole. The stellar play of his two fellow LBs has probably elevated Otis's as well - he can take some chances knowing the MK and JJ have his back.
We probably haven't had a LB crew this good since the 1980s - Zambiasi, Ezerins, and Robinson for example.
As great as JJ was last season -- and don't get me wrong, he was phenomenal -- I just feel like he's taken his game to a completely different level this year. It has gotten to the point where I'm surprised when he's not the team's leading tackler at the end of the game. I don't think there is a Linebacker playing in the CFL right now who is within a country mile of JJ.
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