Interestong comment from JoJuan Armour

Gi-15

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Article on Lumsden :

Running over opposition
Lumsden earns high praise from Stampeders' Armour
DAN TOTH, FOR METRO NEWS
July 16, 2008 02:12
AnswerTips-enabled

Calgary Stampeders linebacker JoJuan Armour refuses to be baited by questions about Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Casey Printers, his teammate last season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

No explanation, just an insistance he'll not utter "even one word about Casey" prior to the Ticats' visit to McMahon Stadium tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

Mention Jesse Lumsden, on the other hand, and it triggers a rapid-fire dialogue from the Stamps linebacker on the Ticats' burly back who has earned the respect of teammates and opponents for his hard-nosed running style and resistance to tackling.

"Jesse is an outstanding back, I've played with Jesse and against him and he's always been one of the top one or two backs in this league," said Armour, a teammate of Lumsden's the last two seasons in Hamilton.

"He can cause you problems running the ball and on screens, he's a guy you've got to gang-tackle and know how to hit him.

"The guys in this league know that you have to bring your lunch pail and your hard hat when you face him, there's nothing you have to tell them."

Lumsden leads the Canadian Football League with 362 yards rushing and a sensational 7.5-yard average, well ahead of Calgary's own Joffrey Reynolds, the No. 2 back with 277 yards through three games. Armour is quick to praise Lumsden's powerful style having seen him up-close in practice and as an opponent from across the line of scrimmage.

"Whenever Jesse has the ball in his hands he's dangerous," Armour said. "He's one of the best downhill runners (breaking to the sidelines) I've seen in a long time. When I played with him I could see he'd always make the first person miss. The first person is always going to have trouble with him, so that's something I always complimented him on when we played together.
"It's not elusive speed, he's just fast. For a big man, he moves."

Lumsden, a former Canadian College sensation with McMaster who wasn't drafted into the NFL but had a free agent shot with both the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins. His failure to stick, Armour suggests, has much more to do with the politics of NFL football and less about Lumsden's skills.


"It surprises me but there's a lot of favour­itism down there," said Armour, who was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in 1999.

"I was lucky to get four years in (in the NFL) and fortunate to have coaches down there who liked me."


btw Armour is a black LB.Edited by: Gi-15
 

guest301

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Very honest opinion stated by JoJuan Armour. The "politics of the NFL" and the "he's just fast" comment was refreshing. None of this sneaky speed crapola.
 
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Lumsden injured. Tre Smith to start.



Scott Cruikshank
The Calgary Herald

Charlie Taaffe eyeballed the greasy-fingered group of interrogators -- some still pecking at lunchtime chicken fingers -- and grinned.

"OK, what's the over-under on the first question?"

Probably something to do with Jesse Lumsden, ventured one notepad.

"I think that's pretty easy money right there."

And so it was -- after the Hamilton Tiger-Cats skipper had given his summer update Wednesday at McMahon Stadium -- that he addressed the burning topic.

The status of Mr. Lumsden, the Canadian Football League's runaway train.

No, he will not play tonight against the Calgary Stampeders.

Yes, he is banged up.

"He took a helmet on the knee . . . but it's not anything impressive," said Taaffe, noting that the line-smashing Canuck had looked like a "Chiquita banana," what with the recent bruising. "It's more a precautionary thing. He carried the ball basically 40 times over the last two games, and the way he runs . . ."

The cranky knee sends a domino-effect through the Hamilton clubhouse.

In for Lumsden is Terry Caulley, an American, which means another import gets the boot. In this case, offensive lineman Marko Cavka is hooked, and replaced by domestic product Peter Dyakowski.

"So the situation with Jesse," said Taaffe, "causes us to lose two starters."

But here's the thing -- the Tabbies will rush the ball.

Bank on it.

Averaging more than 218 ground yards, the Hamiltons are tops in the CFL. The Stamps, at 149, are a distant second.

"It's been productive lately, hasn't it?" said offensive lineman George Hudson, smiling. "We're just rushing the ball no matter what -- it's all good."

Three of their number can be discovered in the league's top 10.

Quarterback Casey Printers, who hasn't found the end zone in five games' worth of passes, is ninth.

Wee back Tre Smith sits fifth -- with an eye-popping 13.0-yard average per lug.

It's Smith who will be the primary carrier of mail.

"I hope he surprises people," said Hudson. "That's what I want -- people going, 'Who is this guy? And why is he running so well?' That would be nice."

Smith happens to also lead the circuit in all-purpose yards.

All of which makes the Auburn product an early candidate for rookie of the year.

And today, the stage is his. All his.

"I'm just going to play my hardest -- that's all I've ever done," said Smith.

"I'm ready to play and give it my all. Every play you get in the game is an opportunity. Every play, it might be my last."

Somehow, Smith is listed at five foot 11 and 195 pounds. Even those fictionalized dimensions fall well short of Lumsden's six-two, 226-pound chassis.

Proportionately, the cleats are bigger.

"It's an honour to be in the position he was in," said Smith. "But he'll be back next week (against Edmonton), so it's not like he's gone forever. I just found out . . . a spur-of-the-moment thing."

According to Hudson, it makes no difference whose mitts grip the ball -- Lumsden's or Smith's or Caulley's.

"Jesse's a special player, but all three of our running backs are special guys," said Hudson. "I'm not worried about our running game -- I'm actually excited to see how it works out."

Anticipation aside, Hudson and the offensive line aren't making a drastic overhaul in the absence of Lumsden.

Hogs make holes.

That never changes.

"Our assignments are still the same," said Hudson. "Different running backs like to hit their plays in different spots. For us? We don't know if it's going to be different till the play ends, know what I mean? We'll see what happens after the blocking, after the cloud of dust."
To that cloud of dust, add fatigue, and centre Marwan Hage claims that the linemen cannot even identify the ball carriers by the second half.

"You don't even know who's in the huddle," said Hage, "because you're so dizzy, so tired, by everything that's going on. You're so zoned in, you see the guy, but (his name) doesn't really register. You honestly don't know who's behind you -- you still have to do the same blocking."
 

ToughJ.Riggins

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And a great comment from Draftdaddy.com on the article on Lumsden about Tre Smith as well.

From Draftdaddy:
Hamilton Tiger-Cats running back Jesse Lumsden is dominating the C.F.L.

DD.comment: After a great showing at the East-West Shrine Game, Lumsden ran a 4.45 40 at 6' 2" and 225 pounds in front of NFL scouts prior to the 2005 draft. That's the same size and speed showing that got Ronnie Brown drafted 2nd overall that spring, but Lumsden, to our surprise, went undrafted. From there he only got limited chances to display his considerable skills as an undrafted free agent in Seattle, partly due to injuries, which is unfortunate ... It's also worth noting former Auburn tailback Tre Smith is doing great things up in Hamilton as a speedy tailback/return specialist, so that's a player that also deserves to be on the N.F.L.'s radar.

My take:
Both Jesse Lumsden and Tre Smith are good enough to "start" in the NFL IMHO. I think both Lumsden "and" Tre could both be top 15 starting NFL RBs!

This is a great shot for Tre and this isn't a big deal with Lumsden missing one game as long as he's back next week. Lumsden is getting the reputation of being injury prone though.

I love how the black Linebacker Armour gave an honest opinion about Lumsden getting screwed when he was cut b/c of the "politics" of the NFL. Armour said Lumsden is fast, very hard to bring down and is excellent at making the first guy miss.

And when Armour said "it's not elusive speed" in Jesse Lumsden, "he's just fast, for a big man he moves", I actually agree with him. Lumsden is a cutback power runner who thrives on making that brilliant first cut from the handoff to make the first defender miss and then accelerating to the hole and using angles to run by defenders with his great speed (or if he has to through defenders which he is excellent at as well). I would agree that Lumsden isn't the most elusive pro RB out there. Tre Smith on the other hand...Now that guy is what I would call elusive!
 
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