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Mike Reilly plans to stay aggressive despite hits, which could lead to a high rushing total

Andrew Bucholtz

A lot of the talk around Edmonton Eskimos' quarterback Mike Reilly this year has been about what he's done with his arm, and that's for good reason. Reilly has thrown for 3,836 yards, third-best in the CFL, and while his 60.1 per cent completion mark and 22:16 touchdown/interception ratio are more solid than spectacular, some of that's on the Eskimos' offensive line and receivers. Reilly has found a lot of passing success despite Edmonton's struggles. However, an underrated element of that success is what he's done with his legs. At his best, Reilly is a great scrambler, terrific at avoiding defensive pressure, making throws downfield from outside the pocket and even picking up plenty of yardage on the ground. That's exemplified from a stat CFL director of communications Jamie Dykstra shared Friday:

Reilly has 624 rushing yards so far this season, the fifth-best total in the whole CFL and by far the best amongst quarterbacks. He's also picked up those yards on just 72 touches, which gives him an average of 8.7 yards per carry, second-best amongst everyone with more than three carries. (The only guy ahead of him is Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant, who has an average of 9.4 yards per rush, but has only carried the ball 38 times.) It's quite notable that he's on pace to do something no one has since current Edmonton teammate Joseph piled up 737 rushing yards with Saskatchewan in 2007. Reilly's skill with his legs is a huge part of what's made him successful, as defences have to focus on containing him as a runner, providing more opportunities for passing (and when they focus on the pass, he can take off and pick up big yardage). That's why it was so nonsensical for the Eskimos to try and keep him from running in a game he probably shouldn't have started anyway; they limited Reilly and made it easier for the defence to shut him down.

However, the team's base concern wasn't invalid. Reilly's taken a lot of hits this year, including four headshots that have been fined, and he's dealt with concussion issues. Given that, some teams would try and adjust how much he runs in an attempt to keep him safer. It's notable that Reilly himself told reporters this week he doesn't plan to change his style, though. From Cam Tucker at Metro Vancouver, here's the key part of what Reilly said:

“I need to improve a lot of parts of my game but in terms of changing the style, not at all, it hasn’t crossed my mind,” Reilly, explained.

“There’s been some talk early in the season, late in the season, that maybe I need to hook slide. People use that term a lot, which I think is kind of funny because when you get an opportunity to slide, there needs to be some space.

“I don’t know if anybody’s tried to slide when there’s guys a yard or two away from you. It’s legal for them to hit you until you actually start to go down and make contact with the ground. If you slide with people that close to you, it’s going to run badly and so when I’ve been given the opportunity and the space to slide, I’ve taken it.

“At other times, when you’re in close traffic, I’ve said it all year and I still believe it that it’s safer for me to go down with my shoulder first and know where the contact’s coming from. I’ll continue to do that. I don’t think my style of play has put me in a bad position at all this season.”

That's something that's been endorsed by head coach Kavis Reed, too, as The Vancouver Sun's Cam Cole writes:

"Mike plays the game the way the game's supposed to be played. He plays the game fast," Reed said Thursday.

"He understands he's the franchise quarterback of the Edmonton Eskimos, and he's been a lot smarter when he's outside the pocket. Mike knows how to play the game."

Whether Reilly can play it for the long haul, given the physical toll it exacts, is an open question, but there is little doubt he's enjoying everything - well, other than the losing and the injuries - about the experience.

"It's been really difficult at times and really great at other times, but I wouldn't change where I'm at at all, or pick a different team to play for," he said.

While scrambling and running does carry risk, the amount of quarterback injuries we've seen this year demonstrates that just standing in the pocket isn't perfectly safe either. Reilly's aggressive, physical play may put him at more risk than your average quarterback, but he's been remarkably resilient this year, with that concussion the main injury he's suffered. The Eskimos are likely wise to endorse his scrambling and his ability to run; it gives their offence a different dimension, and it's been key to Reilly's success. If you take that away and have Reilly stand in the pocket, as they did in his first game back from injury, you take away a lot of his effectiveness as well. We'll see if Reilly can keep up his successful mix of rushing and passing over the long term, but so far, it's been crucial for him, and it has him on pace to turn in the best rushing performance by a quarterback this league's seen in seven years.