Video: Patrick Watkins saved the day for Edmonton with forced fumble, recovery and TD

One of the Edmonton Eskimos' biggest offseason moves was signing free-agent cornerback Patrick Watkins, and that move paid off spectacularly in Friday's 28-24 win over Hamilton. The Eskimos trailed during much of this game, but Tiger-Cats' starting quarterback Zach Collaros left the game late in the first half after taking a hard hit from Odell Willis, and that led to Jeremiah Masoli replacing him. Hamilton was still leading 24-14 with less than nine minutes left when Masoli rolled out on a designed quarterback run; he picked up some yards, but Watkins then met him, stole the ball and took it the other way for six points:

Patrick Watkins forced fumble, TD return vs. Hamilton from CFL Fan on Vimeo.

What's impressive here is that this isn't what you usually see from a defensive player against a quarterback. Most of the time, when a quarterback's running like this, a defender's going to try and hit him as hard as he can. Watkins smartly recognized that Masoli didn't have a great hold on the ball, though, and so instead of flying in, he stayed on his feet and just ripped the ball away. Launching himself into a tackle might have been more typical, and it might still have caused a fumble, but it wouldn't have resulted in an easy touchdown return like this.

That's a remarkable play from Watkins, and one that catalyzed Edmonton's comeback. It's far from the only remarkable one he's made in his CFL career, though. Watkins came to the league with the Toronto Argonauts in 2012 after an impressive college career at Florida State and several years in the NFL with Dallas and San Diego, but was a bit of a risk then, as he had missed the entire 2011 season while recovering from a knee injury. He proved to be a terrific find for Toronto, though, picking up league all-star selections in both 2012 and 2013. Edmonton head coach Chris Jones is very familiar with him, as he was the Argonauts' defensive coordinator for both of those seasons. Jones may well have been involved in the Eskimos' decision to go and get Watkins in free agency, and so far, that's looking like a great move.