If there’s one player on any team that can live his life in anonymity, it’s probably the fullback.
Perhaps the most underappreciated position on the field, at least among casual fans, the fullback is responsible for catching short passes, catching opponents off guard with a well-timed run, and most importantly, protecting the quarterback.
The Toronto Argonauts have Declan Cross as their starter, perhaps the best fullback in the league. He’s a tremendous blocker, has good speed, and is a quality pass catcher, evidenced by the two catches for two-point conversions he had in the 2017 Grey Cup win over Calgary. He is also a major contributor to special teams.
Cross is back in camp for a fifth season, spending the elongated off-season studying himself and trying to make little improvements to make him an even better player.
“I know how to improve now,” he told Argonauts.ca after Friday’s practice. “Before, if I had a physical error on a play, I’d have to think about how to do that, or ask the coaches how do I correct this? Now that I have the experience, I know that if I mess up this way, I know that I have to step here, hit here, move my arms here; I have the knowledge how to correct myself. That’s going to help me get up to speed and improve even faster.”
Now that he’s able to critique himself, Cross has also been helping out the new kid, Dion Pellerin.
Pellerin looks a lot like Cross on the field. They’re both 5’11” and have the same build, though the kid is a bit heavier at 228 to 217 pounds. They both have substantial hair flows, and they wear numbers that can make you look twice; the vet wears 38, the rookie 36.
“Declan’s been a major help for me,” said the former Waterloo Warrior. “Being a fullback is a new experience for me after playing tailback at university. There’s a lot of techniques that I have to pick up on. He helps out a lot in terms of the playbook. There’s a lot of technical stuff that we have to learn, and he’s dialed in on every play. If he sees us messing up, he’ll let us know and he’ll let us know how to fix it.”
Pellerin was a potential steal for the Boatmen, not selected until the fifth round of the 2020 CFL Draft. While most saw him as a running back, perhaps not everyone knew what the Argos did; that the Abbotsford B.C. native was as highly recruited as a linebacker as he was a running back and was a high-calibre rugby player. He has solid tackling skills and is a natural to immediately step in on special teams while he learns the ropes at fullback.
Even though he was a ball carrier with Waterloo, he loves the contact aspect of the sport.
“That’s what I liked in college,” he said, eager to talk tackling. “Ask any of my coaches. I love pass protection, I love blocking. Being able to play running back was obviously nice, but I love blocking. Special teams? I wish I been able to do more of it at university and I’m glad I get to do it here.”
To paraphrase; Pellerin loves to hit opponents. That puts him in the perfect frame of mind to play fullback and perform on specials, something Cross has already proven he can do at an exceptionally high level.
He’s also loving his protégé.
“Dion is awesome,” he said. “He’s learning the game the right way. When he makes mistakes, he learns from them, and when we as a group make a mistake, he learns from our mistakes as well. That’s the mark of greatness. Greatness is when you learn from others’ mistakes.”
If you love hard-nosed football, it’s hard not to like the fullback duo. Cross has established himself as one of the most popular players on the team, and if Pellerin can continue to show the skill and dedication Cross has, he may not be too far behind his mentor in that category too.
DOUBLE BLUE NEWS
The Argos held two sessions at the main stadium at the University of Guelph. Head Coach Ryan Dinwiddie challenged his team to hold a great practice and he would reward them if they did. The team responded and will have a light Saturday because of it, with many starters getting a rest day.
Dinwiddie was asked about Nick Arbuckle, who was on the field, but not taking part in drills on Friday.
“He was there, we had him taking mental reps. He kind of had a setback the other day, probably had a little tweak (hamstring). He wants to go out there and practice so I’m kind of holding him back from himself.”
Quarterback Antonio Pipkin celebrated his 26th birthday earlier this week. He celebrated about the best way a player confined to his room during camp could.
“I studied my playbook, my wife got me some Uber Eats, and I went to sleep.”
Friday was a big day in Japan, as the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games were held. Argo rookie Toshiki Sato, a kicker selected with the Argos second-round pick in this year’s CFL Global Draft, says his friends back home are excited about the event.
“Yes they are,” he told Argonauts,ca. “We built a lot of new stadiums and villages for players and making roads bigger and wider for traffic.”
“On the first day of getting reservations of tickets the internet was really busy. Nobody could access the page. People who got tickets were really excited, but now there’s no spectators, so they’re all disappointed. Now people will watch TV.”