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October 9, 2024

Hogan: Backs in Business

It all seems to be coming together at the perfect time for the Toronto Argonauts offence. The points have been plentiful, the passing game has been piling up the yardage, while the running game is at an entirely different level.

In the last five games the Argos have rushed the football an average of 144 yards per game. Even more impressively, the Boatmen have averaged a whopping 179.3 yards over their last three outings, highlighted by an eye popping 234-yard effort in their last game against a physical Montreal defence.

The lead dog has been Ka’Deem Carey. There was pressure on him to succeed after fan favourite A.J. Ouellette signed a free-agent deal in Saskatchewan. Even Ouellette’s biggest boosters must be impressed by Carey’s production. He’s just 36 yards shy of the 1,000-yard mark and is on pace for a 1,159-yard season, which would set a career high for Carey, and be the fourth-best rushing season in Argo history, despite sharing the ball with his two backfield buddies, Deonta McMahon and Dan Adeboboye.

He’s already set career highs in receptions and receiving yards.

Carey is used to being the number one back. He’s the Arizona Wildcats all-time leading rusher, and after three seasons as the number two back with the Chicago Bears, he headed north and led the CFL in rushing with Calgary in 2022.

But it’s been different with the Boatmen and Carey is totally on board. The rotation of backs has worked and worked well both on and off the field. There’s always the potential for disaster with a positional rotation, egos being what they are, but the opposite has happened with this unit.

“We’re really close as a group,” Carey told Argonauts.ca. “We’re friends. We pride ourselves as being brothers out there. We all have different talents that we really admire about each other.”

Carey was asked to play the role of scout and explain what attributes McMahon – known as “D Money” to his teammates – brings to what is affectionately known as the team’s three-headed monster.

He had zero problems explaining what his backfield mate contributes to the group.

“Money brings explosiveness, quickness, explosive plays, hands out of the backfield, energy, speed, he’s slippery; he just makes the defence work laterally.”

McMahon is the smallest and most elusive of the three. At 5’9”, 185 pounds he’s not going to run over many opponents but could make a defender miss a tackle in an airport full-body scanner.

Like Carey, he’s thrilled with the chemistry the trio of backs has developed.

“Everybody is rooting for everybody,” said the former McNeese State star. “It’s a great group. With Ka’Deem leading us, he gives me and Dan the motivation to look to the future and be as good as he is.”

Argonauts.ca also asked McMahon to become a talent evaluator and break down Adeboboye’s game.

“Dan’s a powerhouse,” D Money said with a big smile. “He’s like Ka’Deem. I’m the fast guy, Ka’Deem’s the efficient guy, he’s fast and he can bring a hit downfield. Dan changes it up with a curveball; power, speed, and he has crazy agility. He brings a lot to the table.”

Adeboboye is in his third season in Double Blue. A local product who started his high-school career at Northern Secondary before heading to a prep school in Pennsylvania, he made his mark as an elite special teams player and has increased his offensive workload each season.

He gave his evaluation of Carey.

“The first thing that he brings is energy,” said Adeboboye. “He’s one of those guys that walks into the room and makes his presence known. He brings great energy in practice, great energy in games, and he’s really selfless. He wants everybody in the room to be successful and he does what he can to help us out. He leads by example by playing the way that he does, playing physically. When you see a guy playing like that, breaking tackles with that energy, it’s contagious.”

The relationship between the three has made things easier for their positional coach. Former Argo centre Domenic Picard was known for his aggressive play on the field, but when asked about what the strength of this group is, he took a softer approach.

“We care for each other,” he explained. “That’s our approach and that’s what we’re all about. Whoever is on the field, we all care for that person. In the meeting room we’ve developed that unity. We’re a proud group.”

As for on the field?

“What defines us is our work ethic. In practice the time and the energy we spend on all the phases of the game. Protection wise, that’s the most important thing in Canadian football, so that’s what we’re working on. Their football IQ has really gotten better throughout the year.”

While the running game has been stellar of late, it’s not the only facet of the offence that’s performing well. The team has averaged 31.2 points over their most recent five games, while passing for 320 yards per outing. The net yardage over that span is an impressive 450.

If there’s one area of concern it’s been red zone production, where a 56.5% touchdown rate in that part of the field ranks seventh in the league. With just a slight improvement in that category an already productive offence will be in even better shape heading into the post-season.