For players, coaches, and members of the personnel department, pre-season football is a vitally important part of the evaluation process.
The games may be most important for running backs.
Tackling isn’t a part of training camp scrimmages, which makes it difficult to assess a back’s total skillset. On Saturday night in Hamilton, two Toronto Argonaut running backs got to show off how they embrace the physicality of the game, and the Ticats found out just how physical those backs can be.
Deonta McMahon doesn’t strike one as being the most physical back because of his stature, but he showed off his power with a first quarter run against the Tiger-Cats where he dropped his shoulder and flattened a would-be tackler.
Not bad for a guy who is 5’8” 185 pounds.
“It felt great,” McMahon said of the hit, breaking into a wide smile. Later he held his own when picking up a blitzing defensive lineman, someone much bigger than the native of Frostproof, Florida.
“As a smaller back it’s not the most fun thing in the world,” he told Argonauts.ca, now laughing. “But we’ve got to stand in there. As coach says we’ve got to just hold it down and give our best.”
McMahon changed his training regimen in the off-season, doing a lot more running to try and improve his already excellent cardio. That will come in handy if the Argos continue to increase his workload. He finished with 525 combined rushing and receiving yards, while also returning kicks with Janarion Grant.
A much more imposing figure is a back trying to make the team. Miyan “Chop” Williams is the same height as McMahon but outweighs him by 40 pounds. The Ohio State product was able to show off his physical style in Hamilton by breaking several tackles and scoring a touchdown on a two-yard run.
Scoring touchdowns is something Williams does well. He scored 14 TDs for the Buckeyes in 2022, tying an OSU record with five touchdowns in one game.
He enjoyed his first game experience with Canadian football, finishing with 8 carries for 53 yards and the TD, adding a 10-yard catch.
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“It made me realize how fast the game is up here,” he told Argonauts.ca. “It’s a way faster pace than college and the NFL. Just a faster pace.”
The Cincinnati native said it felt good being back on the field after not playing last year. He appeared to be heading to an NFL career but following a 24-carry performance against Penn State in his senior season he needed knee surgery, and he was unable to work out for scouts before the 2024 draft.
He didn’t play anywhere last year and said just getting hit in Saturday’s game was an important part of his return to football.
“Mentally it was very important,” he explained. “Just to get the feeling of being tackled again because I haven’t been tackled in a long time. After the first tackle I was, like, alright, I’m good.”
Williams’ play is making a tough decision even tougher for Toronto’s front office. There are still six running backs on the roster: Williams, McMahon, Ka’Deem Carey, Kevin Brown, Jyran Williams, and National rookie Joey Zorn.
The next, and perhaps final chance for the backs to show off their skill is this Friday night in a rematch with the Tiger-Cats, 7:00 at Alumni Stadium at the University of Guelph. Tickets are available at Argonauts.ca.
ARGO NOTES: Head coach Ryan Dinwiddie once again limited Monday’s workout, calling an end to practice well before it was scheduled to end. The team also knocked about an hour off its scheduled Tuesday practice. The staff is concerned about overworking the players as the regular season rapidly approaches…The team activated placekicker Lirim Hajrullahu from the Injured Veteran list on Monday. He had been recovering from off-season surgery…There was a familiar face at practice on Monday. Former Argo assistant general manager Vince Magri was there in his new capacity as a pro scout with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.