I was asked this question a few weeks ago, and this person was talking about the absence of a running back having dominated the league in rushing yards. This became very apparent when Jon Cornish missed at least six games and is still within 200 yards of the rushing leader with his 587 yards to date. Lets talk about some of the factors involved and what has changed. I believe there are three reasons for the change; four designated imports on the roster, talented non-import running backs and running QBs. Lets state the obvious, in every level of football, you must be able to run the football to have a balanced, efficient offense that can handle all the situations that you face throughout the football season. I have coached or coordinated four rushing leaders in the CFL and I believe in running the football. Michael Jenkins (2001), Charles Roberts (2003), Troy Davis (2004) and Fred Reid (2011) all were talented backs who were able to make the most of their opportunities. As the league evolves, you can see one-tailback offenses start to evolve also to spread the wealth, per se. Obviously, injuries can be a factor for a lack of productivity in running backs as they tend to have injuries at times and will have to miss games. As noted earlier, Jon Cornish has missed a great deal of this season and it has affected his rushing totals. But the biggest reason that I believe rushing numbers are down for the backs are the roster and specifically, how many designated imports are on rosters this year. A Designated Import is an International (Import) that can play freely on all special teams and can replace only another International (Import). Long story short is that for teams starting seven Non Imports, the DIs can replace another import but not a non-import. This year, the DIs has increased by one for a total of four on the roster. So you have four players that can play all special teams and also replace other Imports that are on the roster. When I first came into the League in the early 2000s, there was only one DI. It eventually went to a second and finally up to a third until the fourth DI this season. When you had only two DIs, one was usually a kick returner and one was a defensive player. It was difficult to carry a backup running back that was an import unless he was the returner. That is how many running backs earned their roster spots originally. In 2001, Hall of Famer Charles Roberts was on the roster as a DI who returned kick-offs and punts and spelled the starter Eric Blount. The rosters did not allow for a very talented import running back to be on the roster just as a backup. Cut to this year, where with four DIs, you can have two back-ups on offence and defence. One of those usually is also a returner and backup as in Brandon Banks in Hamilton, and the other three can be utilized on the roster as a backup and in situational packages. One of the most important things to understand with this roster size now is that you have the ability to plan and practice expecting to have the DI available to you if you are a coordinator because of the four spots. In previous years with less DIs, often the DI would be decided depending on the health status of your roster. For example, you may have to dress an Import DI receiver because one of your starting import receivers is banged up and may not play the whole game. If you normally used a DI running back, you would have to make the switch and take the DI running back off the roster and replace him with DI wide receiver. Nowadays, you can have both on the roster and still be able to gameplan for the roster spot as a DI running back. So how does all that relate to running back rushing yards? Teams are allowed to break up the rushing job to more than one back and are able to build packages with two tailbacks in the game at the same time. Edmonton has utilized this by having Kendial Lawrence and Tyler Thomas on the roster. They can split carries as well as be in the game at the same time and have plays designed for each other. Lawrence is 11th in rushing and Thomas is 16th. Add their rushing yards together and they would lead the CFL in rushing. Edmonton also has Jon White, who has also rushed for 334 yards this season but is on the six-game injured list. Saskatchewan also has had success with using multiple import running backs on the roster. Anthony Allen leads the Riders with 593 yards which puts him third in rushing in the CFL. Will Ford is sixth in rushing with 425 yards and is able to be part of a 1-2 punch that the Riders rushing attack will hit defences with. Toronto has utilized several different backfield combinations this season but normally carry two import running backs. Curtis Steele is eighth in rushing with 437 yards and a healthy Steve Slaton is starting to come on with 224 yards so far. Montreal is fun to watch with Brandon Whitaker, who leads the CFL with 695 yards and they can also line up with Tyrell Sutton in the backfield. Sutton gets the opportunity to prove his worth and not have to wait for an injury to the starter to be on the roster. Talented non-imports are another reason for individual rushing numbers being down. I dont care what nationality you are, if you are talented, you will touch the football. Jerome Messam is part of the three-headed monster of the Riders run game and he has 326 yards this season. He is a bruising runner and a great change up for the Riders. Matt Walter has had some opportunities to play this year, allowing Calgary not to have to disrupt their roster when Cornish was hurt. Andrew Harris status as a non-import starter allows depth at other spots and can allow for a running back to be an import on the roster. Rushing QBs and packages designed for the QB as a running back have emerged the past few seasons to create extra packages and schemes that the defence must work on. Pat White in Edmonton has 26 rushes for 113 yards and his offensive package forces defences to take valuable time from practice to prepare for his package. Hamilton also has utilized a package for QB Dan Lefevour the past two seasons. These QB packages create problems for defences as the quarterback is the ball carrier and the defences are not used to the quarterback being a ball carrier and also there is a numbers advantage when the QB is the primary ball carrier. It is important that these QB packages have throws built in to make sure it is not 100 per cent run or else the defence will load the box to stop the run. The QB running game packages will take away reps for the starting tailback because many times the QB carries the ball in these packages. Although rushing numbers may be down, it is a great thing to be able to have more players on the roster to create excitement and be able to have multiple rushing football players. The years of the 2,000-yard backs may be over, but the ability to keep more players involved is certainly fun to watch. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys . The attacking midfielder arrives on a free transfer from Spains Malaga. The 28-year-old joins Scottish striker Kenny Miller and Argentine midfielder Matias Laba as designated players on the Whitecaps roster. New England Patriots Shirts . - Ryan Spooner scored twice to lead the Boston Bruins to a 6-1 victory over the New York Islanders in a preseason game Friday night. https://www.patriotsjerseysale.com/. That time around, the cage is as much a part of baseballs daily routine as a beer and a hotdog is to a fan in the stands. Coaches, scouts, broadcasters and other media hover, tossing verbal barbs, telling stories and sharing laughs. Occasionally, especially in spring when the atmosphere is relatively laid back, the list of invited guests expands and on this day, Gibbons welcomed two men strongly influential in his life. Patriots Jerseys 2020 .Brazil midfielder Ricardo Goulart scored the winner in the 50th minute to give the defending champion a four-point advantage in the standings over second-place Sao Paulo, which beat rival Palmeiras 2-0. Stitched Patriots Jerseys .com) - Devin Booker scored 19 points and top-ranked Kentucky put on a defensive clinic in an 83-44 obliteration of UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic.DETROIT -- Nathan MacKinnon had the puck in the final minute of overtime and each of the four opposing skaters stood passively and stared at the phenom. The sensational rookie took full advantage of the attention, breaking one of Wayne Gretzkys records while helping his team win. Andre Benoit, all alone, scored off an assist from MacKinnon with 31.4 seconds left in overtime to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. MacKinnon has a point in 13 straight games, breaking Gretzkys mark for an 18-year-old NHL player that he set during the 1979-80 season. "Its pretty cool," MacKinnon acknowledged. "I want to be as consistent as possible. He probably doubled my point total in those games." Gretzky finished his rookie season with 51 goals and 137 points. MacKinnon has 22 goals and 50 points -- easily leading all rookies in the league this year -- in 63 games. His point streak is the longest by a rookie at any age since Colorados Paul Stastny went 20 straight in 2007. MacKinnon kept it going with quite a pass. He was behind the net to the right of Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard when the No. 1 overall pick from the 2013 NHL draft sent a diagonal pass to Benoit in the bottom of the left circle. "Nobody really took me," MacKinnon. "And, Benoit took the back door." Benoit made the most of the scoring opportunity for his fourth goal, sending a shot to the top shelf that Howard had no shot to stop. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 35 saves for Colorado, which has won four straight. "Jiggy was big when we needed him," said Matt Duchene, who scored a game-tying goal midway through the second period. "He held us in there until we could get the winner." Colorados P.A. Parenteau made it a 2-all game 5:49 into the third period after the Red Wings took their second lead. Detroit went ahead on Niklas Kronwalls goal midway through the first period and Tomas&nbbsp;Jurcos score with 7:50 left in the second.dddddddddddd Howard stopped 22 shots for a team desperately trying to extend its post-season streak to 23. "Its important to remember that we still got a point," Howard said. "It keeps us in the race." The Red Wings retired Nicklas Lidstroms No. 5 jersey before the game. Lidstrom, one of the NHLs all-time best on the blue line, saw a fellow Swede have a rough night defensively. Franzen skated into the crease when Duchenes shot was going to slide to the right of the net and he knocked it into the goal with his right skate. The burly forward failed to do his job when the Avs tied the game for a second time. Duchene carried the puck behind Detroits net, easily keeping it while Franzen lightly pushed him. Franzen then accidently knocked Howards stick out of his hands, making it tough for him to stop Parenteaus game-tying shot. Franzen lost the puck in the opening minute of overtime and Duchene had a breakaway attempt stopped by a holding penalty on Kronwall while he wasnt holding his stick. Stastny negated the power play by getting called for tripping. That gave the Red Wings an extra skater for 1:03 in the extra period, but they didnt take advantage. Detroit has dropped two straight, losing third-period leads in both setbacks. "Through two periods, we could have already had the game put away, but we didnt," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock lamented. "Thats been the theme all year." NOTES: David Legwand made his Detroit debut, a day after he was acquired by his hometown team from the Nashville Predators. "My wife and kids and mom and dad were here, thats all I took care of," he said. "Thats all Im concentrating on." Legwand was on the ice when Detroit took a 2-1 lead and was briefly credited with an assist. ... Colorado scratched goalie Reto Berra a day after trading a second-round pick for him to provide depth behind Semyon Varlamov and Giguere. ' ' '