Former Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant shared his thoughts on former NFL player and CFL on TSN analyst Luke Willson's criticism about the three-down league.
Willson posted his takes on X about the Saskatchewan Roughriders game against the Toronto Argonauts in Week 3. Durant explained his view after Willson criticized the Argos nine-play drive which included check down passes in the fourth quarter to tie the game 32-32. The Riders won 39-32 when Mario Alford returned a 99-yard kick for the game-winning score.
"Look, check downs are a part of the game. If you're in a situation where defences are sitting back, daring you to take the underneath throw, then you have to take it as a quarterback. We have a job and our job isn't to throw it to the other team," Durant said to the SportsCage. "If nine guys are sitting back in coverage and the running back is the only guy open, well, you have to throw it to the open guy. "
According to Willson, the use of check downs by the Argos did not excite him.
"They then kick off and give up a nine-play touchdown drive where there is one penalty, one incompletion and every other play is a tackle in bounds. No timeouts were used and it took 1:39," Willson wrote on X.
"There are no "big plays" either; it's mainly check downs. Nothing could be more gimmicky than that. You've basically eliminated any sort of "two minute drive" -- there is not the slightest bit of urgency needed."
While Durant understands where Willson is coming from on an entertainment perspective, he offers a solution which might help CFL fans be more invested. Durant believes CFL teams should offer players longer contracts than the usual one-year term.
"When you're dealing with one-year contracts and guys are in and out, there's so much change in rosters. It's hard for fans to engage and have something to follow or have something to look forward to," Durant said.
"Fans love coming to see a guy who's been there five years where you can buy a jersey and feel like he won't leave next year because he's on a one-year deal. I think all these things come into play. For the players, I was a fan of the one-year deal, but when you look at it from a fans' perspective, it's tough to engage. It's tough to be loyal when you go and spend $200 bucks on a jersey of your favourite player, he's on a one-year deal, he leaves next year."
Durant shared one scenario he thought could have improved Willson's thoughts about the game.
"I guarantee that if there were 30,000 fans out there, it would have been a lot more exciting from his perspective," Durant explained.
"There were some big plays in that game. There were very exciting plays even before Mario Alford returned. Dohnte Meyers had a couple of great plays, a huge slant that he took about 70 yards. There were exciting plays in that game. He's zoning in on one or two drives. But at the same time, big plays happen in every game. I would much rather a 39-32 game than a 10-3 football game, something like you would get in the NFL."
The next game for the Riders will be at home, when the team hosts the B.C. Lions on Saturday.
"I'm going with the Riders. I think this will be more of a dog fight [and] I'm looking at a 24-17 game for the Riders," Durant said.
"It'll be a little bit low scoring. [Mike] Benevides and [Ryan] Phillips together they don't give up a lot of big plays. Whenever you can get three games of game film, now you have more of an idea of what teams like to do. I think this will be a chess match more so than a shootout and that's why I think it'll be more low-scoring game."
Catch the pre-game show at 2 p.m. with Teagan Witko, Justin Dunk and Wes Cates. Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder have the game call at 5 p.m. You can hear everything on the 620 CKRM Co-operators Rider Broadcast Network.
