The Calgary Stampeders need Peyton Logan to avoid getting hurt.
With Dedrick Mills out of action for personal reasons and B.J. Emmons unavailable, the Stamps don’t have many options when it comes to running back.
They’re building Kylin Hill up and hope he’ll be ready for game action at some point soon, but against the Toronto Argonauts last weekend Logan was the only running back on the roster.
That’s not ideal.
It’s an important position and a physical one, too, so keeping Logan on the field is critical.
He knows it, but it’s not something that he can allow to affect the way he plays.
“You think about it, but once I’m on the field playing football all of that really goes out the window,” Logan said Tuesday from McMahon Stadium, where the Stamps were preparing for Thursday’s matchup with the visiting Ottawa Redblacks (7 p.m,, TSN, QR Calgary). “All I’m trying to do is make sure I get my job done, try to get the first down or some yards or get a touchdown.”
For the past couple of years, the Stampeders have generally had solid depth at the running back position. Ka’Deem Carey was the starter, with Logan and Mills deputizing as backups.
But Carey is in Toronto now, tied for the league lead in rushing yards for the Argonauts.
And circumstances have conspired to make Logan the Stamps’ only option on the ground.
He’s done what they’ve asked of him, to be sure, rushing the ball 29 times for 182 yards in six games and adding a touchdown, and will be asked to shoulder an even bigger workload on Thursday.
And the Stamps will have to get creative, using the likes of receiver Jalen Philpot and even backup quarterback Tommy Stevens to grind out yards if needed.
“I don’t love going into games with one running back, but I do feel like Jalen has versatility and I do feel like Tommy can do it,” said Stamps GM/head coach Dave Dickenson. “Kylin Hill has been practising and he did have camp with Ottawa, but I’ve got to make sure he’s comfortable before putting him in a game.”
There has been no indication of when or if Mills might return to the fold, so there’s no telling when the Stamps might see their depth at running back recover.
Logan can absolutely do the job, though. He’s started a lot of games in his three seasons in Calgary and has the speed and mobility to give opposing defences fits.
You’d just like to know that there’s another option available if Logan picks up a knock or needs a couple plays off. And for now, at least, that isn’t going to be another running back. Not against the Redblacks team that is armed with one of the best defensive lines in the entire CFL and is allowing the third-least rushing yards in the league.
“We have plans,” Dickenson said. “I want to give Peyton and Jalen (carries) and put Tommy in there, I want to give them credit for the last game, they did enough to win, we just were inconsistent in other areas and there were some opportunities and plays to be made and we just didn’t make them.”
Logan seems to be taking it all in stride. He isn’t altering the way he plays just because he’s the only CFL-proven running back on the roster.
He’s just focused on doing his job.
“It is what it is, opportunity to play football,” Logan said. “That’s how I see it, any chance to get on the field, I’ll do it. The workload is really nothing to me.”