Mitchell Blair
Through the first half of the 2014 CFL season, the play of Riders defensive end John Chick has caught the eye of many for good reason. With 12 sacks through 7 games, Chick is being seen by some as having a chance to be the first defensive player in the history of the league to be named the Most Outstanding Player.
While Chick does his thing, another Rider player is quietly having perhaps his best season in the CFL and that is the guy who lines up alongside Chick —defensive tackle Tearrius George.
In his 7th season, George has caught the eye of many with his play as he has registered 5 sacks and is seemingly on his way of registering a career high which stands at 8 right now.
George isn’t complaining about the way things have gone.
“Oh yeah, I’m happy with what’s happening,” George gushed. “There’s still room for improvement, but I like the way things have started and I just hope to elevate it to the next level.”
Defensive line coach Todd Howard is elated over what George has done and says you could arguably compare what he has done to what Chick has done.
“Tearrius is doing a great job and he has been just as dominant as John when it comes to inside play.” Howard said. “He has certainly been a beneficiary of what John is doing because offences are trying to neutralize him, but when you do that it leaves someone else to show off their stuff and Tearrius is doing that and then some.”
Howard adds what makes the defensive line so good as a group is there is more than one guy who can get to the quarterback.
“John is the guy they want to stop, but if you do that it frees Tearrius up and you see what he is doing. It frees up Ricky and he has had a couple of huge games.” Howard explained. “You can’t forget about Tearrius because he will make you pay and he has done that a couple of times already this season.”
The 32-year-old Kansas State grad feels this season is the best start he has had, but he says he’s not doing anything different.
“I’m not doing anything different,” George admitted. “I’m just capitalizing on what Coach Howard is teaching and executing the plan. Everyone is on the same page and everything is flourishing right now.”
George also admits that playing alongside Chick is helping contribute to the start he has had, but he thinks it’s also contributing to the start Chick has had as well.
“I’m not going to lie to you. I think it makes it easier, but when you play alongside a guy like that, it allows us to do some things.” George said. “If you double me, it frees John up to go one and one and if they double John, it frees me up to go one on one and get after the quarterback. It really works well playing off one another.”
With a league high 29 sacks, the Riders defense is turning out to be very worrisome for offensive co-ordinators across the league. With George being just as monstrous as Chick, it makes the job of neutralizing the stingy Riders defense that much tougher. George just smiles at that as he knows more QB sacks and perhaps his first CFL all-star berth are down the road as could be something bigger.
George and the Riders will look for their 5th straight win on Sunday in Vancouver when they tackle the B.C Lions in a huge West Division clash. The Riders go into the contest with a record of 5-2 while the Lions are 5-3.
