News
June 13, 2012
Evan Daum
Edmonton Journal
Hugh Charles is well aware that if he wants to be a starting running back in the Canadian Football League, it’s now or never.
In his first training camp with the Edmonton Eskimos after joining the team midway through last season when he was dealt by the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Charles is finally poised to land his first CFL starting gig.
With the departure of 2011 starter Jerome Messam, who left Edmonton in the off-season for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, Charles knows how important it is for the four-year pro to take advantage of the job vacancy.
“These opportunities don’t come often and this is a make-or-break opportunity for me to solidify my spot and to be the guy,” Charles explained.
While there’s still plenty for coaches to evaluate, especially over the course of Edmonton’s two pre-season games, running backs coach Jamie Baressi and the rest of the coaching staff already have found their starting running back.
“He’s our starter,” Baressi said. “Anything can happen. Lord forbid injuries, but I would expect that would be the way (we start the season).”
“Hugh Charles is definitely in the lead. He’s No. 1 on the depth chart,” Head Coach Kavis Reed said. “It’s going to be hard to supplant him.”
Baressi is no stranger to Charles. The former Winnipeg Blue Bomber offensive co-ordinator saw the back on a daily basis in Saskatchewan in 2008 when Baressi was the Rider running backs coach, and 2009 when he became Saskatchewan’s quarterbacks coach. Both years, Charles backed up starter Wes Cates.
“He’s still kind of the same guy,” Baressi said of how Charles had changed as a back since their time together in Regina. “He’s still explosive, he makes quick cuts, he’s very good with the ball in his hands and he’s a good receiver. Those are a lot of the things that we saw then.
“We had him when he was the backup and I was working with him there and when he did have the chance to play, he really did a great job. I bet he’s been chomping at the bit (to start).”
While Charles’ ability with the ball in his hands will be the most noticeable measure of his success for Eskimo fans, his ability to pass protect is one of the more subtle skills that has Charles poised to be the team’s No. 1 runner.
“Right now, he’s a lot more mature. He understands pass protection very well,” Baressi said. “Wes was really good in the pass-protection assignments, so I’m sure he learned a lot from him.”
Being the go-to running back would be a new position for the former University of Colorado standout, who has exactly 100 career carries in 24 CFL games, while waiting for an opportunity to be a featured tailback.
Playing behind Cates, who wasn’t re-signed by the Riders this off-season, meant Charles was forced to bide his time while waiting for a starting chance that proved to never come in Riderville. Despite that, Charles knows his time with Saskatchewan was anything but a waste, laying the foundation for his opportunity in Edmonton.
“Even in Saskatchewan, Wes got hurt a few times. I’ve been in the position to be the starter and it’s something that I know what to do,” Charles explained. “It’s all about knowing your job, knowing your assignments and getting that action.
“I learned from a great guy in Wes Cates and being his backup, he showed me a lot and I learned a lot from him. That’s an advantage that anyone gets from being a backup, especially behind a great player.”
Despite never getting a chance to start game in, game out with the Roughriders – where he played 20 regular season games over the course of his three-plus seasons – Charles was reinvigorated last year by his trade to Edmonton.
“I think it was meant to be,” Charles said of the trade. “Last year didn’t go so well for the Roughriders. And coming here and being traded, I was able to get into a position where I could play and then going to the playoffs and almost going to the Grey Cup.
“A lot of what goes on in this type of business is things happen for a reason. Either by chance, or just by luck, but I think I’ve paid my dues, put in the hard work and in the position that I’m in for a reason.”
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