By Rob Vanstone
Ray Elgaard is still dominant, nearly a quarter-century after his final game with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Hall of Fame slotback received all three first-place votes in the category of “best receiver” for the latest instalment of our top-10 Roughriders poll.
This is the third of 11 such surveys, which will eventually list (appropriately enough) 110 names in commemoration of the Roughriders’ 110th anniversary.
The first two winners — chosen by yours truly and two fellow Roughriders historians, Bob Calder and Tom Fuzesy — were Ron Lancaster (quarterback) and George Reed (running back). Like Elgaard, Lancaster and Reed were unanimous selections.
In the days and weeks to come, we will also rate the top 10 offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers, defensive backs, special-teams players, builders and early-era players (1910 to 1945).
To conclude the series, we will rank the top 10 players in Roughriders history.
All three panellists listed 10 people in each category. A first-place vote is worth 10 points, a second-place vote is worth nine, etc. A perfect score is, of course, 30 points — which brings us back to …
1. Ray Elgaard (30 points): No. 81 is the Roughriders’ all-time leader in receiving yards (13,198) and touchdown catches (78). His 830 receptions place him second in franchise history, behind Don Narcisse (919). Nobody was more feared in the open field than the imposing Elgaard, who delighted in squelching would-be tacklers. But there was so much more to his game than aggressiveness. A superb technician and consummate student of the game, he was also a threat on deep routes. In the clutch, he was a go-to target (see: 1986 Labour Day Classic; 1989 West Division semi-final; 1989 Grey Cup).
2. Don Narcisse (25): Also a Hall of Famer, Narcisse caught at least one pass in each of the 216 CFL regular-season games he played for Saskatchewan. With 12,366 yards and 75 TD catches, he is second only to Elgaard in both categories. Narcisse’s seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons (1989 to 1995) are a Roughriders record. He also boasts team records for most catches in a single season (123 in 1995) and a single game (15, for 199 yards, on Oct. 31, 1993 versus the Toronto Argonauts).
3. Hugh Campbell (24): “Gluey Hughie” recorded three of the first four 1,000-yard receiving seasons in franchise history, amassing totals of 1,000 (in 1964), 1,329 (1965) and 1,109 (1966). As well, he had league-leading TD catch totals in 1964 (11), 1965 (10), 1966 (a team-record 17) and 1969 (11). He also scored the winning TD in the 1966 Grey Cup game, snaring a five-yard pass from Lancaster even though three Ottawa Rough Riders defensive backs were in the vicinity. In only 5 1/2 seasons as a player, Campbell caught 321 passes for 5,425 yards and 60 TDs.
4. Weston Dressler (21): Despite standing only 5-foot-7, the popular Dressler was an inviting target for Roughriders quarterbacks — Darian Durant, especially — from 2008 to 2015. Dressler is third on Saskatchewan’s all-time list in catches (539) and receiving yards (7,797) and fourth in TD grabs (50). In 2008, Dressler was named the CFL’s top rookie after making 56 catches for 1,128 yards. Average yards per catch: 20.1. He enjoyed three other 1,000-yard seasons with the Green and White. In 2013, he scored four touchdowns in three playoff games, the last of which was a home-field Grey Cup victory.
5. Joey Walters (19): The spectacular slotback still boasts the top two single-season yardage totals in team history — 1,715 (in 1981) and 1,692 (1982). He had 100-plus receiving yards in 11 of the Roughriders’ 16 games in 1981. Each CFL team has played 18 games since 1986, but Walters’ stratospheric 16-game stats have rarely been approached.
6. Jeff Fairholm (16): All he needed was a half-step and nobody would catch him. A three-time 1,000-yard receiver, Fairholm caught a 75-yard touchdown pass in the 1989 Grey Cup game even though the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ Stephen Jordan was flagged for pass interference.
7. Chris DeFrance (7): A three-time 1,000-yard man, a la Fairholm, DeFrance owns the Roughriders’ record for receiving yards in a single game (260 against the Edmonton Eskimos on Aug. 5, 1983). DeFrance lost his helmet after making one catch in that game but still scored an 88-yard TD on the play.
8. (tie) Andy Fantuz (6): Fantuz was named the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian in 2010 after making 87 catches for 1,380 yards.
8. (tie) Rhett Dawson (6): Dawson had 10 TD catches in each of his two full seasons in Saskatchewan.
8 (tie) Chris Getzlaf (6): Twice a 1,000-yard receiver, Getzlaf — whose route-running was textbook material — was named the outstanding Canadian in the 2013 Grey Cup.
Also receiving votes: Bobby Thompson (4), Naaman Roosevelt (1).
VIA: https://leaderpost.com/sports/football/cfl/saskatchewan-roughriders/rob-vanstone-ray-elgaard-tops-saskatchewan-roughriders-receivers-poll/
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