Backfield has carried load

Quarterback Kelly makes return supported by CF L’s top rushing attack

- DAN RALPH

Ka'Deem Carey ranks third in CFL rushing with 611 yards, while scoring five touchdowns. That kind of production won’t come easily against a Saskatchewan defence that allows just 76.9 yards per game, secondfewest in the CFL.

They’ve officially been teammates for less than a week, but Ka’Deem Carey will aim to become Chad Kelly’s best friend Thursday night.

Kelly will make his 2024 debut when Toronto (5-4) hosts the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-4-1). Kelly was reinstated, with conditions, by the CFL on Sunday after being suspended May 7 for the Argonauts two exhibition games and at least their first nine regular-season contests for violating the league’s gender-based violence policy.

Kelly, the CFL’s outstanding player last season, takes over an offence that’s last in net yards (309.7 per game) and passing (210.9). However, Toronto does lead the league in rushing (123.9 yards per game), with Carey standing third overall with 611 yards (5.4-yard average, five touchdowns).

Carey and Kelly met during Kelly’s absence from the team and they’ve struck up a friendship off the field. But in football circles, there’s a time-tested saying that a quarterback’s best friend is a sound running game which takes the attention and pressure off the passer.