The B.C. Lions believe where there’s Smoke, there’s fire when it comes to their struggling running game.
Speaking to the media this week, co-general manager Neil McEvoy re-affirmed his commitment to 2023 starter Taquan ‘Smoke’ Mizzell in the backfield, projecting a second-year leap for the 30-year-old running back.
“Going into his second year, I think Smoke is going to be a little more comfortable and I think he’s going to be more productive as most second-year players are,” McEvoy said. “Last year was his first year in the Canadian Football League; everything’s foreign to him. I think moving forward, he will have a better understanding of what is expected of him and a better showing.”
The Lions opted to let thousand-yard rusher James Butler walk in free agency ahead of the 2023 season, electing to go cheaper at the position. The results were disappointing, as B.C. finished dead last with an average of 77.3 rushing yards per game and eighth in the league with 4.7 yards per carry despite having one of the CFL’s best passing attacks.
Mizzell won the open running back job out of training camp, starting 14 regular season games in his debut CFL campaign. The five-foot-11, 185-pound scatback carried 157 times for 773 yards and three touchdowns, adding 41 receptions for 291 yards and two more majors. He eclipsed the 100-yard mark just twice on the season, both times against a porous Edmonton run defence.
The Lions’ lack of balance ultimately cost them come playoff time, as the team was held to just 189 yards of net offence in a West Final loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Mizzell posted five carries for 37 yards in that game, but McEvoy is not ready to pour water on the five-year NFL veteran quite yet.
“As much of a professional as he has been and the years he’s played, just coming up to Canada and everything else, it does take a year to really establish yourself with the game and the culture and everything that Canada is,” the long-time personnel executive pointed out. “It’s not easy for guys to step onto the field and make dramatic impacts.”
B.C. is banking on Mizzell following a similar career trajectory to Butler, who rushed for just 497 yards through 11 games in a lacklustre debut campaign in 2021. The now-Hamilton Tiger-Cat has since posted back-to-back thousand-yard seasons with two different franchises and provides a meaningful outlet from the backfield.
Mizzell has the pedigree to become something similar, albeit with a distinctly different style and body type. He posted 2,068 rushing yards and 1,560 receiving yards over four collegiate seasons at the University of Virginia, then bounced around the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints and New York Giants. Smoke saw action in 12 NFL games before making his way north to Canada.
The Lions were able to provide two-game auditions to both Shaun Shivers and JaQuan Hardy while Mizzell sat out with minor injuries, but ultimately went back to the former Cavalier each time.
“I felt that he had a lot of good games. The one thing that we were nervous about coming out of training camp last year was, ‘Is he going to have the ability to block and protect the quarterback?’ At the end of the day, that was probably one of his stronger points, being able to protect Vernon,” McEvoy explained.
“He did have some tremendous games running the ball and I think if we gave him the ball more then he would probably show us that he is as good as what we needed and wanted.”
McEvoy would not entirely rule out adding a running back in free agency, but the team’s financial priorities remain focused elsewhere. That means that the starting job will likely be Mizzell’s to lose, unless another lesser-known back emerges in training camp.
The Lions will open their season on Sunday, June 9 when they visit the Toronto Argonauts.
